White House: US Reviewing 'Entire Relationship' With Russia

[maddezmom]

Source: AFP

CRAWFORD, Texas (AFP)--The United States is reviewing its "entire relationship" with Russia, the White House said Monday, charging that Moscow is still not complying with a cease-fire deal for the Georgia conflict.

"We're reviewing our entire relationship with Russia," said spokesman Tony Fratto. He said there is "no question that Russia has not lived up to the cease- fire agreement" brokered by France.



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Pentagon declares Russia not honouring Georgia deal
Mon Aug 25, 2008 5:34pm BST

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon said on Monday that Russia has not met its obligations to withdraw troops from Georgia under a French-brokered ceasefire agreement.

"There continues to be a large presence of Russian forces in Georgia," U.S. Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters. "It's fair to say that they are still not living up to the terms of the ceasefire agreement."

French President Nicolas Sarkozy brokered the truce but the plan is vaguely worded and Russia claims a mandate to keep large numbers of troops in Georgia, a small but strategically important country with a pro-Western leader and two major energy pipelines.

Moscow has withdrawn most of its forces from central and western Georgia and says those still in place are peacekeepers needed to avert more bloodshed and protect the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

more:http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKN2552247320080825

[grannie4peace]

1. i'm afraid

they want to start a war!!!

[kestrel91316]

2. Translation: We're gonna nuke the Evil Empire so we can

cancel the elections that we are gonna SOOOOO shellacked in.

[SpiralHawk]

3. "Relationships is Hard Work. Smirk." - Commander AWOL

"Therefore, I has decidered that I is going to continue my World Record Vacationing at the Imperial Pig Farm Upon Crawford. As usual."

- Commander AWOL

[bushmeister0]

4. Great! What are they going to do in the four months they've got left?

This bunch is the lamest of lameducks, what are they up to?

Start the new Cold War and leave it in Obama's lap?

Of course, they may be thinking McCain's a shoe-in, in their usual rosey way of looking at things, so they may just think they're seting the table for the next four years.

Or, they're not planning on leaving . . .

[Junkdrawer]

7. I know you're following the Black Sea events....

I have $5 that says that a serious Superpower standoff occurs and makes US-Russian relations Issue #1 in the corporate media before the election, possibly in the next few weeks.

[MadrasT]

11. That is precisely my biggest fear.

:scared:

[bushmeister0]

12. I think that's a pretty good bet.

Keep an eye out for news of the flag ship of the Black Sea fleet missle cruiser Moskva leaving Sevastopol.

[LanternWaste]

24. I dunno about that

I dunno about that. To date, Turkey has allowed only three ships to pass through the Bosporus, a guided destroyer (the McFaul), a command ship (the Whitney), and a coast guard cutter (the Dallas).

Those three ships seem woefully unprepared to send anything even a message of intent, let alone an actual naval standoff when compared to the Russian Black Sea fleet (six missile boats, four missile corvettes, five ASW corvettes, two attack subs,two guided missile frigates, three guided destroyers, and one guided missile cruiser).

Maybe the Turks will let more ships through-- but if not, I think the U.S. is forced into an impasse...

[Deny and Shred]

25. All it takes is proximity, not equal strength to get hostilities started

I too fear starting hostilities is what the Pentagon wants. They see the end of the gravy train coming ... unless ...
The US was trying to claim the sppedboats that Iran had were a threat. A destroyer would do much better.
I say recruit Filipino Monkey for the job.

[LanternWaste]

33. You think that the Pentagon wants to go to war with Russia?

You think that the Pentagon wants to go to war with Russia? The same pentagon who has been desperate in their cries to the White House that the armed forces are spread too thin, are not equipped well, and cannot possibly engage in another conflict with a reasonable chance of success?

(Too many satellites from too many countries looking precisely at the Russian Black Sea Fleet would deny the U.S. the ability to claim "they" started it...)

[Junkdrawer]

26. All the better to make Russia seem like the big, bad bully. n/t

[LanternWaste]

31. How would that be accomplished

How would that be accomplished seeing that the Russian Black Sea fleet is not, in and of itself, posturing in an aggressive fashion?

