War in Georgia

[KG_Cloghaun]

Here are some photos.

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=139815

More - pan down a bit, then the next page as well.

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?t=139936&page=3

[KG_Kharkov]

I know everyone and their brother has hopped down Russia's throat about this, but you realize that it was Georgia that launched the initial attack on South Ossetia, hoping that it would go unnoticed and unresponded to b/c of the Olympics. South Ossetia is ethnically Russian from what I've read.

We can't have our cake and eat it too. We can't beat up the Russians for trying to keep Chechnya but say it is OK for the Georgians to invade South Ossetia (I could be spelling that wrong).

Sometimes if you mess with the bull, you get the horns. Georgia needed a good pop in the nose for being a collosal dumb @ss in my opinion. There were Russian peacekeepers in S.O. -- what did you expect Russia to do. We would have done the same thing if U.S. peacekeepers were involved in a disputed territory bordering our country.

Now, you can criticize the Russians for responding with too much force and going too far, but I think fairness seems to dictate an impartial look at Georgia's decision to roll into S.O. in the first place.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Ossetia for some basic reference material.

[KG_Cloghaun]

John,

South Ossetia is part of Georgia, like it or not. It is recognized so by the UN & EU. Russia had no business in the internal affairs of Georgia. S.O. makes a living off of smuggling goods throughout the region & there is always political unrest which has to be dealt with. It's a "Georgian" problem- not a Russian one.

Russia was poised to strike & was just waiting for an excuse. Every military expert out there has said that the logistics involved to support the military ops they are currently conducting would've taken weeks if not months to put together. Russia was planning to invade Georgia all along. They don't give a shit about S.O.

And how would Russia feel if an outside, 3rd party nation came to Chechnya's aid?

Putin & his cronies must be stopped at every turn. It is the legacy of 1991 & the fall of the Soviet Union. Lest we all forget...

Here is another headline to snack on:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26203430

[KG_Kharkov]

Sure, Russia may have been looking for an excuse but that idiot of a president in Georgia gave them a perfect one. Russia can't launch an uprovoked attack without intense international consequences, but the Georgian president so muddied the waters by deciding to roll the army into S.O. on the eve of the Olympics that Russia can make a straight faced argument that it was responding to protect Russian nationals.

Pure idiocy on Georgia's part, especially in a region that has twice declared its independence from Georgia in the past 16 years. It really boxes the west in because we look like hypocrites since we take far different positions on Kosovo and Chechnya.

I am not defending Putin by any means. He is a clear danger, but Georgia's idiocy brought on this crisis. For once, I'm glad we dragged our feet on admitting them into NATO. I wouldn't want my son or daughter defending them in this situation.