Georgia on Our Minds

Friends,
This is an update on the Russia/Georgia war. You almost gotta' love Ol' Dick Cheney. He always comes through with something cheery and threatening.
"Vice President Dick Cheney, in a telephone conversation with the Georgian president on Monday, said “that Russian aggression must not go unanswered, and that its continuation would have serious consequences for its relations with the United States, as well as the broader international community,” according to Mr. Cheney’s spokeswoman, Lea Anne McBride."
Maybe it is just me, but I think Ol' Dick reminds me of John Wayne Gacy.
Has anyone mentioned the oil? "Georgia serves as a major conduit for oil flowing from Russia and Central Asia to the West." Silly question.

Peace and Love,
Rev O

Russia Presses Into Georgia; Bush Is Sharp in Criticism New York Times
"SENAKI, Georgia — Russian armored vehicles rolled 25 miles into western Georgia and took up positions at a military base here early Monday after issuing an ultimatum to Georgia to disarm its troops, along the boundary with the separatist territory of Abkhazia."

"Russian officials say Georgia provoked the assault on its troops by attacking South Ossetia, causing heavy civilian casualties. The Kremlin said its actions since then were intended to strike at Georgian military forces that had fired on its peacekeeping troops in South Ossetia and it did not intend a broader offensive deeper into Georgia.
However, Georgian officials said that over the weekend Russia had expanded its attacks on Georgia, moving tanks and troops through South Ossetia and advancing toward Gori. That maneuver, the Russian bombing of Tbilisi, and then the occupation of a Georgian military base in Senaki seemed to suggest that Russia’s aims in the conflict after four days of fighting had gone beyond securing South Ossetia and Abkhazia to weakening the armed forces of Georgia, a former Soviet republic and an ally of the United States whose Western leanings have long irritated the Kremlin."

"The fighting raised tensions between Russia and its former cold-war foes to their highest level in decades. President Bush has promoted Georgia as a bastion of democracy, helped strengthen its military and urged that NATO grant the country to membership. Georgia serves as a major conduit for oil flowing from Russia and Central Asia to the West."

"Both Abkhazia and South Ossetia won de facto autonomy from Georgia in fighting in the early 1990s. The current fighting broke out last week in South Ossetia when Georgian troops tried to take the capital in what seems to have been a major miscalculation. Russia says it is acting to protect residents there and to punish Georgia for the assault. "

Russia Presses Into Georgia; Bush Is Sharp in Criticism New York Times
By MICHAEL SCHWIRTZ, ANNE BARNARD and ANDREW E. KRAMER 6:12 PM ET