Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Disastrous Presidency

Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Disastrous Presidency

FOREIGN PARTNERS RESPOND TO CRACKDOWN ON BJNI

www.a1plus.am

[08:05 pm] 03 November, 2008

Foreign partners of SIL Concern have responded to the latest scandal over the Sukiasian-owned businesses, in particular the crackdown on Bjni Company.

“I cannot believe that the authorities deny any political motives behind the crackdown on this successful company of mineral waters. The loss of this national brand will directly inflict great losses on Armenia’s shaky economy. Imagine the French government closes Evian or Perrier or the U.S. government closes Coca Cola or Pepsi,” says President of Harwal Group Harut Ohanessian.

“Reasonable people will condemn the regime’s steps which obviously intend to dissolve the successful business of their political opponents to deprive them of their property. Unfortunately, this valuable national resource is destroyed for political reasons, he says.

Remind that the SIL Concern issued a statement according to which an Armenian business group owned by a fugitive opposition-linked businessman Khacahtur Sukiasyan claimed to be heading for financial ruin because of what it described as a “political vendetta” waged by the government. The SIL Concern group, which comprises a major commercial bank and a dozen other companies (Bjni, Pares Armenia, Pizza de Roma, Sports Time, Yerevan’s Mill and Nor Shin), fell foul of the authorities after its main owner, parliament deputy Khachatur Sukiasian, publicly welcomed former President Levon Ter-Petrosian’s September 2007 return to active politics. The companies have sustained great losses.

Another Sukiasian-owned company, the exclusive distributor of Phillip Morris cigarettes in Armenia, went out of business earlier this year, saying that customs officials are refusing to process its imports on government orders. According to SIL, Phillip Morris now sells its cigarettes in the Armenian market through another firm allegedly controlled by President Serzh Sarkisian’s influential son-in-law.

Three of those companies were inspected by tax authorities and charged with evading millions of dollars in taxes late last year. Two of them, a pizza restaurant chain and a printing house, saw their chief executives arrested on corresponding charges. In a written statement, SIL accused the authorities of seeking to “destroy” the companies owned by Sukiasian and his extended family. “With this approach, the current authorities have proved one thing: that those entrepreneurs who will dare not to follow their rules of the game will be strictly and arbitrarily punished,” the statement said.

Give and Take?

So far in terms of Armenian relations with Turkey, Armenia has given 1.5 million lives and Turkey has taken control of land that legally belong to us.

This process of having normal relations with Turkey will only produce results when Turkey starts to give something that Armenia can take back.

If you ask me I would say that the process we are engaging with Turkey is needed, but not if it means that we we lay on our backs and let Turkey sniff us.


YEREVAN UNWILLING TO MEET TURKEY HALFWAY, TURKISH DIPLOMAT SAYS

PanARMENIAN.Net
27.09.2008 14:06 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Recent efforts to normalize relations between Turkey and neighboring Armenia are a step in the right direction, but the process has failed to produce any results other than a softening in the political rhetoric, diplomats and foreign policy analysts have indicated, a Turkish diplomat said.

"The Armenian side hasn't taken a step back. There is only a change in the rhetoric," said retired Ambassador Murat Bilhan. "Armenia should be aware that this is a give-and-take process, but it does not seem to be ready to give anything," he said, the Anatolia news agency reported.

EX AMBASSADOR TO CANADA, HISTORIAN, POLITICAL ANALYST ARA PAPIAN SPEECH IN NEW JERSEY CLARIFYING THE VALIDITY OF WILSONIAN ARMENIA BOUNDARIES

Armenian News Network / Groong
September 24, 2008

By Garbis Kazanjian

YERREVAN, ARMENIA

Ara Papian discussed The Legal Basis For The Armenian Claims


Are we aware that the stipulations recorded in the Sevres treaty, as prepared by president Woodrow Wilson, are legally and still in force? Yes. And this was clarified, based on facts, by Ambassador, Historian, political analyst, Ara Papian, during a celebration on the occasion of the 17th Anniversary of the Independence of Armenia, organized by ARF "Dro" Gomideh, on Sunday Sept. 21, 2008 at the Auditorium of
Dwight-Englewood School, Englewood, New Jersey.

