Georgia Started the War with Russia

14damoney

Rising Star
OG Investor
For those who haven't seen it yet, I found this today. [Sorry, no link]

By Webster G. Tarpley
8-11-8


WASHINGTON, DC -- Clearly playing the role of the aggressor, the NATO puppet regime of Mikhail Saakashvili has carried out a midnight sneak attack against Russian peacekeepers in the province of South Ossetia. Those peacekeepers have been there for 15 years under an agreement with Georgia. Saakashvili is a protégé and creature of Zbigniew Brzezinski, the foreign policy boss of the Barack Obama presidential campaign. As is explained in my book Obama- The Postmodern Coup: The Making of a Manchurian Candidate, Saakashvili was brought to power in 2003-2004 by a people power coup or CIA color revolution, directed by the Brzezinski clan and financed by George Soros, one of Obama's key financial backers. In a very real sense, it is the Obama campaign which has attacked Russia in South Ossetia.

Responding to this provocation, Russia has struck back powerfully, hurling the Georgian military into full retreat. The 3000% increase in Georgian military spending on US military hardware since 2004 has not had the desired effect. But the Georgians have killed a score of Russian troops and shot down several aircraft. Russia is blockading the Georgian Black Sea coast and has already sunk a Georgian warship. The US regime, the butchers of Iraq, are now whining that the Russian response is "disproportionate," and that regime change is inadmissible! McCain responded by aggressive posturing against Russia scripted by Ian Brzezinski, as expected. At the Olympics, Bush had a heated exchange with Russian Prime Minister Putin over the Georgian aggression. Bush has dropped his plans to attack Iran and North Korea, and is now slavishly following Brzezinski's orders by concentrating on provoking Russian and China.

Most interesting is the response of Brzezinski's other puppet, Obama. The Messiah first intoned that it was necessary to show restraint, and stop the armed conflict. He talked then to NSC Director Hadley, Saakashvili, Rice, and unspecified foreign policy advisers undoubtedly the Brzezinskis, Zbig and Mark. Notice Obama's failure to talk with a single Russian leader he failed to bring anybody together this time. Then Obama switched to a full warmonger line, identical to that of Bush: Obama now lied that Russia had invaded Georgian sovereignty and encroached on Russian sovereignty. Obama's spokesman, Ben Rhodes, added that Russia was responsible for the conflict. This goes to show that Obama is a ticket to World War III on the Brzezinski Plan, the crackpot design to break up Russia and China, securing another century for the Anglo-American world empire. Because Brzezinski's strategic insanity unfolds on a scale more vast than that of the neocons, Obama is indeed a far bigger warmonger than Bush.

"In his later statement, Mr. Obama said, "What is clear is that Russia has invaded Georgia's sovereign - has encroached on Georgia's sovereignty, and it is very important for us to resolve this issue as quickly as possible,"' The New York Times reported. Obama is morally insane, since Georgia is the aggressor and Russia is acting in self-defense. Russian peacekeepers have been stationed in South Ossetia for about 15 years under a Russian- Georgian bilateral agreement which the provocateur Saakashvili has now chosen to violate. The pseudo-democratic Saakashvili has declared martial law and is proceeding to liquidate his internal opposition a favorite Saakashvili trick. In November 2007, when opposition to the NATO "free market" kleptocrats was getting out of hand after a large demonstration, Saakashvili also declared martial law, suppressing the media and rounding up his opponents. This is the man Obama is supporting.

WARMONGER OBAMA BLAMES RUSSIA, MIMICS BUSH, CHENEY

"Clearly over the course of the last 24 hours this crisis has escalated," said Ben Rhodes, an Obama foreign policy aide. "Clearly Russia bears the responsibility for that escalation." If this is the 3 AM phone call, Obama has failed miserably. Obama is running for the third term of the dotard warmonger Dick Cheney, who according to AP 'told Georgia's pro-American president that "Russian aggression must not go unanswered, and that its continuation would have serious consequences for its relations with the United States."'

