McCain and Palin Rush to Gulf Coast to Do ... Something

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..ders a Hurray McCain down sowt....
AlterNet

How do you spell photo-op?
It wasn't enough that the president Republican nominee jumped headfirst into the Russia/Georgia crisis, going so far as to dispatch his Secretary of State Senators Lieberman and Graham to Georgia on his behalf.
No, now, as Hurricane Gustav roars towards the U.S., the Republican president nominee and his newly minted Vice-President running mate are rushing down to Gulf Coast to...well, do something

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• Gustav's 1st Victim is the RNC

Police State RNC: A Nun and Eight Others Swept into Unmarked Van by Cops in Minnesota

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Alternet.org

The 6 activists arrested during police raids in advance of the Republican National Convention are being held without charge by the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office, the Minnesota Independent reports.
The arrestees are being held on probable cause holds. These holds give the authorities 36 hours to charge them or let them go. Holds are typically used to give investigators more time to gather evidence before filing formal charges.
Holds allow police to charge first and ask questions later. Sometimes that's a good thing. Arrest opportunities are unpredictable. A suspect could slip away in the time it takes to turn a solid suspicion into sufficient evidence to file charges. A probable cause hold buys the police some time to dot the i's and cross the t's.
However, it doesn't take a genius to see how the power to detain people without charge can be abused. For example, unethical police officers have been known to use frivolous holds as quickie jail terms. Piss off the police, spend 3 days in jail--no trial required.
In Minnesota, a probable cause hold can be issued by an officer without review by a judge or a prosecutor. The 36-hour window doesn't include weekends and holidays. So the protesters arrested over the long weekend could be locked up until Wednesday.
The National Lawyers Guild is asking a judge to review these detentions in the hopes of getting the arrestees out sooner.
Imagine if the police could hold these protesters as long as they wanted.
The United States is holding suspects without charge at Guantanamo--many of whom were apprehended without anything approaching probable cause. Of course, Bush administration asserts the right to put off their trials forever.
Scenarios like these illustrate why habeas corpus is vital to the rule of law.
UPDATE (12:34 PDT):: One of the 9 protesters arrested was a nun, seen being loaded into an unmarked blue van. The 9 were apparently trying to climb a fence near a church.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE: ColdSnap is reporting 9 arrests downtown near the Excel center and police massing all over the downtown core.
The National Lawyers Guild and Communities United Against Police Brutality have filed an emergency motion to stop the seizure of cell phones and cameras during the RNC.
The groups will hold a joint press conference at Hennepin County Government Plaza to discuss their application for an emergency injunction, according to a tweet issued by the ColdSnap Legal Collective.

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• Massive, warrantless raids on peace protesters in Minneapolis, ahead of RNC.
• The Police State comes to Minneapolis/St. Paul
• Exploitation

OSC: Russia- Iran Alliance?

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Iranian Trump Card. Russia Can Take Control of Persian Gulf
Vremya Novostey
Friday, August 29, 2008
Document Type: OSC Translated Text

The recognition of South Ossetia's and Abkhazia's independence by Russia is a timely step to protect these republics from new Georgian aggression. However, taking into account the United States' plans to expedite Georgia's and Ukraine's accession to the NATO military-political bloc, the situation near the Russian border remains alarming. At the same time Moscow has a lot of possibilities to take balanced counter measures to the United States' and entire NATO's unfriendly plans. In particular, Russia can rely on those countries that effectively oppose the United States' and their satellites' expansion. Only collective efforts can help to create a situation which would, if not eliminate then at least reduce the risk of the Cold War's transformation into local and global conflicts.
For instance, Moscow could strengthen its military-technical ties with Syria and launch negotiations on the reestablishment of its military presence in Cuba. However, the most serious step which the United States and especially Israel fear (incidentally, Israel supplied arms to Georgia) is hypothetical revision of Russia's foreign policy with regard to Iran. A strategic alliance presuming the signing of a new large-scale military political treaty with Iran could change the entire geopolitical picture of the contemporary world.
New allied relations may result in the deployment of at least two military bases in strategic regions of Iran. One military base could be deployed in the north of the country in the Iranian province of Eastern Azerbaijan and the other one in the south, on the Island of Qeshm in the Persian Gulf. Due to the base in Iran's Eastern Azerbaijan Russia would be able to monitor military activities in the Republic of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey and share this information with Iran.
The deployment of a military base on the Island of Qeshm would allow Russia to monitor the United States' and NATO's activities in the Persian Gulf zone, Iraq and other Arab states. With the help of special equipment Russia could effectively monitor whois sailing toward this sea bottleneck, from where, and with what cargo on board to enter the World Ocean or to return.
For the first time ever Russia will have a possibility to stop suspicious vessels and ships and inspect their cargo, which the Americans have been cynically doing in that zone for many decades. In exchange for the deployment of its military bases Russia could help the Iranians to deploy modern air defense and missile defense systems along the perimeter of its borders. Tehran, for instance, needs Russia's modern S-400 SAMs.
The Iranian leadership paid close attention to reports stating that the Georgian Government's secret resolution gave the United States and Israel a carte blanche to use Georgian territory and local military bases for delivering missile and bomb strikes against Iranian facilities in the event of need. Another neighbor, Turkey, is not only a NATO member, but also a powerful regional opponent and economic rival of Iran. In addition to this, the Republic of Azerbaijan has become the West's key partner on the issue of transportation of Caspian energy resources to world markets. The Iranians are also concerned at Baku's plans to give Western (above all American) capital access to the so-called Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea, which is fraught with new conflicts, because the legal status of the Caspian Sea has not been defined to date.
Russia and Iran can also accelerate the process of setting up a cartel of leading gas producers, which journalists have already dubbed the "gas OPEC." Russia and Iran occupy first and second place in the world respectively in terms of natural gas reserves. They jointly possess more than 60 percent of the world's gas deposits. Therefore, even small coordination in the elaboration of a single pricing policy may force one-half of the world, at least virtually entire Europe, to moderate its ambitions and treat gas exporters in a friendlier manner.
While moving toward allied relations, Russia can develop cooperation with Iran in virtually all areas, including nuclear power engineering. Russia can earn tens of billions of dollars on the construction of nuclear power plants in Iran alone. Tehran can receive not only economic, but also political support from Russia in the development of its own atomic energy sector.
In addition to this,in view of the imminent breakup of the CIS from which Georgia already pulled out, Russia could accelerate the process of accepting Iran as an equal member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). By accepting Iran, one of the key countries of the Islamic world, the organization could change fundamentally both in terms of its potential and in terms of its regional role. Meanwhile, as an SCO member Iran will find itself under the collective umbrella of this organization, including under the protection of such nuclear states as Russia and China. This will lay foundations for a powerful Russia-Iran-China axis,which the United States and its allies fear so much.
(Description of Source: Moscow Vremya Novostey in Russian -- Liberal, small-circulation paper that sometimes criticizes the government)

Russia's case on Georgia territories: Like Kosovo or not?

