Georgia: Russian troops accused of selling loot

Russian soldiers have been accused of establishing a market in a rebel region of Georgia to sell clothes and electronic goods they looted during the invasion and occupation of the country's western regions.

By Adrian Blomfield on the Inguri River bridge
Last Updated: 9:36PM BST 24 Aug 2008

Georgian civilians leaving Gali, a predominantly Georgian town within the breakaway province of Abkhazia, spoke with wonder of a bazaar bristling with everything from US army boots to plasma televisions and even sophisticated radar equipment. The men peddling the goods were all Russian soldiers, they said.
Russian soldiers have a reputation for entrepreneurship in the midst of battle. Over 14 years of intermittent conflict in Chechnya, many officers made considerable fortunes from selling arms to Chechen rebels.
The market spirit seemed to strike again as Russian when troops began a pull out from undisputed Georgian territory it appears they took more than just souvenirs with them as they departed.
Shortly after 150 military lorries withdrew from western Georgia into Abkhazia, where Moscow has long backed the province's rebels, residents say market stalls began to spring up in Gali, a garrison town close to the Georgian frontier.

"It was amazing," said Nano Jaisashvili, a greengrocer from Gali. "They were selling clothes, binoculars, microwaves, laptops. We've never seen anything like it in Abkhazia. My neighbour bought a $500 (£250) fridge for 1,000 roubles (£20)."

Georgian police manning their side of the Inguri River, which separates Abkhazia from Georgia proper, begged fellow countrymen crossing the bridge that spanned the water to shun the market.
"Not a single Georgian should buy anything from there," the officer-in-charge said. "Remember that, while things might be cheap, they were stolen from your brothers and sisters."
A Russian officer commanding the border post denied the existence of the market.
"I have been here non-stop for several days and I would have seen them bringing over all these things," he said. "Russian soldiers do not loot and those that do we hand them straight to the prosecutor's office to face charges."
The Daily Telegraph was unable to confirm existence of the market after it was denied permission to enter Abkhazia.

But Russia's claims of scrupulous probity when it comes to the spoils of war seemed a little tendentious at two Georgian military bases that The Daily Telegraph visited yesterday.
At the army camp of Senaki, built by the US and perhaps the most advanced in the country, storage facilities by a runway had been stripped bare by the retreating Russians.
Office equipment from the barracks, where several windows had been blown out, had also been ransacked.

Fearing Russian booby-traps, Georgian soldiers were too scared to take proper possession of the base. Instead a herd of cows was set loose on the lawns in a rudimentary attempt at mine clearance. A Russian missile launcher dangled temptingly from a bush, but no-one dared touch it for fears it might explode.

Georgian concerns of Russian sabotage appear to have been borne out after a fuel train struck a suspected mine near Gori, a strategic town near the border with South Ossetia, Georgia's other breakaway region and the scene of the fiercest fighting during the five-day war. The explosion derailed 20 oil wagons, scattering them over a wide area, but caused no casualties.
At the naval base of Poti, another herd of cows roamed through rubble and debris left by Russian bombs. Russian troops occupied the port for several days, spending most of their time blowing up warships and coastguard vessels. The twisted and partially submerged wrecks lay scattered across the Black Sea harbour, where a film of oil coated the surface of the water.
Damaged furniture, partially documents and stationery strewn across the offices of the harbourmaster and the coastguard headquarters bore testament to frenzied looting. Computers had been prized from their sockets, patches of dirt on kitchen walls showed where fridges once stood and office doors had large holes in them.

Scorch marks caused by dynamite were visible on the door of a safe room and the safes inside had been cleared of valuable. In a nearby bathroom, the lavatory had been ripped from the wall and spirited away.
"One has to wonder if the Russians would even know how to use it," Tengiz Babunashvili, the commander of the port's radar facility, remarked bitterly."

