......Beginning with Abkhazia and Georgia, Georgia was a signatory of the Constitution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and was bound under this Constitution to respect all its clauses. One of these was the voluntary dissolution of the Union and the clause which states that minority groups (South Ossetia and Abkhazia) in other Republics (Georgia) had the statutory and constitutional right to a referendum to decide as to the degree of independence/autonomy/self-government that their people chose in a free and fair electoral process.
Georgia, as so often, broke the law by not holding these referenda, so just this fact makes a valid case for these two republics to decide for themselves whether they are a part of Georgia or not. It is after all their right and Georgia was bound by it.............
http://english.pravda.ru/opinion/columnists/29-08-2008/106253-ossetiia internatlaw-0 _________________ --
'Suppression of truth, human spirit and the holy chord of justice never works long-term. Something the suppressors never get.' David Southwell
http://aangirfan.blogspot.com http://aanirfan.blogspot.com
Martin Van Creveld: Let me quote General Moshe Dayan: "Israel must be like a mad dog, too dangerous to bother."
Martin Van Creveld: I'll quote Henry Kissinger: "In campaigns like this the antiterror forces lose, because they don't win, and the rebels win by not losing."
Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev has outlined five principles guiding his foreign policy in the wake of the recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states. He said Russia recognises international law but won’t accept decisions ‘made by one country solely’.
In a joint interview with Russia's three major television channels, Medvedev said that, first of all, Russia recognises the supremacy of international legal fundamentals, which define relations between civilised nations.
"Second, the world must be multi-polar. Single polarity is unacceptable," Medvedev said.
"Russia cannot accept a world order, where decisions are made by one state, even such a serious one as the United States,” he said.
Such a world is unstable and might lead to conflicts, he said.
Thirdly, Russia does not want confrontation with any country. "Russia does not intend to isolate itself. We will be developing as friendly relations as possible with Europe, the USA and other nations," Medvedev added.
The protection of life and dignity of Russian citizens "no matter where they live" is an absolute priority, Medvedev said.
“We will also be protecting the interests of our business community abroad. It should be absolutely clear to everyone that anyone committing an aggression will be repelled," Medvedev said.
The fifth principle is Russia's interests in friendly regions.
He also added that Russia's recognition of independence South Ossetia and Abkhazia is irreversible.
“From the legal view point, the new states have appeared. The process of their recognition may take quite a long time. But this will not change our position in any way. We’ve made our decision irreversibly. It is our duty to provide for peace and order in the region. That’s what we’ll be basing our actions on,” Medvedev said.
He said that Moscow's agreements with the two regions envisaged military as well as economic support. _________________ "Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish." - Euripides
"No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it." - Albert Einstein
"To find yourself, think for yourself" - Socrates
In part of what was termed Georgia’s “special relationship” with Israel, UPI Editor at Large Arnaud de Borchgrave reported in a commentary today that a secret agreement between Georgia and Israel had earmarked two military airfields in the south of Georgia for use by Israeli fighter-bombers in a potential pre-emptive strike against Iran.
Israel has been a close ally of the Black Sea republic, and Israeli contractors have provided the Georgian military with considerable amounts of training and armament, much to the chargrin of Russia. Russian General Anatoly Nogovitsyn said Israel provided Georgia with “eight types of military vehicles, explosives, landmines and special explosives”.
In perhaps another signal for how key Georgia believes military support from Israel is, while most of the western media was running stories about Georgia being completely overrun by Russia’s invasion earlier this month, Georgia’s Minister of Reintegration was giving an interview to Israel’s Army Radio. In it, he praised Israel’s training of Georgia’s soldiers, and credited it with Georgia’s having inflicted “enormous damage” on Russia’s military.
And while Israeli defense officials publicly announced a halt to military sales to Georgia earlier this month, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili denied that any halt had taken place. He also said “the Israeli weapons have proved very effective,” and credited them with Georgia’s military successes in the brief war with Russia.
Israeli-Russian relations had already been strained amid reports that Russia was planning to sell Iran its most advanced anti-aircraft missile system, which prompted a claim from the Israeli military that they were developing some “electronic warfare” means to neutralize what has become the backbone of Russian air defense. Iran’s Foreign Ministry denied yesterday that they had purchased the system.
