Georgia's Dark Side - "...of particular concern...constitutional changes...executive authority at the cost of the legislative and judicial branches

Georgian police outside the Tbilisi prison on March 27 (Interpressnews)

This is a report from Radio Free Europe. This is 2006. The previous government was removed in 2003. I don't want to hear it, okay? If a country incarcerates enough people then there are no riots !

Georgia: Prison Riot Fuels Destabilization Theory
March 29, 2006 (click here)
By Jean-Christophe Peuch

Georgian police on March 27 used force to suppress a prison riot that purportedly aimed at aiding the escape of thousands of inmates. The authorities claim what they describe as an aborted jailbreak was part of plans to destabilize the country. They also suggest the criminal underworld and the opposition have a common interest in the alleged conspiracy. This is not the first time the government and its allies have leveled such accusations. But they have become more frequent lately, as the country's leaders face mounting domestic criticism.
PRAGUE, March 29, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- It took security forces some three hours to quell the riot at Tbilisi's Prison No. 5....

Not really Mushy's style. He usually 'power plays' and dukes it out to the end. But. His days as Prez are numbered.

The Bush Neocon Network is crumbling (click here).

Will there be a Hillary Coup at the Democratic Convention?

NO !

She has a place in history and it is her right to claim it.

Poland's aggression is not a good idea.

Poland has signed a preliminary deal with the US on plans to host part of its new missile defence shield.

The attitude of the Bush White House in regard to continued escalation of tensions by allowing this ? deal ? to be broached is one of the worst, if not the worst, ideas rendered in that last few days.

Everyone needs to 'chill' over this episode with Georgia and keep their 'international eye' on the ball when it comes to nuclear proliferation. I have stated before, this 'type' of aggression simply ratches-up the tensions globally and actually escalates nuclear proliferation leading to war.

How is the USA going to justify this one when it is attempting to negotiate a peace settlement between Moscow and Tbilisi?

I want to know how the Bush/Cheney/Rice Executive Branch explains the continued escalation in tensions between countries by allowing a preliminary agreement to be signed?

The good news is that Congress hasn't approved any of this mess !!!!

Bush wants war. Either that or he is the biggest moron that ever walked the grounds of Washington, DC !

A Path to Peace in the Caucasus

The implosion of Russia, which spawned the circumstances facing us today, was sparked by more than simply George H. W. Bush USA policy.
It was a result of many issues, including that of Chernobyl. However, Boris Yeltsin played a roll in Russia's disintegration when he allowed pervasive corruption which lead to economic collapse. Sound familiar? You know the 'economic strategies' for any country are really finite. They have 'new' potential with discoveries in science and cultural expansion, but, if a government becomes corrupt it moves outside the 'science' of economics and allows internal destruction of its own bouyancy. No different than Russia under Yeltsin, the USA now faces similar circumstances.

Regardless, Mr. Gorbachev has lead Russia during difficult transitions and understands not only Russia but the Soviet States that once lined Russia's borders. I trust his judgement. He provided an interview last night and all he says can't be wrong. The world needs to reflect seriously on the struggles of the people that are a part of a former Georgian state and their desire to leave that leadership for the protections of Russia. The Russian peacekeepers were there for a reason after all.

Boris Yeltsin and Mikhail Gorbachev found their roles dramatically reversed


The Gorbachev Foundation (click here)

The Gorbachev Foundation in the USA is located at Northeastern University. They will soon be holding a seminar regarding Democracy and its energy crisis (click here). I would hardly call that someone that didn't care about democracy or the people of the USA.

His words during the interview last night are below. I found them rather remarkable.

President Mikhail Gorbachev, the last president of the Soviet Union -- he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize back in 1990 -- wrote a "Washington Post" op-ed earlier this week titled "The Path To Peace in the Caucasus."




GORBACHEV (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Well, this is all lies from beginning to end. And I am -- really, I really think this is really beyond comprehension. I have heard the opinion of Eduard Shevardnadze. He knows what the situation is on their side.


So it was all at night, a little past midnight, when the city was asleep. Then from all sides, it was shelled with shells of enormous power. They used artillery. They used aircraft. They used all weapons of killing. And this is really amazing.


Tskhinvali, in fact, was devastated by fire from multiple rocket launchers against people, against housing, against hospitals, against water and sanitation, against the energy and communication infrastructure. All of that was destroyed. The old monuments were destroyed. And they were among the oldest in the Caucasus. The ancestral graves were ruined -- were then trampled by tanks.




GORBACHEV (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Yes, indeed. There is no doubt about it (that Georgia stated this).What is more, the response required the movement of additional forces into South Ossetia because Tskhinvali was attacked by a powerful force, by an armada. And I remember the Second World War. I remember the front. I remember the occupation. I saw terrible weapons used. But this was the use of sophisticated weapons against a small town, against sleeping people. This was a barbaric assault.




GORBACHEV (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): No. Russia was responding to what happened in Tskhinvali. Russia needed to address this. Russia could not avoid addressing this assault and this devastation and the killings of people, the devastation of the city. The peacekeepers had been there for some time. There were all kinds of things happening. But there were still possibilities for dialogue. And there was some dialogue going on and they were considering certain options and possibilities.