Mr. Papian explained that after the First World war, victorious countries, Great Britain, France, Italy and Japan mandated the president of U.S.A. Woodrow Wilson as arbitrator, to prepare a map and boundaries of Armenia. President Wilson included the following provinces, Van, Bitlis, Erzeroom and Drabison to be separated from Turkey and to make part of the Armenian Republic. Mr. Papian explained that according to International law, an arbitration has no statute of limitations, it cannot be changed or canceled. Further in the lecture, Mr. Papian mentioned that the Congress of USA, the Four Great powers and 18 allied countries approved the arbitration, including the
representatives of Turkey and the newly Independent Republic of Armenia.

Mr. Papian stressed that an arbitration, once approved officially by the two parties is final, has no time limit and no court can change and at any time, the Independent Republic of Armenia can go to International Court and request the application of the Wilsonian Arbitration and this is one reason that Turkey keeps asking that Armenia should agree that no territorial claim shall be demanded from Turkey.

Mr. Papian explained that the Lausanne Treaty is not valid, because according to International law, official representatives of both parties should sign the Treaty, otherwise the document will be considered as non-binding. He added that Armenia was not participating because at that time it was under Communist occupation. The same status applies to the Kars treaty, he explained.

Mr. Papian has studied documents from governments and countries that were involved in Armenian affairs in any role.

Born in Yerevan in 1961, Ara Papian graduated from the Department of Oriental Studies of Yerevan State University in 1984. In 1989 he completed his degree on Armenian History in Yerevan State University. In 1994 he graduated from Moscow Diplomatic Academy and in 1998, from NATO Defense College in Rome. In 1999, he completed a course in Public Diplomacy in Wilton, United Kingdom. Ara Papian's professional experience as a diplomat at the foreign ministry of Armenia started in 1991 with important positions at the Embassies in Tehran, Bucharest (Romania) and from 2000 to 2006 served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Canada. Since 2006 he has embraced the mission of studying, lecturing, writing articles and books dedicated to the basics of Armenian rights and demands.

The organizers of the celebration of the 17th Anniversary of Independence of the Republic of Armenia, having the lecturer Mr. Papian as the main goal of the forum of a full house, had a rich cultural program including singer Ms. Ani Zargarian, singing the national Anthems of USA and Armenia and other patriotic songs, the opening remarks from the representative of "Dro" Gomideh, Miss Pauline Dostourian, performances by Arev and Yeraz folk ensambles, recitation from Sylva Gaboudikian dedicated to Ararat, by Zevart Balikjian and a band performing on "doudouk" and "tmpouk". A very successful celebration with education and pleasure for the audience.

© Copyright 2008, Armenian News Network / Groong

AN EXPERT TO COME FROM AMERICA

Hayots Ashkhar Daily
20 Sep 2008
Armenia


The US Charge D'Affairs Joseph Pennington said discussions are in process regarding the involvement of an expert from America in the framework of March 1-2 developments.

`We are holding discussions regarding that issue with the Chairman of the Committee and the representatives of Armenian government and we hope we will achieve certain results.'

Prosecutor General Aghvan Hovsepyan informed a specialist having worked in New Jersey's Prosecutor's would soon arrive in Yerevan by the support of the US embassy in Armenia.

What a joke!!!

Mr. Aghvan Hovsepyan, who our documentation shows is a key player in the trafficking of Armenian women and children is smack dab in the middle of receiving money from the U.S. in the tune of $2.709 million for a program that will include anti-trafficking work. What an f'ing joke. This reminds me of one of Hovsepyan's former investigators who was also part of the trafficking ring and landed a job at the U.N. in Yerevan which put him at the helm of the anti-trafficking program the U.N. had. To say the least and to the credit of the Department of State, the trafficker was quietly removed from the U.N.