Although the Russians have pulled out of Poti, they have not gone far. On the outskirts of the town, the Russian flag fluttered over buildings guarded by armoured personnel carriers and troops whose uniform insignias identified them as "peacekeepers".
Other peacekeepers were entrenched in positions near Senaki and Zugdidi, to the north, prompting accusations from the West that Russia has not truly honoured the terms of a ceasefire which called for a full military withdrawal from Georgia.

The peacekeepers in Poti appeared unwilling to answer questions from journalists, at one point showing their reluctance by beating up a Western cameraman and his Georgian driver.
For ordinary Georgians, there was some good news as an American warship - ostensibly on a humanitarian mission - docked in the port of Batumi, south of Poti.
Georgians, some waving US flags, crowded the harbour to welcome American soldiers brought ashore by motor launch.

There was some disappointment that the soldiers sporting Armani sunglasses and Chinos rather than rifles and uniforms, but the reassurance lay out at sea where the USS McFaul lay at anchor.
Its mission may have been to bring in aid supplies, but the Tomahawk cruise missiles that the ship also carried were clearly designed to send Russia a message and reassure ordinary Georgians that the United States is on their side.
That message will be reinforced in the coming days, with four more American ships expected to dock off Georgia's Black Sea coast.

Fonte:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/georgia/2614559/Russian-troops-accused-of-selling-loot-from-Georgia.html

Rússia hitleriana atacou a Geórgia

A Rússia hitleriana, sob a liderança de Putin e Medvedev atacou a Geórgia, sem nenhum aviso prévio, tal como o exército nazi da Alemanha do Hitler atacou vários países da Europa nos anos 1938, 1939 e 1940.

por: Wojciech Augustyn, Salon24, Koszalin – Polónia

Ninguém pode ter a duvida sobre as metas dos ataques terroristas russas contra a Geórgia. São os jazigos de petróleo e gás do Cáucaso e a tentativa de privar a Europa do petróleo e do gás caucasianos, assim como dos jazigos do Mar Cáspio em Kasaquistão, Turcomenistão e Uzbequistão.

No dia da abertura dos jogos olímpicos na China comunista, os russos escolheram o timing para iniciar o ataque terrorista energético contra os países da UE, principalmente contra os seus estados – membros do Leste.

Os russos na Ossétia do Sul (que é parte da Geórgia), organizaram o ataque, alegadamente georgiano, contra o contingente russo. Para justificar a sua agressão contra a Geórgia. Para provar que os georgianos são culpados desta guerra, agredindo a Rússia totalmente pacífica. Tal como o Hitler justificou a agressão das tropas da Alemanha nazi contra a Polónia em 1939. E tal como os polacos foram acusados de atacar a estação de rádio em Gliwice, na altura Gleiwitz, então o Hitler e os alemães começaram “defender” as “vítimas da invasão polaca”.

Ler mais sobre este assunto em polaco

Quem conhece a história mundial, não acreditará no ataque georgiano contra os russos, tal como não acreditou no ataque polaco contra os alemães em Gleiwitz. A imagem é clara, a provocação dos agressores, Rússia e Alemanha Nazi.

O que pretende a Rússia sob a liderança de Putin e Medvedev, será que eles querem incendiar o mundo, tal como fiz o Hitler?

Georgianos não serão salvos pelos panfletos e as negociações infrutíferas, tal como os polacos em 1939. Os russos têm que ter a noção completa do perigo nazista do Putin – Medvedev, pois eles abertamente procuram começar o conflito global para arruinar o mundo.

E isso nos não podemos permitir.

Fonte:
http://to-osiedle.salon24.pl/87703,index.html

Arte vaginal ucraniana

O artista plástico ucraniano, Viktor Borko criou um novo tipo do arte; usando o gesso ele cria as cópias exactas das vaginas das suas clientes.

Morador da cidade de Cherkasy, Viktor Borko (47), conta que as senhoras da classe média – alta pedem quatro – cinco cópias das suas partes íntimas. – Cada uma das clientes tem as suas próprias razões para faze-lo. Uma quer ter a sua beleza física em memória gravada, outra quer oferece-la ao marido ou amante, alguém pode querer ter a lembrança da juventude, – diz o artista ucraniano.

