Bush Warns Russia to Honor Cease-Fire Agreement

[Manuel]

President Bush today warned Russia to honor a cease-fire agreement in the conflict with Georgia, saying that Moscow's actions "raise serious questions about its intentions."

In a brief statement in the Rose Garden at the White House, Bush said he is sending Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Paris for ongoing negotiations and then to Tbilisi to show support for the Georgian people.

Bush said the administration is concerned about reports that Russian troops continue to move within Georgia, blocking major highways and ports.

"The United States stands with the democratically elected government of Georgia and insists that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia be respected," Bush said, adding later: "Russia must keep its word and act to end this crisis."

Bush Warns Russia to Honor Cease-Fire Agreement - washingtonpost.com

 

[CA95380]

Saw this on the news just a little bit ago.

I still do not know why the United States has the right to tell any country what they can do and what they can not do

"raise serious questions about its intentions."

Yeah right!

 

[sealybobo]

Saw this on the news just a little bit ago.

I still do not know why the United States has the right to tell any country what they can do and what they can not do



Yeah right!

Bush/Chaney/McCain love this conflict! They need to scare us right before the election. We aren't scared of Al Queda anymore so they will bring back the cold war.

PS. Remember 2002 Bush went to the UN and asked if he could invade Iraq. He promised he would come back a second time before invading Iraq. But he never went back. He knew France & Russia would vote against invading Iraq.

Add that to falsifying all the intelligence and lying us in. Man, I don't know how anyone can vote GOP this November. You would have to be mad.

And don't call me partisan, because the GOP has acted so poorly that you can only be called partisan if you are voting the bums back in for a 3rd term as commander and chief.

 

[Tech_Esq]

Bush/Chaney/McCain love this conflict! They need to scare us right before the election. We aren't scared of Al Queda anymore so they will bring back the cold war.

PS. Remember 2002 Bush went to the UN and asked if he could invade Iraq. He promised he would come back a second time before invading Iraq. But he never went back. He knew France & Russia would vote against invading Iraq.

Add that to falsifying all the intelligence and lying us in. Man, I don't know how anyone can vote GOP this November. You would have to be mad.

And don't call me partisan, because the GOP has acted so poorly that you can only be called partisan if you are voting the bums back in for a 3rd term as commander and chief.

Does that same broken record keep running in your head all the time?

 

[Ravi]

Given that the EU doesn't want Georgia in NATO, and we (well, some of we) do, what exactly are our plans to get Russia to toe the line? Go to war by ourselves? With what army?

 

[Tech_Esq]

Saw this on the news just a little bit ago.

I still do not know why the United States has the right to tell any country what they can do and what they can not do



Yeah right!

I may interest some of you on the "left" side of the spectrum to know what Richard Holbrook said about this issue on CSPAN. For those that don't remember, he filled several ambassador level jobs in the Clinton White House.

First, his opinion is that this is clearly Russian aggression. He said that anyone saying that the Georgians started this by attacking South Ossetia is merely "repeating Russian propaganda." That in fact this is the latest in a two year effort by Putin to undermine Georgia to oust its president or take the country. Russia had systematically imposed sanctions on Georgia by cutting energy, electric, food shipments. They have banned trade with Georgia and finally resorted to a tactic used by both the Nazis and the USSR of making the population citizens of its country, fomenting disorder and then attacking to "save" their "citizens."

Even though he is an Obama adviser, I have to give Mr. Holbrook credit. He saw this coming years ago and has been very outspoken about it. It is good to see there is some clear-eyed people on the left watching and analyzing these events. I wish they had more company.

 

[Tech_Esq]

Given that the EU doesn't want Georgia in NATO, and we (well, some of we) do, what exactly are our plans to get Russia to toe the line? Go to war by ourselves? With what army?

This is the analysis of "If the only tool you have is a hammer...."

Military solutions from the US are not appropriate for this situation. I would argue they aren't appropriate from any quarter for this issue (except Georgia and that's suicide but you do what you have to defend your country).