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Russia's claim to part of Georgia is based on the loss of Kosovo to Serbia just six months ago. There thinking is that if the West can partition their allies, then Russia can come to the aid of Russian who are seeking partition as well. Kosovo was partitioned largely because of Serbian genocide during Yugoslavia's break-up. But it's pushing the issue to say Georgia was committing genocide in South Ossetia. They certainly were targetting a civilian population with artillery. Some sort of response from Russia probably was appropriate, but invasion, occupation, and annexation hardly seems justified. Clearly, they were using Georgia's poor judgment as an excuse to make a point or two.
csmonitor.com

The new Russian legal shift comes as Moscow's ardently stated rhetoric and emotion over the West's acceptance of Kosovo statehood is being more closely examined.
The dispute is quiet but bitter: Moscow has long made a strong legal case for Serbia's territorial integrity and sovereignty. US and EU diplomats say the Kosovo case is unique, an "accommodation" that emerged out of a long and often reluctant process involving specific moral and strategic circumstances - resulting in a new principle of "humanitarian intervention."
"In Kosovo, the West decided to make the rules on what humanitarian intervention meant, said that it had the power to do so, and decided not to stand by legal arguments in the middle of a genocide," argues James Hooper, a former US diplomat who worked with Gen. Wesley Clark in Kosovo.
Russia's new position is partly seen as helping smooth relations with Belgrade, whose claims on Kosovo have been left in the lurch by Moscow's recognition of separtists territories in the Caucasus, say diplomats. After a decade of ardent legal purity on Serbia's territorial integrity at the UN and other global groupings, Russia has suddenly changed those rules in Georgia - putting Serbia in the awkward position of having to choose between Russia and Europe, that has untold consequences for the new Serbian government.

Montana Governer Schweitzer Electrifies Convention with Energy Speech

Sierra Club Compass

Assad slapped in the face - Israeli Opinion

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This is pure propaganda. Israel is hardly in a stronger position vis a vis Syria with Russia. They wouldn't have to warn Russia over weapons sale to Syria if that were true. They are trying to embarrass Assad and damage his reputation with his people.
Ynetnews

The Syrian army's aging generals couldn't believe their eyes: The Soviet Union is back. After seeing Russian tanks entering Georgia, they thought that time can be turned back two decades, to the era where the Soviet superpower backed President Hafez al-Assad; an era where Soviet advisors stayed in Syria, Soviet warships docked at the Tartus port, and Moscow transferred missiles and tanks to Damascus for free. Most importantly, it was an era where the Soviet Union provided Syria with protection against Israel.
Bashar Assad's advisors therefore gave him the worst possible advice. The time has come to make Russia an offer it cannot refuse, they told him. And Assad, the perpetual rookie, of course took the advice. And so, the Syrian president headed to Moscow with a series of proposals, which the generals thought both sides will benefit from.
1. Syria agrees to Russian deployment of advanced ground-to-ground missiles in its territory as a counterweight to the American missile deployment in Poland.
2. Syria agrees that Russian Air Force jets will use Syrian territory and airspace.
3. The seaport at Tartus will be reopened.
4. Russia will be granted a friendly military outpost in the Middle East, at the gate to Europe, and go back to being a regional power.
In exchange, Assad intended to request advanced ground-to-ground missiles, as well as other weapons. His gut-feeling was excellent, and he mentioned his proposal in a briefing with Russian reporters ahead of his trip to Moscow.
The Syrian leader was stunned when the Russians slapped him in the face. Putin and Medvedev's answer to his request was "not interested." They have no interest in embarking on a new cold war. The slap was even worse because the Russians refused to sell advanced missiles to the Syrians, and added a few conditions: Firstly, they will be selling Syria defensive weapons only, rather than offensive ones. Secondly, they will not be selling Syria arms that would change the status quo of full Israeli supremacy over Syria. Thirdly, everything they sell will be paid for in cash, in advance.
The Russians know very well that Syria's economy is unstable. They know that the Iranians help the Syrians with payments, but they also know that Iran itself is facing great difficulties. Assad swallowed the insult and returned to Damascus.
Why was there no chance for Assad's "golden package" to begin with? Because Russia is not the Soviet Union. What Assad's generals failed to grasp is that by invading Georgia Russia caused itself economic and political damage that would take years to repair. Russia is a capitalistic country that relies on its economy, and the economy responded with immense anxiety to the Georgia events.
The investors who lifted the Russian economy are simply running away now: $12 billion were taken out of Russia in the past two weeks. The Russian stock exchange's RTS index declined by 32%, and the Russian Ruble was depreciated. Russia had no ability to continue this conflict.
Moreover, at this time Russia is closely associated with Israel no less so and possibly more so than with Syria. A million and a half former Russians reside in Israel, and Israel's high-tech industry is highly important for the Russian economy. The world in the era of globalization (a word that Syria is still unfamiliar with) will not go back to being black and white, and no Russia babushka will be waiting for Assad with a magic solution.

Russia Feels More Encircled, Gets Rejected by China

It appears the tensions on the borders with Russia will remain high. With Russia feeling isolated, they will feel all the more encircled. The Russian bear is most dangerous when cornered.
Tri-City Herald

The five-day war started Aug. 7 when Georgian forces launched a massive barrage on South Ossetia's capital, Tskhinvali, only to be quickly driven out by Russian troops, who then pushed deep into Georgia proper.
Russia on Tuesday recognized both territories as independent republics, a move denounced in Georgia and abroad. The regions make up roughly 20 percent of Georgia's territory - and include miles of prime coastline along the Black Sea.
Criticized by the West, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday asked China and four ex-Soviet nations to sign a declaration of support for Russia's role in the conflict in Georgia.
But Russia's hopes of gathering support were dealt a huge blow when the five countries denounced the use of force and called for respect for every country's territorial integrity. The joint declaration from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization deepens Russia's international isolation.
Medvedev had appealed to the alliance - which consists of Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan - for unanimous support of Russia's response to Georgia's "aggression."
Medvedev's appeal had raised fears in Western capitals of the emergence of a competing strategic alliance to NATO forming around Russia - but the other Asian nations may have been reluctant to strain their relations with Europe and the United States.
Medvedev also discussed the situation in Georgia's breakaway regions with Chinese President Hu Jintao. China has traditionally been wary of supporting separatist movements, mindful of its own problems with Tibet and Muslims in the western territory of Xinjiang.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang was quoted by state news agency Xinhua as saying "the situation in the region ... should be resolved in dialogue."
Moscow said NATO's plans for expansion and Western support for Georgia had caused the new East-West divisions, and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin lashed out at the United States for using military ships to deliver humanitarian aid to Georgia.
The tensions have spread to the Black Sea, which Russia shares unhappily with three nations that belong to NATO and two others that desperately want to, Ukraine and Georgia. Some Ukrainians fear Moscow might set its sights on their nation next.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said some European Union countries have asked the 27-member bloc to consider sanctions against Russia following its recognition of the breakaway territories. The EU is "trying to draw up a strong text, sigifying our unwillingness to accept" Russia's stance, Kouchner said.
"Sanctions are being considered ... and many other means as well," Kouchner said at news conference. He did not elaborate.
Britain's top diplomat said Russia's actions threaten to undermine stability in Europe.
"We are in a situation which marks a clear end to the relative and growing calm in and around Europe since the collapse of the Soviet Union," British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said in an interview with British Broadcasting Corp. radio.
The Kremlin has rejected Western criticism, and even suggested the conflict could spread. It starkly warned another former Soviet republic, tiny Moldova, that aggression against a breakaway region there could provoke a military response.