Another consequence of Israel’s backing of Georgia came when long-time rival Syria praised Russia’s military operations. This has led to talks of new arms sales to Syria, and a report that Russia will increase its naval presence in Syrian ports. Syria and Israel have been engaged in ongoing indirect peace talks, though those are at present delayed due to the resignation of Israel’s top negotiator. _________________ Simon - http://www.patriotsquestion911.com/
Joined: 30 Jul 2006 Posts: 6060 Location: East London
Posted: Wed Sep 03, 2008 9:04 pm Post subject:
Turkey is another potential staging-post. And the talk of Russia selling it's anti-aircraft missiles to Turkey make no sense at all, because they would just be handed straight to Israel and the US to 'see how they worked', to rapidly develop counter-measures against them. _________________ 'And he (the devil) said to him: To thee will I give all this power, and the glory of them; for to me they are delivered, and to whom I will, I give them'. Luke IV 5-7.
Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 18335 Location: St. Pauls, Bristol, England
Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 10:28 am Post subject:
911 Truth Bristol in the form of BBC5 have put together a short Youtube interview with one of the 'gang of four' now running the UK 9/11 Truth campaign Martin Summers.
Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 18335 Location: St. Pauls, Bristol, England
Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 4:59 pm Post subject:
Saakashvili urged to step down
Wed, 10 Sep 2008 12:47:40 GMT
Saakashvili's failed gambit to reclaim S Ossetia has riled Georgia
Georgia's opposition politicians have called for Mikheil Saakashvili's resignation following his initiation and mishandling a war with Russia.
They voiced their discontent over the Georgian president's decisions and management of the recent crisis in the region and called for early elections.
"Saakashvili bears political and moral responsibility for starting the war [with Russia] and for its catastrophic consequences. Saakashvili no longer holds either political or moral right to be the president of Georgia or commander-in-chief," David Gamkredlidze, the head of the New Right opposition party said at a news conference in Tbilisi.
"As a result of this defeat over a thousand of our citizens were killed, wounded and forcefully displaced; the Georgian army is disintegrated, disarmed and demoralized," Gamkrdze said Wednesday. ...........
Joined: 12 Sep 2006 Posts: 3889 Location: North Down, N. Ireland
Posted: Wed Sep 10, 2008 6:39 pm Post subject:
TonyGosling wrote:
911 Truth Bristol in the form of BBC5 have put together a short Youtube interview with one of the 'gang of four' now running the UK 9/11 Truth campaign Martin Summers.
That's a really good and informative interview.
Although the 1914 parallel is unsettling.
Let's hope we're not that far gone. _________________ Dissolution of the Global Corporations.
It's the only way.
Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said he was surprised by the power manifested by western propaganda after Georgia's assault on South Ossetia, RIA Novosti reported from Sochi.
A foreign participant of Valdai International Debating Club asked the RF prime minister, why Russia's troops that moved to South Ossetia acted in such a way towards Georgia.
"Your question doesn't surprise me. I'm surprised by quite another thing – how powerful the propaganda machine of the West actually is. It is stunning, astonishing. This is out of all notch, but it is in it nevertheless," Putin answered.
Putin reiterated that Russia's response to Georgia's assault on South Ossetia was adequate, as Georgia used heavy artillery against peaceful civilians.
"You'd like us to swing a penknife there? What's the adequate application of force when the tanks and heavy artillery are used against us? Should we have catapulted? The thing to be expected was they would get the snout smashed good and proper," the prime minister was explicitly emphatic.
www.kommersant.com _________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
MOSCOW (AFP) — Russian diplomatic and military officials held talks with their Iranian and Syrian counterparts Friday, amid tensions with the West following Russia's conflict with Georgia last month.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki for talks on the completion by a Russian company of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran, a cooperation that has worried Washington.
The head of the Russian company working on Iran's first nuclear power plant, Atomstroiexport, said earlier this week that the start-up of the first reactor at Bushehr would be "irreversible" by February next year.
The West suspects that Iran is developing nuclear weapons under cover of a civilian nuclear energy program that includes the Bushehr plant. It has imposed sanctions on Tehran and the US has refused to rule out the use of force.
Iran vehemently denies it is developing nuclear weapons and says it has a sovereign right like any country to develop nuclear power.
Lavrov said the talks would also focus on the Georgia conflict.
US President George W. Bush announced this week he was freezing progress on a US-Russia civilian nuclear cooperation pact because of Russia's military intervention in Georgia.
