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POPSHow To Stop Putin What we can do is alter Putin's cost-benefit calculations. We are not without resources. There are a range of measures to be deployed if Russia does not live up to its cease-fire commitments: 1. Suspend the NATO-Russia Council established in 2002 2. Bar Russian entry to the World Trade Organization. 3. Dissolve the G-8. Putin's dictatorship long made Russia's presence in this group of industrial democracies a farce, but no one wanted to upset the bear by expelling it. No need to. The seven democracies simply withdraw. (And if Italy's Silvio Berlusconi, who has been sympathetic to Putin's Georgia adventure, wants to stay, he can have an annual G-2 dinner with Putin.) Then immediately announce the reconstitution of the original G-7. 4. Announce a U.S.-European boycott of the 2014 Winter Olympics at Sochi. The most crucial and unconditional measure, however, is this: Reaffirm support for the Saakashvili government:
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POPSDefense Official: Russia Has Short Range Missiles in S. Ossetia Surely no one believes that Russia has any intentions of leaving. Hello EU. Hello UN. Hello US....etc. The radical Islamic forces and the dictatorial regimes are progressing further and further as the *free world* talks about how unacceptable their aggression is to the World.
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POPSChutzpah, With a Capital "CH" Can you believe the audacity of McCain? First he manipulates Obama into taking his trip to Iraq and Afghanistan, which also resulted in a successful European tour. When that worked out too well for Obama, McCain declared that his opponent was being presumptuous, and acting as if was already president of the United States. Now that Russia has stormed into Georgia, McCain decides to send Lieberman and Graham to Tblisi to try to work something out. On what authority will the traitor Lieberman, and Howdy Doody Graham discuss anything of substance, with any officials in Georgia? On top of which, Condie Rice, Madam Secretary herself, is on her way to Georgia to assess the situation. She, at the very least, speaks for the president. For whom do these two McCain puppets speak?
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POPSGeorgia/Russia - The story behind the story
"No sooner was BTC completed, however, than Western officials began exploring the possibility of other pipelines that could reach beyond Georgia and Azerbaijan to Turkmenistan, which was thought to have some of the world's largest gas reserves. Their interest was not only in "energy security" and the prospect of oil riches for Western energy companies, but also in promoting Western-style democracy and free-market capitalism in the former Soviet republics. " "Putin understands better than anyone that oil and gas are the source of Russia's resurgence as a military and economic power and his own control over the Russian government and key sectors of its economy. It is oil and gas that provide the money to maintain Russia's powerful military, along with a vast internal security apparatus and network of government-controlled enterprises that allow the president-turned-premier to maintain his iron grip on the levers of political and economic power. "
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POPSPlucky little Georgia? No, the cold war reading won't wash All is not what is what it looks like.... Cont: Devoted to achieving Nato entry for Georgia, Saakashvili has sent troops to Iraq and Afghanistan - and so clearly felt he had American backing. The streets of the Georgian capital are plastered with posters of George W Bush alongside his Georgian protege. George W Bush avenue leads to Tbilisi airport. But he has ignored Kissinger's dictum: "Great powers don't commit suicide for their allies." Perhaps his neoconservative allies in Washington have forgotten it, too. Let's hope not.
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POPSHey Congress! Georgia Attacked South Ossetia First!
Let Congress know who is being overlooked in the US-Russia-Georgia conflict--the people of South Ossetia who want and prefer Russian rule since their declaration of independence from Georgia years ago--whom Georgia attacked and invaded, killing civilians! Russia responded. Congress needs to stop listening to White House propagandists and see the real story, before they start a new Iraq conflict, with Russia, and even towards world war (i.e. NATO versus Russia and allies)! And Congress needs informed people to help wake them up to these documented facts: The Ossetians, a divided people with one section living within Russia on the north side of the Caucasus mountains, and the other in Georgia, generally felt more comfortable with Russian rule than as part of the new, post-Soviet Georgian state. A small and nasty war with Tbilisi in 1990-92 led to a declaration of independence Is it not the Ossetians that have the stake in all this, who will govern and rule them?
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POPSGerman Chancellor Says That Georgia Can Join NATO Any Time It Wants Pounding Georgia, with a small military that isn’t set up for battle with a larger adversary, into submission is one thing. Trying to bluff NATO with a second rate military (and despite its size, it’s not a top shelf force) won’t be so easy. The Russians, of course, were steaming over Georgia’s desire to join NATO in the first place: Moscow is furious at Georgia’s attempt to join NATO. The Western military alliance is divided over how fast to accept Georgia, but has indicated that membership is a matter of when, not if. Hoo, boy, are they gonna hit the roof over this one.