So Russia was ready to continue to fulfill its functions. There is just no doubt about it. And I don't know why it's happened that it has been presented that Russia invaded Georgia. This is really disinformation. This is all lies. It means that this plan -- there was a plan to attack Ossetia and also to misinform people. It's a kind of information war. I think now that they are showing the city, it is becoming clearer what happened.




GORBACHEV (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Russia has a mandate. And after events like these, Russia should stay, but certainly within the mandate, within the peacekeeping mandate.




GORBACHEV (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Well, I think that what is really important is -- well, we can understand what people are saying and what people are saying with regard to Saakashvili, because Saakashvili had misled Europe. He misled the United States, unless were to think that it was all an American project and that Saakashvili just implemented it.


This was a total surprise as regards the peacekeeping contingent there. So he's a person who certainly does not deserve trust. But this is for the Georgians to decide.




GORBACHEV (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I think that both have powers in accordance with the constitution (referring to the current Russian President and Prime Minister). In accordance with the constitution, their powers, their competence is constitutional. Those are people who have known each other politically and in human terms for 15 years. And so no one should expect things in Russia to kind of go haywire.


It started when our prime minister was in Beijing during the opening of the Olympics. The president was taking decisions. He acted confidently and calmly, although this was a difficult emotional experience for him.


We have now seen what happened. Western television didn't show what happened in Tskhinvali. Only now, they're beginning to show some pictures of the destruction.


So this looks to me like it was a well prepared project and with any outcome they wanted to put the blame on Russia. I believe I can say responsibly, and I have a person who has a moral right to say so, Russia, in this situation, acted in responding to Georgian aggression.




GORBACHEV (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Certainly. Certainly, yes )the USA can trust the two leaders of Russia). And I have to tell you, I am pleased that even though dramatic and tragic things happened, there are still human relations between Russians and Georgians. And that mutual affection that developed over centuries is still there. It's now up to the politicians.




GORBACHEV (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Well, you know, it's been some time, for a couple of years, two or three years there's been talk about this, because we have seen -- we are seeing what is happening in Europe, in the Middle East and some other regions. We also see some things that are happening in the south, in Asia, in the south of Russia. And this is of some concern.


And what is of particular concern to me -- and this is something that I will be writing about in a special article -- and that is that we are witnessing -- definitely witnessing a process of militarization in the world today. And this is a big danger.


Military budgets are growing. Weapons trade is going on at a hectic pace. Look at Georgia. Had Georgia not been armed to the teeth, it wouldn't have done what it has done. A small state has a $1 billion military budget. All kinds of countries participated, but particularly the United States armed Georgia with sophisticated weapons -- aircraft, land weapons. Mountains of weapons were supplied to Georgia.


And I think that this is the inevitable outcome, when weapons budgets -- military budgets grow, when weapons pile up, it works one day. It actually shoots one day. And this is what happened.


So I think that the signs of a cold war are present. But we still have time to prevent it.


I wanted to add that I am greatly concerned about something that I've been watching. And, of course, I've been visiting the United States. I've been talking to people there. I've been talking to large audiences, groups of thousands of people. But I've been also talking to policy makers, business leaders and others. And I've been saying that we have not been able to establish a sound relationship between Russia and the United States after the end of the cold war.


I believe that the United States has made mistakes for which the people have to pay. For example, the military budget of the United States is over $600 billion. That's about half of the world's military budget. And I would say that we need a new agenda in relations of our two nations. There have been some attempts, some talk, but we've not been able to move things off the ground to sort out our relationship.


Often, under the guise of promoting national interests, so everything is forgotten. Everything is forgotten, such as the new realities of the world today, the interests of other countries. And then we see situations that lead to conflict.


Would Saakashvili have mustered the courage to create a situation that actually threatened a clash with Russia without support, without protection?


There was support and protection. And even now we see that the United States is trying to support and justify Saakashvili. I think you shouldn't be doing this, because this could cause even more complications. There is a chance for our two countries to develop a new agenda for cooperation so as to promote both U.S. and Russian interests, and the interests of other countries, and the interests of stability, particularly in the hot spots in different continents. And I welcomed the idea of creating a bipartisan commission on relations between Russia and the United States. I believe that this is a good idea and it will be useful for both of our countries.




GORBACHEV (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Well (in regard to current course of relations between the countries), if things just are allowed to go on, if all of us just continue along the same lines of mistakes and illusions, without seeing the new realities to which we should adjust our policies -- I think we should do it on both sides. But if we don't do it, then it could really cause very severe complications.


The United States should not think that the attempt to decide every issue militarily will work. I believe that the United States -- the United States people don't want this. I wrote an article for "The Washington Post" and I have seen some of the more than 400 opinions of the people about this. And I was surprised that people are really seeing very clearly how important the relationship between Russia and the United States is. So let's listen to the people.




GORBACHEV (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Well, Russia doesn't need anything from Georgia. We just want this nation -- the people with whom we have been living for 300 years as friends and brothers, this friendship still continues. We don't want problems from there.