This is a time for diplomacy. The Russians have some things and want a lot more from the world community. Each one of those things are levers to use with Russia. What they need to understand at the end of the day is there is a price to be paid for aggression against its neighbors. They should not be allowed to gain even this one time. They need to be slapped hard by the world community, but the slap should be temporary. Like a suspended sentence.

We should also re-double our efforts to give them a big dose of what they don't want. That is well-armed former USSR member states politically distant from Moscow. We should also sign bi-lateral treaties with these countries guaranteeing their sovereignty. Then we can see what Russia's stomach for war really is. I don't think they really want a war, but I think they will take what they can get on the cheap.

 

[Ravi]

This is the analysis of "If the only tool you have is a hammer...."

Military solutions from the US are not appropriate for this situation. I would argue they aren't appropriate from any quarter for this issue (except Georgia and that's suicide but you do what you have to defend your country).

This is a time for diplomacy. The Russians have some things and want a lot more from the world community. Each one of those things are levers to use with Russia. What they need to understand at the end of the day is there is a price to be paid for aggression against its neighbors. They should not be allowed to gain even this one time. They need to be slapped hard by the world community, but the slap should be temporary. Like a suspended sentence.

We should also re-double our efforts to give them a big dose of what they don't want. That is well-armed former USSR member states politically distant from Moscow. We should also sign bi-lateral treaties with these countries guaranteeing their sovereignty. Then we can see what Russia's stomach for war really is. I don't think they really want a war, but I think they will take what they can get on the cheap.

Techie, isn't giving arms to former USSR member states what started this in a way? We gave Georgia arms, we encouraged them to be part of NATO, even though the EU was wise enough to not want them in. We jacked up their hopes that we'd fight their battles, and yet we won't.

 

[Tech_Esq]

Techie, isn't giving arms to former USSR member states what started this in a way?

No. What started this is Putin wanting, at a minimum, to exercise Russian hegemony over the former Soviet Republics. This is what Richard Holbrook had to say about Russia and Putin last year in the Washington Post:

There is no doubt that President Vladimir Putin, emboldened by America's difficulties and the effectiveness of his energy diplomacy (which sometimes looks like blackmail), is seeking to regain ground lost in the decade after the Soviet Union's collapse, while at home Putin pursues increasingly authoritarian, often brutal, policies. Only when Putin harshly criticized the United States during a conference in Munich last month (with Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Sens. John McCain, Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham sitting in front of him) did Americans pay attention -- and then only briefly. Now a key test of Russia's relationship with the West is at hand, and Russia's actions could determine whether there is another war in Europe.

I think that speaks for itself. We were asleep and Russia has been plotting.

We gave Georgia arms, we encouraged them to be part of NATO, even though the EU was wise enough to not want them in. We jacked up their hopes that we'd fight their battles, and yet we won't.

Ravi, You are going to have to show me all these arms sales to Georgia. The only thing I can find is a few old helicopters we sold them to fight Arab (supposedly AQ (probably Chechens) hiding out in the mountains and like $64 million for weapons. (that's not much when it comes to buying weapons). Now the Russians are bitching like crazy, but that looks like the Russians blowing smoke to try to take the heat off of them to me. Other than that, we've had a small training mission of maybe 150 troops to help train the Georgians since about 2002.

I haven't seen anywhere that we told them we'd fight their battles for them. Even if we did, I presume they know where their country is on a map. A glance at it would tell them it isn't likely we'll be riding to the rescue.

What we can do is make Georgia and Ukraine prickly pears for Russia to deal with and work on Russia diplomatically.

 

[CA95380]

Do we (The US) really want to "mess" with Russia?

 

[Ravi]

Ravi, You are going to have to show me all these arms sales to Georgia.

I'll look for it.

 

[Ravi]

I couldn't find it again, Techie, so I'll have to say I was wrong...unless I find it later.

 

[Tech_Esq]

I couldn't find it again, Techie, so I'll have to say I was wrong...unless I find it later.

Ok, post it if you find it. Like I say, I haven't been able to find it either.