O gesso usado pelo artista possui os ingredientes biológicos, para dar um cheiro agradável às cópias.

– A vagina merece a nossa admiração, afirma Sr. Borko. Eu vós digo que todas elas são diferentes, nenhuma é parecida com a outra. Cada uma é criação da natureza e merece ser esculpida pelo mestre.

Fonte: Life.ua

Loja virtual dos produtos libertados

“Garfinho”, a loja virtual dos produtos libertados ....

A operação militar russa na Geórgia, já conhecida nas média russos como “Guerra dos cinco dias” ou operação “Paz forçada”, criou um grande espaço para humor, sátira e até trocismo, um dos exemplos do qual apresentamos hoje.

Fonte: http://nemyrych.livejournal.com/81319.html

Ver vídeo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7rCOyCTPSw

John McCain: We Are All Georgians

By John McCain, Wall Street Journal, August 14, 2008; Page A13

For anyone who thought that stark international aggression was a thing of the past, the last week must have come as a startling wake-up call. After clashes in the Georgian region of South Ossetia, Russia invaded its neighbor, launching attacks that threaten its very existence. Some Americans may wonder why events in this part of the world are any concern of ours. After all, Georgia is a small, remote and obscure place. But history is often made in remote, obscure places.

As Russian tanks and troops moved through the Roki Tunnel and across the internationally recognized border into Georgia, the Russian government stated that it was acting only to protect Ossetians. Yet regime change in Georgia appears to be the true Russian objective.

Two years ago, I traveled to South Ossetia. As soon as we arrived at its self-proclaimed capital -- now occupied by Russian troops -- I saw an enormous billboard that read, "Vladimir Putin, Our President." This was on sovereign Georgian territory.

Russian claims of humanitarian motives were further belied by a bombing campaign that encompassed the whole of Georgia, destroying military bases, apartment buildings and other infrastructure, and leaving innocent civilians wounded and killed. As the Russian Black Sea Fleet began concentrating off of the Georgian coast and Russian troops advanced on one city after another, there could be no doubt about the nature of their aggression.

Despite a French-brokered cease-fire -- which worryingly does not refer to Georgia's territorial integrity -- Russian attacks have continued. There are credible reports of civilian killings and even ethnic cleansing as Russian troops move deeper into Georgian territory.

Moscow's foreign minister revealed at least part of his government's aim when he stated that "Mr. Saakashvili" -- the democratically elected president of Georgia -- "can no longer be our partner. It would be better if he went." Russia thereby demonstrated why its neighbors so ardently seek NATO membership.

In the wake of this crisis, there are the stirrings of a new trans-Atlantic consensus about the way we should approach Russia and its neighbors. The leaders of Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, Ukraine and Latvia flew to Tbilisi to demonstrate their support for Georgia, and to condemn Russian aggression. The French president traveled to Moscow in an attempt to end the fighting. The British foreign minister hinted of a G-8 without Russia, and the British opposition leader explicitly called for Russia to be suspended from the grouping.

The world has learned at great cost the price of allowing aggression against free nations to go unchecked. A cease-fire that holds is a vital first step, but only one. With our allies, we now must stand in united purpose to persuade the Russian government to end violence permanently and withdraw its troops from Georgia. International monitors must gain immediate access to war-torn areas in order to avert an even greater humanitarian disaster, and we should ensure that emergency aid lifted by air and sea is delivered.

We should work toward the establishment of an independent, international peacekeeping force in the separatist regions, and stand ready to help our Georgian partners put their country back together. This will entail reviewing anew our relations with both Georgia and Russia. As the NATO secretary general has said, Georgia remains in line for alliance membership, and I hope NATO will move ahead with a membership track for both Georgia and Ukraine.

