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449 Comments
- GalaxyJob, on 08/09/2008, -8/+141Two downed planes confirned by russian military which always trying to lower their real losses. Georgian sources report 11 downed planes - so real number would be in between - 6 or 7. Which means full-scale war between Russia and Georgia and not just "peacekeeping mission".
- Erythroxylum, on 08/09/2008, -19/+138This war for oil (and natural gas) is justifiable because it's being done by those peace-loving, bongo-playing, right-on and groovy Russians, and not those baby-bayonetting, nasty Americans and their filthy Je...uh, I mean Zionist masters.
How dare those Imperialist Running-Dog Georgians occupy Georgia like that. They should withdraw into the Black Sea immediately or risk sparking a much wider conflict.
'Outrageous! The Georgians have shot down a few of out Cold War-era fighters! And all they were doing was innocently dropping bombs on Georgian civilians which is a proud, cultural Russian tradition! Those racists!' - seven999, on 08/09/2008, -14/+116Russia wants full control of the gas and oil transport to Europe.. No competition from other pipelines allowed..
The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline (sometimes abbreviated as BTC pipeline) is a crude oil pipeline that covers 1,768 kilometres (1,099 mi) from the Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli oil field in the Caspian Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. It connects Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan; Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia; and Ceyhan, a port on the south-eastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey, hence its name. It is the second longest oil pipeline in the world
The Caspian Sea lies above one of the world's largest groups of oil and gas fields. As the Caspian Sea is landlocked, the transportation of oil to Western markets is complicated. During Soviet times, all transportation routes from the Caspian region were built through Russia.
The collapse of the Soviet Union started a search for new routes. Russia first insisted that the new pipeline should pass through Russian territory, then declined to participate.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan_p ... - maj0rm0j0, on 08/09/2008, -7/+99Why should Georgia pull out of their own country? Where should they go?
- lukas88, on 08/09/2008, -6/+82From what I gather, here is what is going on:
South Ossetia has been pursuing its independence for a good amount of time now. A skirmish broke out between SO and Georgia (nobody knows who started it) which caused fighting between their troops. Georgia called for a cease fire which was answered with even more aggression (reportedly). Georgia put its foot down and launched a series of heavy handed strikes against SO, further escalating the situation (anthill-> molehill). Russia took the opportunity to come in and launch its own series of heavy handed strikes against Georgia (molehill -> mountain), claiming to want to protect the Russian people in the area (sounds messed up, Russia). Now everyone is telling Russia to chill the ***** out.
Here are a couple of things to consider:
-A few years ago Georgia increased its military budget from 30 million to 1 billion, suggesting they anticipated some sort of military action
-The region is not resource rich but controls trade routes and oil pipelines along with the interest of the rest of Europe and even America (in other words, a chance that this could become even more overblown than it already is) - Detry, on 08/09/2008, -32/+104This is getting ridiculous.
While I have no verifiable proof I just know that both sides are killing civilians deliberately. You cannot 'enforce peace' OR quell a rebellion by bombing Apt complexes. A lot more people are going to die and that makes me sad. It's just not needed and could have been avoided. - CTAPTup, on 08/09/2008, -16/+84It seems that every western mass media starts it's story from the part when Russian tanks had invaded South Ossetia. Not a single word about events that had happened before. Just plain red aggression from Russia.
No one mentions Georgian attacks of Tskhinvali that continued from Aug 1. No one mentions full-blown invasion of Tskhinvali started at night on Aug 9. No one mentions Russian peacekeepers were engaged and 15 of them were killed in the bombing raid from Georgia. Not a single word about thousands of refugees that runned for their lives to Russia borders, not Georgia villages. Nothing about fact that Russian tanks entered already ruined Tskhinvali.
War is going on in the region for 12 hours at least. But western media is suspiciusly silent... and then "BOOM" — here we are — "Russian tanks destroyed Tskhinvali, Georgia panics and pleads USA for military help..." - inactive, on 08/09/2008, -3/+56Sovereignty isn't worth what?
- s0m31john, on 08/09/2008, -4/+55No, because I am not stupid.
- Steelfox, on 08/09/2008, -4/+45South Ossetia is part of Georgia and the Russians started bombing cities and towns not even part of the conflict zone. If you ask me, Russia needs to pull out.
