Those two enclaves were under Russian protection by Treaty. Sakaashvilli broke the treaty and what may have been considered provocation did not justify the full scale shelling of innocent civilians the EU Commission concluded.
Here is a link to a conclusion by the EU Commission:
The report also states, The report states that while Russia’s initial actions in fighting back against attacks on its personnel in South Ossetia were justified, its subsequent actions, in pushing far into Georgia proper “went far beyond the reasonable limits of defence” and was “in violation of international law.”
Do you understand what, “Russia’s initial actions in fighting back against attacks on its personnel in South Ossetia were justified…” Means?
[QUOTE=Veronika Akcsiodina, a journalism student from Sevastopol]
From my window I can see a Russian unit and, on the other side of the road, a Ukrainian unit. They are quite close together, not in conflict. They make me feel protected rather than threatened.
[/QUOTE]
Where does the Ukrainian military and its officer’s lie?
An excerpt from the following link:
“But above all, it is far from certain that the new authorities in Kiev control the Ukraine army. No one knows where the loyalties of its officers lie, whether with the new pro-European regime or the absconding pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych.”
I’ve been watching the unfolding situation in the Ukraine/Crimea with interest via the BBC and while at this point it seems pretty clear the Crimea is either going to be absobed into Russia itself or become a pro-Russia puppet state seperate from the pro-West Ukraine, I do have to ask: What happens if The Rest Of the World just stays out of it, beyond providing humanitarian assitance etc?
There is historic precedent for the West getting involved in Russian goings on in the Crimea, but that was 150 years ago and things are different now (the Ottoman Empire isn’t around to weigh in, for a start.)
Do they roll in with or without challenge to control of the air space over Ukraine or does the Ukrainian Air Force contest and defend Ukrainian air space? Trucks and tanks in modern warfare do not do so well without a full air defense in place.
{{There are no more than 3,500 members of the Ukrainian military in Crimea, mostly in coastal defences, with artillery but no armour. The country’s naval vessels were put on alert in the morning, then ordered to withdraw to Odessa in the evening. Russia’s Black Sea Fleet has 25,000 personnel permanently stationed there, with another 6,000 who have apparently arrived in the last few days. }} Read More: Ukraine latest: Kiev vows to fight after Russian clears way for Crimea invasion | The Independent | The Independent
So that right now is 31,000 Russian troops backed up already with apparent control of the airports against 3500 Ukrainian troops that will somehow slaughter the Russians. I do not think so.
So ‘crossing the street’ is not a very good answer. Not sure what a ‘unit’ is.
True, but according to Wiki, the Ukrainian air force only has a single regiment of Su-25s. Does anyone know where this regiment is based? I’m not sure how well the remaining aircraft (mainly Su-24 and Su-27s) would fare in an anti-tank role; it’s definitely not what the Flanker was designed for. I guess they could bring in the Mi-24s as well, but in any case the Ukrainian anti-tank capabilities don’t seem to compare favorably to, say, our ~300 A-10 aircraft in service.
Do you not understand the underlying reasons for the Georgian attack? The Russians wanted a provocation from the Georgians in order to justify their annexations of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which is what they did.
Michael Totten whoever he is - is wrong. The Georgian rocket assault and armored advance on Tskhinvali began hours before the Russian tanks came through the Roki tunnel. I knew it for a fact on the night it happened… my wife speaks fluent Russian and on that night we got copies of live TV news reports from Moscow where a Russian officer was on the phone in Tskhinvali being shelled and told the anchors on TV in Moscow that they were holding up and he did not think the tanks needed to be sent in. I checked the timeline and verified it with other reports and Russia had requested an emergency meeting at the UNSC trying to get the shelling stopped before they sent the tanks in.
The EU spent $15 million dollars to find this truth. It is the truth.
*{{“The shelling of Tskhinvali (the South Ossetian capital) by the Georgian armed forces during the night of 7 to 8 August 2008 marked the beginning of the large-scale armed conflict in Georgia,” the report says.
It adds later: “There is the question of whether [this] use of force… was justifiable under international law. It was not.” From: BBC NEWS | Europe | Georgia 'started unjustified war' }} *
Had they found that the Russian tanks went through the Roki Tunnel first they would have found that un-justified under international law and they did not.
{{The report states that while Russia’s initial actions in fighting back against attacks on its personnel in South Ossetia were justified, its subsequent actions, in pushing far into Georgia proper “went far beyond the reasonable limits of defence” and was “in violation of international law.”}}
When the EU says, “*Russia’s initial actions in fighting back against attacks on its personnel in South Ossetia were justified” * it means that the Georgian attacks on Russian personnel came first.
You can cite all the Russophobes in the pundit world you want. The facts have been established. Sakaashvilli should be in the Hague for a stupid offensive military attack that killed hundreds of people including Russian Peacekeepers.
The Totten link is dated in August 2008 so he was not a liar when he wrote what you cited. But at this point in time Totten has been credibly shown to be wrong at a cost of $15 million dollars paid by the EU.
Do you think if Putin intended to do what they did in Georgia in 2008 to Ukraine would the Ukraine Air Force have prayer of maintaining control of the air space over Ukraine?
I wonder if Pidril Pidrilych will tell us what Pidril Pidrilych thinks is the biggest geopolitical threat facing America. Is it terrorists such as al Qaeda? Or:
Is it the Ukrainians buying natural gas from Gazprom at a discounted price below the price that Gazprom charges the EU?
Is it political protests (supported by US Senators) against the gas deal with Russia in Kiev that escalates into violence that forces the elected President to flee the country?
Is it a new unelected government that perhaps deliberately or perhaps not, provokes criminal actions by ultra-nationalists thereby causing the Russian President to see “real threats to the life and health of Russian citizens and compatriots on Ukrainian territory?”
IS the biggest geo-political threat to US national security what, as Vladimir Putin explained it to President Obama today on a 90 minute phone call, that “if violence spread further in the eastern regions of Ukraine and in Crimea, Russia reserves the right to protect its interests and those of Russian speakers living there.”
Is it those majority of "Russian-Speakers in Crimea who celebrated the fact that Putin has reserved the right to protect them from potential violence and harm by Ukrainian nationalists and has taken significant actions that demonstrate the will and ability to protect them?
Are all those what Pidril Pidrilych will tell us is a bigger geo-political threat facing America - Bigger than al-Qaeda?
We are now giving the anti-nationalists in Ukraine $1 billion dollars which must go immediately to pay Russia for debts incurred to Gazprom. I wonder if Pidril Pidrilych feels safer seeing $1 billion US taxpayer dollars going away from fighting al Qaeda or other national security priorities in order to pay the gas bill so Ukrainians will not get the gas shut off because they can’t pay the bill?
How the hell did he manage to keep a straight face when saying those words? Does he really believe people have such short memories? That they wouldn’t recall another country which had stomped all over international law several times in its military interventions into sovereign nations? I guess it doesn’t count when the US and its allies behave thus. After all, we’re the good guys.
Ukrainian Pravy Sector Party leader calls on ‘Most wanted Islamic Terrorist’ Dukka Umarov to activate his fight again and lead a jihad against Russia with the armed Ukrainian opposition who support the Chechen rebels
So!
Is Putin just going to sit back and allow Obama and McCain and Co to create another Syria or Libya nightmare right on his doorstep?
Seems that Putin knew well what is going on like the rest of us and has mobilized quickly to thwart this fascist coup.