Predictably, the US controlled corporate media, NPR, PBS, the BBC, and the rest of the Anglo-American media cartel are attempting to cover up the salient fact that this war was started by Georgia. Georgia is unquestionably the aggressor, and a cowardly one at that. It is time to demand that not one soldier, not one penny, not one ship, not one plane be used by the US to support Saakashvili and his gang of kleptocrats and thugs. There must be no NATO membership for Georgia, nor for the similar gang of kleptocrats and thugs ensconced in Kiev, Ukraine, who have declared their full support for Georgia. Russian President Medvedev has pointed out that the Georgians have already killed about 2,000 Ossetians out of a total population of 70,000, and that Georgia is pursuing genocide and ethnic cleansing. These charges are well founded. In the face of imminent military defeat, Saakashvili will have a hard time holding onto power. Russia is unlikely to consider Georgia proper a privileged sanctuary for launching further attacks, and the Tiflis airport and other assets have already been bombed by Russia. Georgia's entire military infrastructure will now be subject to destruction. This lesson will hopefully not be lost on Brzezinski's Ukrainian puppets.

South Ossetia can be compared to West Virginia. When Virginia seceded from the Union in 1861, West Virginia soon retaliated by seceding from Virginia. Similarly, when Georgia left the USSR in 1991, South Ossetia chose to remain with North Ossetia, which has been a part of Russia since about 1761. A second West Virginia exists in the form of Abkhazia, another province assigned by Stalin to the Georgian SSR which chose to stay de facto with the Russian Federation. Abkhazia fears a Georgian attack, and has declared a state of emergency, mobilizing its armed forces. Do not be surprised if Abkhazia pre-emptively seizes back some of its territory now held by Georgia.

The attack is coherent with Brzezinski's desperate plan to save the collapsing US-UK regime of world domination by finding ways to smash Russia and China, the two serious power centers capable of checkmating Washington and London. As predicted, the epicenter of world confrontation is shifting rapidly away from the Persian Gulf. The method is classic Brzezinski: Zbig, working through the Principals' Committee (Gates, Rice, Paulson, Mullen, Hadley) which rules Washington behind the scenes while the lame ducks Bush and Cheney babble off into the sunset, is playing his Georgia puppet state against Russia, leading in all probability to regime change and possible guerrilla warfare in Georgia. This is exactly what Brzezinski did with Afghanistan in 1979, leading to the collapse of the Soviet Union. It is also what Brzezinski intends to do with Iran. The Georgia-Ossetia war is already the biggest international crisis since 2003, with implications that go far beyond anything involving Iraq or Iran, since we are here dealing with the specter of superpower thermonuclear confrontation a danger which is not immediately present in the Gulf.

The Georgia-Ossetia war risks going out of control, and moving the planet towards World War III, in several ways:

There are 2,000 Georgian soldiers serving for the US in Iraq. These forces have now been called home. The US is flying them back to Georgia in US military aircraft, a very unfriendly act towards Russia, since these troops will soon be fighting the Russians under present circumstances. What is Russia decided to shoot down these US planes? That would bring World War III much too close for comfort. NBS News reports that the State Department is talking to the Russian Foreign Ministry to avoid just such a highly dangerous mid-air confrontation. American national interest demands that these Georgians be told to get home on their own power, without the US Air Force.

The Russian navy is now blockading the Black Sea coast of Georgia. What if the US or other NATO states now decide to send ships carrying humanitarian or military aid to Georgia? A large NATO fleet buildup in the eastern Mediterranean is reported. What if the US, the British, or the French try to break through the Russian naval blockade? If shooting starts, World War III could loom very quickly.

The NATO puppet regime in Ukraine controls the bases for the Russian Black Sea fleet. These NATO provocateurs in Kiev are now saying that, since the Russian Black Sea fleet has left those ports to blockade Georgia, they will not be allowed to re-enter their Ukrainian home ports. If shooting starts, this could be a wider war. If the NATO Tusk regime in Poland, yet another gaggle of Brzezinski puppets, decides to come in on the side of the Ukrainians, then Warsaw could invoke the NATO alliance, and the US could soon be at war with Russia.

Ukraine could also decide to support Georgia with ground troops. If the Ukrainians get into trouble, they will call on the Poles, and the Poles will call on NATO, also threatening to drag the US into a real war of catastrophic proportions.

Letting Poland join NATO was supreme folly. We are fortunate that Georgia and Ukraine are not NATO members already. American national interest demands good relations with Russia. The United States must not be carried towards World War III as the tail of the Brzezinski- Obama kite. There must be no support for Saakashvili and his gang.



