This Georgian War smells like "Wag the Dog", and the Prez of Georgia talks too damn much!

[FrenchieCat]

Something doesn't smell right here.
The entire "war" reminds me of Wag the Dog, the movie.

I officially now consider this an election year manufactured "crisis".

CNN seems like the chosen PR Firm.

There are hundreds of thousands dying in Darfur, hundreds of thousand uncounted dead in Iraq, but this Russian/Georgian conflict is what has our attention?

[nc4bo]

1. it smells like black crude is on the menu.

There has been almost non stop play on Georgia and Russia. It's a damn horror film marathon running unchecked.

It's a set up.

[FrenchieCat]

2. CNN can't even show real devastation or real refugees.......

they say the don't have "access" to show that....but they have access to show the crowds listening to the President of Georgia speak.

Yeah....sure. :eyes:

Shades of Saddam's statue mixed in to a "wag the dog" war.

I'm calling it early and will bookmark. The truth will come out eventually.

[Supersedeas]

26. but you do see a lot of 'staged' antics

[TomClash]

3. Methinks . . .

. . . the "manufacturing' has just begun.

[FrenchieCat]

4. Looks like a "B" movie thus far.

They can only find one older woman to speak of the devastation to her apartment building thus far. Guess the camera crews are still at the Rally on the Square "Set".

[Ichingcarpenter]

5. Bush's War in Georgia

11/08/08 "ICH" -- - Washington's bloody fingerprints are all over the invasion of South Ossetia. Georgia President Mikhail Saakashvili would never dream of launching a massive military attack unless he got explicit orders from his bosses at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. After all, Saakashvili owes his entire political career to American power-brokers and US intelligence agencies. If he disobeyed them, he'd be gone in a fortnight. Besides an operation like this takes months of planning and logistical support; especially if it's perfectly timed to coincide with the beginning of the Olympic games. (another petty neocon touch) That means Pentagon planners must have been working hand in hand with Georgian generals for months in advance. Nothing was left to chance.

Another tell-tale sign of US complicity is the way President Bush has avoided ordering Georgian troops to withdraw from a province that has been under the protection of international peacekeepers. Remember how quickly Bush ordered Sharon to withdraw from his rampage in Jenin? Apparently it's different when the aggression serves US interests.

Saakashvili has been working closely with the Bush administration ever since he replaced Eduard Shevardnadze as president in 2003. That's when US-backed NGOs and western intelligence agencies toppled the Shevardnadze regime in the so-called color-coded "Rose Revolution". Since then, Saakashvili has done everything that's been asked of him; he's built up the military and internal security apparatus, he's allowed US advisers to train and arm Georgian troops, he's applied for membership in NATO, and he's been a general nuisance to his Russian neighbors. Now, he has sent his army into battle ostensibly on Washington's orders. At least, that is how the Kremlin sees it. Vladimir Vasilyev, the Chairman of Russia's State Duma Security Committee, summed up the feelings of many Russians like this: "The further the situation unfolds, the more the world will understand that Georgia would never be able to do all this without America. In essence, the Americans have prepared the force, which destroys everything in South Ossetia, attacks civilians and hospitals."

True. That's why Bush is flying Georgian troops back home from Iraq to join the fighting rather than pursuing peaceful alternatives. Bush still believes that political solutions will naturally arise through the use of force. Unfortunately, his record is rather spotty.

But that still doesn't answer the larger question: Why would Saakashvili embark on such a pointless military adventure when he had no chance of winning? After all, Russia has 20 times the firepower and has been conducting military maneuvers anticipating this very scenario for months. Does Uncle Sam really want another war that bad or is the fighting in South Ossetia is just head-fake for a larger war that is brewing in the Straits of Hormuz?

Mikhail Saakashvili is a western educated lawyer and a favorite of the neocons. He rose to power on a platform of anti-corruption and economic reform which emphasized free market solutions and privatization. Instead of raising the standard of living for the Georgian people, Saakashvili has been running up massive deficits to expand the over-bloated military. Saakashvili has made huge purchases of Israeli and US-made (offensive) weapon systems and has devoted more than "4.2% of GDP (more than a quarter of all Georgian public income) to military hardware.

The Chairman of Russia's State Duma Security Committee, Vladimir Vasiliyev, summed it up like this:

"Georgia could have used the years of Saakashvili's presidency in different ways - to build up the economy, to develop the infrastructure, to solve social issues both in South Ossetia, Abkhazia and the whole state. Instead, the Georgian leadership with president Saakashvili undertook consistent steps to increase its military budget from US$30 million to $1 billion - Georgia was preparing for a military action." Naturally, Russia is worried about these developments and has brought the matter up repeatedly at the United Nations but to no avail.


