Bush condemns Russia, Goes on Vacation, Russian Troops Advance Unopposed

by: General Content

Fri Aug 15, 2008 at 10:17:27 AM CDT

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There seems to be some consternation about this:

A Russian military convoy advanced to within 55 km (30 miles) of Tbilisi on Friday, from the Russian-occupied town of Gori inside Georgia proper, a Reuters witness said.

The incursion marked the closest troops have come to the Georgian capital, and coincided with a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to push a French-brokered peace plan to end the Russia-Georgia conflict.

The convoy of 10 armoured personnel carriers (APC), mounted by soldiers, was initially shadowed by three low-flying Russian combat helicopters as it pulled slowly past Georgian police and then army checkpoints without stopping.

The helicopters then left the convoy.

The vehicles halted in the village of Igoeti on the main highway to the Georgian capital. Their purpose was not clear. Several APCs pulled into side roads.

Ten BMPs is barely a convoy, and is barely a force to be reckoned with. This is an element of about company size, and is either the vanguard of a larger force that is moving up behind them or is a reconnaissance in force.

There are claims that Rice has met with the Georgian President for over five hours--that indicates that either she has not been able to persuade him of anything or that he pleaded for help and assistance she cannot give him. A five hour meeting isn't about what's to be done--it's a chance to sit and complain about what has gone wrong.

Russian troops do not answer to Condi Rice, and they will do whatever they want whenever they want. Their convoys are moving bunched-up, in close formation, and they know they will not be attacked. There is almost no sense of urgency on the part of the Russian troops anywhere--they are allowing their formations to be photographed because they have little or no fear of anything. They are shooting for pleasure and sport, not because they are being threatened.

These Russian troops look as if they are safe and secure well within their own territory--they were shot over the course of several days for comparison. The photos from August 8 are indistinguishable from the ones shot today.

The ridiculousness of these people is astonishing:

Bush, speaking as he left the White House for a vacation at his ranch in Texas, said the incursion of Russian troops into Georgia last week amounted to "bullying and intimidation" of a democratic neighbor, remarks that further escalated the Cold War-style rhetoric exchanged between the United States and Russia in recent days.

He demanded that Russian troops leave Georgia and lauded the country for its transition to democratic politics and market economics in the years since the Soviet Union collapsed. Noting that Georgia, a small nation with limited military resources, sent troops to both Afghanistan and Iraq, he reiterated that the United States would stand by it in the current crisis.

Would it have occurred to any of the fools who failed to tell the President that you don't send US Navy warships into the Black Sea without asking Turkey beforehand to tell the President that complaining about Russia as Marine One idles on the South Lawn to fly you to Andrews and then Crawford is, well, pathetic and sad?

These are the worst days of American foreign policy. Amateurs, idiots, charlatans and fools are handling statecraft like it's a chainsaw in a cheap slasher film.