030708_zbigniew_web.jpg
 
Re: Brzezinski's Georgia Puppets Attack Russia - WWIII In Sight

damn this dude sounds like he hates EVERYONE...
 
Re: Brzezinski's Georgia Puppets Attack Russia - WWIII In Sight

U.S. Military Instructors Command Hirelings in Georgia

"... The U.S. military instructors directly command and coordinate actions of mercenaries without being involved in actual fighting, the source specified. According to intelligence data, there are roughly 1,000 military instructors of the United States in Georgia...."






Israel's role in the Russia-Georgia war

"From the moment Georgia launched a surprise attack on the tiny breakaway region of South Ossetia last week, prompting a fierce Russian counterattack, Israel has been trying to distance itself from the conflict. This is understandable: with Georgian forces on the retreat, large numbers of civilians killed and injured, and Russia's fury unabated, Israel's deep involvement is severely embarrassing..."




Western media grossly biased on Russia-Georgia war

"... That's what Western reporters aren't telling their readers: the South Ossetians (and the Abkhazians) have had de facto independence since 1991, when they rose up against their "democratic" central government, which had banned regional parties from participating in elections. They beat back the Georgian army, which, nonetheless, inflicted a lot of casualties and damage..."





Bush's War in Georgia

"... Washington's bloody fingerprints are all over the invasion of South Ossetia. Georgia President Mikhail Saakashvili would never dream of launching a massive military attack unless he got explicit orders from his bosses at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. After all, Saakashvili owes his entire political career to American power-brokers and US intelligence agencies. If he disobeyed them, he'd be gone in a fortnight.

Besides an operation like this takes months of planning and logistical support; especially if it's perfectly timed to coincide with the beginning of the Olympic games. (another petty neocon touch) That means Pentagon planners must have been working hand in hand with Georgian generals for months in advance. Nothing was left to chance... "







Towards a Broader Russia-US Military Confrontation?

"... The announcement by the Georgian Ministry of Defense on July 12 stated that they US and Georgian troops were to "train for three weeks at the Vaziani military base" near the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. (AP, July 15, 2008). These exercises, which were completed barely a week before the August 7 attacks, were an obvious dress rehearsal of a military operation, which, in all likelihood, had been planned in close cooperation with the Pentagon... "





GOOGLE MAPS ERASE INTERIORS OF GEORGIA, ARMENIA, AND AZERBAIJAN!



More later...
 
Re: Brzezinski's Georgia Puppets Attack Russia - WWIII In Sight

For those who haven't seen it yet, I found this today. [Sorry, no link]
Good thing, if you posted that article for the truth of the things stated in it. On the other hand, if you posted it merely to 'give us something to think about' -- who cares who wrote it -- its just food for thought, right?

QueEx
 
Re: Brzezinski's Georgia Puppets Attack Russia - WWIII In Sight

Good thing, if you posted that article for the truth of the things stated in it. On the other hand, if you posted it merely to 'give us something to think about' -- who cares who wrote it -- its just food for thought, right?

QueEx


:rolleyes:

Uh huh, yeah... here's some food for thought for you while I continue posting:


Dinner
 
Re: Brzezinski's Georgia Puppets Attack Russia - WWIII In Sight

McCain Adviser Was
Lobbyist for Georgia


"John McCain's top foreign-policy adviser, Randy Scheunemann, is a leading expert on U.S.-allied Georgia -- and was a paid lobbyist for the former Soviet republic until March, in the run-up to what has become a major battle between Georgia and Russia...


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McCain's Top Foreign Policy Advisor Got Money From Georgia

"... The payments raise ethical questions about the intersection of Randy Scheunemann's personal financial interests and his advice to the Republican presidential candidate who is seizing on Russian aggression in Georgia as a campaign issue.

McCain warned Russian leaders Tuesday that their assault in Georgia risks "the benefits they enjoy from being part of the civilized world...."



------


Georgia War a Neocon Election Ploy?