The Department of State knows good and well that Hovsepyan is part of the trafficking ring in Armenia, as that information was provided to them back in 2005. What this means is that for the sake of U.S. foreign policy, they will once again turn a blind eye (as they seem to do too more than I would like to see) to the criminal activities of the present and past Armenian government.

Just remember, complacency in the case when children are involved is viewed as if you are one of the actual perpetrators of the crime. Shame on those who know and are now supporting it with millions of U.S. tax dollars.

Oh and for those of you who don't know, Armenia once again has found itself on Tier 2 Watch List of the State Department's 2008 Trafficking in Persons Report.

WHAT A JOKE!!!

US SUPPORTS ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT

Panorama.am
20:10 19/09/2008

The Government of the US will provide 2.709mln USD support to the Armenian Government for the implementation of some projects. Today Mr. Josef Pannington and Aghvan Hovsepyan have signed a decree on drug supervision and cooperation in legal officers' field.

Mr. Aghvan Hovsepyan said that the financial support will be invested in the development of the current field taking into account violations, migration, consultancy, trafficking, etc.

U.S. SENDS AMBASSADOR TO ARMENIA AFTER TWO YEARS

The Associated Press
September 17, 2008 Wednesday 06:01 PM GMT

The U.S. has sent an ambassador to Armenia, more than two years after the previous one had his tour of duty cut short.

The U.S. Embassy in Yerevan said Marie Yovanovitch arrived Wednesday night to take up her new post. A career diplomat, she had previously served as the U.S. ambassador in Kyrgyzstan.

The last ambassador was withdrawn in 2006 after he referred to the World War I-era killings of Armenians in Turkey as genocide, in defiance of U.S. policy.

Turkey denies the deaths constituted genocide, and the U.S. wants to avoid damaging relations with the NATO member and important strategic ally.

At her confirmation hearings, Yovanovitch explained U.S. policy but would not comment on whether she believed genocide had occurred.

Illegitimately Elected Armenian Government Waives Demands of Genocide Recognition

When the legitimacy of your power is in question, one does whatever they have to in order to buy friends that will support you when your number is up. This is what we have been seeing with our present day Armenian Government.

Prior to the presidential elections of February 19, 2008, the Armenian government had found a few ethical Senators in Washington who put their political carriers on the line in order to get the U.S. to recognize the 1915 Armenian Genocide.

Though Democratic Senators Barbara Boxer and Robert Menendez were ready to stand strong to their commitment to block the nomination of any U.S. candidate for ambassador if they refused to acknowledge the Genocide of the 1.5 million Armenians in 1915 by the Turkish Government, they waived their obligations at the request of the illegitimately elected Armenian government.

Now I’m not sure what the Armenian President is thinking these days, but when you have powerful people in Washington working for you to get recognition of a crime committed on your ancestors and similar acts have and are being committed in our lifetime by the same perpetrators, you have to ask yourself what is wrong with this picture.

All I can say is that although it looks like our Armenian President is cleaning house with punishing those who have stolen from the government fund, just remember the saying of the fish begins to smell from the head.

This getting into bed with the Turkish President and the asking the U.S. to appoint an ambassador to Armenia does not give me a warm fuzzy feeling. We are heading for some very dangerous waters, mark my words.





Marie Yovanovitch confirmed as U.S. ambassador to Armenia

by Yelena Osipova and Emil Sanamyan

Armenian Reporter
August 2, 2008

WASHINGTON – The Senate on August 1 confirmed Marie L. Yovanovitch as the next United States ambassador to Armenia. The position had been vacant since September 2006, when Ambassador John M. Evans was recalled for speaking openly about the Armenian Genocide.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee had voted on July 29 to endorse the nomination.

The administration’s previous nominee for the position, Richard Hoagland, received the committee’s endorsement in late 2006, but the consideration of his nomination by the full Senate was blocked by Senator Robert Menendez (D.-N.J.) The Bush administration resubmitted the nomination in 2007, at which time the senator once again blocked it. The administration ultimately withdrew the nomination.

