Freaking Out At Promised Withdrawals Turned To Slaughter, Mayhem, And Not Leaving, Bush Warns “We Will Not Cast Them Aside”
Aug. 14: Russian soldiers point their guns to the Georgian troops on the outskirts of Gori, northwest of capital Tbilisi, Georgia.
Fox:
WASHINGTON — President Bush on Friday accused Russia of “bullying and intimidation” in its harsh military treatment of Georgia, saying the people in the former Soviet republic have chosen freedom and “we will not cast them aside.”
Bush ratcheted up his rhetoric against Moscow as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pursued a diplomatic solution to the week-old crisis. Rice was in Tblisi for talks with pro-Western Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili about details of the cease-fire, which would require Russia to withdraw its combat forces from Georgia but allow Russian peacekeepers to remain in South Ossetia and conduct limited patrols outside the region.
“Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected,” said Bush, speaking just outside the Oval Office before traveling to his Texas ranch for a two-week stay. Bush said he would get regular updates from Rice and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates about the continuing showdown between Moscow and Tibilisi over two separatist provinces in Georgia.
With just five months remaining in his administration, Bush faces one of his biggest foreign policy challenges in dealing with a suddenly assertive Russia, along with unfinished wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the deeply troubled search for peace in the Middle East. Bush’s influence is waning as the world turns its attention to the race to determine who will succeed Bush.
Bush said that Russia, with its air, sea and land attacks in Georgia, had damaged its relations with the United States and other Western powers.
“Bullying and intimidation are not acceptable ways to conduct foreign policy in the 21st century,” the president said. “Only Russia can decide whether it will now put itself back on the path of responsible nations or continue to pursue a policy that promises only confrontation and isolation.
“To begin repairing relations with the United States, Europe and other nations and to begin restoring its place in the world, Russia must respect the freedom of its neighbors,” Bush said.
Even before the crisis in Georgia, tensions between Washington and Moscow have been rising over disputes such as the independence of Kosovo, NATO’s expansion toward Russia’s borders and U.S. plans for a missile defense system in Eastern Europe. In another development that infuriated Moscow, the United States and Poland reached a deal Thursday to install a U.S. missile defense base on Polish territory.
Still, Bush said, “The Cold War is over. The days of satellite states and spheres of influence are behind us.”
The United States has rushed humanitarian aid to Georgia, using U.S. military planes that put American forces in the midst of the showdown with Moscow.
“Moscow must honor its commitment to withdraw its invading forces from all Georgian territory,” Bush said.
The president said Americans might be perplexed why the United States had drawn a line in the sand in defense of Georgia, an impoverished country that is largely unknown on the world stage.
“In the years since its gained independence after the Soviet Union’s collapse, Georgia’s become a courageous democracy,” Bush said. “It’s people are making the tough choices that are required of free societies. Since the Rose Revolution in 2003, the Georgian people have held free elections, opened up their economy, and built the foundations of a successful democracy.”
Aligning itself firmly with Washington, Georgia sent troops to Afghanistan and Iraq. Bush visited Georgia in a show of solidarity and promised that the United States would stand with the former Soviet republic.
“The people of Georgia have cast their lot with the free world, and we will not cast them aside,” the president pledged on Friday.
Bush acknowledged that Russia is anxious about the spread of democracy to its borders and sees it as a threat to its security.
“The opposite is true,” Bush said. “Free and prosperous societies on Russia’s borders will advance Russia’s interests by serving as sources of stability and economic opportunity.”
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I just read a report that hundreds of young peace activists are flying to Georgia to act as “Human Shields” in efforts to protect the innocent victims of Russian aggression.
NOT!
Where is the outcry against Russia from the left?
Cindy Sheehan must love it when freedom seeking ex-communists are murdered by Russia.
August 15th, 2008 at 7:03 am“…allow Russian peacekeepers to remain in South Ossetia and conduct limited patrols outside the region.”
Fuck that.
August 15th, 2008 at 7:04 amPerfect opportunity to show off the tactical superiority of the F-22 from 60k ft. Billy Mays here for new Tank Be Gone!
August 15th, 2008 at 7:24 amPerfect opportunity to show off the tactical superiority of the F-22 from 60k ft. Billy Mays here for new Tank Be Gone!
To freaking funny in an otherwise sad freaking situation.
August 15th, 2008 at 7:36 amYou’ll see no outcry from the Left on Russia, the Left is Russia , Russia is the Left. Their ideology is the same.
August 15th, 2008 at 7:58 amThe human shields, if any, would go to protect the russian troops from any counter by the West… The Russian’s have all this oil money now and they’ll be flexing their newly refreshed muscles for sometime unless they receive a spanking. Those tanks, always a favorite of the Russians since WWII, are really quite easy to incinerate without putting too many folks in harms way…
August 15th, 2008 at 8:14 amWhere are the European anti-war protesters? Why don’t they give South Ossetia “separatists” a vote right now, do they want to live as part of Georgia or do they want to live under the Russian boot? What do you think they are going to say?
August 15th, 2008 at 8:31 amIf we give the Georgian’s some updated weapons like the Javelin and TOW as well as some of Air support I think it would give the Russian’s second thoughts. They are still rolling out in the same Armor that we proved was nothing but hyped up junk back in Desert Storm in 1991. It was junk then and it is even bigger junk now!! Problem is if they don’t have the weapons to take them out it still trumps the hell out of guy with a rifle!
August 15th, 2008 at 8:48 amRussia isn’t going back to communism they have too much prosperity from capitilism for that, they are slowly turning into a dictatorship. One that unlike what paranoid nutcdases from the far left and far right want you to think about the U.S. is really all about fixed elecetions, secret police, real torture, and a plot to keep certain people in power.
Russian Nationalism is at an all time high, the youth of that country are drinking the coolaid handed out by putin, and there aint no way to tell them they are wrong.
The human sheilds KNOW that if they went to gerogia and did that they would be dead, the russian’s don’t care about collateral damage.
The biggest worry is they don’t stop till they have there buffer zone back.
August 15th, 2008 at 9:36 amWe need to buy time to rearm and reequip the Georgians. The Russians can do whatever they want right now.
August 15th, 2008 at 3:35 pm