US Slams Russian Recognition Of Breakaway Areas

CRAWFORD, Texas — In an escalating war of words, President Bush on Tuesday urged Russia to reconsider its "irresponsible decision" to shower independent status on two breakaway Georgian provinces.

Already rebuffed by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Bush warned Russia to change course and respect the borders of its Georgian neighbor.

"Russia's action only exacerbates tensions and complicates diplomatic negotiations," the president said in a statement from Texas, where he is otherwise spending a quiet vacation.

Despite mounting international condemnation, Russia showed no sign of backing down. The U.S. is reviewing its relationship with Russia but has imposed no sanctions.

Medvedev said Tuesday that his country will grant diplomatic recognition to the separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. He said Georgia forced Russia's hand by trying to gain control by force in the smaller of the two areas, South Ossetia, on Aug. 7.

"This is not an easy choice but this is the only chance to save people's lives," Medvedev said Tuesday in a televised address a day after Russia's Kremlin-controlled parliament voted unanimously to support the diplomatic recognition.

Bush shot back that Russia's move violates both United Nations resolutions and the six-point cease-fire deal that Russia, under Medvedev's watch, signed with Georgia to end a war.

"We expect Russia to live up to its international commitments, reconsider this irresponsible decision, and follow the approach set out (in the cease-fire deal)," Bush said.

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The White House says the U.S. will use its veto power on the U.N. Security Council to ensure that the two separatist provinces remain part of Georgia in the eyes of the world.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that any push by Russia to do otherwise will be "dead on arrival" at the United Nations.

The rhetoric underscored the stakes of a once-obscure territorial dispute that has mushroomed into a Cold War-style conflict between the United States and Russia.

Russian tanks and troops drove deep into undisputed Georgian territory in a five-day war this month that Moscow saw as a justified response to a military threat in its backyard.

Separately, meanwhile, Medvedev warned Tuesday that his country may offer a military response to a U.S. missile shield in Europe. He said the deployment of an anti-missile system close to Russian borders "will of course create additional tensions."

"We will have to react somehow, to react, of course, in a military way," Medvedev was quoted as saying Tuesday by the RIA-Novosti news agency.

The White House sought to emphasize that Russia's conflict was with the world, not just with the United States. Several foreign leaders criticized Russia's action on the two provinces.

"Russia is making, I would say, a number of irrational decisions," said White House spokesman Tony Fratto.

"We hope that they hear the loud voices from the international community and understand that it's not in their long-term interests to take these kinds of actions," he said.

Vice President Dick Cheney leaves next week on a trip that includes a stop in Georgia; Fratto said no U.S. officials plan to go to Russia to appeal directly to leaders there.

Bush said the U.S. condemns Russia's actions; just a day earlier, he had appealed to Medvedev to refrain from recognizing the two provinces as independent, to no avail.

Barack Obama, who will become the Democratic presidential nominee this week, condemned Russia's move and said the U.S. should convene a Security Council meeting to do the same. He did not say how the Council would do that, given Russia's status as a permanent member.

Republican John McCain's wife was in Georgia, visiting refugee centers filled with ethnic Georgians who fled villages and neighborhoods in South Ossetia.

"The only place these people want to be is home, and they can't go home because of what has happened to them and because of the situation that the Russians have caused," Cindy McCain said in brief remarks Tuesday outside one of the centers in Tbilisi.

John McCain has been a strong critic of Russia and has proposed expelling Russia from the Group of Eight club of the world's major developed democracies.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Robert Wood said the U.S. is looking at a variety of options to respond.

"We're not trying to escalate anything," Wood said when asked whether disagreement between the West and Russia would jeopardize international cooperation. But, he added, "We obviously can't allow what Russia's done to go without there being some consequences."

He would not provide details about possible punishment the U.S. is considering.

Meanwhile, the United States dispatched a military ship bearing aid to a Georgian port city still patrolled by Russian troops.

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Associated Press Writer Pauline Jelinek contributed to this story.

Comments

[american2008]

This is the can of worms that the US and Europe opened when they jumped the gun and recognized Kosovo. Do the Americans really believe that the world is so stupid and think that only the US can do this. Where do we get off saying only we can make new countries, we decide who can be free and when. HYPOCRACY!

[gcameo]

Its interestintg to see this kind of hipocrisy

http://www.eventsincontext.com

[cardineau]

To President Medvedev: Your recognition of Abkasia and Ossetia as independent states has brought howls from the US and its European lackeys. By that fact, you have proven to the world that you have done the honorable and morally correct thing.

[cardineau]

Could someone in government please explain to me what a US Coast Guard ship is doing in the Black Sea? I was always under the impression that the Coast Guard was supposed to Guard our coastline etc. Maybe my Geography teacher was on drugs and forgot to tell me that the US borders the Black Sea!

