Thursday, January 29, 2009
Putin’s Grasp of Energy Drives Russian Agenda - NYTimes.com
Putin’s Grasp of Energy Drives Russian Agenda - NYTimes.com: "Putin’s Grasp of Energy Drives Russian Agenda"
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Did Saakashvili Lie?: The West Begins to Doubt Georgian Leader - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International
Did Saakashvili Lie?: The West Begins to Doubt Georgian Leader - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International:
[The War Schedule]
"The Georgian government continues to maintain that the war began on Thursday, Aug. 7, at 11:30 p.m. According to its account, it was at this time that it received several intelligence reports that approximately 150 Russian army vehicles had entered Georgian territory"...
The details that Western intelligence agencies extracted... agree with NATO's assessments...the Georgians amassed roughly 12,000 troops on the border with South Ossetia on the morning of Aug. 7. Seventy-five tanks and armored personnel carriers -- a third of the Georgian military's arsenal -- were assembled near Gori...
At 10:35 p.m. on Aug. 7, less than an hour before Russian tanks [allegedly] entered the Roki Tunnel, according to Saakashvili, Georgian forces began their artillery assault on Tskhinvali. The Georgians used 27 rocket launchers, including 152-millimeter guns, as well as cluster bombs. Three brigades began the nighttime assault.
The intelligence agencies were monitoring the Russian calls for help on the airwaves. The 58th Army, part of which was stationed in North Ossetia, was apparently not ready for combat, at least not during that first night.
The Georgian army, on the other hand, consisted primarily of infantry groups, which were forced to travel along major roads. It soon became bogged down and was unable to move past Tskhinvali...
Russian army did not begin firing until 7:30 a.m. on Aug. 8, when it launched an SS-21 short-range ballistic missile on the city of Borzhomi, southwest of Gori. The missile apparently hit military and government bunker positions. Russian warplanes began their first attacks on the Georgian army a short time later.
Russian troops from North Ossetia did not begin marching through the Roki Tunnel until roughly 11 a.m. This sequence of events is now seen as evidence that Moscow did not act offensively, but merely reacted. Additional SS-21s were later moved to the south. The Russians deployed 5,500 troops to Gori and 7,000 to the border between Georgia and its second separatist region, Abkhazia.
[The War Schedule]
"The Georgian government continues to maintain that the war began on Thursday, Aug. 7, at 11:30 p.m. According to its account, it was at this time that it received several intelligence reports that approximately 150 Russian army vehicles had entered Georgian territory"...
The details that Western intelligence agencies extracted... agree with NATO's assessments...the Georgians amassed roughly 12,000 troops on the border with South Ossetia on the morning of Aug. 7. Seventy-five tanks and armored personnel carriers -- a third of the Georgian military's arsenal -- were assembled near Gori...
At 10:35 p.m. on Aug. 7, less than an hour before Russian tanks [allegedly] entered the Roki Tunnel, according to Saakashvili, Georgian forces began their artillery assault on Tskhinvali. The Georgians used 27 rocket launchers, including 152-millimeter guns, as well as cluster bombs. Three brigades began the nighttime assault.
The intelligence agencies were monitoring the Russian calls for help on the airwaves. The 58th Army, part of which was stationed in North Ossetia, was apparently not ready for combat, at least not during that first night.
The Georgian army, on the other hand, consisted primarily of infantry groups, which were forced to travel along major roads. It soon became bogged down and was unable to move past Tskhinvali...
Russian army did not begin firing until 7:30 a.m. on Aug. 8, when it launched an SS-21 short-range ballistic missile on the city of Borzhomi, southwest of Gori. The missile apparently hit military and government bunker positions. Russian warplanes began their first attacks on the Georgian army a short time later.
Russian troops from North Ossetia did not begin marching through the Roki Tunnel until roughly 11 a.m. This sequence of events is now seen as evidence that Moscow did not act offensively, but merely reacted. Additional SS-21s were later moved to the south. The Russians deployed 5,500 troops to Gori and 7,000 to the border between Georgia and its second separatist region, Abkhazia.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Russia's next flash point - International Herald Tribune
Russia's next flash point - International Herald Tribune: "ANOTHER WAR?
Russia's next flash point
By Denis Corboy, William Courtney and Kenneth Yalowitz Published: January 6, 2009"
Russia's next flash point
By Denis Corboy, William Courtney and Kenneth Yalowitz Published: January 6, 2009"
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Russia Aside, Georgia’s Chief Is Pressed at Home - NYTimes.com
Russia Aside, Georgia’s Chief Is Pressed at Home - NYTimes.com: "“Georgia has a lot of problems, and one of them is how people perceive Saakashvili,” said Sarah E. Mendelson, a Russia specialist at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. “He’s the elected president, and ultimately this is all up to Georgians. But I hear some people say, ‘You need to get rid of him, or get him under wraps.’ ”"
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