Hey, did anyone hear that Russia invaded the country of Georgia?

[LostInAnomie]

Well, you wouldn't if you've been watching any of the MSM today. Apparently, the biggest story in the world plays second fiddle to an affair by an ex-presidential candidate.

Looks like we've got our priorities in order.

[Captain Hilts]

1. It's a very bad situation. In Georgia, Osettia, Russia and the MSM. nt

[glowing]

2. I heard it early on today.. then ABC dumped the dangle.

[billyoc]

3. This war will be of epic proportions!

Maybe even bigger than Grenada! :rofl:

(it's probably over already)

[Pacifist Patriot]

24. Don't count on it. It's also no laughing matter to the 1400 dead civilians.

[Muttocracy]

43. you should take a look at BBC news pictures. It's not funny.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7549035.stm


Residents of Tskhinvali have been sheltering in basements as massive explosions rock the city and hospitals were reported to be struggling to cope with the numbers of injured.

[billyoc]

44. Calling it the biggest story in the world is funny.

[LeftishBrit]

45. To the people who are killed, and their families, it is the biggest story

OK, it's not (yet, and hope it won't be) as big a story as Iraq. But it's a much bigger story than John Edwards having an affair.

[billyoc]

46. This is no business of the U.S.(or England)

and the families of the dead should pray it stays that way.

[Bicoastal]

4. I don't think 90% of this country would care unless Russia invaded OUR Georgia.

Did you read that UK Guardian article on how OUR news channels are pretty much a running joke to the rest of the world?

[AllieB]

7. And even then, most would have a hard time finding it on a map.

nt

[lob1]

The MSM doesn't cover OUR wars. Why should they bother with Russia's war?

[AllieB]

5. It is really bad there. I'll be watching the BBC tonight.

I'm already Edwards-out for the day.

[Bright Eyes]

6. Sex Sex Sex.

The violence in Georgia isn't sexy enough to be covered by our illustrious media.

[ConeFlower78]

8. Horrible, just horrible

....but it will just be a footnote with the Edwards scoop leading the way.

[Swamp Rat]

9. Fuck!

I have friends from Tpilisi who have family there. :(

[tekisui]

28. Reports came out today

that Russian planes bombed an air base near Tbilisi.

The fighing has been in Ossetia for the most part. 150 Russian tanks went in and they are battling Georgia for control of that capital.The fighting has leveled the capital of Ossetia.

1400 estimated dead. It deteriorated very quickly.

[Ichingcarpenter]

10. Do you know the US held War games in Georgia on July 14th, 2008?

Within 100 kilometers of the Russian borders? We brought in 1000 troops to
do that? There were protests in the Ukraine about it for escalating the situation
in Georgia.

[EFerrari]

11. I vaguely remember hearing it but didn't know what it meant.

:(

[Solly Mack]

13. I knew that

[Ichingcarpenter]

15. The US buildup has happened since 2002

Jul 13, 2008 -
Approximately 1,000 Soldiers from USA's Southern European Task Force (Airborne) and 21st Theater Sustainment Command, as well as the U.S. Marine Corps' 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines and the state of Georgia's Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 121st Infantry, will train alongside an equal number of soldiers of the Georgian Army, and soldiers from Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Ukraine. Equipment to be used for the exercise include basic field gear, tents, power generators, logistical vehicles and two HH-60 Blackhawk medical evacuation helicopters.

http://www.blackanthem.com/News/U_S_Military_19/U-S-Georgia-Azerbaijan-Armenia-and-Ukraine-conduct-exercise-in-Georgia17660.shtml


US troops deployed to former Soviet republic of Georgia

According to the analysis by STRATFOR, the deployment of American troops in Georgia is “a big strategic victory” for the United States. The publication cited increased US pressure on the entire western and southern border of Russia, the possible role of Georgia as a base for US attacks on Iraq, the proximity of that location to the pipelines planned for bringing Caspian oil and gas to the world market, and the increased influence of Washington over Georgia’s neighbors, especially oil-rich Azerbaijan.

“The US military presence will help ensure that a majority of oil and gas from the Caspian basin will go westward,” STRATFOR wrote, “bypassing the United States’ geopolitical rivals, Russia and China.”

There are other strategic implications, especially the diminution of Russian power in the region and the expanded role of Turkey, a key US ally.

American forces are likely to be stationed at the Vaziani airbase near Tbilisi, which Russia abandoned last year. The Russian general staff has reportedly issued orders to close down the Georgian headquarters of the Group of Russian Forces in Transcaucasus, which controls all Russian military operations south of the Caucasus Mountains. The liquidation of this military headquarters would leave the Russian forces now stationed in Armenia dangerously isolated, separated by Georgian territory from their logistical support structure in Russia itself.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/mar2002/geor-m01.shtml

[Solly Mack]

17. Yep...also, "Georgia Train and Equip" began in 2002 as well

[barbtries]

30. so i guess i was wrong earlier

when i was thinking this war won't be ours. sad.

[doublethink]

25. 2009?

[barbtries]

29. what year was that?

[Ichingcarpenter]

31. why don't you read the rest of the tread?

it was a typo.. care to add something?

[barbtries]

37. i did now

2008

[Ichingcarpenter]

42. Do you think that those war games caused Georgia to act aggressive in South Ossetia?

From this is London:

Georgia's attempted recapture of South Ossetia, which has had de facto independence from Tbilisi since 1992, began in the early hours of yesterday, just hours after Saakashvili announced a unilateral cease-fire in a television broadcast.


