Fighting in Georgia

[A4sForever]

I don't have the time nor the inclination to pour through all the posts, links, and thoughts of you-all regarding the current situation in Georgia ... but, just let me say I'm not surprised at what's goin' down ....

A quick & dirty, without all the Google and links derived therein ... just an observation from one man's perspective:

Russia is still populated by a bunch of assholes. Nothing has changed since the demise of the Soviet world .... the Russians post-Soviet have been assholes even in civie street in the airline when dealing w/ them in Tokyo, Anchorage, JFK, and overhead Magadan. Pure assholes ... and stupid, as well. Cunning, to be sure ... just stupid and Neanderthal in their outlook on the rest of the world.

Nice lookin' women, however ... at least the ones in ANC.

Putin is an asshole ... and a snake. He's KGB for God's sake!!! What does anyone not understand about that ... ??? "Look into his eyes" (someone else said something similar to that) ... :icon_lol::icon_lol::icon_lol: ... and what do you see: evil; a fuckin' snake.

Seriously; look at his picture:

Putin has been dyin' to test his recently revamped military for a long time -- now he's got a perfect, Hungary-like opportunity w/ little downside, since he's got the Euro-trash w/ an energy noose around their necks and we are Islamo-occupied and do not have the warm bodies nor military numbers to do anything about it. Putin has also been very pissed about Georgia's warm & fuzzy proclivity towards the West and w/their desire to join NATO ... he now has an opportunity to do something about it that Russia could NOT do during the former Yugo-disturbia when they talked the talk but could not walk the walk to "protect" their ethnic brethren. It always makes it a LOT easier when it's just over the border, too ....

Putin was sittin' a few seats from "W" at the opening for the Olympics --- does ANYONE think this OP has not been planned for some time??? Can ANYONE say Putin is and always has been a duplicitous bastard ???

All in all ... a bad situation. And one that we have allowed to develop over the past decade + of playing kissy-face w/ the Rooskies .... and the same mistakes are currently being repeated w/ Communist China.

The are BOTH the ENEMY, guys.

Pure & simple ... quick & dirty.

Just my $20 worth ...

 

[scoober78]

Snake...A$$hole...funny picture....kissy-face.

Did you say kissy-face?

In all seriousness, I just had this conversation with some of my family...and what kills me about it is that in addition to the above, this is just history going at it again. Russian relations with the western world have ALWAYS gone in waves. ALWAYS!!!! Peter the Great warms his relations with the west, radically modernizes the Russian military (especially the Navy) and then uses that Army to go to war with Sweden, Poland and the Ottomans. Catherine the Great...same story...war twice with the Ottomans...oh and fun with Cossaks...where are they from again??? Stalin...WWII to Cold War. Khrushchev, Brezhnev...over and over again and now...Putin. This is NO surprise. If it is to anyone in government...shame on them. All of them use the West when its in their interest, and consolidate a sphere of influence with the tools and currecny and know how we give them....combine that with what is arguably the longest continuous autocracy in the world...shake it all up...

 

[raptor10]

Scoob, A4s, Brett, and Flash, brilliant commentary as always.

 

[MPH]

It's over... or not...

 

[Fog]

It's over... or not...

Well, it's not over. The Russians had no intention to stay in South Ossetia & Abkhazia. They're now moving into other areas of Georgia during the day Wednesday. NATO, or the U.S. had better do something formally to shore an intent to defend the remaining 5 former soviet republics (Ukraine, Poland, Latvia, Estonia & Lithuania) if Putin tries to do this again. As always, the Russians only understand & respect one thing: brute power.

 

[Uncle Fester]

Been a while since Poland was a Russian posession...but your point's taken. Putin's not stupid enough to attack a NATO member state. This was putting all the other FSU/Former Warsaw Pact states who're interested in joining the alliance on notice. "Real nice country you got here...be a shame if you joined NATO and something happened to it."

 

[A4sForever]

Been a while since Poland was a Russian posession...but your point's taken. Putin's not stupid enough to attack a NATO member state. This was putting all the other FSU/Former Warsaw Pact states who're interested in joining the alliance on notice. "Real nice country you got here...be a shame if you joined NATO and something happened to it."

More like: "Real nice country you got here...be a shame if you try to join NATO and something happened to (you) ...."

I think Putin's short game is to prevent anyone else on the periphery of Ma' Russia from joining NATO.

If memory serves, Lord Ismay (in)famously stated the original intent of NATO was to: "keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down .... "

 

[A4sForever]

From the AP:

[FONT=Verdana,Sans-serif] At the Beijing Olympics, Georgian women rallied Wednesday to beat their Russian counterparts in beach volleyball, the first head-to-head clash of the two nations. [/FONT][FONT=Verdana,Sans-serif]

(Note to self: not counting the current little dust-up near the Black Sea ... )[/FONT][FONT=Verdana,Sans-serif]

"Russia and Georgia are actually friends. People are friends," said the Georgian beach volleyball team leader. "But you know, it's not, in the 21st century, to bomb a neighbor country, it's not a good idea."

[/FONT][FONT=Verdana,Sans-serif]Ahhhhh .... beach volleyball Valley Girl wisdom to end all wars ... the same the world over ....[FONT=Verdana,Sans-serif][FONT=Verdana,Sans-serif] [FONT=Verdana,Sans-serif][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana,Sans-serif][FONT=Verdana,Sans-serif] [/FONT]
[/FONT]

 

[Fog]

Will Bush send a CBG into the Black Sea? Immpressive, but we'd better mean business if he does. TV is suggesting this, & Bush will make speech from White House in a few minutes.

Note: Pres. Bush just spoke. There will be a "vigorous & on-going U.S. military humanitarian response" in the area. Not sure what that'll be, but the idea of a Navy CBG looks like an overstatement at present.

 

[raptor10]

Ukraine is not a NATO member, and they don't look like they care to much about the Russian Navy returning to port there... Might be something to watch.

 

[Cron]

Well, it's not over. The Russians had no intention to stay in South Ossetia & Abkhazia. They're now moving into other areas of Georgia during the day Wednesday. NATO, or the U.S. had better do something formally to shore an intent to defend the remaining 5 former soviet republics (Ukraine, Poland, Latvia, Estonia & Lithuania) if Putin tries to do this again. As always, the Russians only understand & respect one thing: brute power.

Poland was not a Soviet Republic, and is currently a member of NATO...but I know what you were trying to say sir.

 

[Huggy Bear]

A good opinion piece:

http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/russo_georgian_war_and_balance_power

 

[Uncle Fester]

Ethnic minorities living in Country A when they want to be part of Country B... Wasn't this how that rumble in 1914 started?

(I know, kinda but not really...still...)

Next I predict Russia will permanently occupy South Ossetia and Abkhazia to "protect" the people there, plus, you know, maybe just a little beyond...as a buffer zone, naturally. Then the Georgians finally get their shit together and counter-attack, which will be all the excuse the Russians need to occupy Tblisi. Then, hell, why not the rest of the country? Not like the Georgians were really using it.

 

[OUSOONER]

What's next? Are they gonna hand out passports to citizens of all their former territories and then roll in to "protect" them from their oppressing government(s)?

 

[Flugelman]

A good opinion piece:

http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/russo_georgian_war_and_balance_power

+1 Good find. The article explains a lot of background that helps make more sense of the current Russian posture. How could we NOT have seen this coming? Or, perhaps, those in the know did see it coming and were impotent to do anything about it. Scary...