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POPSThe Energy War Begins: From Russia With Bombs
The U.S. and E.U. are also backing an associated project for a natural gas pipeline that would, again, traverse Georgia and Turkey and bypass Russia, thereby lessening Europe’s dependency on gas either sourced from Russia or sourced from Central Asia but controlled by Russia. Tale of Two Pipelines: Europe Seeks to Lower Dependency on Russian Gas Friday, March 07, 2008 By Patrick Goodenough, International Editor (CNSNews.com) - Russia's latest standoff with Ukraine over natural gas supplies has been resolved for now, but the dispute has reinforced the view in Europe that alternatives to Russian energy are sorely needed. Russia's state-owned Gazprom monopoly early this week cut supplies of gas to Ukraine by 50 percent over a longstanding financial dispute. Gazprom says Ukraine owes it $600 million. But after high-level negotiations the company said the restrictions had been lifted. http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=18989
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POPSAmerica: Don't Wait For Pelosi, Seize Our Energy Future Now! Only today, they have energy as a weapon. One premise of the new Putin Doctrine is that oil prices will stay high and that Russia, with its plentiful reserves, can use oil profits to fund its global ambitions. This is where Congress comes in. Since President Clinton refused to allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in 1995, Democrats have stood in the way of any rational energy plan. Today, we pump just 25% of our oil; 40 years ago, it was 60%. We send about $900 billion a year overseas to buy oil, money that helps fund Russian and radical Islamic mischief. This is a problem. Now for the good news: The U.S. is the world's largest potential oil supplier — with as much oil, the Institute for Energy Research says, as has been used by the entire world over the last 150 years. Just offshore, we have 86 billion barrels of crude. The U.S. Arctic region, including Alaska, holds 30 billion barrels. In the Far West, we have more than 800 billion barrels of shale oil.
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POPSRussia Nullifies French-Brokered Armistice With Georgia -- are implemented by Russia only in the sense that it no longer shoots or bombards Georgian troops and civilians. Russian troops, however, are blowing up bridges and other infrastructure on Georgian highways and railways, destroying Georgian military bases deep inside the country, and looting local Georgian civilian administrations at gunpoint -- all of this under the Sarkozy-brokered armistice. Point 3 in the agreement, “free access for humanitarian assistance and permission for refugees to return,” has also been torn apart. Access is impeded by Russia’s de facto naval blockade of Georgia’s coast and interdiction of cross-country transport in Georgia, continuing under this “armistice.” The few U.S. Air Force humanitarian assistance flights can not possibly cope with the magnitude of the task. The agreement’s 4th point, “Georgian troops are to return to the places of their regular stationing,” seems largely compromised by the devastation of those bases deep inside Georgia.......
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POPSHuge Train Blast as Russia Faces New Pressure to Leave Georgia But it added that international monitors would not replace Russian troops as a statement from the French presidency asserted. "During the telephone conversation between the Russian and French presidents, there was no discussion about replacing Russian peacekeeping troops by an OSCE mission in the buffer zone," said a Kremlin spokesman. The West sees the presence of OSCE monitors as critical to ensuring the success of the ceasefire. The speedy military victory over Georgia, which is pressing for membership of NATO, stunned Western powers and plunged relations between Russia and the West to their lowest point since the end of the Cold War. The latest focus of international tension was the Black Sea, where NATO naval exercises are taking place. A US destroyer arrived on Sunday in Georgia with what the Pentagon says are humanitarian aid supplies.
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POPSRussian Tanks And Troops Move Into South Ossetia Georgian interior ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili said last night Georgian troops would observe a three-hour ceasefire beginning at 3pm local time (9pm AEST) to allow civilians to leave Tskhinvali. The International Committee of the Red Cross appealed for a safe passage for the wounded. The European Union, US, NATO and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe called for a halt to the fighting in South Ossetia, which broke away from Tbilisi's control in the early 1990s. Georgia's President Mikheil Saakashvili said: ``Most of South Ossetia's territory is liberated and is controlled by Georgia.'' Russian Prime Minister Vladmir Putin condemned Georgia's ``aggressive actions'' and said his country would have to retaliate.
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POPSRussia's Ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin Brands Saakashvili a "Nazi" The ministry cited new operations by Russia, including the re-occupation of a military base in Senaki in the west of the country where explosions were heard by AFP. US officials said Russia had moved short-range SS-21 missile launchers into South Ossetia since fighting there halted last week, and has yet to give any sign of a significant pullback of its troops from Georgia. Instead, there were indications that Russia was adding troops and equipment to its force in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, strengthening its hold over the breakaway Georgian regions, the officials said. Russia denies deploying the SS-21s. The withdrawal will not be implemented "very swiftly", a defence ministry official was quoted as saying Tuesday in the Russian daily Kommersant. "Nobody is planning to withdraw the Russian contingent very swiftly, as there is no such necessity," he said.
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POPSRussian Journalist Watchs Russian Forces Move Toward Tbilisi pointing in the direction of Tbilisi. “Everyone went that way, both recognizance and the infantry. Now the equipment is tagging along behind.” The soldiers do not know why the army is moving forward after the signing of the ceasefire. They do not even know about the ceasefire. They find it unexpectedly upsetting when I tell them. “Medvedev betrayed us. There, in Ossetia, they mowed down 2000 of our guys, and he made peace. This is a political war,” a soldier said. That was all there was to say about politics. “So did we win a lot of gold at the Olympics?” “Some gold,” I answer. “But no one is talking about the Olympics now. You are in all the news.” The soldiers look around and laugh. When we try to catch up to the column of equipment, we find that it has already been spread out through the fields and hills along both sides of the road around Igoeti, about 36 km. from Tbilisi. Near the village, we are stopped by a soldier in full uniform.
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POPSSarkozy Calls Crisis EU Summit on Georgia, Russia German Chancellor Angela Merkel seems to supportive of this view. In a telephone conversation with the French President, she suggested that the EU convene a regional conference to address Georgia's reconstruction and wider stability issues in the region. But the conference would not include Russia, according to Merkel, who will explain her views in an article to be published in Der Spiegel on Monday. Earlier, while on a visit to Tbilisi on 17 August, the German Chancellor had lent her support to Georgia's NATO membership, moving away from a previously more cautious stance about the countries' affiliation to the North Atlantic military alliance. US officials have warned that the conflict in Georgia could affect Russia's membership of international organisations such as the Group of Eight industrialised nations and could undermine its bid to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
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POPSThe Dangers of Having a "Maverick" as POTUS
McCain’s top foreign policy adviser, Randy Scheunemann, was until recently a paid lobbyist for Georgia’s government. McCain also announced this week that two of his closest allies, Sens. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) and Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.), would travel to Georgia’s capital of Tbilisi on his behalf, after a similar journey by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. The extent of McCain’s involvement in the military conflict in Georgia appears remarkable among presidential candidates, who traditionally have kept some distance from unfolding crises out of deference to whoever is occupying the White House. The episode also follows months of sustained GOP criticism of Democratic Sen. Barack Obama, who was accused of acting too presidential for, among other things, briefly adopting a campaign seal and taking a trip abroad that included a huge rally in Berlin. Obama made a speech and shook hands w/ people. He was criticized for meddling in foreign policy.
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POPSBaku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Oil Pipeline Back to Normal Operations, BP Says continued...... backing out of the BTC pipeline and diverting its oil through Russia amid the military conflict in Georgia. Now, Erlan Idrissov, Kazakhstan’s ambassador to the U.S., has written in to say that his country plans to continue with the pipeline project. The crux of his letter: I would like to make clear that the allegations made in the article with reference to the Turkish “Referans” newspaper that Kazakhstan is pulling out of the BTC project are very far from likelihood. The article questions Kazakhstan’s commitment to the existing resource transportation agreements saying that “some countries seem to be bailing out of the existing ”. I would like to address here the core of the issue. First of all, Kazakhstan has declared and more than once proved its unwavering commitment to the principle of diversification of the routes of hydrocarbons transportation to the world markets.
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POPS Saakashvili Declares State of Emergency Violence erupted in the capital, Tbilisi, where anti- government demonstrations have been staged daily in almost a week. Emergency rule will run for 15 days, restricting public gatherings and closing all television channels except the state broadcaster, Agence France-Presse reported. Georgia's government and opposition should ``refrain from violence'' and engage in a ``constructive dialog,'' Gordon Johndroe, a White House spokesman, said in Washington yesterday. Thousands of protesters skirmished with police in an unsuccessful attempt to reclaim the square in front of Parliament where rallies have been held daily since Nov. 2. Riot police held protesters at bay using water cannons and tear gas before dispersing the crowd with rubber bullets and nightsticks. Many protesters fought back.
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POPSAfter 2 Public Embarrassments, Obama agrees with McCain First, he took a trip to Russia in 2005 in order to talk to Vladimir Putin about decommissioning Russian nuclear weapons. The Kremlin is still laughing at that one. Of course, that doesn't stop Obama from wanting to decommission much of America's nuclear arsenal. To set an example, of course. More laughter from Moscow. Second, for the past year and a half, Obama has been the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's Subcommittee on European Affairs. And guess what? He's never held a policy hearing.
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