He had also urged South Ossetian separatist leaders to return to the conference table.
But Georgian officials claimed that South Ossetian rebels broke the ceasefire by shelling Georgian villages.
Before daybreak the Georgian army had re-entered South Ossetia in force and were shelling the capital.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23529182-details/Russia+on+brink+of+war+with+Georgia+after+its+peacekeepers+killed+in+South+Ossetia+fighting/article.do

[lapfog_1]

12. Let me know when they reach Atlanta.

Perhaps CNN will take a direct hit, hopefully when Glenn Beck is visiting.

(oh, you mean the other Georgia... damn)

[CrownPrinceBandar]

14. What does this have to do w/ Edwards?..........

Apparently it isn't news until a politician does something bad w/ his pee pee. :sarcasm:

In all seriousness, this situation scares the shit out of me, and it appears that it will only get worse.

edit k-n-r

[LonelyLRLiberal]

19. I'm sayin' . . .

:banghead:

[joshcryer]

16. Ironically, between MSNBC, CNN, and FOX News. FOX News covered it!

It's so disappointing when the worst of the worst is doing better than the other two!

[LostInAnomie]

18. I can think of two reasons for that.

1. It fits their world view that the world is a dangerous place, and we need to be militarily overpowering.
2. Too much speculation into the repercussions of Edwards' affair will lead to the inevitable mention of McCain's affair.

[joshcryer]

21. CNN finally just mentioned it. Nothing on MSNBC yet. Crazy.

This is way bigger news than Edwards' stuff.

[joshcryer]

26. Looks like CNN was preparing a more comprehensive story.

They're on the ball now, must've taken them some time to set this up. Since the accents of the reporters are EU/British it's probably more international CNN that did the story, however.

[Ichingcarpenter]

36. "This is London" has a good report and the background of the conflict.

LINK:


http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23529182-details/Russia+on+brink+of+war+with+Georgia+after+its+peacekeepers+killed+in+South+Ossetia+fighting/article.do

[Pacifist Patriot]

23. Should have scrolled down to you before I posted.

[barbtries]

20. that's not all

my american deaths in iraq ticker jumped by two today, to 4,136.

but it ain't news.

and you know what's really sick? i've spent about an hour on that other thread. :blush:

[Pacifist Patriot]

22. Want to hear something horrible? Fox News showed live coverage of mortar fire.

I was listening to it on BBC World Service on my way to a wedding this morning. I was shocked to see it the lead story with video coverage on the television in the lobby of the Hilton.

I'll let your OP stand though since I don't consider Faux Noise to be part of the MSM.

[joshcryer]

27. Looks like CNN is doing the best coverage now.

That's such a relief, heh. I hate FOX News.

[bvar22]

32. Georgia is a military ally of the US.

Georgia has troops fighting for the US in Iraq.

Do we have a mutual defense treaty with Georgia? :shrug:

The boiler pressure is in the red, and a madman is at the controls.

[leftchick]

35. Georgia is pulling their troops out of Iraq

to defend the homeland. Like, hello! That is where they should have been anyway.

:(

[bvar22]

38. If you were fighting for the US in Iraq,

and your "homeland" was invaded, wouldn't you expect the US to assist you militarily?

Of course, the US has a long record of shitting on "allies" in the Middle East.
Just ask the Kurds, or the Southern Iraqi Shiites.

[arthritisR_US]

33. you make a really good point and it makes me feel small (as it should), TY. n/t

[lovuian]

34. Russia is under no delusions that US is trying to take over the

world and all oil
and Putin is not going to be boxed in

[tama]

39. Balance of power scales for Russia

They have BOTH oil and nat gas AND nukes. While Western Global capitalism is allready shambels.

Soviet Union couple decades ago - rinse and repeat: US today.

[Dover]

40. Another flareup in the ongoing battle for oil/gas dominance & pipeline transits in E. Europe/Asia

It has been going on for quite some time now. What might ignite this ongoing tension into full blown war throughout that region is anyone's guess. There are so many players.
You can read Brzezinski's Chess Game book, or do a google on the oil and gas activity and planned
pipeline transits by different parties to see what's at stake. Georgia is critical to Russia's plans. The U.S. and Russia have been trying to plant their own puppet governments and insurgencies in Georgia, and the U.S. has also been building up troops in the region which is a threat to Russia's pipeline through Georgia. Then there is that troublesome missile defense system that the U.S. wants to plant at Russia's doorstep....



...The crisis, the first to confront President Dmitry Medvedev since he took office in May, looked close to spiraling into full-blown war in a region emerging as a key energy transit route, and where Russia and the West are vying for influence.

..snip..


Saakashvili, who wants to take his small Caucasus nation into NATO, has made it a priority to win back control of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another rebel region on the Black Sea.

The issue has bedeviled Georgia's relations with Russia, which is angered by Tbilisi's moves towards the Western fold and its pursuit of NATO membership.


http://www.moscowtimes.ru/article/600/42/369683.htm

---




Russia's Capture of Central Asian Energy
http://www.robertamsterdam.com/2007/05/russias_capture_of_central_asi.htm

[Nikki Stone1]

41. kick and recommend

:kick: