Article

2008-08-10 Europe

Russia invades Georgia - Baltic response

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by mrp 2008-08-10 15:33|| E-Mail|| Front Page|| [336073 views ] Top

#1 seeing as Russia claims a right to come to defense of its citizens, whereever they are, I suggest that if any ethnic Russian living in the Baltics still hold Russian citizenship, any decision the Baltic states to expell those Russian citizens be viewed with sympathy.

Posted by liberalhawk 2008-08-10 17:12|| 2008-08-10 17:12|| Front Page Top

#2 Its the Sudetenland all over again - and the issuance of Russian passports was a deliberate move by Russian to set up an annexation that would weaken and destabilize Georgia, both politically and economically.

This would discourage a natural gas pipeline trhu Georgia that would be an alternative - breaking the Russian stranglehold on pipelined gas to Europe.

Russia is simply the Mafia writ large.

Posted by OldSpook 2008-08-10 17:24|| 2008-08-10 17:24|| Front Page Top

#3 Its time to play our hand there.

Posted by Bugs Clese9380 2008-08-10 17:33|| 2008-08-10 17:33|| Front Page Top

#4 Us ex-pats living in Estonia are having that conversation again, the same one that we had last year when the Russians rioted over moving a WW2 statue - what will you do if the balloon goes up?

Listing to the Russian ambassador today made me want to vomit.

Posted by Mizzou Mafia 2008-08-10 17:36|| 2008-08-10 17:36|| Front Page Top

#5 Th US Ambassador to the UN started channeling The Moustache (Bolton) and really laid into the Russians, calling their bombin of civilian targetsin Georgia "terroristic", and condemning their actions as thuggery and illegal, and thier claims of "peacekeeping" as "lies" (yes he accused the Russians directly of lying).

I think the Georgian president underesimated th Russian response - but I think the Russians greatly underestimated the US response.

Posted by OldSpook 2008-08-10 18:14|| 2008-08-10 18:14|| Front Page Top

#6 Russia reacted as one would expect them to react. Georgia screwed up and pulled the Bear's tail. The US gets heaped with indignation and Russia seems to get a free pass.

Posted by Sock Puppet of Doom 2008-08-10 18:31|| 2008-08-10 18:31|| Front Page Top

#7 OS,the current US ambassador to the UN is Zalmay Khalilzad, but you're right - the US rhetoric is certainly Boltanesque :)

Here are two links reporting on the US-Russian exchange at the UN Security Council session held today:

Voice of America

Reuters

The Reuters article includes this blast from US Khalilzad:

Khalilzad said Russia was waging "terror" in Georgia.

"We must condemn Russia's military assault on the sovereign state of Georgia ... including the targeting of civilians and the campaign of terror against the Georgian population," he said.
[emphasis added]

Khalilzad also accused Russia of preventing the withdrawal of Georgian forces from South Ossetia to prolong the conflict and prevent Georgia from laying down its arms.

"Since Russia is impeding Georgian forces from withdrawing, rejecting a cease-fire and continuing to carry out military attacks against civilian centers, its claims of a humanitarian purpose clearly are not credible," Khalilzad said.

Churkin was furious that Khalilzad used the word "terror".

That back-and-forth took place at a UN Security Council meeting.

Posted by mrp 2008-08-10 18:57|| 2008-08-10 18:57|| Front Page Top

#8 SPoD, the evidence to-date makes it pretty clear that the Russians were primed and ready to move. Any pretext, or none at all, would have sufficed.

Posted by mrp 2008-08-10 19:00|| 2008-08-10 19:00|| Front Page Top

#9 It's pretty much become SOP since 1948.

Posted by Fred 2008-08-10 20:19|| 2008-08-10 20:19|| Front Page Top

#10 I miss Yeltsin.

Posted by Cromoter Platypus6907 2008-08-10 21:34|| 2008-08-10 21:34|| Front Page Top

#11 Georgia made it's own bed. Regardless of what the Russians were prepared to do.

This is how WAR is waged, the "humanitarian" aspects are not a consideration if you decide you want to win for the long term and send a message.

Posted by Sock Puppet of Doom 2008-08-10 22:38|| 2008-08-10 22:38|| Front Page Top

#12 Stay safe, Mizzou Mafia, both you and yours. May God watch over all those facing the Russians until this is over.

Posted by trailing wife">trailing wife 2008-08-10 22:58|| 2008-08-10 22:58|| Front Page Top

#13 The Russian propaganda is pretty rich. The old Russian enemy the USA is back on the front burner as Russia sees us are weak and know most of our weapons are broken or worn out and not being replaced and our fighting military is occupied.

Posted by Sock Puppet of Doom 2008-08-10 23:35|| 2008-08-10 23:35|| Front Page Top

23:55 Red Dawg
23:40 Halliburton - Asymmetrical Reply Division
23:38 rjschwarz
23:36 rjschwarz
23:35 JosephMendiola
23:35 Sock Puppet of Doom
23:21 tipper
23:20 3dc
23:18 Abdominal Snowman
23:17 Halliburton Earthquake Division
23:08 liberalhawk
23:05 liberalhawk
23:01 tipper
22:58 trailing wife
22:49 Abu do you love
22:42 Barbara Skolaut
22:38 Sock Puppet of Doom
22:36 Barbara Skolaut
22:35 Slats Glans2659
22:20 trailing wife
22:17 KBK
22:15 Halliburton - Asymmetrical Reply Division
22:15 trailing wife
22:01 M. Murcek