Dennis Kucinich Rocks DNC: 'Wake Up America!'

Video | AlterNet

It's Election Day, 2008. We Democrats are giving America a wake up call. Wake up America. In 2001, the oil companies, the war contractors and the neo-con artists seized the economy, and have added four trillion dollars of unproductive spending to the national debt.
We now pay four times more for defense, three times more for gasoline and home heating oil, and twice what we paid for health care. Millions of Americans have lost their jobs, their homes, their health care, their pensions. Trillions of dollars for an unnecessary war paid with borrowed money. Tens of billions of dollars in cash and weapons disappeared into thin air, at the cost of the lives of our troops and innocent Iraqis, while all the President's oilmen are maneuvering to grab Iraq's oil.
Borrowed money to bomb bridges in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. No money to rebuild bridges in America. Money to start a hot war with Iran. Now we have another cold war with Russia while the American economy has become a game of Russian roulette.
If there was an Olympics for misleading, mismanaging and misappropriating this Administration would take the gold. World records for violations of national and international laws. They want another four year term to continue to alienate our allies, spend our children's inheritance and hollow out our economy. We can't afford it America.
Wake up America, the insurance companies took over health care. Wake up America, the pharmaceutical companies took over drug pricing. Wake up America, the speculators took over Wall Street. Wake up America, they want to take your Social Security. Wake up America, multinational corporations took over our trade policies, factories are closing, good paying jobs lost.
Wake up, America. We went into Iraq for oil. The oil companies want more. War against Iran will mean $10 a gallon gasoline. The Oil Administration wants to drill more -- into your wallet. Wake up, America. Weapons contractors want more. An Iran war will cost five to ten trillion dollars.
This Administration can tap our phones. They can't tap our creative spirit. They can open our mail. They can't open economic opportunities. They can track our every move. They lost track of the economy while the cost of food, gasoline, and electricity skyrockets.
They skillfully played our post- 911 fears and allowed the few to profit at the expense of the many. Everyday we get the color orange, while the oil companies, the insurance companies, the speculators, the war contractors get the color green.
Wake up America. This is not a call for you to take a new direction from right to left.
This is call for you to go from down to up. Up with the rights of workers.
Up with wages.
Up with fair trade.
Up with creating millions of good paying jobs rebuilding our bridges, ports and water systems. Up with creating millions of sustainable energy jobs to lower the cost of energy, lower carbon emissions and protect the environment.
Up with health care for all.
Up with education for all.
Up with home ownership.
Up with guaranteed retirement benefits.
Up with Peace.
Up with Prosperity.
Up with the Democratic Party
Up with Obama - Biden
Wake up, America.
Wake up, America.
Wake up, America.

Iran Controls Muqtada al-Sadr

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The Associated Press

Militant Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr plans to make a series of short visits to Iraq starting within weeks but has decided to make Iran his home base for years to come, a key aide says. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not supposed to discuss the subject. He is close to the 35-year-old cleric and has accurately reported on the Sadrist movement for several years. The aide would not say how long al-Sadr would stay in Iran, where he has lived since May 2007, but said it was "reasonable" to expect he would remain there for five or more years.
That's the time al-Sadr needs to prepare to win acceptance as a "marjaa," joining Iraq's top Shiite leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and three other grand ayatollahs as members of the highest Shiite religious authority. Al-Sadr announced in March that he had moved to the Iranian holy city of Qom to focus on religious studies -- an essential credential for power in Iraq's majority Shiite community. The decision to extend his stay could indicate the cleric, whose Mahdi Army militia battled U.S. and Iraqi forces for years, has decided his future lies in politics, not violence.
Last month, al-Sadr announced he was transforming his militia into a social welfare body with a few guerrilla cells to attack U.S. troops if Washington doesn't agree to leave Iraq. The announcement followed setbacks in battles with the U.S.-supported Iraqi army in Baghdad, Basra and Amarah.
The decision to stay in Qom could also be part of a move by Iran to control Shiite resistance in Iraq. The U.S. military believes Iran arms and trains breakaway Mahdi Army cells, a claim the Iranians deny. "He is the guest of the Iranian government who will control him ... until such time they have comfortably wrested control of the Mahdi Army away from him," said Vali Nasr, a U.S.-based expert on Shiite affairs.

Bush Administration Would Have F.B.I. Be Big Brother

The ghost of J. Edgar Hoover has raised it's ugly head in the form of George W. Bush. As part of his legacy, Dubya wants to make legal activities of the FBI make illegal in the 1970s. The plan would loosen restrictions on the Federal Bureau of Investigation to allow agents to open a file on any American without any clear basis for suspicion. That is what J. Edgar was infamous for. He created files on anyone who he considered a security problem. This included citizens, political writers, commentators, and peaceful protesters as well as members of Congress. He used his files to protect his political interests sometimes at the expense of the average American.
Wikipedia

John Edgar Hoover (January 1, 1895 - May 2, 1972), generally known as J. Edgar Hoover, was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States. Appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation--predecessor to the FBI--in 1924, he was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972. Hoover is credited with building the FBI into a large and efficient crime-fighting agency, and with instituting a number of modern innovations to police technology, such as a centralized fingerprint file and forensic laboratories. During his life, Hoover was highly regarded by much of the U.S. public, but throughout his career and after his death he became an increasingly controversial figure. His many critics assert that he abused his power and exceeded the jurisdiction of the FBI. He is known to have used the FBI to harass political dissenters and activists, to have amassed secret files on political leaders and to have used illegal methods to collect evidence. It is because of Hoover's long and controversial reign that FBI directors are now limited to 10-year terms.