[MagisterLudi]

The ship has been hastily renamed ' S.S. Stalin' to commemorate Saakshvillie's role model.

[Heidfeld]

This is such and obvious ploy/conspiracy involving the map makers lobby.

Those greedy map makers are drooling at the idea of yet again selling a whole new set of maps/globes. They have gotten very spoiled over the past few years will all of the istability in Eastern Europe.

[francoise]

It seems to me that the current US government have enough problems just now, at home and in Iraq, and that they'd better not meddle in this Russian / European affair with their thick clumsy boots.

The Russian oligarchy is not stupid, they're rich, they've got good tastes. They love the chic Alps, chic Paris and chic Geneva, chic Riviera and chic fitness resorts like Evian or Como.

They need to sell us their oil, we need their oil, they want their vacations in our countries, we want their currency.

We share interests, we have more or less the same way of beating around the bushes to express ourselves, and we brag about being the cultured snobbish descendants of Tolstoi or Voltaire.

Americans are too straight forward and not diplomatic enough right now. Moreover America has lost much prestige in Iraq. It might be the right time for America to shut up and leave UE and Russia do their business alone.

[peterg76]

It's uncharacteristic of Bush to be right, but Russia was out of line. I figured the plan was for Medvedev to appear sensible by resisting parliament.

[cardineau]

I think you need to sober up! Russia was in no way out of line in this whole affair.

[americandusk]

Many of the commentators don't realize what it takes to spread a democracy. To spread a power to the poeple. I'm sure everyone will say that American is just a failed experiment in communism, but I believe that is wrong. The atheist chinese don't serve as a model, and nor do the atheist russians. People need to wake up and realize that there is a war for minds at stake. That cooperation doesn't mean giving in to the demands of one man, that a network of checks and balances needs to exist. The russians and chinese most certainly will not take us there. So, respect what America and the West are trying to push, and that is accountability, in the most practical way possible. That is much more than can be said for any country in the Middle East or the likes of russia and china. I'm not saying the US isn't corrupt, but I am saying there is a lesser of evils. Russia is weak, and will always be weak despite their resources. Drunk combat troops and weak pilots are just the proof. Hail to the freedoms of the US, and the accomplishments of free people.

[cardineau]

What planet are you living on?

[Hattor]

Civilian fatalities in Georgia proper have climbed at least into the double digits, but the Russians appear to have avoided any inadvertent high-profile attacks on civilian targets. The Georgian Health Ministry reported two days ago that 67 civilians had been killed and about 157 hurt in the conflict.

The Russians appear to have carefully calibrated their intervention to cause minimum damage while exerting maximum political pressure. In the city of Zugdidi, Russian soldiers have occupied a villa that locals said belonged to Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, the flashy and outspoken 40-year-old the Kremlin has demanded step aside.

The shirtless soldiers inside the villa could be seen hurrying off a deck where they were apparently sunbathing after the gaggle of journalists began taking photographs.

Zugdidi lies near Georgia's border with Abkhazia, another pro-Russian breakaway province. Early in the conflict, Georgian officials in Tbilisi warned of an impending disaster as Russian tanks from Abkhazia massed at Zugdidi's edge.

But residents said there had been little or no damage to their town, though they were nervous about the increased presence of Russian troops.

By Borzou Daragahi, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
August 19, 2008

[BookDesigner]

americandusk,

You seem to have sunk into an American night of deep, dark ignorance. The Soviet Union was officially atheist, though most Russians remained religious, in private if not in public. Today, the overwhelming majority of Russians are Orthodox Christians, as are almost all of Russia's political leaders.

[NorthernCross]

Instability in places like the Caucuses should spur us into developing a comprehensive energy policy, which should include coal-to-oil technologies, wind, solar, expanded oil exploration in our country, and possibly even a return to nuclear power. And while we're at it, we should start looking to creating a Manhattan Project type of program to develop cheap vehicle engines which run solely on electricity.

[cardineau]

"develop cheap vehicle engines which run solely on electricit­y." These have been around since the 1800 hundreds ... its not the engines ... its the energy to run them that's the problem. Electric motors are highly efficient ... the problem is horsepower to mass. You cannot move a hummer down the road with a 2 horsepower motor. (maybe very slowly)

[TN]

"slams" you mean bushie and cheney are whining

[NorthernCross]

Naturally, the sovereign rights of nation-states should be respected. And if nation states in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Republics want stronger security ties with the U.S., then we should be willing to help them.

Not even BO has the balls to oppose this.

[cardineau]

And I would assume that if a small nation state wants security ties with Russia, we should not oppose them, right?