Russia on Friday also held talks with another close Middle East ally, Syria, on the use of the Soviet-era Mediterranean naval base at Tartus, Interfax and RIA Novosti reported.
Russian Navy commander Vladimir Vysotsky and his Syrian counterpart General Taleb al-Barri discussed stepping up Russia's use of the Tartus base in line with an increase in Russian naval missions, the reports said.
Russia has in recent years moved to reactivate its use of the base, which was heavily used in the Soviet era to resupply ships in the Mediterranean. Russia does not have a permanent base in the Mediterranean. _________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
The US has trained and equipped Georgian military forces [EPA]
The US has had stern words for Russia over its military intervention in Georgia to back South Ossietian separatists, but many analysts say that the Bush administration must share the blame for the crisis.
Washington has formed a close bond with the government of Mikheil Saakashvili since he came to power in the 2003 'Rose Revolution,' offering military and economic aid and encouraging Georgia to join Nato.
Jon Sawyer, the director for the Pulitzer Centre for Crisis Reporting, said US politicians had encouraged their Georgian counterparts to think they had the backing of the US when Tbilisi decided to launch its attack on South Ossetia last week.
"The US has for several years now mishandled the situation in Georgia," he told Al Jazeera.
"The way that Mikheil Saakashvili has approached this [has been by] thinking that he could be an extension of the west, a partner of the United States."
"In many ways we have given him cause for thinking that, with the many visits to the United States, the talk of Georgia as a beacon for democracy."
Charles Kupchan of the Council on Foreign Relations, agrees that US encouragement may have made Saakashvili "miscalculate" and send Georgian troops into South Ossetia.
"I think in many respects Saakashvili got too close to the United States and the United States got too close to Saakashvili," Kupchan told the Reuters news agency.
"It made him overreach, it made him feel at the end of the day that the West would come to his assistance if he got into trouble."
US backing
The statistics seem to back the view that Tbilisi felt itself under the protective wing of the Bush administration.
US and Georgian leaders have forged
a close relationship
As well as diplomatic encouragement, Saakashvili's government was offered both economic and military aid by Washington.
US special forces trained Georgian troops in 2002 to combat Chechen fighters in the Pankisi Gorge, which borders Chechnya, as part of the US "war on terror".
And Georgian forces continued to recieve training from the US as they prepared to send troops to Iraq, following the US-led invasion in 2003.
Washington gave $151 million to the Georgian government in security aid between 2004 and 2006.
Tbilisi has also benefited from the Millenium Challenge Corporation, a Bush administration programme intended to reward countries for "effective governance".
The corporation has signed agreements totaling $295 million, making Georgia the fourth-biggest recipient of funds.
Energy needs
The US may have welcomed Georgia as its key ally in the old Soviet Union's sphere of influence.
"By declaring the Caucasus, a region that is thousands of miles from the American continent, a sphere of its 'national interest,' the United States made a serious blunder."
Mikhail Gorbachev, former Soviet leader
But analysts point to the presence of key natural resources as a reason for the scale of US largesse.
The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline runs through Georgia, allowing the US access to oil and gas supplies not pumped through Russia to the north or Iran to the south.
"Underlying all this is a larger, more significant contest: a geopolitical struggle between Russia and the West over the export of Caspian Sea oil and natural gas," Michael Klare, the author of Resource Wars told the New American Media website.
"The United States seeks to use Georgia as an 'energy corridor' to transport Caspian energy to the West without going through Iran or Russia; to this end, it helped build the BTC pipeline across Georgia and helped beef up the Georgian military to protect it.
Kosovo connection
Other's believe that while Georgia have miscalculated the level of support it had from Washington, the US has also erred in thinking it could influence events so close to Russian borders.
Mikhail Gorbachev, the former leader of the old Soviet Union, said the US had made a "serious blunder" by allying itself so closely with Georgia.
"By declaring the Caucasus, a region that is thousands of miles from the American continent, a sphere of its 'national interest,' the United States made a serious blunder," Gorbachev said in an opinion piece to be published in the Washington Post US newspaper on Tuesday.
Other analysts say that US diplomats may have underestimated the level of anger the US recognition of Kosovo created in Moscow, leaving it fearful that Georgia would assert itself further in South Ossetia.
