Blog Highlights

Video Shows Georgian Troops Shooting at Civilians - September, 2008

I think I know how the following video was found; I have a feeling it was abandoned by the "yahoo" yelling criminals when they ran away like pathetic cowards at the first sight of Russians...

Arevordi

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Video Shows Georgian Troops Shooting at Civilians



Shooting civilian homes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXmHJpwhLPI

How we bombed Tskhinval - Georgian soldier:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWkLmZ9c5l8

September, 2008

RT has obtained a video which shows Georgian troops firing on civilian buildings in the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinval. The mobile phone footage was apparently recorded by a Georgian soldier as he operated a machine gun. His cry of 'Yoo hoo!' as he fired on the building reminded some viewers of 'a child playing a video game' - but they were real bullets and real human targets. An investigation into crimes allegedly committed by Georgian troops is currently underway and the exact number of casualties has yet to be established. Accurate estimates of the death toll have been hampered by the chaos that took over the city during the fighting. Many rushed to bury their friends and relatives in their own gardens, school playgrounds and on hospital grounds. They felt it was too dangerous to venture onto the city streets.

Source: http://www.russiatoday.com/news/news/29914


Report Claims U.S. Military Trained Georgian Special Forces


Seasoned Georgian Commandos tickling their American instructor

The U.S. military provided combat training to Georgian commandos just months before Georgia attacked South Ossetia, according to an investigation by the Financial Times newspaper. It reports that a 15-man team of American special forces veterans spent 70 days training Georgia's elite troops outside the capital Tbilisi. The Financial Times obtained a recruitment email sent by a Pentagon contractor, MPRI, and a U.S. European Command spokesman confirmed the existence of the training programme when questioned about the email. The trainers were paid US$2000 per week plus expenses to train the Georgian troops. A U.S. army spokesman said that the training was provided to bring Georgian soldiers up to NATO standards so they could assist in military operations in Afghanistan. While U.S. "train and equip" operations are often highly publicised, the military has remained tight-lipped about the Georgian programme. "We can confirm the programme exists, but ... we do not discuss specifics to ensure the integrity of the programme," a U.S. European Command spokesman told the Financial Times. A second 70-day training phase was due to begin on August 11, four days after the Georgian attack on its breakaway republic of South Ossetia. The trainers had already arrived in Georgia when hostilities began and were staying in Tbilisi. The confirmation that the United States trained Georgia's special forces troops adds extra weight to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's suggestion that American citizens were directly involved in the South Ossetian conflict. Putin said in an interview with CNN in August: “We have serious reasons to believe that American citizens were right at the heart of the military action. This would have implications for American domestic policy. If this is confirmed, we will have grounds to suspect that somebody in the U.S. has created this conflict to aggravate the situation and create a competitive advantage for one of the presidential candidates”. On the same day that Putin made the statement the Russian Defence Ministry announced that a passport belonging to a Texan resident was found in a house which had been occupied by Georgian commandos.

Source: http://www.russiatoday.com/news/news/30065

In related news:


Geopolitical Diary: Olmert’s Canceled Trip to Moscow, the Broader Picture 



The Jerusalem Post reported Tuesday that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert canceled his trip to Moscow scheduled for Sept.14. The trip was apparently canceled because of a recommendation made Sept. 7 by the Israeli police to indict Olmert on bribery charges. While the explanation seems plausible, it is unlikely. If Olmert was unable to go because of political heat at home, a high-level Israeli official could have gone in his place or the visit could been rescheduled. Instead, the cancellation seems to indicate that Israel is switching its strategy on how to handle a resurgent Russia, from a policy of accommodation to one of potential confrontation.

The relationship between Russia and Israel has had its fair share of ups and downs, beginning with a close alliance between the nascent xxxish state and the Soviet Union in the late 1940s. This was followed by a period of Soviet patronage of Israel’s enemies, mainly Egypt and Syria which was designed primarily to strike at U.S. interests in the Middle East but also threatened Israel, an ancillary effect. But with the end of the Cold War, Moscow’s influence receded from the Middle East. Israel’s biggest existential threat is not from its Arab neighbors but rather from a global power seeking to establish its own interests in the Middle East. In other words, Israel’s neighbors only become a threat once they obtain outside patronage making them bold, organized and armed enough to strike at Israel from all sides. While Israel has made peace with Egypt and Jordan and is eyeing a similar relationship with Syria, there is no guarantee that an emergent global power would not offer alternatives to Israel’s neighbors — alternatives lacking in the post-Cold War world. Russia is exactly such a power.