[Fatman40]

Why is George Bush on vacation while this conflict is going on. And to think he will be standing next to his boy McCain next week. I guess George and DIck are counting the money they will get from the oil, and weapons companies for all the work they did for them. And to think the country is in dept thanks to those thieves. But hey four more year!!

[NorthernCross]

"Why is George Bush on vacation while this conflict is going on. And to think he will be standing next to his boy McCain next week."

Before you ask that question, you should explain how George Bush not being "on vacation" would remove Russian troops from Georgian territory. Otherwise, you're just blowing hot air.

[cardineau]

George Bush and his US forces only attack countries who are militarily weak. It's the mark of the man ... remember his heroic efforts during the Vietnamese war?

[MagisterLudi]

"President Bush on Tuesday urged Russia to reconsider its "irresponsible decision" to shower independent status on two breakaway Georgian provinces.­"

As soon as Bush and U.K. apologize for "irresponsible decision" to shower independent status on Kosovo.

[NorthernCross]

Probably wouldn't have happened if not for Billy Jeff putting our prestige on the line to intervene in Kosovo in the first place. Both parties are to blame for that mess they created there.

[Passenger57]

What in the wide world of sports is CINDY MCCAIN doing in Georgia?

[srelu]

"We Are Not Afraid Of A New Cold War"

They should be...
Were the Georgian leaders unaware of the Russian military might ? Hard to believe.
Were the Georgian leaders unaware that the Russian leaders will not be intimidated and will hit back with full force ? Unbelivable again.
No matter how stupid the Georgian leaders would be, it's simply impossible to believe that the leaders of a former Soviet republic didn't know very well their neghbours. Then why did they do it ? Frankly, the only reasonable explanation is that *somebody*, (another military superpower ?), assured them of their support. Guess who ?

The fact is that the US needs a strong enemy, somebody everybody fears. They need it to enroll the other countries under their command to face the "common enemy". That would allow them to control the whole world (minus the enemy). So far they used the terrorism as a fear factor to enroll everybody under their command. But that is not working very well and many coutries announced their intention to withdraw their troops from Irak and Afghanistan.

USA, with their world leading role fading away, need a much stronger and uglier enemy and the only credible candidate for such a role can be only Russia. Such a plan can work only if Russia and the EU are dumb enough to escalate the conflict. Sorrowfully, right now Russia is playing exactly the game the Americans want.

Not afraid of a new cold war ? Then you'll

[Nicolaus]

The Russian leadership obviously knew through their countless spies probably sitting next to the delusional President of Georgia. They would have known from troop dispositions seen through their own satellite imagery. After all this is how the captured the Georgian personnel sneaking into the port city with US Humvees filled with explosives - and NATO documents ready to be shipped back....

But to think that the US informed them is highly unlikely. It is certain that the administration knew. Their calculations are that head they will win and tail they the Republican Party will win the next elections and continues their struggle to create, as some put it "a necessary enemy."

The problem is that Russia today is not Russia of three years ago. Flushed with money, and years of building tight economic relations with Europe, it really can survive a Cold War, mostly of the US-Russian variety. In truth, we have already seen Europe parting its ways with the US over Syria, for example, in recent months, and their reticence to take any serious steps against Iran that the US administration has been urging to do for a couple of years now.

The US lost considerable influence due to the gross mismanagement of foreign affairs by the current administration.

Finally, the Russians did invite the Georgians to talks in early July to defuse the situation. The OESC urged Georgia to do so. The delusional President refused - I think under instructions!

[Hattor]

What seeks the Russians concretely?
It is difficult to believe, and of course impossible to think one second that they seek the confrontation on a high level. Neither Russia nor the U.S. have any interests in a nuclear confrontation.

Have the Russian maybe concluded that,
Under certain conditions of tension, the USA should encounter serious interior difficulties which can put their system in serious danger.

The pressure can lead to additional expenditure of armament, that the US structures could less and less support, - the Soviet situation of the years 1980.

Does the Russian attitude in this crisis have for goal, among others, to exacerbate the tension inside the americanist system (CMI) by hoping that it will lead to an interior rupture of the system?

Do not forget that the American and the Western economic situation is worser today than 30 years ago.

With what for money should America pay a massive boosting of armament?
With borowed money?....­..........­..........­..........­that's the point
.

[CrittersRTasty]

Barack Obama, who will become the Democratic presidential nominee this week, condemned Russia's move and said the U.S. should convene a Security Council meeting to do the same. He did not say how the Council would do that, given Russia's status as a permanent member.

oops...
(although to be fair, I didnt think of it either....­)

[Nicolaus]

I am not going to vote for you or McCaine, anyway!

[cardineau]

BO and McSame are like two peas in a pod when it comes to foreign policy. I will vote for neither. The US will continue to go down the tubes under Obama because he also is a pawn (As well as the congress)of the military/industrial complex.