"The Kremlin made abundantly clear that it would view Kosovo's independence without Serbian consent and a UN Security Council mandate as a precedent for the two Georgian de facto independent enclaves," Dimitri Simes, the president of the Nixon Centre, wrote in a post on the Washington Note blog.
"Furthermore, while president Saakashvili was making obvious his ambition to reconquer Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Moscow was both publicly and privately warning that Georgia's use of force to re-establish control of the two regions would meet a tough Russian reaction, including, if needed, air strikes against Georgia proper." _________________ 'Come and see the violence inherent in the system.
Help, help, I'm being repressed!'
“The more you tighten your grip, the more Star Systems will slip through your fingers.”
Subject: Palin leaves open option of war with Russia
Governor Palin is already pushing the PNAC/AEI Neocon confrontational line
against Russia and hasn't even been elected yet:
Palin leaves open option of war with Russia (AP)
1 hour, 2 minutes ago
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin left open the option Thursday of waging war with
Russia if it were to invade neighboring Georgia and the former Soviet
republic were a NATO ally. "We will not repeat a Cold War," Palin
said in
her first television interview since becoming Republican John McCain's vice
presidential running mate two weeks ago.
Palin told Charles Gibson of ABC News that she'd favor including Georgia
and
Ukraine, both former Soviet republics, in NATO despite opposition by Russian
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Asked whether the United States would have to
go to war with Russia if it invaded Georgia, and the country was part of
NATO, Palin said: "Perhaps so."
"I mean, that is the agreement when you are a NATO ally, is if another
country is attacked, you're going to be expected to be called upon and
help," she said.
Pressed on the question, Palin responded: "What I think is that smaller
democratic countries that are invaded by a larger power is something for us
to be vigilant against ... We have got to show the support, in this case,
for Georgia. The support that we can show is economic sanctions perhaps
against Russia, if this is what it leads to."
She added: "It doesn't have to lead to war and it doesn't have to
lead, as I
said, to a Cold War, but economic sanctions, diplomatic pressure, again,
counting on our allies to help us do that in this mission of keeping our eye
on Russia and Putin and some of his desire to control and to control much
more than smaller democratic countries."
Palin spoke the same day Putin insisted that Russia has no intention of
encroaching on the sovereignty of Georgia, following a brief war that left
Russian troops in firm control of two breakaway regions. Putin also
aggressively defended the decision to send troops to Georgia, saying Russia
had to act after Georgia attacked South Ossetia last month.
On other matters, Palin said she "didn't hesitate" when McCain
asked her to
be his running mate, a surprise selection that shook up the presidential
race.
"I answered him 'yes' because I have the confidence in that
readiness and
knowing that you can't blink, you have to be wired in a way of being so
committed to the mission, the mission that we're on, reform of this country
and victory in the war, you can't blink. So I didn't blink then even
when
asked to run as his running mate," said the 44-year-old Palin, who has
been
in office less than two years.
Questioned about whether she felt ready to step in as vice president or
perhaps even president if something happened to the 72-year-old McCain,
Palin said: "I do, Charlie, and on January 20, when John McCain and I are
sworn in, if we are so privileged to be elected to serve this country,
we'll
be ready. I'm ready."
Gibson also read Palin a comment she made in her former church - "Our
national leaders are sending U.S. soldiers on a task that is from God" -
and
asked whether she thought the United States was fighting a holy war.
Palin said she was recalling Abraham Lincoln's words when she made the
comment and said: "I would never presume to know God's will or to
speak
God's words."
She said she didn't know if her son Track who is headed to Iraq was on a
mission from God.
"What I know is that my son has made a decision. I am so proud of his
independent and strong decision he has made, what he decided to do and
serving for the right reasons and serving something greater than himself and
not choosing a real easy path where he could be more comfortable and
certainly safer," Palin said.
A car has exploded outside the Russian military's headquarters in South Ossetia, killing seven people and wounding three.
Georgian and Russian authorities traded accusations over the blast, the deadliest single occurrence reported in South Ossetia since the nations fought a war over the region in August.
Both sides claimed it was aimed at scuttling the fragile Western-backed ceasefire.
South Ossetia's separatist President Eduard Kokoity called the explosion "a targeted terrorist act" and claimed the Georgian State Security Ministry was behind it, Russia's ITAR-Tass news agency reported.