(Unless you think this is all a clever American ruse to go to war with Russia to shore up the GOP base to ensure a McCain win in Nov. That nutty little waste-of-brain material has been floating around on DU today....)

[Junkdrawer]

32. "US warships to dock in Georgia's flashpoint port"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3454331

[LanternWaste]

34. And I'm sure you've seen the followup

And I'm sure you've seen the followup that the U.S. ships may be leaving, yes?

[Junkdrawer]

35. Leaving? I saw a report that the Navy can no longer confirm a Poti destination...

Got a link? :shrug:

BTW: Odd how little ink this gets in the media, huh?

[LanternWaste]

37. CNN this morning.

CNN this morning. No link...

It's not at all odd to me that it gets little play. It's nothing more than being backstage at a sideshow to a geopolitical sideshow-- not that many would agree with that positions, but we've seen much larger naval deployments to hotter world spots with no adverse military consequences to any involved, I simply don't think this is going to be anything more than a very good exercise for the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

I'm just not going to make this out to be a flash point, a hot point, the beginning of a contained conflict or any other hullabaloo.

Countries make noise.

[leftchick]

38. it isn't odd, it is by design

distract the easily distracted tv watchers while the US causes/fakes a crises with big bad Russia, never mind we have no business in their neighborhood, and BAM! Instant rah rah GO USA! Flags appear and the war/game is on. With the congressional democrats blessings no doubt.

:(

[Junkdrawer]

39. It may also be like the 1981 Psyops that proceeded Able Archer 83....

and, what many experts agree, was the closest the US and Russia ever got to all-out nuclear war.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Able_Archer_83

KAL-007 was part of the fallout of this.

[leftchick]

40. Interesting

Able Archer 83
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

Able Archer 83 was a ten-day NATO command post exercise starting on November 2, 1983 that spanned Western Europe, centred on SHAPE's Headquarters situated at Casteau, north of the Belgian city of Mons. The exercise simulated a period of conflict escalation, culminating in a coordinated nuclear release.<1> It incorporated a new, unique format of coded communication, radio silences, participation by heads of state, and a simulated DEFCON 1 nuclear alert.

The realistic nature of the exercise, coupled with deteriorating relations between the United States and the Soviet Union and the anticipated arrival of Pershing II nuclear missiles in Europe, led some in the USSR to believe that Able Archer 83 was a ruse of war, obscuring preparations for a genuine nuclear first strike.<1><2><3><4> In response, the Soviets readied their nuclear forces and placed air units in East Germany and Poland on alert.<5><6> This relatively obscure incident is considered by many historians to be the closest the world has come to nuclear war since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.<7> The threat of nuclear war abruptly ended with the conclusion of the Able Archer 83 exercise on November 11


No wonder Russia is backing away from NATO. It has become obvious what their really purpose is, as a surrogate US military force.

[phiddle]

5. Bush is looking again into Pooty-Poot's soul

[BrklynLiberal]

16. Guess he did not see so clearly the first time....What a total schmuck.

[Mojorabbit]

6. I watched

a remake of ON THE BEACH last night. Scared the crap out of me..

[bushmeister0]

15. Watch the "Bedford Incident."

Now, that's scary!

[sofa king]

8. "We're evaluating how badly we can fuck things up before we have to leave."

[MasonJar]

9. George W needs to stop everything he is doing now...and that means

everything. I am sick of all these last minute executive disasters.

[paparush]

10. Apparently attacking Iran is 'so' July. They're rolling out the new fall lineup.

F E A R..can ya smell it?

[samsingh]

13. who in the white house even know where russia is?

[tavalon]

21. Condi is supposed to..............

But I'll admit, I have my doubts.

[samsingh]

27. exactly - she's incredibly stupid - see her actions pre 911

[MadrasT]

14. This isn't going to go away.

And I hate it.

:kick: and 5th R!

[Froward69]

17. Looking for more FEAR

to proclaim... as they cannot win on issues.

[Gregorian]

18. Bush doesn't speak for America!

The White House speaks for itself.