Also, i'm currently posting this from the capital of Georgia, Tbilisi, and it's getting pretty crazy. A lot of young men have been picked up to go fight and apparently Russia is sending in more and more troops as we speak. - dkapuchino, on 08/09/2008, -5/+43Georgia has called for a Cease Fire. Lets see how the Russians respond.
- LaughingMan89, on 08/09/2008, -0/+30Nah, it's just an exceptionally violent version of peace.
- Jhiaxuz, on 08/09/2008, -2/+31A weak military with a ***** of nukes and plenty of vodka.
- MrFurious2k, on 08/09/2008, -4/+32Yikes... this can't be good.
- Mesmorize, on 08/09/2008, -9/+36If you Europeans don't want to be Russia's bitch for the foreseeable future you'll ensure with your military that Russia doesn't get control of Georgia's pipelines.
It's fairly clear that Russia's been giving Ossetians citizenships and guns so that when a couple die Russia can claim they are Russian and roll in there with tanks + armed Ossetians to get their pipeline and thus have huge leverage over the entirety of Europe. - dkapuchino, on 08/09/2008, -0/+24And Russia can deny Kosovo and Chechnya independence, but defend South Ossetia?
- td001, on 08/09/2008, -1/+23***** you.. 2 of MY friends died beating this meme into the ground!!!
- inactive, on 08/09/2008, -7/+28Looks like Dubya found a dictionary: “Georgia is a SOVEREIGN nation, and its territorial integrity must be respected,” Mr. Bush said in a hastily arranged appearance at his hotel.
- dkapuchino, on 08/09/2008, -1/+21Well, if you ask the Russian-Backed Abkhazians -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_cleansing_of_G ...
They should go meet their creators. - dkapuchino, on 08/09/2008, -5/+24South Ossetia IS PART OF GEORGIA. Not even Russia recognizes otherwise.
- kuchino, on 08/09/2008, -1/+203rd world country? its one of the richest nations, not the top 3 but they are rich, no depths, self reliant and 3rd world countries don't have nukes.
- waydee, on 08/09/2008, -0/+17They're bombing targets outside of South Ossetia as well...
- DracoFlameus, on 08/09/2008, -1/+18lol, peacekeeping mission? I don't know, but here in Austria/Europe our news already declared it an act of war by russia.
- shadeOfGrey, on 08/09/2008, -0/+15Maybe Georgia will be renamed Russia soon.
- s01ac3, on 08/09/2008, -0/+15You forgot that Georgia would like to become a country in NATO. what that means is Russia has 26 countries in Military alliance waiting on it's doorstep. This is not something Russia wants.
- maj0rm0j0, on 08/09/2008, -0/+15NightVortez, this would be similar to Texas separating from the US and Mexico attacking the US in support of Texas.
South Ossetia is part of Georgia. - soupcancooloff, on 08/09/2008, -0/+14Weak military because they lost in Chechnya?
By your logic the US military is weak because it hasn't won in Iraq. - EpochOne, on 08/09/2008, -0/+14If I recall correctly, Georgia is(was?) one of the major contributing forces (by the numbers anyway) to the whole war on terrorism gig and has applied to be a member of NATO. Not exactly sure what that means as I'm far more familiar with the state than the country's motives but I though I'd throw that out there.
- wpi97, on 08/09/2008, -1/+15Do you really believe that Russia is truing to defend the independence of South Ossetia? If the region ever becomes fully independent, the first thing that will happen is it will be annexed by Russia, and merged with North Ossetia, which is already a Russian province. A territorial dispute between Russia and Georgia is a much better description of the situation than a fight for independence.
- dkapuchino, on 08/09/2008, -1/+14The Caucasus is such a beautiful region. What a shame it has been plunged into war for decades thanks to Mother Russia.
- kuchino, on 08/09/2008, -4/+17So true, i was so pissed off as i saw these headlines. they bending the story, and making their own versions of it.
- diadem2, on 08/09/2008, -1/+14What are we talking about here? The new super-migs or crop dusters retrofitted to become bombers....?
- waydee, on 08/09/2008, -2/+14Because thats not bloody obvious at all. You've invented your own theory there, it may be true but its certainly not the only possible reason for all of this and certainly not the most likely.