At the same time, we must make clear to Russia's leaders that the benefits they enjoy from being part of the civilized world require their respect for the values, stability and peace of that world. The U.S. has cancelled a planned joint military exercise with Russia, an important step in this direction.

The Georgian people have suffered before, and they suffer today. We must help them through this tragedy, and they should know that the thoughts, prayers and support of the American people are with them. This small democracy, far away from our shores, is an inspiration to all those who cherish our deepest ideals. As I told President Saakashvili on the day the cease-fire was declared, today we are all Georgians. We mustn't forget it.

Publicado:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121867081398238807.html

Zbigniew Brzezinski: Staring Down the Russians

Por: Zbigniew Brzezinski, 14 de Agosto de 2008
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1832699,00.html

The end of the cold war was supposed to usher in a new age in which the major powers would no longer dictate to their neighbors how to run their affairs. That is why Russia's invasion of Georgia is so tragic and so potentially ominous. Russia is now on watch: Will it continue to rely on coercion to achieve its imperial aims, or is it willing to work within the emerging international system that values cooperation and consensus?

Moscow's ruthless attempt to suborn, subdue and subordinate this tiny, independent democracy is reminiscent of Stalin's times. The assault on Georgia is similar to what Stalin's Soviet Union did to Finland in 1939: in both cases, Moscow engaged in an arbitrary, brutal and irresponsible use of force to impose domination over a weaker, democratic neighbor. The question now is whether the global community can demonstrate to the Kremlin that there are costs for the blatant use of force on behalf of anachronistic imperialist goals.

This conflict has been brewing for years. Russia has deliberately instigated the breakup of Georgian territory. Moscow has promoted secessionist activities in several Georgian provinces: Abkhazia, Ajaria and, of course, South Ossetia. It has sponsored rebellious governments in these territories, armed their forces and even bestowed Russian citizenship on the secessionists. These efforts have intensified since the emergence in Georgia of a democratic, pro-Western government. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's resentment toward Georgia and its President, the U.S.-educated Mikheil Saakashvili, has seemingly become a personal obsession.

The international community has not done enough to push back. In recent weeks, a series of incidents along the fragile cease-fire lines that cut across Georgian territory helped prompt the escalation of violence, including Georgia's abortive effort to remove the "government" of South Ossetia, a small region with a population of about 70,000 people. That rash action was perhaps unwise, but it is evident from Russia's military response that Moscow was waiting for such an act to provide a pretext for the use of force. Large Russian contingents quickly swept into South Ossetia and then into Georgia, sending tanks to Gori and bombing Gori and the capital, Tbilisi.

Russia's aggression toward Georgia should not be viewed as an isolated incident. The fact is, Putin and his associates in the Kremlin don't accept the post-Soviet realities. Putin was sincere when he declared some time ago that in his view, the dissolution of the Soviet Union was "the greatest geopolitical disaster of the [20th] century." Independent democracies like Georgia and Ukraine, for the Putin regime, are not only historical anomalies but also represent a direct political threat.

Ukraine could well be the next flash point. The Russian leadership has already openly questioned whether it needs to respect Ukraine's territorial integrity. Russian leaders have also remarked that Crimea, a part of Ukraine, should once again be joined to Russia. Similarly, Russian pressure on Moldova led to the effective partition of that small former Soviet republic. Moscow is also continuing to try to economically isolate central Asian neighbors like Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. And the Baltic nations of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have been the object of various threats from Russia, including economic sanctions and disruptive cyberwarfare.

The stakes are high. Ultimately the independence of the post-Soviet states is at risk. Russia seems committed to the notion that there should be some sort of supernational entity, governed from the Kremlin, that would oversee much of the former Soviet territories. This attitude reflects in part the intense nationalistic mood that now permeates Russia's political elite. Vladimir Putin, former President and now Prime Minister, is riding this nationalist wave, exploiting it politically and propagating it with the Russian public. Some now even talk of a renewed Russian military presence in Cuba as a form of retaliation against the U.S. for its support of the independence of the post-Soviet states.