The Armenian government had publicly encouraged a quick confirmation of Ms. Yovanovitch’s nomination. As a sign of the importance the Armenian government attached to this matter, Tatoul Markarian, Armenia’s ambassador to the United States, was present as the committee voted.

The administration continues to refuse to use the word genocide to characterize the Armenian Genocide. But, whereas Mr. Hoagland had initially argued that the events of 1915–17 may not fit the definition of genocide, Ms. Yovanovitch has stated repeatedly that it is up to the president to decide whether she, as ambassador, could characterize the events as genocide.

Most senators attending the committee meeting said they were still not satisfied with the administration’s position on the Genocide. In a voice vote, they nonetheless allowed the nomination of Ms. Yovanovitch to move forward. Senators cited a State Department letter issued the day of the committee vote that, one senator said, marked a “significant step forward” in the administration’s appreciation of the issue.

Sen. Boxer remains in opposition

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D.-Calif.) was the sole committee member registering a vote against confirmation. Criticizing the administration for its refusal to use the term genocide in reference to the destruction of the Armenian people in Asia Minor, she described her vote as “support for the truth.”

While acknowledging Ms. Yovanovitch’s experience and competence, Ms. Boxer said she could not vote in favor because the nominee refused to use the word genocide.

“Why can’t she just say, ‘I personally see this as genocide, but the administration does not want me to use that word. So, although in my personal view it was a genocide, I cannot call it so [officially]’?” the senator asked.

Ms. Boxer added that although she would be voting in opposition, she would take no other action to block the nomination.

Sen. Menendez notes better State Department rhetoric

Mr. Menendez, like Ms. Boxer, expressed dissatisfaction that Ms. Yovanovitch would not express her own opinion on the Armenian Genocide. He noted that when U.S. ambassadors are sworn in, they do not “say that ‘I take an oath to the President of the United States, this or any future president.’” Rather, they swear to uphold the Constitution, he noted, arguing that ambassadors should be able to express their opinions more freely when testifying before Congress.

Mr. Menendez cited a letter he had received from the State Department the day of the committee vote as a reason he was not voting against the nomination. The letter clarified testimony by Ms. Yovanovitch about a proposed State Department program to “bring archivists from Turkey and Armenia to the United States for professional training.” It said the program did not intend to “open a debate” on the facts “of the mass killings and deportations of Armenians committed by Ottoman soldiers and other Ottoman officials in 1915.” The letter of clarification, signed by Matthew A. Reynolds, acting assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs, added, “We indeed hold Ottoman officials responsible for those crimes.”

Mr. Menendez said that for an administration that has frequently called for the characterization of the events of 1915 to be left to historians, this response was a “significant step forward,” encouraging him to vote in favor of the nominee.

Sen. Ben Cardin (D.-Md.) also spoke in opposition to the administration’s policy, noting that from Ms. Yovanovitch’s responses to the committee it is “clear that the nominee acknowledged that what happened [to Armenians] was genocide,” even if she was forced not to publicly use the term.

Sen. Biden thanks Armenian-Americans

In his remarks, the committee chair, Sen. Joe Biden (D.-Del.), recalled the commitments made by the State Department to work toward the improvement of Armenia-Turkey relations and to address Turkey’s genocide denial.

The committee chair said that the ultimate objective is to get Turkey to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide for all sides to move forward.

Mr. Biden praised the Armenian-American community for its position on the issue and acknowledged the role played by senators in pressing the administration.

As part of the confirmation process, Senators Biden, Boxer, Cardin, and Menendez, and fellow committee members Bob Casey (D.-Penn.), Norm Coleman (R.-Minn.), Russ Feingold (D.-Wis.), John Kerry (D.-Mass.), and Barack Obama (D.-Ill.) had pressed the State Department for answers on issues relating to the U.S. policy on the Armenian Genocide, U.S.-Armenia relations, and regional matters. (See the Armenian Reporter for July 5, 12, 19, and 26 for the full texts of the correspondence.)