 

[Ravi]

Okay. I do know we encourage them to belong to NATO and they did go to Iraq with us...and they certainly seem to think we OWE them. Their pres today was saying we were taking over their airports and seaports, sigh. What a mess.

Georgia gets relief aid via U.S. military - Russia - MSNBC.com

 

[Tech_Esq]

Okay. I do know we encourage them to belong to NATO and they did go to Iraq with us...and they certainly seem to think we OWE them. Their pres today was saying we were taking over their airports and seaports, sigh. What a mess.

Georgia gets relief aid via U.S. military - Russia - MSNBC.com

Well, whether we encourage them or not, the population of Georgia wants to belong to NATO. In the plebiscite, 72% voted in favor of requesting membership in NATO.

Assisting in NATO field operations is one of the ways that potential members demonstrate their willingness and ability to participate as a full member of NATO, so yes Georgia received special favorable comment for its willingness to participate so heavily in NATO missions.

I think the "humanitarian" mission is as good as we can do for them. Our humanitarian forces will no doubt place themselves in the way of the "peace-keeping" forces of Russia.

It's shocking that so many people are willing to standby in this day and age and watch as Russia rapes and loots its way through another sovereign country. "Forcing them to be peaceful" is the way Medvedev puts it I believe.

 

[Ravi]

Well, whether we encourage them or not, the population of Georgia wants to belong to NATO. In the plebiscite, 72% voted in favor of requesting membership in NATO.

Assisting in NATO field operations is one of the ways that potential members demonstrate their willingness and ability to participate as a full member of NATO, so yes Georgia received special favorable comment for its willingness to participate so heavily in NATO missions.

I think the "humanitarian" mission is as good as we can do for them. Our humanitarian forces will no doubt place themselves in the way of the "peace-keeping" forces of Russia.

It's shocking that so many people are willing to standby in this day and age and watch as Russia rapes and loots its way through another sovereign country. "Forcing them to be peaceful" is the way Medvedev puts it I believe.

I'm still not convinced Russia was totally wrong. And the EU doesn't want Georgia in NATO, I'm guessing because they don't want to fight a war for them against Russia.

This president sounds a bit loopy from what I was just reading on the New York Time's website.

 

[Tech_Esq]

I'm still not convinced Russia was totally wrong. And the EU doesn't want Georgia in NATO, I'm guessing because they don't want to fight a war for them against Russia.

This president sounds a bit loopy from what I was just reading on the New York Time's website.

I'm doing a lot more quoting of Richard Holbrook today than I'm comfortable with...lol. After all he is a big lib, a former ambassador for Clinton and an Obama supporter, but if you still have questions, just Google what he has been saying about Russia for the past several years up to and including today. At least you shouldn't be suspicious of his motives.

The EU issue. First, the EU is not a member of NATO, so they don't get a vote. But, some of the countries are members of both the EU and NATO. Georgian full NATO membership was opposed by 6 of 26 countries in the April meeting, but: (from NATO's web site)

At the Bucharest Summit, NATO Allies welcomed Ukraine's and Georgia's Euro-Atlantic aspirations for membership and agreed that these countries will become members of NATO.

So, I'm not sure what you report is accurate. The actual stated reason for opposition is they were concerned about not doing anything to irritate Russia. So, not far from right.

I'm not sure about the loopiness of their President. My guess is that if you were just attacked by Russia with 1.1 million men under arms to your 37,000, you'd sound a bit loopy too.....

 

[dilloduck]

I'm still not convinced Russia was totally wrong. And the EU doesn't want Georgia in NATO, I'm guessing because they don't want to fight a war for them against Russia.

This president sounds a bit loopy from what I was just reading on the New York Time's website.

They want to be free from Russian rule. Russia won't let them. Does that clear things up ?

 

[CA95380]

Interesting news report ....

"Just so scary" .... 12 year old girl escapes Georgian crisis; blames Georgia for aggression

Breaking News | Latest News | Current News - FOXNews.com

 

[dilloduck]

Interesting news report ....



Breaking News | Latest News | Current News - FOXNews.com

Propaganda flying everywhere.