>>>>.snip
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20478.htm

[FrenchieCat]

6. Aye.......!

My letter to CNN's Situation room:


Something doesn't smell right here in this whole Georgia "war" set up. It quite reminds me of Wag the Dog, the movie. There is a phony quality to the reporting, etc...

No video/phone cameras to report the "Devastation" or "refugees" due to lack of "access", yet there are "Blogger" reporters galore, and plenty of cameras to record the Talkative American Educated Georgian President mention John McCain. Oookay.

Unfortunately, after closely watching CNN report on this "conflict", I and folks that I discuss politics with officially rule this "incident" as an election year manufactured "crisis" to benefit John McCain (see Saddam Statue and Private Jessica Lynch for recent past PR stunts CNN has participated in).

I guess there is a need to elevate John "I know how to win Wars" McCain.

Oh, and please tell McCain that I am not anymore a Georgian than I was a German. I am an American, and he wasn't speaking for me.

There are hundreds of thousands dying in Darfur, hundreds of thousand uncounted dead in Iraq, but this Russian/Georgian conflict is what has our attention? I don't believe CNN. You guys aren't as good as you think.

Yours Truly,
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXx

[FrenchieCat]

7. CNN caught using footage of the wrong town in attempting to

show war footage!


seemslikeadream (1000+ posts) Wed Aug-13-08 12:27 AM
Original message
CNN use footage of Tskhinvali ruins to cover Georgian report
Edited on Wed Aug-13-08 12:28 AM by seemslikeadream
In one of its news bulletins CNN has shown Russian tanks and ruined buildings which they claimed are in the Georgian town of Gori. Russian cameraman of the Russian TV channel, who did the footage in reality in South Ossetian city of Tskhinvali says CNN aired footage of Tskhinvali district close to former Russian peacekeepers headquarters, nearly all of them were killed by Georgians after the footage was made.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVNblG9PJMk



http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3787526

[FrenchieCat]

8. And it's allover the Internet(s)

Google---> Tskhinvali ruins and see all of the various blogs calling out CNN on this!

Oooh shit, hope they get caught with their PR manufacturing news selves.

[FrenchieCat]

9. Kick!

[Raine]

10. I agree

McSHAME gets out there looking all presidential but CONVENIETLY this all happens while Obama is in Hawaii on vacation. x(

[FrenchieCat]

11. A Classic set up, and the media is in on it too!

[FrenchieCat]

12. more.....

Spiegel: "it is quite possible that the Russian advance into central Georgia never happened."

The war is over but people are still afraid. The Georgian town of Gori which came under attack from the Russian air force has become a ghost town. But slowly refugees are making their way back home.

snip

There are thousands of holes in the walls of the buildings. Residents claim the Russian fighter jets swept into the city at a low altitude -- and from the looks of things, that really did happen. But did Russian tanks really roll into the town, as the Georgians claimed? No one who lives here will admit to having seen this. If they are to be believed, the Georgian army had already pulled out two days ago -- or even fled.

Welcome to the news chaos in the Caucasus conflict. It seems that no one really knows what happened. Both sides are blaming each other, and adding fuel to the fire with a constant barrage of terrible reports of attacks, fatalities, the alleged invasion of Georgia by the Russians and new attacks from both sides. The war in the Caucasus is without a doubt also a public relations war.

Most of the residents of Gori have left town over the last few days. The few remaining residents have hidden in the basements of the massive apartment blocks or simply hoped that their home would not be hit. It is impossible to work out what really happened in Gori and the surrounding area -- perhaps it will never be known. It is certain is that there were Russian attacks, but it is quite possible that the Russian advance into central Georgia never happened.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,571823,00.html

[Spazito]

13. Yep, it is as orchestrated as the Opening Ceremonies in Bejing...

what gets me is how unsubtle the bush admin/mccain cabal are about this, smacks of desperation, imo.

[Top Cat]

14. I smell Bush and McCains ass all over this

[FrenchieCat]

15. yep.........

the "get our wars on to get elected" duo!

[FrenchieCat]

16. More.....Reuters caught with 'fake' pictures from Georgia? As Well, CNN

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3793968

[Mme. Defarge]

17. Article fron "The Guardian"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/aug/14/georgia.russia

[malaise]

24. Another article from The Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/14/russia.georgia

[MzShellG]

18. I had that same feeling in the back of my mind. nt

[cliffordu]

19. Yep - like it was supposed to help McCain show his

international street cred by solving the problem between the breakaway section and Georgia - hence the speeches and the contact BY HIS STAFF...I don't think anyone involved thought it would get any bigger than a couple of shells tossed back and forth.....