Russia's Defence Ministry also called it a "carefully planned terrorist act designed to undermine" the ceasefire.
Georgia's Interior Ministry accused Russian intelligence services of organising the blast as a pretext to delay the pullout next week of Russian forces from Georgian territory surrounding South Ossetia and another Kremlin-backed separatist region, Abkhazia.
The head of the Russian peacekeeping force in South Ossetia, Col Gen Marat Kulakhmetov, said two cars were confiscated by peacekeepers in an ethnic Georgian village after a search produced guns and grenades.
The cars were brought to the peacekeeping force's headquarters in Tskhinvali, South Ossetia's capital, where one of them - with Georgian licence plates - exploded during a further search.
Four occupants of the cars, all without identification documents, were detained and also taken to the headquarters, the Russian Defence Ministry said.
Joined: 30 Jul 2006 Posts: 6060 Location: East London
Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2008 9:09 pm Post subject:
Survivor of Georgian attack tells what happened:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article20974.htm _________________ 'And he (the devil) said to him: To thee will I give all this power, and the glory of them; for to me they are delivered, and to whom I will, I give them'. Luke IV 5-7.
Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 18335 Location: St. Pauls, Bristol, England
Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 12:15 am Post subject: Ukraine takes Russian channels off air
Ukraine takes Russian channels off air
Three Russian TV channels have been banned from broadcasting in Ukraine. The country's authorities ordered local cable operators to take them off air. More than half of Ukraine's population speaks Russian regularly and one third say it's their native tongue.
At midnight on November 1, three Russian TV channels were removed from cable networks in Ukraine, including an RTR-Planet station (RTR-Planet is the overseas wing of Russian state broadcaster RTR).
Operators said the ban came into effect after the National Council on TV and Radio Broadcasting warned that all foreign channels must be adapted to comply with Ukrainian law or face being taken off air.
However, it seems that both the management of the Russian channels and Ukrainian cable companies don’t understand what this adaptation is all about. Without giving detailed explanations, the council said that the named broadcasters had violated several laws regarding advertising, copyright and ethical norms.
Satellite company Torsat is responsible for distributing Russian TV channels in Ukraine. The company can't understand why the restrictions apply to Russian stations which have international versions and are broadcast on the same terms as many other worldwide channels.
“These stations are broadcast in Europe and all over the planet and there have been no problems in any country. These are channels specifically Russian-speaking viewers. At the same time, I can say that broadcast of the Euronews channel in Ukraine has stayed the same, the Eurosport channel hasn’t changed, but both made it into the list of allowed stations,” said Torsat CEO Anatoly Salnik.
Legal or political?
Given the recent strain in relations between Moscow and Kiev, some see a political motive behind the move. The Russian Foreign Ministry reacted with frustration.
“It’s a matter of serious concern for us. Ukraine is a multinational state and those Russian-speaking citizens have the right to use their language and to watch Russian TV channels,” said Grigory Karasin, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister.
Kiev’s political elite have so far failed to comment.
Cable operators in Ukraine are still counting the cost of the ban. But they say insist that regardless of their financial losses, it’s the country’s Russian speakers who will suffer. The number of potential viewers of these stations in Ukraine is around 15 million.
The National Broadcasting Council has been urging cable operators to drop Russian stations from their broadcast schedules for some time. But many have defied the call, saying they’ll continue distributing them until it's properly explained why they shouldn't.
Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 1959 Location: South London
Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 1:38 pm Post subject:
That was a very fair an unsentimental summary of what has led up to the conflict in Georgia by Martin Summers .
I can't help feeling glad at least that the Western criminal rulers have fallen out with the Russian criminal rulers, because a counterweight to the Neocon criminals was certainly needed.
I can attest to one point Martin makes from my experience teaching Russian refugees and asylum-seekers in London. The Russian propaganda which has stereotyped Chechens as nothing but criminals and terrorists has been very effective. I found my Russian students highly prejudiced against Chechens.
I found Martin's voice on the interview a bit feint, despite using full volume. The interviewer's (Adrian's?) was fine and clear. I found the constantly changing background irritating.
Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 1959 Location: South London
Posted: Mon Nov 03, 2008 1:46 pm Post subject: Re: Ukraine takes Russian channels off air
TonyGosling wrote:
Ukraine takes Russian channels off air
To draw a British parallel it would be like the Welsh Assembly banning all BBC broadcasts in Wales which were in the English language.
