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Posts From The Saker

TECHNICAL PROBLEMS – stay tuned

Dear friends, As per Murphy’s law my Internet connection is mostly down. Brighthouse will send a tech on Monday. I will try to post here in the short moments when it is back up but I cannot promise to maintain coverage of the war in Ossetia for the next three days. Ditto for answering emails. I apologize for this. Kind regards, The Saker

Details about how the US prepared the Georgian military for this war

Georgian army may be tough nut for Russia to crack By Stefan Korshak for Deutsche Presse-Agentur via Monsters and Critics The war in the Caucasian province Ossetia may seem like an uneven contest between giant Russia and tiny Georgia – but on the battlefront things are a bit different. Georgia’s President President Mikheil Saakashvili, coming to office in the 2003 pro-democracy Rose Revolution, has with some help from the United

Georgian TV shows downed Russian pilots

Georgian TV has just shown footage of one dead Russian pilot and one wounded one. Georgian journalists were allowed inside the hospital where there Russian POW was treated and asked him what his mission had been. The Russian could barely speak, but he repeated twice “reconnaissance”. Some Georgian sources claim that not two, but five Russian aircraft were shot down. It could well be that the pilot was saying the

Overnight developments according to the TV channel Russia Today

The Georgian war – minute by minute 13:16 GMT – Russia considers bringing the killing of peacekeepers to the international court – Foreign Ministry. 13:03 GMT – Tbilisi may ask the West for military aid – head of Georgia’s national security council. 12:53 GMT – Bush assures Medvedev he will help return the situation in South Ossetia to the sphere of diplomacy. 12:53 GMT – Georgian troops block 2,000 refugees

War in South Ossetia – summary of developments

Here are some of the developments which I have learned so far: 1) Russia did admit that two of its military aircraft had been lost yesterday. This is rather baffling since the Georgian air defense capabilities are, according to Wikipedia, officially rather minimal: * 15 SA-11 * 38 SA-3 * 18 SA-8 * 35 ZSU-23-4 * 15 S-60 * 40 MT-LB with towed ZU-23-2 2) Abkhazian authorities have declared that

Russian Air Force strikes military bases and airfields across Georgia (UPDATED)

Russian and Georgian sources are reporting Russian Air Force strikes on Georgian military facilities throughout Georgia. The port of Poti has also reportedly been bombed. Several Georgian aircraft were destroyed on the Marneuli air base near the Georgian capital Tbilissi. The Vaziani military base (25 km from the capital) was also bombed. The airport of Bolnisi is reported “destroyed” by Georgian sources. In the meantime, Russian sources are reporting that

NATO encouraged Georgia – Russian envoy

Russia Today reports: NATO encouraged Georgia Russia’s envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, has sent an official note to representatives of all member countries in Brussels in connection with Georgia’s military actions against South Ossetia. He’s calling on them not to support Mikhail Saakashvili. “Russia has already begun consultations with the ambassadors of the NATO countries and consultations with NATO military representatives will be held tomorrow,” Rogozin said. “We will caution

South Ossetians retake capital

This just in from Interfax (via Press TV): South Ossetian separatists say they are in complete control of the capital Tskhinvali more than 24 hours into a major Georgian military offensive. The statement was made by South Ossetian spokeswoman, Irina Gagloyeva on Friday, the Interfax news agency reported. “The entire city of Tskhinvali is currently controlled by units of South Ossetia’s defense forces… The Georgian side is trying to regain

Appeal to the world of the South Ossetian Government

Appeal to the Governments and peoples of the world! Please, help us stop genocide of the small people of the South Ossetia! The small country, which has been constantly destroying for 19 years by Georgian fascists.And the world community conceal all the atrocities of Georgia for the sake of geopolitical interest of the USA. Conflict resolution is completely in international law. However, the Georgian side skillfully uses methods of historical

Condi Rice: the biggest hypocrit of them all

AP reports: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice: “The United States calls for an immediate ceasefire to the armed conflict in Georgia’s region of South Ossetia,” Rice said in a statement. “We call on Russia to cease attacks on Georgia by aircraft and missiles, respect Georgia’s territorial integrity and withdraw its ground combat forces from Georgian soil.” You gotta be kiddin, Condi?!

Georgia vs. South Ossetia – an overview

by Ilya Kramnik for RIA-Novosti The very real possibility of full-scale war between Georgia and South Ossetia raises questions about its possible outcome. At present, the Georgian armed forces have more than 30,000 men, including 20,000 ground forces. They are equipped with more than 200 tanks, including 40 T-55s and 165 T-72s, which are currently being upgraded. Apart from tanks, the ground forces have 200 combat armored vehicles, including about

Massive Georgian military assault on South Ossetia (UPDATED!)

I am currently following the events in South Ossetia and the situation is developing very rapidly. Here is a summary of what has happened so far. 1) Georgian special forces have taken over 11 villages around the South Ossetian capital Tshinvali. They then proceeded to take over several high points around the city from were a massive artillery barrage was initiated. 2) Artillery strikes were supported by airstrikes. Images shown

The Mystery Behind a Syrian Murder

Note: I usually do not post materials from the corporate press on this blog, much less so one coming from, of all things, from the Time/CNN cesspool. Still, this article was mailed to be my a friend (thanks M.!) and it is interesting. Take a look (my comments are italicized): The Mystery Behind a Syrian Murder By Nicholas Blanford / Beirut Syria on Wednesday broke its silence over the recent

Sacirbey: They knew about Karadzic deals

By Afshin Rattansi for Press TV The following is Press TV’s exclusive full-length interview with former Bosnian foreign minister Mohammad Sacirbey. Press TV: I noticed that Richard Holbrooke is saying that it is an outrageous fabrication. What did Karadzic mean by a deal with Richard Holbrooke? Sacirbey: I have actually been aware of the deal from almost the day it was made. In the summer of 1996, Karadzic withdrew from

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