Bush hopes to remove most if not all of the restrictions imposed on the FBI after it's miss use was exposed in Congress. Legal protections of our civil liberties are necessary. They have been exploited for political gain sometimes harming innocent citizens whenever they have not been forbidden. We have seen this administration routinely use the excuse of "national security" just to cover up it's own illegal activities.
That must stop. This measure must be stopped. Let us hope the wimpy responses of this Congress can be amended.
NYTimes.com

Justice Department plan would loosen restrictions on the Federal Bureau of Investigation to allow agents to open a national security or criminal investigation against someone without any clear basis for suspicion, Democratic lawmakers briefed on the details said Wednesday.
The plan, which could be made public next month, has already generated intense interest and speculation. Little is known about its precise language, but civil liberties advocates say they fear it could give the government even broader license to open terrorism investigations.
Congressional staff members got a glimpse of some of the details in closed briefings this month, and four Democratic senators told Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey in a letter on Wednesday that they were troubled by what they heard.
The senators said the new guidelines would allow the F.B.I. to open an investigation of an American, conduct surveillance, pry into private records and take other investigative steps "without any basis for suspicion." The plan "might permit an innocent American to be subjected to such intrusive surveillance based in part on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, or on protected First Amendment activities," the letter said. It was signed by Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.
As the end of the Bush administration nears, the White House has been seeking to formalize in law and regulation some of the aggressive counterterrorism steps it has already taken in practice since the Sept. 11 attacks.

Russia: To Withdraw, Or Not?

So which is it? I look at the headlines of the past couple days and see glaring inconsistencies. VOA, the propaganda instrument of the US Government says Russia is withdrawing to pre-war positions. Yet the LA-Times quotes a Russian General that they will continue to occupy 18 positions in Georgia in their peacekeeping role.
Clearing the Russians will not be withdrawing completely from Georgia. It appears the Bush Administration is trying to "spin" an occupation into "peacekeeping".
I suspect the Bush Administration is in damage control mode, recognizing it has little to say to Russia to prevent them from doing what they want, so is trying to spin an actual continuing occupation into "peacekeeping" by the Russians, a "face saving" position for Bush, proposed by the Russians that might allow a Republican president to look tough and effective on the eve of the election where a Republican replacement is less than assured.

Los Angeles Times

Russia plans to establish a long-term presence in Georgia and one of its breakaway republics by adding 18 checkpoints, including at least eight within undisputed Georgian territory outside the pro-Russian enclave of South Ossetia, a ranking Russian military official told reporters Wednesday.
The checkpoints will be staffed by hundreds of Russian troops, the official said, and those within Georgia proper will have supplies ferried to them from breakaway South Ossetia.

VOA News

Russia says all of its forces in Georgia will be withdrawn by late Friday into a 'buffer zone' around the separatist region of South Ossetia, where Georgian troops will no longer be allowed. Georgia, however, doubts Moscow's assurances, and says the boundaries of the buffer zone are not clearly defined. VOA Correspondent Peter Fedynsky reports from Moscow.
General Anatoly Nogovitsyn, the deputy head of Russia's General Staff, told a Moscow news conference that, once Russian troops are in the buffer zone along the perimeter of South Ossetia, Russia will observe a 1992 peacekeeping agreement with Georgia. However, he says Russia is amending the agreement to exclude Georgian forces from the area.
Nogovitsyn says Georgian leaders recalled their peacekeeping forces in South Ossetia at the start of the invasion and sent them in the direction of the regional capital, Tskhinvali, thus violating the agreement. The general says that, in Russia's view, Georgia, therefore, has no right to engage in peacekeeping activities in the buffer zone.

Then I tripped over this article buried in a Philadelphia Newspaper.
The Bulletin

The U.S representative to the U.N. blasted Russia on Wednesday for allegedly violating almost all elements of the six-point peace plan for Georgia that it had already signed.
This comes after Russia refused to back a French-backed Security Council draft resolution on Monday, which would have ratified the ceasefire plan in the international arena between Russia and Georgia.
While Russia asserts that the draft resolution differed from the six-point peace plan that it agreed to, Deputy Permanent Representative of the U.S. Alejandro D. Wolff read through all the points of the six-point plan, noting that since Russia had accepted it they had violated it in almost every way possible.
"We've had questions in our minds, and we've articulated them in the council from the very beginning, what Russian intentions are and what Russian motives are," Mr. Wolff said.
Mr. Wolff noted that although the plan called for a cessation of hostilities and not to resort to the use of force, Russia had not ceased fighting.
In addition, Russia had not held to its commitment of granting unimpeded access to humanitarian aid organizations.
While Georgian forces were supposed to be allowed to withdraw to their bases, Mr. Wolff noted that Russia had destroyed Georgian bases.
Russian armed forces were also supposed to withdraw to the positions held before hostilities began in South Ossetia, something they have not yet done.
According to Russian representative Vitaly Churkin, the draft resolution contradicted the six-point peace plan that it had agreed to. While the draft resolution called for Russian military positions to return to where they were prior to the conflict, Moscow insists that it had agreed on the condition that the necessity of maintaining military positions in the Georgian part of the border with South Ossetia would be fulfilled.

Do you suppose the Bush Administration tried to kill this story?

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Russian general: 'We are not pulling out' of Georgia

It's as if the whole world has been looking at Russia's words and actions and saying, "No, things have changed, the Cold War is over." Welcome to the new Cold War.
Los Angeles Times

A ranking Russian military official today said Moscow plans to establish 18 long-term checkpoints inside Georgian territory, including at least eight within undisputed Georgian territory outside the pro-Russian enclave of South Ossetia.
The checkpoints will be staffed by hundreds of Russian troops, with those in Georgia proper needing supplies that would be ferried to them from South Ossetia.
If implemented, the plan would effectively put under Russian control the border between Georgia and its South Ossetia region, which is seeking independence with Moscow's backing, as well as a small chunk of Georgia proper.
"This is the essence of it," Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, deputy chief of the army general staff, told reporters at a briefing. He showed maps detailing the proposed Russian positions, one just outside the key city of Gori.
"The president ordered us to stop where we were," he said. "We are not pulling out and pulling back troops behind this administrative border into the territory of South Ossetia."
The plans appear to violate the terms of a French-endorsed cease-fire deal signed late last week by the presidents of Georgia and Russia. It called for both countries' troops and allied armed groups to move back to their positions before hostilities between the two countries' troops led to a Russian military incursion early this month into the staunchly pro-U.S. Caucasus Mountain nation.
Russian officials insist they may keep troops along the South Ossetian-Georgian border as well as within Georgia proper as part of a peacekeeping mission begun in the 1990s. Russians say their peacekeeping mandate gives them access to a "security zone" along the border.
Nogovitsyn also said at least 64 Russian soldiers were killed and 323 injured in the fighting. Russians were outraged by what they called an unprovoked surprise attack by Georgians on Russian peacekeepers based in the breakaway region and on South Ossetia civilians. Georgians have accused Moscow of provoking the fight as a pretext for sending troops into Georgian territory.
Officials in Georgia, the U.S. and Europe have demanded Russia pull its troops back to positions held before the current fighting broke out Aug. 7.
President Bush reiterated that message today during a speech before the Veterans of Foreign Wars national convention in Orlando, Fla., calling for Russian troops to pull back and defending Georgia's claim to South Ossetia and another breakaway region.
Rice and other officials from NATO nations who met Tuesday in Brussels "agreed that Russia must honor its commitment to withdraw its troops from Georgia and to return to the status quo before the hostilities began on August the 6th," he said, adding: "South Ossetia and Abkhazia are part of Georgia, and the United States will work with our allies to ensure Georgia's independence and territorial integrity."
In Moscow, Nogovitsyn said "time will tell" when Russians would pull troops out of areas they control in Georgia proper, including the key city of Gori, which lies along a crucial juncture of the country's main east-west highway. He called the proposed new checkpoints "observation posts."

