Weren't Russian troops massed for weeks on the border before the "war"?

[panader0]

Why then did Shaakavilli pick this particular time to try to annex S. Ossetia? Because US soldiers were present? Because of something mccane or rove may have told him? Because he's being bought off by big oil? Just another failure of our "intelligence" agancies? He is very strange sounding on his TV interviews, spouting talking points until he has to be shut up or interrupted by his interviewer. This whole thing stinks of an "October surprise" or some other BS right wing gimmick to scare Americans into voting repuke.

[DJ13]

1. As fast as the Russians moved enmass

Theres no way they werent already massed on the border waiting for the signal to strike.

[ladjf]

8. There is no way that our spy sattelites weren't watching every

move they made.

[iamthebandfanman]

2. i tend to believe that too

i dare say russia benefits from having these douches still in power over here too.
more idiots in charge of the USA means more for all for russia.

fascists helping fascists... that wouldnt be suprising.

[nebenaube]

5. oh please...

I agree with your first statement; the second, well, it shows you need to study more.

[iamthebandfanman]

9. nah, im sorry you havent kept up

with the changes in politics and the political terms.

what exactly would you call the russian government ?
i suppose you think the chinese are still communist as well ? lol

[no_hypocrisy]

3. Mike Whitney explains it all to you.

http://www.counterpunch.com/whitney08142008.html

[doc03]

4. We have satellites that can read your licence plate number

and they were surprised? Give me a break they knew exactly how many troops were on the Russian side, apparently they thought Russia wouldn't do anything since Putin was over in China or they totally underestimated the effectiveness of the Russian's response. They may have actually accomplished their goal, to find another boogyman for the sheeple to be afraid of.

[Igel]

6. And ...?

It's been reported that a "high-placed US official"--which I take to mean State Dept.--said there was no Russian buildup. No rationale given.

I've also seen it said that the military didn't know if there was a build-up on not: They're focused on Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and a couple of other areas. It's not just what the satellites *can* see, it's the areas they're told to image and what images people look at and analyze.

It's the same with having (a hypothetical) 14000 video cameras all over a town: You're not going to pay 50k people to make sure every video camera is watched non-stop 24/7. You're not going to have a dedicated staff making sure everything's caught on tape for all 14000 video cameras. The cameras may "see" everything, right down to the blackheads on the teenagers' noses, but that doesn't mean everything's going to be seen.

Complicating it is that there *was* a buildup of troops on both sides of the border last month, known, acknowledged, and expected. The US troops were in Georgia as part of a joint exercise with Georgia. They mostly left in the last few weeks, down to not much more than a hundred by 7 AUG. "Accidentally", the Russians had troop exercises over the mountains on the other side of the border at the same time. Did they all leave as quickly as the US troops did? Would leaving equipment and/or troops for a couple of weeks there be all that suspicious, enough to attract an analyst's attention, even were he to look?

People have to assume that we were suspicious, had satellites capturing images from N. Ossetia, and had analysts there to examine the images. *And* that they'd properly interpret having Russian troops still present in an area two weeks after military exercises.

I'm a firm believer in human non-omniscience.

[doc03]

7. And you believe a high-placed State Department Official

connected with this criminal Administration? I just don't buy it myself. I think they knew exactly what they were doing and badly miscalculated the Russian response. Our surrogates got their asses spanked and now they are making excuses. I heard today the US urged the Georgians not to move on S. Ossetia, I believe the opposite they screwed up and now they are covering their ass. If the Georgians would have been successful the Administration would be taking credit for it. Are you old enough to remember the Bay of Pigs?