And the Russians used the opportunity to take "thier" territory back......oops.

[FVZA_Colonel]

27. Only now, it seems the Georgian Prez has basically said to McCain "put up or shut up!"

It looks to me like we could turn this into a good example of the dangers of sabre rattling.

[Dover]

20. I think this may explain a the bigger picture in Georgia and beyond.

It ain't about McCain (except perhaps peripherally to his advantage if you believe the propaganda).
It's about strategic interests and pipelines.


Israel, U.S., Georgia, Turkey, Egypt, etc. and the Pipelines:


Turkey, Israel committed to giant energy project

Monday, July 14, 2008

Turkey and Israel are concluding talks to commit to undertake a thorough feasibility study on a new pipeline system this week. The project aims to transport oil, natural gas, water and electricity from southern Turkey to southern Israel

http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=109722

On The Pipeline Politics:

http://mvdg.wordpress.com/2007/11/13/pipeline-politics-israel/

--------

Israel proposes crude pipeline from Georgia to Eastern Asia

Israel may be on its way to becoming a crude oil transport bridge to the Far East. The Eilat-Ashkelon Pipeline Company (EAPC) is leading an international initiative to channel crude oil from Jihan in southeast Turkey to eastern Asia, using its infrastructure in Israel. A consortium of energy firms and international shipping companies will manage the initiative, and a memorandum of understanding is expected to be signed within three months.

The oil would be pumped in Georgia and Azerbaijan, and be brought to Turkey by pipeline. From Turkey it will be shipped by tanker to Ashkelon, whence it would be transported by pipeline to Eilat. In Eilat, the oil will be loaded onto a new set of tankers for transportation to eastern Asia.

The Ashkelon-Eilat Pipeline Company is a privately owned firm, owned jointly by Israel and the government of Iran. Tehran is currently not an active partner, and it and Israel are involved in international arbitration (Israel refuses to pay the Iran a compensation for its EAPC’s shares and other debts which are estimated to be around US$ 5 billion) ..cont'd

http://www.labournet.net/world/0801/pipeline1.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eilat-Ashkelon_Pipeline

---------

The War on Lebanon and the Battle for Oil
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=CHO20060726&articleId=2824

--------


Egypt, Israel: A New Pipeline and Institutionalizing Camp David

Map - http://www.stratfor.com/mmf/115751


With the May 1 opening of an undersea natural gas pipeline linking Egypt and Israel, Cairo has effectively become Israel’s only direct regular energy supplier. Economics aside, the pipeline has a strong geopolitical underpinning.

Egypt officially started natural gas shipments to Israel on May 1, according to state-owned Israel Electric Corp. This natural gas pipeline effectively makes Egypt the only direct regular energy supplier to Israel.

The new underwater pipeline runs 63 miles from the Egyptian city of El Arish on the northern Mediterranean coast to the Israeli port of Ashkelon. By going underwater and bypassing the Palestinian territories, the pipeline is largely insulated from insurgent attacks. The pipeline emerged from an agreement signed in 2005 with the East Mediterranean Gas Co. for Egypt to supply 1.7 billion cubic meters of natural gas over 20 years. Israel Electric estimates that Egyptian natural gas will supply more than 20 percent of Israel’s electricity over the next decade.

It is no surprise that Cairo has kept mum on this energy agreement. In late February when the pipeline was undergoing commercial testing, Muslim Brotherhood jumped at the opportunity to lambaste the Egyptian government for quietly making deals with Israel while Palestinians were starving in the Gaza Strip. Already on edge in dealing with soaring food prices, the last thing Cairo needs is to give more fodder to the opposition...cont'd

http://www.stratfor.com/analysis/egypt_israel_new_pipeline_and_institutionalizing_camp_david


Iraq-Israel oil pipeline 'to reopen'
By Anton La Guardia
21/06/2003

Israel's finance minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, predicted yesterday that the British-era oil pipeline from Iraq's northern oilfields through Jordan to the Israeli port city of Haifa would be reopened.

"It won't be long when you will see Iraqi oil flowing to Haifa," Mr Netanyahu told a group of British investors in London. "It is just a matter of time until the pipeline is reconstituted and Iraqi oil will flow to the Mediterranean."