The Smear Gap: McCain's Obama Attacks

Image by Getty Images
via Daylife

Newsweek

For about a month, McCain's campaign has been resorting to charges that are patently false. When Obama traveled abroad in July, to positive reviews, McCain decided he had to make attack ads that went far beyond the norm. In the past, plainly deceptive ads were the province of the Republican National Committee or the Democratic National Committee or independent committees free to fling mud that didn't bear the fingerprints of candidates. But not this time. These smears come directly from the candidate.
First, a McCain ad charged that Obama was responsible for higher gas prices, which was not just false but absurd. Next, an ad said Obama had cancelled his trip to visit wounded soldiers in Germany because he couldn't bring the press along. I was in Germany at the time, and as every reporter knew, the visit to the military hospital was never going to be open, not even to a press pool. It appeared on no press schedules. Obama had cancelled the visit when it was clear that the Pentagon viewed it as political. The charge was simply untrue.
[..]
The now famous Britney Spears and Paris Hilton ad, accusing Obama of being a celebrity, wasn't false, just dopey. But it detracted attention from a string of false McCain spots on taxes. One ad said that Obama would raise taxes on electricity. Nope, not in Obama's plan. Another said 23 million small-business owners would pay higher taxes under Obama. Factcheck.org found that the "vast majority" of small-business owners would pay the same in taxes as they do now, and "many" would pay less. An ad saying Obama had voted for a bill raising taxes, for families making more than $42,000 a year, was found to be "false." And McCain's consistent claim that Obama would "raise taxes on the middle class"--a major theme of his campaign--is "simply false," according to this neutral policy center. In truth, under Obama's plan, families earning less than $150,000 a year would get a tax cut, and only those making more than $250,000 would see their taxes rise. Maybe by the time the Democratic Congress got done with it, Obama's tax program would look different. It's reasonable to speculate that Democrats will raise taxes. But the McCain ads weren't talking about that, they were talking about Obama's plan, which is easily accessed on his Web site. McCain's description of his opponent's plan was and is untrue. This isn't opinion, it's fact.
[..]
But when he resorts to these kinds of falsehoods, and casts such aspersions on his opponent's patriotism, John McCain is no longer putting his country first. If he were, he would recognize that the interests of the nation require a relatively truthful campaign. To fulfill his image of himself, McCain should stop lying about his opponent. For a man with his claims to honor and integrity, that's not too much to ask.

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10 French Paratroopers Killed; Suicide Bombers Storm a U.S. base in Afghanistan

Image by KarlMarx via Flickr

Los Angeles Times

10 French paratroopers killed when ambushed by about 100 insurgents near Kabul, Afghanistan. In a separate coordinated attack today, a team of suicide bombers tried unsuccessfully to storm a U.S. base
In the worst loss of life for Western troops in ground combat with Taliban forces in Afghanistan, insurgents ambushed and killed 10 French soldiers and wounded 21 in a sustained assault outside the capital, military officials said Tuesday.
Separately, militants made an hours-long attempt to overrun a major U.S. base in southeastern Afghanistan, employing an unnerving new tactic: multiple suicide bombers, three of whom blew themselves up in succession and three others who were shot by the base's defenders, according to a military official.
Taken together, the attacks against the French and American forces were a graphic demonstration of the growing reach and power of the Taliban and other Islamic militants in Afghanistan, where this year is fast becoming the most lethal for combatants and civilians alike since the fall of the Taliban to U.S.-led forces in 2001.
The pattern of militant strikes against Western troops over the course of the summer "fighting season" points to increased capacity and bolder ambition on the part of the insurgents, at a time when Afghanistan's central government, led by President Hamid Karzai, is facing a rising tide of popular discontent.
The attack on the French forces, in a rugged mountainous area about 30 miles east of Kabul, also heightened the sense of insecurity close to the capital. Last week, three Western female aid workers were shot to death in a Taliban ambush in Logar province, only about an hour's drive south of Kabul.

Sarkozy will be visiting French troops in Afghanistan to shore up morale there and at home.

In Georgia, Russia sends clear message US, Israeli influence will not be tolerated

Image via Wikipedia

With Russia continuing to claim it's withdrawing from Georgia, there is little evidence on the ground, Georgia claims Russian troops continue military operations. Speculation continues about what is Putin's intent by dragging it's feet. Certainly, it continues to damage it's reputation in the West. The Daily Star out of Lebanon has an interesting theory.

South Ossetian separatists, supported by Moscow, escalated their machine-gun and mortar-fire attacks against neighboring Georgian villages last week. In response, Georgia attacked the separatist capital South Ossetian Tskhinvali with artillery to suppress fire. Tskhinvali suffered severe damage, thus providing the pretext for Moscow's invasion of Georgia. Russians in Abkhazia are also fighting the Georgians.
As Russia responded with overwhelming force, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin flew from the Beijing Olympics to Vladikavkaz, taking control of the military operations. Putin sidelined his successor, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, thereby leaving no doubt as to who is in charge. Medvedev's role is to handle the international diplomatic front which seems to be not on the table. Under Putin's orders, the 58th Russian Army of the North Caucasus Military District rolled into South Ossetia, reinforced by the 76th Airborne "Pskov" Division. Cossacks from the neighboring Russian territories moved in to combat the Georgians as well.
The Black Sea Fleet is blockading Georgia from the sea, while Russian ballistic missiles and its air force are attacking Georgian military bases and cities including Tbilisi. What Russia is trying to do - and looking like she may succeed - is to establish a pro-Russian regime in Georgia that will also bring the strategic Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and the Baku-Erzurum (Turkey) gas pipeline under Moscow's control.
More importantly and with immense strategic implications, Russia is also trying to send Israel a clear message that Tel Aviv's military support for Tbilisi in organizing, training and equipping Georgia's army will no longer be tolerated. Private Israeli security firms and retired military officials are actively involved in Georgian security. Further, Israel's interest in Caspian oil and gas pipelines is growing and Russia seeks to stop this activity at this time. Intense negotiations about current and future pipelines between Israel, Turkey, Georgia, Turkmenistan, and Azerbaijan are tied to receiving oil at the terminal at Ashkelon and on to the Red Sea port of Eilat. Finally, Russia is sending a clear message that it will not tolerate US influence in Georgia nor Tbilisi's interests - supported by the pro-US Georgian President Mikhal Saakashvili - in joining NATO. Overall, the military crisis will push Moscow to punish Israel for its assistance to Georgia, and challenge the US to do more than voice rhetoric.