US demands Russia to leave Independent Countries of South Ossetia and Abkhazia

I know what Washington is thinking, but just can't understand why they are crying foul over the presents of Russian military forces in countries that do not belong to Georgia, thus do not fall under any agreements that have been signed in the past.

Bottom line is that Russia is in the right and the US is trying to push their weight around in places they have no business doing so.

My prediction is that Russia will stand strong and the U.S. will at some point stick their tail between their legs and back off.

Losing patience, US demands Russia quit Georgia
By MATTHEW LEE, Associated Press Writer
September 10, 2008


WASHINGTON - An irritated Bush administration accused Russia on Wednesday of trying to find excuses to keep thousands of troops in Georgia in violation of a cease-fire Russia signed with the former Soviet republic last month.

Using unusually blunt language, the State Department said it was well past time for Russia to withdraw most of its soldiers from Georgia's separatist areas of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. A spokesman demanded that Russia do so now.

"These guys are at every turn trying to wiggle out of a commitment they made and that their president put his name to," spokesman Sean McCormack said. "We've seen it since August and it continues. They need to get out of Georgia and they to stop finding excuses (not) to do that."

He said statements from Russian officials that Moscow intends to keep 3,800 troops in Abkhazia and 3,800 in South Ossetia were "quite concerning."

"That, of course, would be a violation of the cease-fire that they signed in August," McCormack said. "Russia and their government and troops need to abide by their commitments, bottom line." He said the presence of Russian troops in such numbers would also violate previous agreements that allowed Russia a maximum of only 1,500 peacekeepers in each region.

Russian forces continue to occupy its neighbor's territory weeks after last month's five-day war despite the French-brokered cease-fire signed by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili. Since then Russia has recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent nations over international condemnation.

Under a deal reached by French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Monday, Russia pledged to withdraw its forces from those zones within a month, after unarmed European Union observers are deployed. But Russia said it would maintain 7,600 troops in South Ossetia and Abkhazia for the future.

Russia has made its withdrawal pledges contingent on guarantees that Georgia will not use force to try to regain control of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

The puppet masters behind Georgia President Saakashvili

By F. William Engdahl
Online Journal Contributing Writer

Aug 29, 2008, 00:26


The controversy over the Georgian surprise military attacks on South Ossetia and Abkhazia on 8.8.08 makes a closer look at the controversial Georgian President and his puppet masters important. An examination shows 41-year-old Mikheil Saakashvili to be a ruthless and corrupt totalitarian who is tied to not only the US NATO establishment, but also to the Israeli military and intelligence establishment.

The famous ‘Rose Revolution of November 2003 that forced the ageing Edouard Shevardnadze from power and swept the then 36-year-old US university graduate into power was run and financed by the US State Department, the Soros Foundations, and agencies tied to the Pentagon and US intelligence community.

Mikheil Saakashvili was deliberately placed in power in one of the most sophisticated US regime change operations, using ostensibly private NGOs (non-governmental organizations) to create an atmosphere of popular protest against the existing regime of former Soviet Foreign Minister Edouard Shevardnadze, who was no longer useful to Washington when he began to make a deal with Moscow over energy pipelines and privatizations.

Saakashvili was brought to power in a US-engineered coup run on the ground by US-funded NGOs, in an application of a new method of US destabilization of regimes it20considered hostile to its foreign policy agenda. The November 24, 2003, Wall Street Journal explicitly credited the toppling of Shevardnadze’s regime to the operations of “a raft of non-governmental organizations . . . supported by American and other
Western foundations.” These NGOs, said the Journal, had “spawned a class of young, English-speaking intellectuals hungry for pro-Western reforms” who were instrumental laying the groundwork for a bloodless coup.

Coup by NGO

But there is more. The NGOs were coordinated by the US Ambassador to Georgia, Richard Miles, who had just arrived in Tbilisi fresh from success in orchestrating the CIA-backed toppling of Slobodan Milosevic in Belgrade, using the same NGOs. Miles, who is believed to be an undercover intelligence specialist, supervised the Saakashvili coup.

