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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| US warns Russia on Georgia but readies concessions |
| 2008-08-14 |
| FORT DE BREGANCON, France - The United States warned sternly Thursday of a long-term rupture with Russia if Moscow does not quickly abide by its promise to withdraw its fighting forces from Georgia. In contrast to the tough talk, Condoleezza Rice rushed to the former Soviet republic with a new cease-fire plan offering concessions to Moscow. The new document would allow Russian peacekeepers who were in the disputed South Ossetia region before the fighting broke out a week ago to stay, and they would now be permitted to patrol in a strip up to six miles outside the area, U.S. officials said. But that allowance would be temporary, and details were still to be worked out, the officials said. Issuing urgent statements in Washington and abroad, President Bush and his foreign policy lieutenants sought to jawbone Russia into compliance while taking a U.S. military response off the table — suggesting strict limits to how far he was willing to go in the waning days of a controversial presidency. Bush repeated his call for the cease-fire to be honored and demanded that Russia respect the "territorial integrity" of Georgia. He spent nearly four hours being briefed at CIA headquarters about the war on terror and the grim situation in Georgia. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he saw no need to invoke American military force in the nearly week-old war, despite continued uncertainty about Russia's next move. "The United States spent 45 years working very hard to avoid a military confrontation with Russia. I see no reason to change that approach today," Gates said at the Pentagon. Standing alongside, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. James Cartwright, said it appeared Russia was "generally complying" with the truce. But then Georgian leaders said a convoy of more than 100 Russian tanks and other vehicles had moved from the western city of Zugdidi deeper into their nation before stopping. Cartwright had said Russian forces appeared to be forming up in Georgia in preparation for withdrawal. Russian and Georgian forces have been fighting since Georgia sought to regain control of a breakaway province. Fighting spread beyond the small mountainous enclave and has left Georgian cities, a key port and roads badly damaged. The United Nations estimates 100,000 people have been uprooted by the conflict, while estimates of the dead range from scores to thousands. Gates described a broad humanitarian effort for Georgians displaced or harmed by the fighting. He said there was no need for U.S. fighting forces there, although the relief effort is being run by the American military. "I think what happens in the days and months to come will determine the future course of U.S.-Russian relations," Gates said. "My personal view is that there need to be some consequences for the actions that Russia has taken against a sovereign state." Gates told reporters he believes Russia has decided "to punish Georgia for daring to try to integrate with the West," actions that call into question U.S. attempts to forge solid political, economic and military partnerships with Russia. Rice was in Paris issuing another urgent call on Russia to honor a previously announced cease-fire ahead of her mission to Georgia. French President Nicholas Sarkozy, who has been leading Western efforts to stop the fighting, said the documents are "intended to consolidate the cease-fire." Russia and Georgia have agreed to a truce, but Russian tanks and troops remain. Rice was heading to the capital Tbilisi on Friday carrying the document for signature by President Mikhail Saakashvili. She had no plans to visit Moscow. Rice has not ruled out a diplomatic mission to Russia sometime soon, but the United States is sensitive to the perception that a visit could suggest that Washington is open to compromise on Georgia's future. She insists the United States will stand by its closest friend among the gradually democratizing former Soviet republics. The French-brokered cease-fire requires Russia to withdraw all of its combat forces from Georgia but gives Russian peacekeepers the express right to patrol beyond the disputed border region of South Ossetia that lies at the heart of the conflict, U.S. officials said. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the accord is not yet finalized and there are still U.S. and Georgian concerns about the expanded patrol rights that need to be worked out. Sarkozy said, "If tomorrow, President Saakashvili signs these documents, then the withdrawal of the Russian troops can start." The concessions on Russian patrols outside South Ossetia were demanded by Russia, which accuses Georgian forces of attacking the peacekeepers and pro-Russian South Ossetians who live there. The U.S. officials acknowledged the solution was not perfect but said the primary goal was to get Russian combat forces out of Georgia as quickly as possible. They said the U.S. would accept the expanded patrol mandate only if it was limited, well-defined and temporary. Russian patrols outside South Ossetia proper would stop once a new international peacekeeping and monitoring force was in place, one official said, adding that the Russians would