For the West, especially the U.S., the conflict between Russia and Georgia poses both moral and geostrategic challenges. The moral dimension is self-evident: a small country that gained its independence only recently, after almost two centuries of Russian domination, deserves international support that goes beyond simple declarations of sympathy. Then there are questions of geostrategy. An independent Georgia is critical to the international flow of oil. A pipeline for crude oil now runs from Baku in Azerbaijan, on the Caspian Sea, through Georgia to the Turkish Mediterranean coast. The link provides the West access to the energy resources of central Asia. If that access is cut, the Western world will lose an important opportunity to diversify its sources of energy.

The West needs to respond to Russia's aggression in a clear and determined manner. That doesn't mean with force. Nor should we fall into a new cold war with Russia. But the West, and particularly the U.S., should continue to mobilize the international community to condemn Russia's behavior. Presidential candidates Barack Obama (whom I support) and John McCain should endorse President Bush's efforts to oppose Russia's actions and form a bipartisan stand on this issue. It is unfortunate that some of the candidates' supporters are engaging in pointless criticism of each other's public statements on the Georgia crisis. This is too important for that.

It is premature to specify what precise measures the West should adopt. But Russia must be made to understand that it is in danger of becoming ostracized internationally. This should be a matter of considerable concern to Russia's new business elite, who are increasingly vulnerable to global financial pressure. Russia's powerful oligarchs have hundreds of billions of dollars in Western bank accounts. They would stand to lose a great deal in the event of a Cold War´s style standoff that could conceivably result, at some stage, in the West's freezing of such holdings.

At some point, the West should consider the Olympic option. If the issue of Georgia's territorial integrity is not adequately resolved (by, for example, the deployment in South Ossetia and Abkhazia of a truly independent international security force replacing Russian troops), the U.S. should contemplate withdrawing from the 2014 Winter Games, to be held in the Russian city of Sochi, next to the violated Georgia's frontier. There is a precedent for this. I was part of the Carter Administration when we brandished the Olympic torch as a symbolic weapon in 1980, pulling out of the Summer Games in Moscow after the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. The Soviet Union had planned a propaganda show reminiscent of Hitler's 1936 Olympics in Berlin. America's boycott delivered a body blow to President Leonid Brezhnev and his communist system and prevented Moscow from enjoying a world-class triumph.

The Georgian crisis is a critical test for Russia. If Putin sticks to his guns and subordinates Georgia and removes its freely elected President Б something Putin's Foreign Minister has explicitly called for Б it is only a question of time before Moscow turns up the heat on Ukraine and the other independent but vulnerable post-Soviet states. The West has to respond carefully but with a moral and strategic focus. Its objective has to be a democratic Russia that is a constructive participant in a global system based on respect for sovereignty, law and democracy. But that objective can be achieved only if the world makes clear to Moscow that a stridently nationalistic Russia will not succeed in any effort to create a new empire in our postimperial age.

Zbigniew Brzezinski, who was National Security Adviser to President Carter, is co-author, with Brent Scowcroft, of America and the World, to be published in September

By: Myroslava_e-poshta-canadaus@yahoogroups.com
e-mail

Vladimir Bonaparte

in: The Wall Street Journal, August 12, 2008; Page A20

The farther Russia's tanks roll into Georgia, the more the world is beginning to see the reality of Vladimir Putin's Napoleonic ambitions. Having consolidated his authoritarian transition as Prime Minister with a figurehead President, Mr. Putin is now pushing to reassert Russian dominance in Eurasia. Ukraine is in his sights, and even the Baltic states could be threatened if he's allowed to get away with it. The West needs to draw a line at Georgia.

No matter who fired the first shot last week in the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia, Moscow is using the separatist issue as an excuse to demolish Georgia's military and, if possible, depose its democratically elected government. Russian forces moved ever deeper into Georgia proper Monday. They launched a second front in the west from another breakaway province, Abkhazia, and took the central city of Gori, which lies 40 miles from the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. These moves slice the country in half and isolate its ports, most of which Russia has bombed or blockaded. Moscow dismissed a cease-fire drawn up by European nations and signed by Georgia.