It involved US billionaire George Soros’ Open Society Georgia Foundation. It involved the Washington-based Freedom House whose chairman was former CIA chief James Woolsey. It involved generous financing from the US Congress-financed National Endowment for Democracy, an agency created by Ronald Reagan in the 1980s to “do privately what the CIA used to do,” namely coups against regimes the US government finds unfriendly.

George Soros’ foundations have been forced to leave numerous eastern European countries, including Russia, as well as China after the 1989 student Tiananmen Square uprising. Soros is also the financier together with the US State Department of Human Rights Watch, a US-based and run propaganda arm of the entire NGO apparatus of regime coups such as Georgia and Ukraine’s 2004 Orange Revolution. Some analysts believe Soros is a high-level operative of the US State Department or intelligence services using his private foundations as cover.

The US State Department funded the Georgia Liberty Institute headed by Saakashvili, the US approved candidate to succeed the no-longer cooperative Shevardnadze. The Liberty Institute in turn created “Kmara!” which translates to “Enough!” According to a BBC report at the time, Kmara! was organized in the spring of 2003, when Saakashvili along with hand-picked Georgia student activists were paid by the Soros Foundation to go to Belgrade to learn from the US-financed Otpor activists that toppled Milosevic. They were trained in Gene Sharp’s “non-violence as a method of warfare” by the Belgrade Center for Nonviolent Resistance.

Saakashvili as mafioso president

Once he was in place in January 2004 as Georgia’s new president, Saakashvili proceeded to pack the regime with his cronies and kinsmen. The death of Zurab Zhvania, his prime minister, in February 2005 remains a mystery. The official version -- poisoning by a faulty gas heater -- was adopted by American FBI investigators within two weeks of the Zhvania's death. That has never seemed credible to those familiar with Georgia’s gangland slayings, crime, and other manifestations of social decay. Zhvania’s death was followed closely by a functionary of the premier’s apparat, Georgi Khelashvili, who allegedly shot himself the day after his chief’s demise. The head of Zhvania’s research staff was later found dead as well.

Figures allied with Saakashvili reportedly had a hand in the premier’s death. Russian journalist Marina Perevozkina quoted Gia Khurashvili, a Georgian economist. Prior to the fatal incident, Mr. Khurashvili had published an article in Resonans newspaper opposing the privatization and sale of Georgia’s main gas pipeline. Ten days before the prime minister’s body was found, Khurashvili was attacked and his editor-in-chief -- citing pressure from ‘security service’ figures he refused to name -- issued him a warning.

The late premier’s position on the pipeline issue was believed the direct reason for the murder of Zhvania. Zhvania’s brother, Georgi, also told Perevozkina that not long before Zhvania’s death he received a warning that someone was preparing to kill his brother. Saakashvili was reportedly livid when the US State Department invited Zhvania to Washington to win a Freedom Medal from the US Government’s National Democratic Institute. Saakashvili tolerates no rivals for power it seems.

Saakashvili, who cleverly marketed himself as “anti-corruption,” appointed several of his family members to lucrative posts in government, giving one of his brothers a position as chief adviser on domestic issues to the Baku-Ceyhan Pipeline project, backed by British Petroleum and other oil multinationals.

Since coming to power in 2004 with US aid, Saakashvili has led a policy of large-scale arrests, imprisonment, torture and deepened corruption. Saakashvili has presided over the creation of a de facto one-party state, with a dummy opposition occupying a tiny portion of seats in the parliament, and this public servant is building a Ceaucescu-style palace for himself on the outskirts of Tbilisi. According to the magazine, Civil Georgia (Mar. 22, 2004), until 2005, the salaries of Saakashvili and many of his ministers were reportedly paid by the NGO network of New York-based currency speculator Soros -- along with the United Nations Development Program.