A resurgent Russia once again looking for potential allies in the Middle East (such as Iran, Syria or perhaps in a highly hypothetical scenario even Egypt) that would challenge the United States has always been one of Israel’s main concerns. Therefore, Israel actively engaged in checking Russian power by selling weapons to Georgia. The idea was to contain Moscow and force it to deal with challenges on its periphery, thus keeping it from mucking about in the Middle East. Israel got wind of Moscow’s plans for Georgia before the Aug. 8 intervention and decided that a confrontation with the Kremlin was not a wise strategy, precisely because Israel understands the danger in Russian support of Syria and Iran. Hence, a week before Russian tanks rolled into South Ossetia it announced that it would end all weapon sales to Georgia. This was followed by a general acquiescent attitude toward Moscow after the Georgian intervention, to the obvious chagrin of the Americans who were looking for a concerted effort against the Kremlin. The subsequent Olmert visit on Sept. 14 was supposed to affirm an accommodating policy toward Moscow and to secure guarantees from the Kremlin that Iran and Syria would not be emboldened to threaten Israel. However Russia has not fallen into line with Israel’s overtures. This is not because Moscow is hoping for open confrontation with Israel, but rather because Russia’s current priority is to keep Americans embroiled in the Middle East.

To do that, from the Kremlin perspective, Iran has to remain a threat and — if possible — Syria ought to reemerge as a threat. Russian actions, designed to allow Moscow room to maneuver in the Caucasus and Europe, have therefore — as an ancillary consequence — threatened Israel’s national security. Specifically, a resurgent Russia supporting Iran with nuclear technology and advanced strategic air defense systems, like the late model variants of the S-300, is a direct threat to Israel even though Moscow’s actual intention is to embolden Tehran against the United States. A particularly nightmarish scenario for Israel would be a refocused and reorganized Syria (or a hypothetical post-coup Egypt) with renewed Russian patronage. This changes the strategic calculus that Israel has had since the end of the Cold War. For the past 18 years Israel’s biggest concern was not the strength of the Arab states, but rather their weakness — the fear that if there was a war with its neighbors Israel’s military superiority would be so catastrophic that it would destroy the enemy to the point where the resulting chaos would usher in not another secular state but an Islamist one that would sponsor waves of terror attacks against Israel. Israel therefore found itself in the odd position of wanting (and often overtly trying) to keep various Arab secular dictators in power in order to avoid having to deal with a worse alternative.

With Russia back in the game, a secular regime backed by the Kremlin is much worse than an unaligned Islamist regime from Israel’s perspective. Therefore, Israel may still have a few cards to play should Russia jump back into the sandbox, starting with destabilizing neighbors that choose to side with Moscow.

Source: http://www.stratfor.com/geopolitical...roader_picture


Israel Bans Arms Dealers from Visiting Georgia


Israel has ordered to halt all sales of military equipment to Georgia, The Associated Press reported with reference to the sources with Israeli defense community. Of interest is that the Israeli government ordered the freeze because of objections from Russia. In Israel, they apprehend that the Kremlin may set to large-scale supplies of sophisticated weapons to the states of the Middle East that are hostile to Israel, including Iran. A day before, Russia’s General Staff Deputy Chief General-Colonel Anatoly Nogovitsyn told foreign ambassadors and military attaches that the General Staff had no data about the continuation of military cooperation of Georgia and Israel. At the same time, Nogovitsyn confirmed that Israel had supplied to Tbilisi eight drones, including four Hermes 450 spying drones. Those drones were spying in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Nogovitsyn reminded, adding that the Israeli experts trained Georgian military to operate the drones in 2007. Besides, Israel supplied to Georgia more than 100 sets of mine-clearing charges used to make passages in the antitank minefields and 50 sets used for the passages in the antipersonnel minefields, as well as 500 sets of camouflage nets.

Source: http://www.kommersant.com/p-13185/Ar...eorgia_Israel/

Venezuela to Host Russia Navy Exercise in Caribbean

Several Russian ships and 1,000 soldiers will take part in joint naval maneuvers with Venezuela in the Caribbean Sea later this year, exercises likely to increase diplomatic tensions with Washington, a pro-government newspaper reported on Saturday. Quoting Venezuela's naval intelligence director, Salbarore Cammarata, the newspaper Vea said four Russian boats would visit Venezuelan waters from November 10 to 14. Plans for the naval operations come at a time of heightened diplomatic tension and Cold War-style rhetoric between Moscow and the United States over the recent war in Georgia and plans for a U.S. missile defense system in the Czech Republic and Poland.

Cammarata said it would be the first time Russia's navy carried out such exercises in Latin America. He said the Venezuelan air force would also take part. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, an outspoken critic of Washington, has said in recent weeks that Russian ships and planes are welcome to visit the South American country. "If the Russian long-distance planes that fly around the world need to land at some Venezuelan landing strip, they are welcome, we have no problems," he said on his weekly television show last week.

Chavez, who buys billions of dollars of weapons from Russia, has criticized this year's reactivation of the U.S. Navy's Fourth Fleet, which will patrol Latin America for the first time in over 50 years. The socialist Chavez says he fears the United States will invade oil-rich Venezuela and he supports Russia's growing geopolitical presence as a counterbalance to U.S. power. Chavez has bought fighter jets and submarines from Russia to retool Venezuela's aging weapons and says he is also interested in a missile defense system.

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNe...33952420080907

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