Perhaps not as extreme as that because only about one in five people in Wales are fluent in Welsh. Another difference is that if you are a Russian speaker it is not that difficult to understand Ukrainian, which is a closely related language, whereas if you are an English speaker, it is impossible to understand Welsh unless you have studied it in some depth.
Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 18335 Location: St. Pauls, Bristol, England
Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 2:00 am Post subject:
Opposition: time for Saakashvili decision - 10 April, 2009, 23:20
A campaign of civil disorder is due to start in Georgia, says the opposition. It follows the expiration of an ultimatum for the president to step down. Mass demonstrations in the capital are now in their second day.
The ultimatum for the president to step down by 4 pm (12:00 GMT) on Friday has expired, and now the opposition leader, Levan Gachechiladze, announces a campaign of civil disorder.
Firstly, this means that the protests will expand beyond the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.
Secondly, living in Tbilisi during the next couple of days is not going to be something easy. The opposition is planning to move to several points around the city and block traffic. They are going to be outside one of the state-run television channels, and they are also planning to hold protests outside the presidential residence...........
http://www.russiatoday.com/Top_News/2009-04-10/Opposition__time_for_Sa akashvili_decision.html
Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 18335 Location: St. Pauls, Bristol, England
Posted: Tue Apr 14, 2009 10:30 pm Post subject:
‘Misha, go away!” – says Georgian opposition to president Saakashvili14 April, 2009, 21:45
Thousands are taking part in a rally in the Georgian capital Tbilisi as mass protests enter the sixth day of demonstrations against President Saakashvili.
The opposition demands his resignation accusing the President of abuse of power and turning the country into an authoritarian state.
The activists decorated the fence around the President’s residence with colourful ties.
“Everyone, who has wrapped a tie around the fence can make a wish. And I’m sure, that we all going to have the same wish – the president’s resignation,” said Kakha Kukava, representing conservative wing.
The action was in memory of the famous footage of Mikhail Saakashvili, chewing his tie during a live interview with an American tv-channel. The video became very popular with the opposition, eagerly joking around with it. Earlier the opposition released a rabbit at Saakashvili’s residence with a red tie around its neck.
Joined: 25 Jul 2005 Posts: 18335 Location: St. Pauls, Bristol, England
Posted: Tue May 05, 2009 9:34 pm Post subject:
Georgian mutiny quelled
06 May, 2009
A mutiny in a Georgian tank battalion ended after negotiations with President Saakashvili. The military revolted following the Interior Ministry’s allegation of planned coup d’etat.
I just caught an item on Aljazeera showing a protest with a stand-off while the police stood back. However I cannot find it again on the web. Perhaps the NWO use of Shakashvili is gradually falling apart.
Anyone know any more? _________________ In the end, it's not the words of your enemies you will remember, but the silence of your friends. Martin Luther King
The maneuvers kicked off on May, 6, involving 14 countries. The second phase begins on May, 21 and will go on until June, 3.
“Staff exercises were aimed at training the compatibility of multinational forces while carrying out peacekeeping missions,” Giovani Savareze, the representative of the alliance to the trainings said.
“These exercises will bring Georgia even closer to NATO,” he added.
Moscow strongly opposes the drills, calling them an open provocation given the armed conflict in nearby South Ossetia in August 2008. President Dmitry Medvedev said they would increase tension in the region.
“Naturally, we are concerned about NATO military exercises in Georgia. They can’t make us happy in any way. On the contrary, they create problems, tensions, and I don’t think they will help European security in any way, and they will heat up tension in Georgia itself,” Medvedev told journalists at a joint news conference with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Saturday.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry of South Ossetia has also expressed concerns over the military activity, claiming that Georgia today is the main cause of instability in the Caucasus.
An official statement from the Ministry urged NATO to consider the consequences of its actions.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Ossetia calls on NATO management and the alliance member states to soberly evaluate possible consequences of the military support for Georgia which is the main source of danger and regional destabilization. And also the purposefulness of the policy of dragging the aggressor state into the military block.”
The exercises are being held against a backdrop of political turbulence in Georgia. An alleged coup plot was uncovered recently while opposition protests against the president are entering their second month.
Nineteen countries were initially going to take part in the games but Armenia, Kazakhstan, Moldova and Serbia withdrew at a late stage due to various reasons.
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