I don't think we have problems between our two nations. But outside interference pushes things in the wrong direction.


Of course, it's a big crossroads -- oil and oil pipelines, etc. And so we see competition. And I don't think that there's a need for so many weapons there and for conflicts.


In order to work things out, we need to reestablish trust and then we will be able to solve any problems. Without trust, no, that will not work. If we just have individual steps, that will not work.


In the second half of the 1980s, we worked together in a -- we created a new situation. We created trust. And based on that, we started to eliminate nuclear weapons. We started to reduce conventional weapons in Europe. We opened the way for people to choose -- to choose what they want to choose -- their regimes, their government, etc. And most of the regional conflicts were settled at that time, with the exception of the Middle East.




So trust is the key word.

Read my Lips, "No Time Table for Troop Withdrawal from Iraq."

...The galling hypocrisy of U.S. President Bush flanked by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates who chose to lecture Russia during a press conference at the White House concerning the unethical behaviour of invading another country in the 21st Century was a glowing example of political theatre in the absurd.... (click title to entry, thank you)


British troops out of Iraq by spring (click here)
The vast majority of British troops serving in Iraq will be withdrawn in the next nine months, senior defence sources have revealed
By Thomas Harding Defence Correspondent
Last Updated: 11:27AM BST 15 Aug 2008
Just a few hundred soldiers will remain after spring 2009 effectively bringing to an end this country’s involvement in Iraq after six years of fighting.
The Ministry of Defence insisted the move was backed by the US which it said is “intimately involved” in discussions about the British withdrawal.
There are still currently more than 4,000 British troops stationed in southern Iraq despite pledges from the Prime Minister that numbers would have reduced by now. Mr Brown has been careful over the past few months not to put a timetable on British withdrawal but sources gave the clearest indication yet that our involvement is poised to end.
The Iraqis are now close to agreeing a deal with the Americans - which could see all US soldiers leave within three years starting next summer....

None of this has been approved by the legislature and according to the agreement the USA troops are no longer an autonomous entity able to make decisions for themselves. So, it would be far better to leave Iraq with our ability to carry out our own defense rather than risk becoming an extension of an Iraqi government. That is a violation of USA Sovereignty.

US troops 'to pull out of Iraq in three years' (click here)
The US will withdraw from Iraq within three years under the terms of a draft deal with the Iraqi Government, it has been reported.
By Jon Swaine
Last Updated: 11:30AM BST 14 Aug 2008
American troops will pull out of cities across the country next summer and, if violence remains low, will be completely evacuated by 2011, Hoshyar Zebari, the Iraqi Foreign Minister, said.
Mr Zebari also said that the US military's ability to mount attacks inside the country will be tempered from next year, under the terms of the deal. A new US-Iraqi committee would be required to clear any operation...


Ill. soldier dies by roadside bomb in Iraq
By Carolyn Tuft
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
08/15/2008
The U.S. Department of Defense has reported that an Illinois soldier has died when the vehicle he was riding in was hit by a roadside bomb while he was serving in Iraq.
The soldier was Corporal James M. Hale, 23, of Naperville. He died Wednesday in Baghdad, according to the Department of Defense.
On his second tour of duty, Hale had last been based at Fort Bliss, Texas. He was assigned to the 978th Military Police Company, 93rd Military Police Battalion.
Hale was the second Illinois resident to die in Iraq in the past two weeks. Corporal Adam T. McKiski of Cherry Valley died last week while in combat in the Anbar province.
Hale left behind a wife and three children. He was awarded posthumously the Purple Heart, the Department of Defense reported.


A $100 billion bill (click here)
Friday, August 15, 2008
Washington is headed toward another dismal milestone in Iraq. With more than 4,000 U.S. soldiers dead and a conflict that's outlasted World War II, now add a $100 billion bill for private contractors by year's end.
The sum pays for a shadow military that provides security, builds bases and runs the chow line in mess halls. The 180,000 private employees, based in or around Iraq, match the number of American troops.
The figure is a high-water mark in the annals of privatized fighting. About 20 percent of the Iraq operations are done by for-hire outsiders, according to a Congressional Budget Office report....

Iraq bombing kills 17 (click here)
Last update: August 14, 2008 - 9:35 PM
A suicide bomber detonated her explosives Thursday among a group of Shiite pilgrims resting by a roadside in Iskandariyah, a former Sunni insurgent stronghold 30 miles south of Baghdad. Women were cooking dinner, men were praying and children were playing nearby when the attacker struck, a witness said.
The U.S. military put the death toll at 17, including one policeman and 16 civilians, and said the lone female bomber was responsible. A senior provincial security officer said 26 people were killed and 75 wounded.

AFGHAN BLAST KILLS 3
An explosion targeting international troops on a foot patrol in southern Afghanistan killed three members of the U.S.-led coalition Thursday, an official statement said. No other details were released.
Southern Afghanistan is the center of the Taliban insurgency. The last three months have been the deadliest for international troops in Afghanistan since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.