Previously, Scheunemann was best known as one of the neoconservatives who engineered the war in Iraq when he was a director of the Project for a New American Century. It was Scheunemann who, after working on the McCain 2000 presidential campaign, headed the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, which championed the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

There are telltale signs that he played a similar role in the recent Georgia flare-up. How else to explain the folly of his close friend and former employer, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, in ordering an invasion of the breakaway region of South Ossetia, an invasion that clearly was expected to produce a Russian counterreaction? It is inconceivable that Saakashvili would have triggered this dangerous escalation without some assurance from influential Americans he trusted, like Scheunemann, that the United States would have his back. Scheunemann long guided McCain in these matters, even before he was officially running foreign policy for McCain’s presidential campaign.



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The Cold, Hard Facts about the Georgia-Russia War


1) Ossetia is a ninety percent Russian area. Georgia has made repeated efforts to ethnically cleanse the region. Russian peacekeeping troops have been in Ossetia for years and were approved in international agreements so as to protect the citizens of the region from attacks by the Georgian military.


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US military to take aid to Georgia

... Sergei Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister later said the US had to choose between it relations with Moscow and its backing of the Georgian government.

"The Georgian leadership is a special project for the United States," Lavrov said...
 
Re: Brzezinski's Georgia Puppets Attack Russia - WWIII In Sight

I'm late to the party but... WarMongering Obama???
Obama, on vacation in Hawaii, on Tuesday read a statement blaming Russia for increasing tensions in the Caucasus.

"No matter how this conflict started, Russia has escalated it well beyond the dispute over South Ossetia and invaded another country," said Obama, 47.

"There is no possible justification for these attacks," he added.
source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080812/pl_afp/usvotegeorgiarussiaconflictmccain


that doesn't sound like "warmongering" it sounds like he addressed the contradiction of "the lesson" that Putin(Russia) initially was supposedly be teaching... "
 
Re: Brzezinski's Georgia Puppets Attack Russia - WWIII In Sight

I'm late to the party but... WarMongering Obama???

source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080812/pl_afp/usvotegeorgiarussiaconflictmccain


that doesn't sound like "warmongering" it sounds like he addressed the contradiction of "the lesson" that Putin(Russia) initially was supposedly be teaching... "


I can understand why you might say that. So, from your perspective, you're not wrong. You are judging him on what you've seen of him. Talks great, pleasing manner, black, etc...

But I don't judge books by their covers. Books have content, which should be read. Books also have publishers, editors, and authors... the very people who make up their design... and their intent. That's what I look at.

Once you can grasp the fact that most who run for the Presidential Candidacy are only front-men to draw attention, while the real forces pull strings behind the scenes, is when you'll begin to really start looking at them objectively without vesting any of your emotional interest.


WARMONGER: One who advocates or attempts to stir up war.


Be very careful... You're looking at him as an individual, and not the people directing/ influencing/ advising him.


A wolf in a sheep's clothing...

Obama: Peacenik or untested warmonger?

... However, a look at America’s past peace candidates should give voters pause — or at least cause for despair. These purported peaceniks have a disturbing tendency to go from the most subdued, peace-loving candidates to war-waging presidents.

Woodrow Wilson ran for reelection in 1916 on the slogan “He kept us out of the war.” Note the past tense. Once he was back in the White House, Wilson plunged America into World War I and locked up political dissidents on a massive scale....





Barack Obama the War Monger

The Senator from Illinois masquerades as a "peace candidate" - and then proposes the Americans invade Pakistan, the only Muslim nation that has The Bomb.





Obama Is the Black JFK: Another Neoliberal Warmonger

Obama: "... We must also consider using military force in circumstances beyond self-defense, in order to provide for the common security that underpins global stability - to support friends, participate in stability and reconstruction operations, or confront mass atrocities..."




Sidenote: If the Georgians attacked South Ossetia, and Russia reacted and protected it, then why is Obama singing the "MSM song" that Russia needs to back off?
 