not be allowed to use the extra six-mile band "to impede legitimate Georgian movement." The cease-fire would also allow Russian peacekeepers to remain in Abkhazia, another, larger disputed province. Those forces would not be given the expanded patrol rights, officials said. In return, the agreement calls for Russia to respect Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity, something that Sarkozy and Rice both stressed on Thursday after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov openly questioned the country's established borders. Lavrov declared that the world "can forget about" Georgia's territorial integrity, strongly suggesting that Russia could absorb the regions where it has supported separatist movements in a goad to Georgia since the election there of a strongly pro-American president. "I would consider that to be bluster from the foreign minister of Russia," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said. "We will ignore it." Russia's president met in the Kremlin with the leaders of the separatist provinces, another signal that Moscow could absorb the regions. |
| Posted by:john frum |
| #6 I agree. Much like many tyrants, they will use force only when victory is assured. We should start selling the missile defense at wholesale prices. |
| Posted by: ArmyLife 2008-08-14 23:53 |
| #5 Russia is your alcoholic uncle who boasts he could drink you under the table. It makes them feel good, but who cares? Let's break down the current state of affairs: Russia is bullying a country the West won't send troops to defend (already did that, under Putin, it was called Ukraine, and it was with poison). Russia is trying to say its military is back to first rate (its been doing that for over a year now when strategic bombers were flying into Western Airspace...only to be met by F-22s). It's selling high grade military components to countries that are hostile to the US and Israel (that's been going on since um...1945?). So honestly, what has changed? Just because troops rolled into a country doesn't change anything. Believe me, I am no Russian supporter, but when you actually look long term, Russia's actions don't amount to a hill of beans. If anything, seeing as how Poland just bought off on the missile defense system, it actually hindered them. Bottom line: this was a plea by Putin to shore up his base in country and show he was strong. That's it. Nothing more. Just sad that so many freedom loving Georgians had to die in the process. Because think about it, if Russia really wanted to assert itself as a world power again, it would "accidentally" attack US ships or airplanes that are delivering humanitarian aid. It won't. Putin achieved his goal. |
| Posted by: MoreScotch4Me 2008-08-14 23:37 |
| #4 Ukraine already got the message and will not entertain the US missile shield. We live in a world that understands force... no matter how terrible that may be, its the truth. Russia let the world know that they are back and are not afraid to use force to prove it. |
| Posted by: ArmyLife 2008-08-14 22:36 |
| #3 OK this is getting ridiculous ... it is just as Old Spook has spoken of; before the annexation of Czechoslovakia in the late 30's, even with Sarkozy waving the papers saying I have signatures .. we need a politician that will speak like this... "We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I can say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival. Let that be realised; no survival for the British Empire, no survival for all that the British Empire has stood for, no survival for the urge and impulse of the ages, that mankind will move forward towards its goal. But I take up my task with buoyancy and hope. I feel sure that our cause will not be suffered to fail among men. At this time I feel entitled to claim the aid of all, and I say, "come then, let us go forward together with our united strength." Churchill First Speech as Prime Minister May 13, 1940 to House of Commons you may ask is this necessary.. is war against Russia worth it ...??? and I ask the same questions.. but if this is what, IMHO it looks like: 'The Great Bear rising up to assert it's might' then what else are we to do but defend our way of life ... for to be sure if this goes unchecked we may lose it... ... |
| Posted by: Pliny Angainter8700 2008-08-14 20:11 |
| #2 Remember José's Axiom to Murphy's Law: nothing is more permanent than that which is called temporary. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2008-08-14 20:04 |
| #1 The new document would allow Russian peacekeepers who were in the disputed South Ossetia region before the fighting broke out a week ago to stay, and they would now be permitted to patrol in a strip up to six miles outside the area, U.S. officials said. But that allowance would be temporary, and details were still to be worked out, the officials said. Outrage. Once I thought Rice maybe quite good at her job. But this is a sign that she is incompetent. No, utterly incompetent. What is this 5 mile buffer zone for? Free Ethnic Clensing Recreational Area? Geebus! And the "temporary" thing. Does she not understand what temporary translates to in Russian political lexicon. It means 18 years minimum, open ended (make us!) period. And she claims to be a Russo-expert? Who needs enemy with people like this? |
| Posted by: Spike Uniter 2008-08-14 19:55 |