The pipeline was closed during the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948 and has never been used since. Its rehabilitation would dramatically enhance regional economic co-operation after decades of war and mutual suspicion..cont'd


http://www.prisonplanet.com/iraq_israel_oil_pipeline_to_reopen.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/apr/20/israelandthepalestinians.oil


In The Pipeline: More Regime Change
Asia Times
Apr 4, 2003

An Israeli daily, Ha'aretz, has reported that Israel is seriously considering restarting a strategically important oil pipeline that once transferred oil from the Iraqi city of Mosul to Israel's northern port of Haifa. Given the Israeli claim of a positive US approach to the plan, the Israeli project provides grounds for a theory that the ongoing war against Iraq is in part a joint US, British and Israeli design for reshaping the Middle East to serve their particular interests, including their oil requirements.

According to the daily, Israeli National Infrastructure Minister Yosef Paritzky considers the pipeline project as economically justifiable as it would reduce the country's cost of oil imports. This is currently very high, as Israel imports oil from Russia. There would also be a strategic justification for the project, as importing oil from an oil supplier in Israel's close proximity would increase its fuel security and would address its major handicap, that is, its total dependence on imported fuel from far-away suppliers. While living in the oil-rich Middle East, the Israelis cannot count on regional oil exporters because of the existing Arab-Israeli conflict. Prior to the 1979 Iranian revolution, Iran, which was on friendly terms with Israel, provided its oil requirements. That arrangement ended in 1979 when the new Iranian revolutionary regime cut ties with Israel.

Paritzky has requested an assessment of the Mosul-Haifa pipeline's current state, which ceased to operate in 1948. Presumably, the pipeline will require major repair and/or upgrading, if not an overhaul, as it has not been in use for more than half a century. However, its full operation, including the required repair work, needs the consent of Iraq, the would-be oil supplier, and Syria, a country neighboring both Iraq and Israel, through which the pipeline passes.

Iraqi consent will be out of the question as long as the current regime of Saddam Hussein is in power. As acknowledged by the Israeli minister, a prerequisite for the project is, therefore, a new regime in Baghdad with friendly ties with Israel. However, such a regime, if ever it comes to power, will still require Syria's consent to operationalize the pipeline. Given the overall political environment in the Middle East and Israel's continued occupation of Syria's Golan Heights, the existing Syrian regime will never grant its consent as long as the status quo prevails. As stated by the Iranian government, during the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88) when Iraq enjoyed cordial and close relations with Israel's mentor, the United States, Israel tried, but failed, to resume the oil flow through the pipeline. Syria, a friend of Iran and an enemy of Iraq, blocked the flow of Iraqi oil.

Hence, unless the pipeline were redirected through Jordan, another country bordering Israel and Iraq with normalized relations with Israel, the pipeline project will require a different regime in Syria. In other words, regime change in both Iraq and Syria is the prerequisite for the project. As Paritzky did not mention a redirecting option, it is safe to suggest that the Israelis are also optimistic about a regime change in Syria in the near future.

..cont'd

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/ED04Ak01.html

[kevinmc]

21. Prez of Georgia sounds to me like he got caught screwing up a military action ...

and is crying about it and blaming Russia for his mistakes. Reminds me of the Italian Blowhard Silvio Berlusconi.

[democracy1st]

22. The Georgian president bought into that rightwing BS and now he's getting ass kicked

someone should have whispered in his ear if they want defend a US city why in the hell would you think they would defend you!

[kevinmc]

23. Georgia Prez talking more Dangerous BS ... Georgia's Russia claims raising eyebrows

TBILISI, Georgia - It was a claim that could have provoked a dangerous Kremlin response: The United States is readying to take over airports and ports in the former Soviet republic of Georgia.

The claim, by U.S.-backed Georgia President Mikhail Saakashvili on Wednesday was swiftly shot down by officials in Washington, who denied any such designs on Georgian soil.

Yet, it was the latest in a string of overstated pronouncements by the American-educated Georgian leader that are further fueling tensions with Moscow.

[invictus]

25. The US lost its moral credibility by invading Iraq and threatening to "obliterate" Iran.

There is nothing fake about Russia's invasion of Georgia. It is real and made possible by the total moral bankruptcy of the Bush administration and the many neo-con fools who voted for the Iraq War like Clinton and Biden.

[catgirl]

28. My thoughts exactly!

[TexasObserver]

29. Yes, it took about 3 days for this GOP scam to fully come into focus.

[Vinca]

30. Curious how the Georgian president said it was time for more than

words from McCain. Apparently he's not getting what he paid for.