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Re: Brzezinski's Georgia Puppets Attack Russia - WWIII In Sight

For those who haven't seen it yet, I found this today. [Sorry, no link]





030708_zbigniew_web.jpg



tarpley the author is also supporting PUMA. I'm willing to listen to his argument but he lost me with his commentary about black Liberation theology and Rev. Wright. He claims that Black Liberation Theology and REv. Wright have been set up by the Ford Foundation to promote Black racism and hatred of white people in order to incite social conflicts.:smh:
 
Re: Brzezinski's Georgia Puppets Attack Russia - WWIII In Sight

tarpley the author is also supporting PUMA. I'm willing to listen to his argument but he lost me with his commentary about black Liberation theology and Rev. Wright. He claims that Black Liberation Theology and REv. Wright have been set up by the Ford Foundation to promote Black racism and hatred of white people in order to incite social conflicts.:smh:

I've heard that before as well. That Rev. Wright was being used as a tool to incite "racial conflict". Although I can't accept that premise without looking into it, I can't deny it at this point either. So far now, I'll leave it up in the air...
 
Re: Brzezinski's Georgia Puppets Attack Russia - WWIII In Sight

I've heard that before as well. That Rev. Wright was being used as a tool to incite "racial conflict". Although I can't accept that premise without looking into it, I can't deny it at this point either. So far now, I'll leave it up in the air...

to suggest Black Liberation Theology is some sort of insidious doctrine of hate is ridiculous. IT is a theology born out of the resistance to the anglicization of the Bible. If anything it is born out of racial conflict and seeks to end it.

This theology maintains that African Americans must be liberated from multiple forms of bondage — social, political, economic and religious. In this new formulation, Christian theology is a theology of liberation -- "a rational study of the being of God in the world in light of the existential situation of an oppressed community, relating the forces of liberation to the essence of the gospel, which is Jesus Christ," writes Cone. Black consciousness and the black experience of oppression orient black liberation theology -- i.e., one of victimization from white oppression.

Secondly, If Pastor Wright were a tool of racial conflict then Members of that church would not be going into the military, going to predominantly white universities nor would whites be allowed in the church.
 
Re: Brzezinski's Georgia Puppets Attack Russia - WWIII In Sight

to suggest Black Liberation Theology is some sort of insidious doctrine of hate is ridiculous. IT is a theology born out of the resistance to the anglicization of the Bible. If anything it is born out of racial conflict and seeks to end it.


I wasn't making that suggestion at all. Nor am I questioning the theology itself...



Secondly, If Pastor Wright were a tool of racial conflict then Members of that church would not be going into the military, going to predominantly white universities nor would whites be allowed in the church.


I think I see what you're trying to say here, but I disagree with the statement itself. Many people enlist into the military and many attend predominately white universities without being members of that church. In addition, barring white people from attending the church does not necessarily have to be the only "gameplan" towards racial conflict. Just looking at your statement logically...

Now on the other hand, I think you meant he assisted/encouraged mbrs in joining the military, white universites, etc... Which I would be foolish to doubt.

The way I'm inclined to view the Rev. Wright issue is that he was basically in his own circle, doing his own thing, until the public circus following Obama found out that he attended Wright's church. So as human nature would have it, enquiring minds wanted to know.
 
Pat Buchanan: Georgia started it, Russia finished it.

[FLASH]http://www.youtube.com/v/TaJAaSK0RvQ&hl=en&fs=1[/FLASH]
 
Re: Pat Buchanan: Georgia started it, Russia finished it.

I don't agree with Pat Buchanan racist ass 99% of the time, but when it comes down to foreign policy and how the Bush administration constantly fucks up he's on point.
 
Re: Pat Buchanan: Georgia started it, Russia finished it.

So which is more important, Obama's supposed forged birth certificate or the election of a war monger! Don't fall for the "okee doke"!

source: The Washington Post

PH2008061701331.jpg

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) speaks with his director of foriegn policy and national security Randy Scheunemann (L), as they board McCain's chartered plane at Washington's Ronald Reagan Airport, May 16, 2008. (Associated Press)​

Randy Scheunemann: McCain Adviser Campaigned for War

By Peter Slevin
CHICAGO -- Randy Scheunemann, the foreign policy adviser to Sen. John McCain who today accused Sen. Barack Obama of a "policy of delusion" toward terrorism, was a prominent advocate of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in the lead-up to the war.

In late 2002, Scheunemann helped create The Committee for the Liberation of Iraq and became the group's executive director. Its mission, pursued with the Bush administration's blessing, was to build public support for the overthrow of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

McCain (R-Ariz.) was on the committee, along with Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.), former Secretary of State George Shultz, retired Army Gen. Wayne A. Downing and former Nebraska Sen. Bob Kerrey (D-Neb.), who described the project at the time as "a group of people who will talk to Americans about why the liberation of Iraq is something the United States ought to do."