[Pete2069]

19. Made to order scare tactic for McCain's Campaign

Bush with his corporate backing has destroy our country back
to the early 1900's with his arrogant cowboy corporate
policies.
Scare the .... out of Americans so they will vote for the war
party
Bush stated he was a war president bring them on ,, and McSame
say he is the 100 year plus war man.
So the Exxon's , Halliburton's  and other elite of war
contractors say they are with McSame ,  BRING THEN THE .... ON
, we don't care because we don't serve only the little people
do.

[tavalon]

20. I'm wondering why they decided to wait until the end of this admin. to roll out Cod War 2.0

They could have benefited so much more from it if they had rolled it out in the Spring of 2001 and even more so had they tied the Russians to Al Queda, I mean, after all, the Russians were in Afghanistan for a long time and so has Al Queda (apparently, the head dude of Al Queda was on some country's payroll. The name of that country escapes me right now) See!

This administration is too incompetent to have figured out they could have resurrected their old boogie man long before now. I guess I'm happy that they're this incompetent, but sheesh!

[amandabeech]

42. If the timing were purely political, I think that October would have been the time.

In August when people are on vacation or thinking about back-to-school or just trying to enjoy what's left of the summer, nobody's focusing much on a small country that no one's heard of. Add on two weeks of conventions, and there's not too much extra air in the media for something like this.

That's why I think that this much fuss was not intended, but resulted from a series of miscalculations. First, either the U.S. was not clear enough with Saakashvili about the fact that we were not going to get into it against the Russians for him, or the U.S. was of two minds, one Cheney's and the other somewhat more rational types like Gates, maybe Condi and some military types.

Saakashvili seems like something of a hothead considering his actions against the Georgian people, and have either read into what was said by administration officials what he wanted to hear and not what was intended. Saakashvili could also have been listening to political operatives, like Scheumann (sp) and possibly Rove, who may have been either freelancing or working for Cheney and/or McCain, neither of is the Commander in Chief.

The Russians may have miscalculated the long term consequences of their reaction, which to me has been and continues to be disproportionate. Putin's Czarist/Stalinist threats make him look more like George Bush in the Middle East--a bully. Look around the world. Has Bush's adventures made him or the U.S. popular? No. Are other nations more likely to cooperate with us? No. Bullies are not respected, nor can they really lead. People usually try to avoid bullies, and my do what they say for some time. However, there is usually a confrontation or a backlash, and the bully is put in its place. Eventually. It is happening with Bush and it will happen with Putin.

We should all hope that cooler heads prevail on both sides. We have the opportunity to get rid of Bush, and that will help. However, Putin looks like a Czar, and getting more rational leadership in Moscow may not happened soon or easily.

[phantom power]

22. The Obama campaign could easily turn this to their advantage...

Run an ad campaign that says "The GOP has fucked things up so bad we're now in immediate danger of ending up in another cold war with Russia. Can we afford four more years?" We can also tie it right in with "100 years."

But to do it, they must get their ad-campaign out before McCain's people run theirs. If we get our framing out before McCain can, we win that round. And it will be a big round, since everybody except Bush's faithful 20% will be scared to death of another cold war.

[lovuian]

23. Russia just took over Georgia and the US better get a grip

Putin is ticked off and has the nukes

[kskiska]

28. Ooooh, no more visits to the ranch for you, Pootie-Poot.

It's just as well. Pootie wanted to ride horses and there weren't any. Maybe * should do some more soul-gazing.

[PFunk]

29. Translation: The Cold War is back on.

Which is funny because one of the repugs crowing 'moments' was Reggan 'winning' the Cold War (yeah right, most of us here really knew what happened). Only to see Bushco restart it again (I real good way of pissing on a repug icon's legacy-but hey this is Bush folks) to hopefully hand it over to the next guy. Which I hope Obama has enough sense to 'nip' this thing in the bud and set things right again. Otherwise it's WWIII folks.

[farmboxer]

30. Military Industrial Complex wants a new cold war and so do

Republicans.

[ogneopasno]

36. Boy, good thing we had a Soviet expert on staff!

That was a real help, wasn't it? Someone who spoke the language, who said she felt "more at home" in Moscow than anywhere in the U.S., was an expert on Soviet policy.

[yellowcanine]

41. A little SOUL searching, as it were.