Georgia severing ties with Russia

Associated Press

August 29, 2008 at 6:11 PM EDT

TBILISI — Georgia severed diplomatic ties with Moscow on Friday to protest the presence of Russian troops on its territory. Russia said the move would only make things worse.

With European Union leaders set Monday to discuss in Brussels how to deal with an increasingly assertive Russia, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin angrily warned Europe not to do America's bidding and said Moscow does not fear Western sanctions.

Russia has faced isolation over its offensive in Georgia and stands alone in its recognition of breakaway regions South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The U.S. and Europe have closed ranks in condemning Russia's actions but are struggling to find an effective response.

EU leaders are not expected to impose sanctions on Russia at their summit but may name a special envoy to Georgia to ensure that a ceasefire is observed, French and Belgian officials said.

Georgia's diplomats in Russia will leave Moscow on Saturday, the Foreign Ministry said. Georgia's leadership followed through on a call from lawmakers who voted late Thursday to break off ties with Russia.

Russia criticized the move, saying it would not help mend ruined ties.

Both nations' consulates, however, will remain open — important for the many Georgian citizens living in Russia. Under the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, breaking off diplomatic ties does not automatically lead to a cut in consular relations.

The diplomatic break will require Georgia and Russia to negotiate through third countries if they negotiate at all — a sticky situation because Russia sees Western nations as biased in Georgia's favour. Georgia, which had pushed for a greater role for international organizations, could see it as an advantage.

"We found ourselves in an awkward situation when a country militarily invading and occupying our country, then recognizing part of its territories, is trying to create a sense of normalcy" by maintaining diplomatic relations, Foreign Minister Eka Tkeshelashvili said in Sweden.

But the move may bring little practical change, because there were few signs of any productive diplomacy even before the war. Trade between Russia and Georgia is also minimal, following Russian bans in 2006 on Georgia's major exports — wine and mineral water — and other products.

Only a fraction of foreign investment in Georgia comes from Russia, while a Russian ban on direct flights to and from Georgia was lifted this year but flights were halted again as the war erupted. Overland travel is already severely restricted because of impassable mountain ranges, and main routes linking Georgia and Russia pass through South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

The five-day war broke out Aug. 7 when Georgia attacked South Ossetia in a bid to wrest control from separatists. Russia sent in tanks, troops and bombers, and has maintained a powerful military presence.

Kurt Volker, the U.S. Ambassador to NATO, said Georgia shouldn't be blamed for sparking the crisis.

"It wasn't a Georgian attack on Tskhinvali that launched all of this," Mr. Volker said in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corp., referring to South Ossetia's capital. "It was Russian pressure over a long period of time and then shelling coming from South Ossetians."

Still, he said Georgia's attack on South Ossetia "was not a wise thing to do because as we've seen Russia was prepared to launch a major invasion."

Russia further angered the West and startled its supporters by recognizing South Ossetia and Abkhazia on Tuesday.

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili applauded the lack of global support for recognition of the breakaway regions.

"Today it is a fight between the civilized and the uncivilized worlds," Mr. Saakashvili said on visit to Poti, a Black Sea port still shadowed by Russian forces who have set up positions nearby.

Mr. Putin said Russia defended the lives of its citizens during the war in Georgia.

"Such a country will not be in isolation," Mr. Putin said in an excerpt of an interview with Germany's ARD television shown on state-run Russian television.

Source

Commentary in the Globe and Mail by the Ottawa Mens Centre

Ottawa Mens Centre.com, from Ottawa, Canada wrote: "An Ambassadorial understatement" "Georgia's attack on South Ossetia was not a wise thing to do", nope, but else can a war mongering president of the United States say when they encourage a mad cap president to provoke Russia by murdering hundreds if not thousands of civilians with a shelling attack on a city long enough and brutal enough to cause a Russian response even while the Russians waited to give George Bush to call off his maddog in Georgia.

I'm sickened by the horsemanure coming from Bush Rice and the American Olympic Spinning Team.

Putin has called a spade a spade, its embarrasing to the USA who think they can just laugh it off as just some crazy allegation by a former KGB agent.

Sorry, lots of facts support Russians concerns.
Ask all those Russian or Georgians who live in the west.
Ask any objective expert on the area.