Scheunemann is a longtime GOP foreign policy specialist who has also worked on the staffs of former Senate Republican leaders Bob Dole (Kan.) and Trent Lott (Miss.) He was a board member of the neoconservative think tank, the Project for the New American Century, which often reflected the views of Bush administration hardliners.

In recent years, Scheunemann has registered as a lobbyist for several foreign governments, including Georgia, Macedonia and Taiwan, according to published reports. His firm has also lobbied for the National Rife Association and defense contractor Lockheed Martin.

A Washington Post article in November 2002 reported that The Committee for the Liberation of Iraq was being created as the Bush administration was preparing the nation for a likely war that was ultimately launched in March 2003.

The committee's founding coincided with what administration officials called a "new phase" of briefings for foreign policy leaders, Iraq specialists and other opinion makers.

One goal was to reverse a decline in support for possible military action.

"Despite campaign trail criticism of Iraq by President Bush and Vice President Cheney," the Post wrote on Nov. 4, 2002, "polls released last week showed a decline in support for U.S. military action to topple Hussein. The Pew Research Center found that 55 percent of Americans support an attack on Iraq, down from 64 percent in August. Fox News polls showed a decline to 62 percent from 72 percent."

Pew researcher Carroll Doherty noted a widening partisan divide, with 51 percent of Democrats opposing action in Iraq and 40 percent favoring it. He cited "a great deal of concern about the consequences of war."

Obama, then an Illinois state legislator, delivered a speech in Chicago the previous month opposing war in Iraq.

"There's going to be a huge need in the post-election vacuum to make sure that what happened in August doesn't happen in November and December," Scheunemann said in The Post story, describing administration determination to avoid a repeat of August, when officials found themselves losing ground to opponents of military action in Iraq. Scheunemann said Capitol Hill offices have been "getting a lot of calls against and not many for."

________________________________​

source: TMP Muckraker

McCain Adviser's Horrifying Iraq Track Record: Will the Press Notice?
By Zachary Roth - July 28, 2008, 5:08PM

Over the weekend, The New York Times noted that some of John McCain's foreign policy advisers from the "realist" camp are uneasy with the amount of influence enjoyed by neoconservatives like Randy Scheunemann, who's been serving as McCain's chief foreign policy aide and spokesman.

But it isn't only his internal rivals who have reason to worry about Scheunemann. Not only does he have McCain's ear, he also has a track record of being consistently wrong on the major foreign policy question of the day -- Iraq. Of all the hawkish Washington foreign-policy types pushing both before and after 9/11 for war with Iraq -- a war that an overwhelming majority of Americans now considers a mistake -- Scheunemann, though not a marquee name, was among the most energetic and influential. And in the invasion's aftermath, he consistently opposed steps that might have helped stabilize the country.

And yet, the political press has largely given McCain a pass on the fact that his top foreign policy adviser was at the center of perhaps the biggest strategic folly in our history.

Here, to refresh reporters' memories, is the rundown on Scheunemann's Iraq record:

* As a top aide to then-Senate GOP leader Trent Lott, Scheunemann helped draft -- and acted as a driving force behind -- the 1998 Iraq Liberation Act (ILA), which essentially made "regime change" the official Iraq policy of the US. The Act was cited as a key basis of support in the fateful 2002 Congressional resolution authorizing military force, and directly paved the way for President Bush's invasion.

* Scheunemann was a board member of Bill Kristol's Project for a New American Century, which played a major role in agitating for the war. Scheunemann signed Kristol's influential letter to President Bush, sent nine days after 9/11, which asserted that failing to respond to the Al Qaeda attack by going after Saddam would "constitute an early and perhaps decisive surrender in the war on international terrorism." Scheunemann also served as a "consultant" to Donald Rumsfeld's Pentagon while it was planning the war. And in late 2002, Scheunemann, with administration approval, founded the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq (CLI), an advocacy group with the explicit goal of whipping up pro-war sentiment across the country.