Afghanistan says Musharraf's resignation will help anti-terror fight

Image via Wikipedia

M&C

An Afghan government spokesman said Monday the resignation of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf would create an opportunity for both countries to fight against terrorism 'in a better way.'
Musharraf, who came to power following a coup in 1999, said in a televised address to his nation that he was resigning from his post just as impeachment proceedings were to begin against him in parliament.
'We hope this is a good opportunity for our cooperation in fighting against terrorism and for eliminating the terrorist bases on the other side of Durand Line (border),' spokesman Sultan Ahmad Baheen said.
'We hope that Musharraf's resignation will have positive effects in strengthening of democracy and civilian government in Pakistan,' Baheen said.
Afghan officials including President Hamid Karzai repeatedly accused Pakistan's Inter Service Intelligence (ISI) and other elements in Pakistan army for supporting Taliban and al-Qaeda, allowing them to turn Pakistan's tribal areas into safe havens.
'Specific entities like ISI and the army support the terrorist attacks and their bases on the other side of Durand Line and we have always wanted that the civilian government should control these entities and stop them from supporting the terrorism,' Baheen said.
Pakistan repeatedly rejected Kabul's allegations.
In late June President Karzai threatened to sent Afghan troops into Pakistan to track down the militants he said were based in the tribal areas.

Tour of Tskhinvali undercuts Russian claim of genocide

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Not surprisingly, the reports of "genocide" in South Ossetia were exaggerations. The main hospital could only confirm 44 deaths, not 2000. The Russians were prepared for any provocation by Georgia's President Mikheil Saakashvili to invade.
McClatchy Washington Bureau

As Russian troops pounded through Georgia last week, the Kremlin and its allies repeatedly pointed to one justification above all others: The Georgian military had destroyed the city of Tskhinvali.
Russian politicians and their partners in Tskhinvali, the capital of the breakaway region South Ossetia, said that when Georgian forces tried to seize control of the city and the surrounding area, the physical damage was comparable to Stalingrad and the killings similar to the Holocaust.
But a trip to the city on Sunday, without official escorts, revealed a very different picture. While it was clear there had been heavy fighting -- missiles knocked holes in walls, and bombs tore away rooftops -- almost all of the buildings seen in an afternoon driving around Tskhinvali were still standing.
Russian-backed leaders in South Ossetia have said that 2,100 people died in fighting in Tskhinvali and nearby villages. But a doctor at the city's main hospital, the only one open during the battles that began late on Aug. 7, said the facility recorded just 40 deaths.
The discrepancy between the numbers at Tskhinvali's main hospital and the rhetoric of Russian and South Ossetian leaders raises serious questions about the veracity of the Kremlin's version of events. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and other senior officials in Moscow have said the Georgians were guilty of "genocide," prompting their forces to push Georgia's military out of South Ossetia -- in a barrage of bombing runs and tanks blasts -- and march southeast toward the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, stopping only 25 miles away.

In Kashmir, Fears of Increasing Militancy

washingtonpost.com

On a recent four-month trek through hundreds of Kashmiri villages, separatist leader Yasin Malik called on people to adopt his new Gandhian philosophy of nonviolence. Malik, a secular Muslim, soon became an icon of peace to many youths in this turbulent region that India and Pakistan have fought over for decades.
But Malik's commitment to nonviolence is now being tested amid a wave of unrest in Indian-administered Kashmir. Over the past six weeks, tensions between Muslims and Hindus have left 34 people dead, most of them unarmed protesters shot by Indian security forces. Like many leaders here, Malik worries that Kashmir's separatist movement is once again on the verge of becoming an armed struggle.
"Such a show of violence is pushing Kashmiri people, especially our youth, toward revolution," Malik said in a telephone interview from his hospital bed after ending a hunger strike. "At this point, I think the international community has to step in. Otherwise, we fear a growing extremism. This kind of anger comes at the worst time."
After four years of relative calm, the Muslim-led demonstrations in Kashmir's capital, Srinagar, were the biggest since a separatist rebellion against Indian rule nearly 20 years ago, analysts say. India and Pakistan both claim Kashmir as their territory, and the nuclear-armed countries have fought two wars over the scenic Himalayan region since the subcontinent's bloody partition in 1947.
Tens of thousands of people have died in the rebellion, and thousands, including about 6,000 Hindu Kashmiris, have been forced to leave their homes.

Expose Jerome Corsi as a Right-Wing Fabricator

I sent a letter to local and national newspapers today.

End the Uncritical Reporting
It's time the truth be printed by newspapers. Jerome Corsi is out with a new book attacking Barack Obama called "The Obama Nation".
The media treat Corsi as if he were a serious scholar despite easily disproven deceptions: the media have uncritically accepted claims from Corsi and his publisher that his newest hit book represents real research. He needs to be confronted with his manipulations of reality and questionable sources.
Obama for America has released a full refutation of the book.

ACT NOW! Send your letter today!

Russia could strike Poland over U.S. shield; Georgia signs truce

Russia continues it's bluster by threatening Poland for accepting 10 anti-ballistic missiles. Since they have 5500 ballistic missiles, it seems unlikely that the ABMs represent a real risk to them, but it seems they are feeling their oats and so are ready to bully whomever they can at this time. They wish to dissuade future placement of ABMs and further expansion of NATO. Their words are intended for all of their neighbors of the former USSR, especially Ukraine.
Reuters

A top Russian general on Friday said Poland's deal with the United States to set up parts of a missile defense shield on Polish territory lays it open to a possible military strike, a Russian news agency reported.
Col-General Anatoliy Nogovitsyn, deputy chief of the general staff, told Interfax that Russian military doctrine would allow for a possible nuclear strike.
Poland agreed on Thursday to host elements of a U.S. global anti-missile system after Washington agreed to boost Poland's own military air defenses.
"The USA is engaged in an anti-missile defense for its own government, and not for Poland. And Poland, in deploying (elements of the system) opens itself to a military strike. That is 100 percent," Interfax quoted Nogovitsyn as saying.
Nogovitsyn said Russia allows nuclear weapons to be used in circumstances defined by its current security doctrine.
The Russian government revamped its national security doctrine in 2000, broadening the range of conflicts in which nuclear weapons could be used.