Theres long been tension between South Ossetian troops and Georgian troops which bubbled over into a small scale battle, and when Russian peacekeeping forces as well as South Ossetians (a large proportion of whom hold Russian citizenship, see below) got attacked it escalated into what we see now. Who started it isn't clear but don't think that Russia is playing the white knight in this one - they do not recognise South Ossetia as independent (nobody does, even though > 90% of the population voted in a referendum for independence) and made the offer of Russian citizenship to its residents, of which about half took.
North Ossetia is within Russia, the most likely reason for Russia offering citizenship to South Ossetians is because they'd like the entire region to be under Russian control and not have the southern part within Georgian territory. Russia don't exactly have a history of supporting separatist movements and independence claims do they? I'd say those South Ossetians while thankful for the assistance offered by Russia probably won't get the result they're after (independence of the entire region + international recognition).
All three belligerents are at fault and should be working as hard as they can to negotiate talks to end violence or at the very least secure a ceasefire to evacuate civilians. Russia should also not be provoking Georgia even further by attacking cities outside of South Ossetia, South Ossetia should not be provoking russians by continuing to push troops into the region.
- dkapuchino, on 08/09/2008, -0/+12Its a matter of being up to date with world news.
- norbiu, on 08/09/2008, -4/+16The last 8 years have been sad.
- browntiger, on 08/09/2008, -9/+21Hypocrite!
Population of Tibet wants autonomy from China! So is population of Ossetia that wants autonomy from Georgia.
So was the call from Kosovo to be independent from Serbia.
You can not defend Kosovo and Tibet but claim Ossetia is somehow Russian terrorism. - dkapuchino, on 08/09/2008, -3/+15Because the Russians have been arming and supporting Ossetian Separatists, that have launched attacks against Georgian targets. Why are the Russians doing so? So they can cause instability, and Finlay get their excuse to invade Georgia.
- dsmx, on 08/09/2008, -0/+11Doesn't matter really the propaganda value of shooting down enemy planes is high.
- maj0rm0j0, on 08/09/2008, -1/+12Steelfox, I'd find a hole to get in, or a way out of Georgia if I were you. Russia is showing little mercy to civilians.
- KaiserArny, on 08/09/2008, -0/+11@ Nightvortez So by your logic Russia should pull out of Tchetchenia and let them decide by themselves.
- lukas88, on 08/09/2008, -1/+12I agree that few people here are well informed on the issue but Russia clearly made a bad situation worse. It is too early to tell if the Georgian attacks were appropriate. There is evidence that SO escalated the conflict and that Georgia was responding accordingly. To have Russia come in and attack so impulsively when diplomatic intervention would have been MUCH better is very suspicious. Add to that, most countries including all of Europe is condemning Russian action here.
- sensor, on 08/09/2008, -0/+11HightVortez that figure of over 1000 is quite probably a fabrication by the Russian media to justify the attack. I'm not denying that there are civilian casualties in Southern Ossetia. However that figure is probably highly exaggerated.
- cheese06, on 08/09/2008, -0/+11its not that easy to just send in troops. you're talking about american troops on the ground actively killing Russian soldiers thats a pretty big deal. You know thats not going to happen. Financial/material assitance yeah but not direct contact. the fad is proxy war.
- livefromheaven, on 08/09/2008, -5/+15Keep Jesus out of digg please
- inactive, on 08/09/2008, -1/+11Why do conspiracy theorists always think it's the US government behind every conflict in the world?
- inactive, on 08/09/2008, -2/+12wish he would have found that dictionary in 2002.
- hjdutch, on 08/09/2008, -3/+13thats great. considering the broke the ceasefire in the first place and killed 1400 people.
- dilbert, on 08/09/2008, -4/+14I guess Georgia is a more sovereign nation than, oooh let's say Iraq or Iran...
- rthakidn, on 08/09/2008, -2/+11Ossentia was part of the Soviet Georgia before the demise of the union. Factions of Ossentia with Russian encouragement are attempting to secede from Georgia. Naturally, Georgia is resisting this move. Essentially, Russia is getting involved in Georgia's civil war. I am amused by the posts here already trying to connect Washington (reads Bush) to the whole mess, while defending Russia's meddling. Once again the "blame America first" gang is out at DIGG.
- dkapuchino, on 08/09/2008, -2/+11Thanks, Insightful!
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