The long term prediction is that Mad Misha will be booted out of Georgian politics and that Georgia will choose a new government that seeks prosperity and democracy without prostituting themselves in dysfunctional violent relationships controlled by Washington. www.OttawaMensCentre.com Ottawa Mens Centre.com, from Ottawa, Canada wrote: Cold War Censorship like never before.
With rare exceptions, Washington propaganda has become
the official cold war gruel for the masses.
Interviews get terminated, cut off, interfered with if they even
appear to be going the wrong way.
If the United States wants to make it self hated,
its sure doing a great job.

Thanks A B from Calgary;
who wrote "Georgian villages 'deliberately torched'
Destruction in villages around the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali, was caused by intentional burning - not armed combat, the rights watchdog said.

"Human Rights Watch researchers personally witnessed Ossetian militias looting and burning down ethnic Georgian villages during their research in the area," said Rachel Denber, deputy director of the Europe and Central Asia division of Human Rights Watch.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=809a01b1-620e-4627-b2ff-8958a8663166

Violence begets violence, War, is very easy to start and a hell of lot harder to stop, Its a lot easier to inflame a war than put the flames out. The United States did nothing to stop this war when it knew it was going to start, and gave tacit approval by failing to even talk to Misha when Misha shut off the lines with Moscow after starting his invasion.
And That's a real war crime if ever there was one.

As usual Washington thinks its above the Rule of Law and thats something that the history books will recall to the shame of American History.

Now, if only Moscow would put English subtitles on its Russian language programing!
Then we could hear that all important "tone of voice".
www.OttawaMensCentre.com Ottawa Mens Centre.com, from Ottawa, Canada wrote: "Putin: I strongly object to the way this question is formulated.", Putin being polite. This was in response to a question that is usually called "when did you stop hitting your wife" ,
The "Washington Mouth" Matthew Chance" asked "Can you guarantee to us that Russia will never again use its militarily forces against a neighboring state?"

This interview appears to have been crafted at CIA headquarters using a team of psychologists designed to bait Putin, suggest responses to him prior to asking the substantive question. If Putin had fallen for the trap, the western media would have had material to last them for years.

Matthew Chance was in Georgia, engaged in delivering of Washington's media announcements all with a biased incorrect, entirely misleading account of how Misha started a war and forced a Russian response.

CNN has as much credibility as Gobels or the Baghdad Mouth to cover up Washington's indirect war crimes all in the name of a paranoid foreign cold war policy that conveniently occurs right when the Republican's need an excuse to look like they are "talking tough" , a combination that is guaranteed to cause a meteoric increase in the approval ratings. The BBC is just as sickening.

The average western person has trouble locating Georgia on the map and would not know what alphabet or language is in use, let alone how to recognize that Washington is feeding the world a pack of lies.
For news on Russia watch real Russian news at RussiaToday.com or on youtube or on satellite for free at G5 97 degrees west, 11966 Mhz Horizontal. On the same satellite you can see also for free AlJazeera.net/english , Russia Today can be credited for giving a lot of airtime to American experts on Russia including the former secretary for defense and the Brookings Institute to name a few. Check out those informative interviews from Americans. www.OttawaMensCentre.com

  Ottawa Mens Centre.com, from Ottawa, Canada wrote: PUTIN was making guarded understatements. Check these facts out.
"A small group of American soldiers along with US advisors in civilian clothes stand huddled around laptop computers, whispering with officers and looking at images on the screen. As soon as a visitor walks over to see what they're up to, they snap the computers shut. A man in his mid-30s, wearing a blue polo shirt, explains: "We're the worst-informed people in Tbilisi. I can't even tell you what we're doing here."

"As of the end of last week, the roughly 160 American military advisors still stood their ground in Georgia."

"SakarTVelo, a Georgian military television station with the motto "We serve those who serve," was using a 1932 quotation attributed to Adolf Hitler to advertise for new recruits: "Only through the force of weapons" could lost territory be regained."

Commentary again,
Globe Readers need to know that Saakashvili copies the above mentioned ww2 character AH very well in many ways. He talks like AH, he uses AH reasoning, he has the same crazy glazed over eyes, and even combs his hair in an identical fashion as AH. That begs the question, what politician in his right mind would so publicly show their admiration for such a person. The answer is, only the very sick mind of a psychopath.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,574812,00.html

Congratulations to Spiegel.de

www.OttawaMensCentre.com

SOURCE