Meanwhile, Rice stood over Georgia's president to get him to sign a truce with Russia.
Tri-City Herald

Georgia's president grudgingly signed a truce with Russia Friday, even as he denounced the Russians as invading barbarians and accused the West of all but encouraging them to overrun his country. A stone-faced Condoleezza Rice, standing alongside, said Russian troops must withdraw immediately from their smaller neighbor.
President Bush talked tough, too, accusing the Russians of "bullying and intimidation," but neither he nor Rice said what the U.S. might do if Russia ignored them.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's press office had no information Friday night on whether he had signed the cease-fire agreement. Russia's foreign minister assured Rice later that his country would implement the deal "faithfully," a U.S. official said. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because Rice's conversation was private, said Russia was likely to sign the deal Saturday.
As the secretary of state spoke in Tbilisi, Russian forces remained camped out just 25 miles away.
Associated Press reporters had seen a convoy of some 50 Russian army trucks and armored personnel carriers roar without warning southeast from the city of Gori on Wednesday, some shouting they were heading to Tbilisi, the Georgian capital. But they veered into a field outside the town of Igoeti and set up camp conspicuously within sight of the road. The Russians were still visible there Friday.
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The cease-fire document sets out no specific penalties or deadlines. It contains concessions to Russia that Saakashvili obviously found hard to swallow. Russia could retain peacekeeping forces in the separatist region of South Ossetia and another breakaway region, Abkhazia, and the forces would have a broader mandate in South Ossetia.
Even if Russia fully complies with the cease-fire, the Bush administration says there will be more consequences to come. Bush's advisers are settling on penalties that would be intentionally modest and subtle, such as continuing to exclude Russia's foreign minister from discussions among his counterparts in elite gatherings of the world's leading economies.
The idea is to give Moscow the diplomatic cold shoulder while offering face-saving leeway for Russia to turn away from a mentality the West sees as throwback to its empire days. Russia would then have motivation, and some wiggle room, to seek inclusion in Western economic, political and security institutions.
In Washington, Bush accused Russia of resorting to thuggery from another era. He insisted the United States will not abandon Georgia, a Western-leaning democracy on Russia's southern flank and once part of the old Soviet Union.
"Bullying and intimidation are not acceptable ways to conduct foreign policy in the 21st century," Bush 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."
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"The Cold War is over. The days of satellite states and spheres of influence are behind us," Bush said at the White House, before a vacation delayed by the crisis. "A contentious relationship with Russia is not in America's interest, and a contentious relationship with America is not in Russia's interest."

McCain: "Nations don't invade other Nations"

So what is Iraq? Bush's playground?
Informed Comment

And imagine him all sweetness and light now about wanting good relations with Moscow after his rants all the past week.
An experienced diplomat pointed out to me that "McCain's behavior on Georgia is a perfect example of putting personal political advantage over the national interest. Bush is trying to cope with a tricky situation and so far doing it in a responsible fashion. McCain is doing more than giving advice (legitimate). He is conducting his own foreign policy, talking to Saakashvili several times a day and now sending his two poodles, Lieberman and Graham, to Georgia to do what? Make sure Rice does the right thing (she must be furious. If Bush had the balls, he should slap McCain down, and hard."

Russian military advances into Georgia in defiance of EU peace deal

Russia is using the time tested "fog of war" to advance it's interests despite it's violations of the cease fire. Russia has been notorious in it's decentralized command structure in it's military. While technically, civilians are in command, the central command and field commanders appear to retain considerable discretion to consolidate it's position and objectives. Sometimes it's appeared as if there was a command structure that functioned as a committee, with language interpreted differently at the various levels.
Clearly, Russia's most recent actions imply it's primary objective is to destroy the fighting capability of the Georgian army. It's truly unfortunate that they have apparently allowed the irregular troops from the break away provinces to loot and pillage. There are even allegations that Russian troops have participated. It would appear that it is part of the intention of the invading forces to terrorize the population as well.
It has become apparent to me that atrocity and excess has always been a part of war. There is no such thing as a gentleman's army. Asking people to do outrageous things within "rules of engagement" is like taming tigers in a circus. Inevitably, there will be violations. War is a violation of civil behavior, period. It should almost never be an option on the table.
Telegraph

A column of 70 Russian military vehicles, including military trucks with anti-aircraft guns and artillery, as well as armoured personnel carriers, pursued by a large contingent of the world's media, left Gori on the road to Tbilisi and turned left a few kilometres outside of the frontline Georgian town.
Russian troops claimed they were on a "humanitarian mission", however, the true purpose of the mission remained unclear as reports of burning and looting in villages near Gori by South Ossetian rebels and Russian army personnel emerged.
Earlier, as the EU announced plans to send peacekeeping troops to monitor the ceasefire, Russian troops patrolled Gori, destroying an empty Georgian military base in the frontline Georgian town and setting up a checkpoint on the road to Tbilisi.
Civilians in Gori claimed they had been shot at by Russian soldiers and South Ossetian snipers, who local residents said had been attacking the villages. Georgian troops pulled back from the town of Gori earlier this week.
Georgia has also lost its last stronghold in another separatist province, Abkhazia, overnight as its troops withdrew from the Kodori Gorge.
Russian-backed separatist forces took advantage of the Georgian military's collapse to attack Kodori. More than 100 Russian military vehicles entered the gorge on Tuesday, forcing the Georgian retreat.
Diplomatic efforts to resolve the six-day crisis remain mired in confusing claim and counter-claim.
Russia continued to press its advantage by demanding a review of the future status of separatist regions in Georgia, even though the issue was cut from a French plan for ending the Russian-Georgian conflict.
"It is not possible to resolve these issues outside the context of the status" of the Georgian provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, said earlier.
But today EU foreign ministers agreed to send monitors to supervise the ceasefire, but conceded that any wider European peacekeeping operation would require a resolution from the UN Security Council, on which Russia has veto power.
"We are determined to act on the ground," Bernard Kouchner, the French foreign minister said after chairing an emergency EU meeting to discuss the crisis. "The European Union cannot be indifferent to this war, these massacres on our doorstep."
Georgia's foreign minister today appealed for the EU to send a mission, claiming that Russia was violating the cease-fire agreement brokered last night by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country currently holds the EU presidency.
New EU members states from central and eastern Europe, which once felt Moscow's dominance behind the Iron Curtain, have been vocal in their support for Georgia in the face of Russia "aggression".
Viktor Yushchenko, the Ukrainian president, today signed a decree imposing new restrictions on Russia's Black Sea fleet, which is based in the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol.
Yesterday, a delegation of leaders from Poland, Ukraine and three Baltic states arrived in Tbilisi as a gesture of solidarity.
In Brussels, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Petras Vaitiekunas said Russia's military response during fighting in the last week had been "unacceptable and unproportional".
"Of course there must be some consequences of aggression," he said.
Older EU nations, particularly Germany, are keen not to demonise Russia and risk vital ties, notably over energy supplies of oil and gas.