* Scheunemann was a crucial Washington backer of Ahmad Chalabi, the now-disgraced Iraqi exile who helped feed the CIA false intelligence on Saddam's WMD program and has since been accused of giving US state secrets to Iran. In the years leading up to the invasion, the two were so tight that the spokesman for Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress shared a Washington address with both CLI and Scheunemann's private lobbying firm and Scheunemann was mentioned in press reports as a candidate for the job of formal envoy to the Iraqi opposition. During this period, Scheunemann, who acted as a crucial link between Chalabi and John McCain, was a go-to guy for reporters seeking pro-Chalabi quotes. He told The New York Times that Chalabi possessed "tremendous attributes that would be of immeasurable benefit to an Iraq in transition to democracy" and separately called him "an Iraqi patriot."

* Like other war supporters, Scheunemann threw caution to the wind in declaring, wrongly, that Saddam had WMD. "There is no doubt Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction," he assured Americans a month before the invasion.

* Scheunemann also played a key role in lining up support for the invasion from the "Vilnius Ten," a group of former Soviet bloc countries seeking to gain entry to NATO, some of whom Scheunemann has worked as a paid lobbyist on behalf of. With his partner Bruce Jackson, a Lockheed Martin executive, Scheunemann reportedly gave assurances to the Ten that backing the invasion would help their chances for NATO membership. Ultimately, seven of the ten countries gained entry to NATO, and two of those, Romania and Latvia, employed Scheunemann as a paid lobbyist to promote their applications.

* In the invasion's aftermath, Scheunemann's judgment proved no more effective. He argued vociferously against giving the UN a significant role in stabilizing Iraq. And he also opposed leaving any members of Saddam's Baath party in government positions, declaring: "It is very difficult for me to conceive of democratic institutions being established in Iraq with the Baathist power structure mostly intact." Both of these positions, of course, proved to be disastrous policy blunders, which badly damaged our ability to stabilize Iraq in the crucial early months.

It's kind of astonishing that McCain continues to be taken seriously on Iraq when his closest adviser has a track record on the issue as atrocious as Scheunemann's. At the very least, when reporters hang up from their frequent conference calls, arranged by the McCain campaign, in which Scheunemann attacks Barack Obama's judgment on Iraq, they might want to keep Scheunemann's own history on the subject in mind.


________________________________​


source: The Washington Post

McCain Aide's Georgian Ties Become an Issue

By Zachary A. Goldfarb
The presidential campaign veered Sunday into a discussion about the escalating conflict between Georgia and Russia, with a supporter of Sen. Barack Obama suggesting that Sen. John McCain's criticism of Russia stems from his campaign's connections to Georgian political leadership.

"His campaign is run by lobbyists that represent Georgia and other countries," New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) said on ABC's "This Week," a clear reference to Randy Scheunemann, McCain's foreign policy adviser, who has been a registered lobbyist in Washington for the Tbilisi government.

That drew a sharp response from Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R), reported to be under consideration as a McCain running mate. He said it was wrong for the Obama campaign to focus on any ties between members of the McCain campaign and the Georgian government.

Georgia is "an example of Senator McCain's push to spread democracy in that part of the world as a very important advance of America's interest," Jindal said on ABC. "I wish Senator Obama had actually confronted the issue, not trying to detract our attention by focusing on a McCain adviser."

The two countries clashed after Georgia tried to reassert control over a separatist province on Friday. Russia launched airstrikes and mobilized tanks, and quickly ramped up its attack. A senior U.S. official called the Russian response disproportionate to the Georgian action.

McCain immediately called on Russia to stop its incursion into Georgia, while Obama took a more cautious approach advocating restraint on both sides.

Jindal said the conflict underscores why a president with deep experience in international affairs is important.

"I think this is another example, during these uncertain times, where we need experienced leadership. We need someone like Senator McCain who will take a stronger view, a more experienced view when it comes to international security and protecting America's interest," Jindal said.

Richardson, who ran for president himself this year and was a top diplomat in Bill Clinton's administration, said McCain's approach was typical of the Bush administration.

"What Senator McCain wants to do is continue the Bush policies of trying to isolate Russia. ... It's not working," Richardson said.
 