Russian bombers have also hit residential and industrial areas, making a mockery of Moscow's charge that Georgia is the party indiscriminately killing civilians. Russian claims of Georgian ethnic cleansing now look like well-rehearsed propaganda lines to justify a well-prepared invasion. Thousands of soldiers and hundreds of tanks, ships and warplanes were waiting for Mr. Putin's command.

While the rape of Chechnya was brutal, this is the most brazen act of Mr. Putin's reign, the first military offensive outside Russia's borders since Soviet rule ended. Yet it also fits a pattern of other threats and affronts to Russia's neighbors: turning off the oil or natural-gas taps to Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, and even to NATO-member Lithuania; launching a cyberassault on Estonia; opposing two antimissile sites in NATO members in Eastern Europe that couldn't begin to neutralize Russia's offensive capabilities.

Our emphasis on NATO here is no coincidence. The Georgia invasion is a direct slap at the Western alliance. Tbilisi, like Kiev, has been pushing for NATO membership. Mr. Putin decided to act while some alliance members, led by Germany, dallied over their applications. Georgia was first. Ukraine, which has been pushing Russia to move its Black Sea fleet's headquarters out of the Crimea, could be next.

The alliance needs to respond forcefully, and it can start today. NATO officials have granted Russia a special meeting before deciding what to do about Georgia -- though we don't recall Russia briefing NATO about its plans in the Caucasus. The meeting is an opportunity to relay to Moscow that Georgian and Ukrainian membership is back on the table and that the alliance is considering all options for Georgia, from a humanitarian airlift to military aid, if Russia doesn't withdraw immediately.

Mr. Putin is betting that the West needs him for oil and deterring Iran's nuclear ambitions more than he needs the West. He's wrong – not least since his "cooperation" on Iran consists of helping Tehran stall for time and selling the mullahs advanced antiaircraft missiles. Russia also needs the West's capital and especially its expertise in developing its oil and gas fields at least as much as the West needs Russian energy supplies.

The U.S. and Europe need to make all of that clear. Forcing Russia to veto a strong condemnation of its own actions at the U.N. Security Council would be one way to turn the pressure up. And speaking of pressure, where are all the peace protesters during this war? They can't all be in China.

As for the U.S., this is perhaps the last chance for President Bush to salvage any kind of positive legacy toward Russia, amid what is a useful record elsewhere in Eurasia. While Mr. Bush has championed the region's fledgling democracies, he and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice badly misjudged Mr. Putin. Now would be a good moment for Mr. Bush to publicly acknowledge his misjudgment and rally the West's response.

John McCain had the Russian leader pegged better, which speaks well of his foreign-policy instincts. The Republican Presidential candidate has long said that Russia should be booted from the G-8 and yesterday he outlined a forceful Western strategy on Russia that stops short of military action. Barack Obama has in the past indicated support for the Georgia and Ukraine NATO bids, but the Democratic candidate has yet to explain in any detail how he would respond to the current conflict.

There's one other way the U.S. could hit Russia where it hurts: by strengthening the dollar. The greenback's weakness has contributed greatly to the record oil prices that have in turn made Russia flush with petrodollars and fueled Mr. Putin's expansionist ambitions. Crude prices continued to fall yesterday, below $115 a barrel, and further deflating that bubble would do more to sober up an oil-drunk Kremlin than would any kind of economic sanctions.

* * *
Vladimir Putin's Russia isn't the former Soviet Union, bent on ideological confrontation around the world. But it is a Bonapartist power intent on dominating its neighbors and restoring its clout on the world stage. Unless Russians see that there are costs for their Napoleon's expansionism, Georgia isn't likely to be his last stop.

Fonte:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121849981801531625.html