McCain's Credibility Goes Up in Smoke

AlterNet

"We're talking about a senator taking firm stands against his own bills. "Maverick," indeed."

Great article reviewing Mr. Flip-flopper extraordinaire!

Russian troops dominate Georgia, seizing key cities, port

Georgia has been sleepless for days, awakened to their worst nightmare by the rash actions of it's President Saakashvili. Although, I've been convinced that Russia had been bellicose and provocative in recent months in all spheres, ever since the independence of Kosovo. I suspect there was "banditry" at the border of South Ossetia, but in a catastrophic miscalculation, Saakashvili order his troops across the border to route the "bandits" and the South Ossetia irregulars who supported them. They ran head on into Russian "peacekeepers" set in harms way to act as a political justification for Russia to invade.
However, not ready to accept the previous "stagnation" of "negotiation" for "regional autonomy", Putin asserted in Beijing that the rules have changed, a new reality will be imposed. What the reality will be will likely be apparent in days. Georgia is effectively cut in half, it's port is occupied, the main highway between the capital and the east and west sides of the country is in Russian hands. Russian air force control the skies.
Russia can occupy this country in days, but they will face a bloody guerrilla war for many years. It will be another Chechnya. I suspect they will not choose this course. They have demonstrated they intend to destroy the Georgian military and ensure there will be no further incursions in South Ossetia or Abkhazia. Clearly, Putin will either annex or make independent these two Russian majority provinces of Georgia.
Here are the facts on the ground from the McClatchy Washington Bureau

Russian forces broadened their crushing offensive against Georgia on Monday, and Georgian officials feared the worst -- that the Russian invasion would mean the end of their country's independence.
Russian troops were reported in control of Georgia's main east-west highway outside the central Georgian town of Gori. In the west, they seized Georgia's main port at Poti, according to the U.S. State Department, and occupied a Georgian military base. In the north, they forced Georgian troops from the disputed city of Tskhinvali. Everywhere, Russian jets had complete dominion of the skies, from which they bombed and strafed retreating Georgians at will.
In Washington, President Bush warned of a "dramatic and brutal escalation" by Russia and said it appeared Russia might be trying to oust Georgia's president, a former Washington lawyer who is a staunch U.S. ally.
Speaking in the White House Rose Garden immediately after flying home from China, Bush said it appeared Russia was moving beyond the original "zone of conflict" and might soon bomb the civilian airport and attack Georgia's capital, Tbilisi.
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, in a nationally broadcast address, said that he'd offered a cease-fire but had been rebuffed.
Russian officials said that Georgian forces were still fighting, however, and a Russian defense spokesman said Saakashvili's offer wasn't "worth a penny."
Col. Gen. Anatoly Nagovitsin, the deputy head of the Russian military's general staff, reiterated his government's bottom line: Russia won't cease fighting until Georgia not only pulls out of the breakaway provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia but also signs an agreement never to pursue force against them again.
The United States and Europe pressed for a cease-fire, without effect.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice conferred by telephone with foreign ministers from the world's largest economic powers, who also urged Russia to accept a cease-fire and agree to international mediation.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin chafed at the criticism, likening Russia's moves against Georgia to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
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On Sunday, Russian tanks and jets pounded Georgian troops until they evacuated Tskhinvali, South Ossetia's capital. On Monday, Russian tanks moved to the edge of South Ossetia and toward Georgian-controlled villages there, according to Georgian troops who witnessed the fighting.
Russian aircraft hit the city of Gori, the home of a Georgian military base that sits between Tskhinvali and the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. On Monday, a few buildings, apparently civilian targets, were blasted with holes and scorched by fire.
Early Tuesday, Elene Agladze, who works in the office of the Georgian director of national security, said Russian troops were reported on the outskirts of Gori, though she cautioned that the reports had not been officially confirmed.
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Georgian officials said that Russian troops on Monday also moved beyond the western region of Abkhazia into Georgian-controlled areas, seizing a military base and strengthening a second flank that appeared to be squeezing toward Georgia's capital of Tbilisi.
The leader of Abkhazia, Sergei Bagapsh, told Russian state news agencies that his forces had offered a corridor of escape to Georgian soldiers. "But if they refuse to use it," he said, his men would destroy the Georgians.
A senior State Department official briefing reporters in Washington said Russian troops had also occupied Georgia's main Black Sea port, Poti.
Fear of the next Russian step was everywhere.

Why would President Saakashvili take a chance on an increasingly aggressive Putin? Clearly he knew of the danger, but despite the fact that Russian armored battalions were in striking distance of the border, he tried something he did soon after his election in 2004. He clearly wished to push the Russians back to the negotiation table and enforce the result of the 2004 conflict.
In doing so, he took Putin's bait, called what he thought was his bluff, giving Russia justification to counter attack.
NYTimes.com

But the Georgians are intensely nationalistic, and viewed these de facto states on their border as an intolerable violation of sovereignty. Mr. Saakashvili cashed in on this deep sense of grievance, vowing to restore Georgia's "territorial integrity." Soon after taking office, he succeeded in regaining Georgian control over the southwestern province of Ajara. Then, in the summer of 2004, citing growing banditry and chaos, he sent Interior Ministry troops into South Ossetia. After a series of inconclusive clashes, the troops were forced to make a humiliating withdrawal.
Still, this violation of the status quo infuriated the Russians, and Mr. Saakashvili, for once listening to his few dovish advisors, agreed to seek a negotiated settlement in Abkhazia. By late 2005, a Georgian mediator had initialed an agreement: Georgia would not use force, and the Abkhaz would allow the gradual return of 200,000-plus ethnic Georgians who had fled the violence. But the agreement collapsed in early 2006, done in by hardliners on both sides. This chapter has been all but effaced from the history one hears in Georgia.
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Administration officials have regularly cautioned Mr. Saakashvili to be patient on Abkhazia and South Ossetia, even as they have given private and public reassurances about NATO membership. It would, in fact, be surprising if Georgia had consciously provoked a war in South Ossetia, since Mr. Saakashvili understands that doing so would almost certainly put an end to the NATO bid; indeed, Russia may well calculate that NATO will continue to exclude Georgia so long as the country is embroiled in hostilities along its border.
Georgia's predicament seems very simple from the vantage point of Tbilisi -- 1921, 1938 -- but extremely complicated from a great remove. Russia threatens Georgia, but Georgia threatens Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Russia looks like a crocodile to Georgia, but Georgia looks to Russia like the cats' paw of the West. One party has all the hard power it could want, the other all the soft. And now, while the world was looking elsewhere, the frozen conflict between them has thawed and cracked. It will take a great deal of care and attention even to put things back to where they were before.