Rice Admits Georgia Started War with Russia

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George Washington's Blog
Friday, Sept 19, 2008

A BBC article from today confirmed what many people have been saying:

Speaking at an event organised by the German Marshall Fund in Washington, Ms Rice acknowledged that Georgia had fired the first shots in the breakaway region of South Ossetia.

"The Georgian government launched a major military operation into Tskhinvali [the capital of So More..uth Ossetia] and other areas of that separatist region," she said.

"Regrettably, several Russian peacekeepers were killed in the fighting," she added.

THE ARTICLE

Condoleezza Rice on Russia's ''aggression''

Russia is becoming increasingly authoritarian at home and aggressive abroad, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said.

In a strongly-worded speech, Ms Rice said Moscow was on a "one-way path to isolation and irrelevance".

Diplomatic relations between the US and Russia have been strained by the recent conflict in Georgia.

Earlier, Russia's president said the two nations should not risk established ties over "trivial matters."

Dmitry Medvedev said it would be "politically short-sighted" if Washington and Moscow were to endanger their political and economic ties.

However, Ms Rice suggested in her speech that following the conflict in Georgia, Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organisation had been put in doubt.

The US has already shelved a civilian nuclear deal with Russia, but despite tensions the two countries are maintaining diplomatic links.

Ms Rice held a telephone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov just hours before delivering her speech, says the BBC's Kim Ghattas in Washington, and Russia is also due to join an international meeting on Iran's nuclear programme on Friday.

Our correspondent says Moscow is also telling the US that its co-operation is needed over issues like Iran and North Korea, with many in Washington feeling the Russians have a point.

Several hours after Ms Rice spoke, it emerged that a Russian submarine test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

An official from Russia's defence ministry is quoted as saying that the test - carried out in Russia's far-eastern Kamchatka peninsula - went according to plan.

'Deeply disconcerting'

Speaking at an event organised by the German Marshall Fund in Washington, Ms Rice acknowledged that Georgia had fired the first shots in the breakaway region of South Ossetia.

Russian troops in the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali
Ms Rice said Russia had tried to dismember Georgia

"The Georgian government launched a major military operation into Tskhinvali [the capital of South Ossetia] and other areas of that separatist region," she said.

"Regrettably, several Russian peacekeepers were killed in the fighting," she added.

But Ms Rice said that Russia had escalated the conflict.

"Russia's leaders violated Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity and launched a full-scale invasion across an internationally recognised border," she said, adding that Russia had also violated the terms of a ceasefire negotiated by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Ms Rice said it had been "deeply disconcerting" that Russia had tried to "dismember" Georgia by recognising Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and argued that Russia's actions were part of what she described as a "worsening pattern of behaviour".

"I refer... to Russia's intimidation of its sovereign neighbours, its use of oil and gas as a political weapon... its threat to target peaceful neighbours with nuclear weapons... and its persecution - or worse - of Russian journalists and dissidents," she added.

Pledging help to rebuild Georgia, Ms Rice said the US and Europe would not let Russia benefit from aggression.

'Taking the bait'

Ms Rice admitted that Georgia could have responded better to the events last month in South Ossetia.

"We warned our Georgian friends that Russia was baiting them, and that taking this bait would only play into Moscow's hands," she said.

However Ms Rice, an expert on the Soviet Union, also said that Russia could not blame its behaviour on the enlargement of Nato.

"Since the end of the Cold War, we and our allies have worked to transform Nato... into a means for nurturing the growth of a Europe whole, free and at peace."

The promise of Nato membership had been a positive incentive for states to build democratic institutions and reform their economies, she added.

And she insisted that Russia would not be allowed to dictate who joined the Nato alliance.

"We will not allow Russia to wield a veto over the future of our Euro-Atlantic community - neither what states we offer membership, nor the choice of those states to accept it," she said

"We have made this particularly clear to our friends in Ukraine."

The secretary of state was also critical of the domestic situation inside Russia.

"What has become clear is that the legitimate goal of rebuilding Russia has taken a dark turn - with the rollback of personal freedoms, the arbitrary enforcement of the law [and] the pervasive corruption at various levels of Russian society," she said.

Russia's leaders were risking the future progress of the Russian people, she said, declaring that Russia's leaders "are putting Russia on a one-way path to self-imposed isolation and international irrelevance"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7623555.stm
:hmm:
 
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