Israeli and US military train Georgian military

The current military assault on South Ossetia and Abkhazia, in violation of Saakashvili’s pledge to seek a diplomatic not military solution to the territorial disputes, is backed by US and Israeli military “advisers.” Israel’s Haaretz newspaper reported that on August 10 Georgian Minister of Reintegration Temur Yakobshvili “praised the Israel Defense Forces for its role in training Georgian troops and said Israel should be proud of its military might, in an interview with Army Radio. ‘Israel should be proud of its military which trained Georgian soldiers,’ Yakobashvili told Army Radio in Hebrew, referring to a private Israeli group Georgia had hired.’”

One of the targets of Russian bombs near Tbilisi was, according to IsraelNN.com, “a Georgian military plant in which Israeli experts are upgrading jet fighters for the Georgian military . . . Russian fighter jets bombed runways inside the plant, located near Tbilisi, where Israeli security firm Elbit is in charge of upgrading Georgian SU-25 jets.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, also a candidate to succeed ousted Israeli Prime Minister Olmert, proclaimed on August 10 that “Israel recognizes Georgia’s territorial integrity,” code for saying it backs Georgia’s attempt to take South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

The reported 1,000 Israeli military advisers in Georgia were not alone. On July 15, Reuters news wire carried the following report: “VAZIANI, Georgia -- One thousand U.S. troops began a military training exercise called ‘Immediate Response 2008,’ in Georgia on Tuesday against a backdrop of growing friction between Georgia and neighboring Russia. The two-week exercise was taking place at the Vaziani military base near the capital, Tbilisi, which was a Russian air force base until Russian forces withdrew at the start of this decade under a European arms reduction agreement . . . Georgia has a 2,000-strong contingent supporting the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq, and Washington provides training and equipment to the Georgian military. The United States is an ally of Georgia and has irritated Russia by backing Tbilisi’s bid to join the NATO military alliance . . . ‘The main purpose of these exercises is to increase the cooperation and partnership between U.S. and Georgian forces,’ Brig. Gen. William B. Garrett, commander of the U.S. military’s Southern European Task Force, told reporters.”

With Russia openly backing and training the indigenous military in South Ossetia and Abkhazia to maintain Russian presence in the region, especially since the US-backed pro-NATO Saakashvili regime took power in 2004, the Caucasus is rapidly coming to resemble Spain in the Civil War from 1936-1939, where the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany and others poured money and weapons and volunteers into Spain in a devastating war that was a precursor to the Second World War.

In a curious footnote to the actual launch of military fighting on the opening day of the Olympics when Putin, George W. Bush and many world leaders were far away in Beijing, is a report in IsraelNN.com by Gl Ronen, stating that “The Georgian move against South Ossetia was motivated by political considerations having to do with Israel and Iran, according to Nfc. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili decided to assert control over the breakaway region in order to force Israel to reconsider its decision to cut back its support for Georgia’s military.”

Ronen added, “Russian and Georgian media reported several days ago that Israel decided to stop its support for Georgia after Moscow made it clear to Jerusalem and Washington that Russia would respond to continued aid for Georgia by selling advanced anti-aircraft systems to Syria and Iran.” Israel plans to get oil and gas from the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline from the Caspian.

Although as of this writing Russian President Medvedev has announced Russia is halting its military response against Georgian targets, the situation is anything but stable. The insistence of Washington in bringing Georgia into its geopolitical sphere and backing an unstable regime around Mikheil Saakashvili may well have been the straw which broke the Russian camel’s patience if not his back.

Whether oil pipeline disputes or Russian challenges to Israel are the proximate trigger for Saakashvili’s dangerous game, it is clear that the volatile Georgian and his puppet masters may have entered a game where no one will be able to control the outcome.

F. William Engdahl is author of A Century of War: Anglo-American Oil Politics and the New World Order (Pluto Press), and Seeds of Destruction: The Hidden Agenda of Genetic Manipulation (www.globalresearch.ca). This essay is adapted from a book he has just completed, titled Full Spectrum Dominance: The Geopolitical Agenda Behind Washington’s Global Military Buildup (release date estimated Autumn 2008). He may be contacted through his website, www.engdahl.oilgeopolitics.net.