As stated earlier to some of Putin's loyal vassals, Putin is a liar.

Ukraine offers satellite defence co-operation with Europe and US

Ukraine inflamed mounting East-West tensions yesterday by offering up a Soviet-built satellite facility as part of the European missile defence system.

The proposal, made amid growing outrage among Russia's neighbours over its military campaign in Georgia, could see Ukraine added to Moscow's nuclear hitlist. A Russian general declared Poland a target for its arsenal after Warsaw signed a deal with Washington to host interceptor missiles for America's anti-nuclear shield.

The move came as the Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, signed a cease-fire deal that sets the stage for a Russian troop withdrawal after more than a week of warfare with its neighbour Georgia.

The deal calls for both Russian and Georgian forces to pull back to positions they held before fighting erupted on August 8. As of last night, though, there was little apparent evidence of a Russian pull-out from the Georgian town of Gori, which Russian tanks and troops took last weekend. Russia's foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, insisted a broader withdrawal would be contingent on further security measures.

Just hours before Mr Medvedev put his signature to the ceasefire deal, Russian forces blew up a Georgian railway bridge on the main line west of the capital, Tbilisi, an act that critics interpreted as a malacious attempt to cripple the country's infrastructure. Moscow at first issued a denial, but television footage shot by the Reuters news agency clearly showed the bridge's twisted remains.

Ukraine said it was ready to give both Europe and America access to its missile warning systems after Russia earlier annulled a 1992 cooperation agreement involving two satellite tracking stations. Previously, the stations were part of Russia's early-warning system for missiles coming from Europe.

"The fact that Ukraine is no longer a party to the 1992 agreement allows it to launch active cooperation with European countries to integrate its information," a statement from the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.

It follows a declaration earlier this week from Ukraine's pro-Western president, Viktor Yushchenko, that the Russian naval lease of the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Sebastopol would be scrapped if any vessels joined the conflict in Georgia.

The crisis over Russia's display of military might in Georgia has alarmed ex-Soviet satellites states in a broad arc from the Baltics to Central Asia. Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania, all of which harbour bitter memories of Soviet occupation, have expressed solidarity with the Georgian position.

Yesterday President George W. Bush hailed what he saw as progress in resolving the Georgia crisis, describing the ceasefire agreement as "a hopeful step."

He reiterated, though, that the disputed regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia remained part of Georgia, despite Moscow's insistence that they should now be allowed to become part of Russia. "There's no room for debate on this matter," said Mr Bush. "The international community is clear that South Ossetia and Abkhazia are part of Georgia and the US fully recognises this reality."

Meanwhile, disturbing reports of abuse of ethnic Georgians in captured parts of the disputed region emerged. A group of captive soldiers were paraded in the streets of the South Ossetian capital, Tskinvali, and the bodies of at least 40 dead troops rotted in the sun.

Teams of ethnic Georgians, some under armed guard, were forced to clean the streets. It was the first apparent evidence of humiliation or abuse of Georgians in the Russian-controlled breakaway republic.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/...ope-and-US.html

Georgians force to clean South Ossetia streets

TSKHINVALI, Georgia - Russian troops and their armed allies forced Georgian men to clean the streets of South Ossetia's bombed-out capital Saturday, avenging Georgia's attack on the breakaway province a week ago.

Three teams of ethnic Georgian men in their 40s and 50s were seen hauling debris from the streets of Tskhinvali. When approached, one of them confirmed he was being forced to work.

"Labor even turns monkeys into humans," said a Russian officer, who along with armed Ossetians escorted one group of about two dozen Georgians through the streets of the capital.

The Russian officer threatened to arrest an Associated Press photographer if he took pictures, and would not give his name.

It appeared to be the first sign of abuse of Georgians in the Russian-controlled province.

"They are cleaning up after themselves," said Mikhail Mindzayev, South Ossetia's interior minister.

Tskhinvali was at the nucleus of fighting that has pitted two former Soviet neighbors against each other and further strained Russia's ties to the West.

Georgian troops pounded the city with rockets and bombs in a bid to retake control of separatist South Ossetia on Aug. 7, provoking a fierce response from the region's Russian backers.

Russia sent in hundreds of tanks and ensuing street fighting gutted yet more of Tskhinvali. Some 80 percent of the city's 30,000 residents fled, Mindzayev said.

Russia is now in charge of the province, Russian and Georgian leaders have signed a cease-fire deal, and Ossetian refugees are returning home. But local leaders and residents aren't ready to forgive their Georgian attackers anytime soon.

Ossetians accuse Georgians of targeting civilians, a claim Georgia denies.

Lyudmila Bitoyeva, a resident of Tskhinvali in her 40s, said her family hosted five Georgian workers who were forced to clean streets and pick up wreckage after the fighting subsided.

After Russian and separatist forces drove Georgian troops out of the nearly deserted city, there was widespread looting of stores and homes. The houses of ethnic Georgians on the outskirts of Tskhinvali were burned.

Mindzayev described the situation in the city Saturday as "complicated and nervous." He said there were many unexploded shells laying on the ground and he accused Georgian agents of shooting at people in the city, a claim that could not be independently confirmed.

Georgian forced laborers were not the only ones cleaning up the city; many returning refugees were sweeping up glass and debris from the fighting.

The city is in shambles and still has no electricity. To find clean water, residents drive or hitch rides to creeks several miles away, and they are struggling to find food.

Many complained about the late arrival of humanitarian aid. Some refugees have returned to find their homes destroyed, only to leave again.

Still, there were some signs the city was getting back to normal. For the first time in days, there were more cars on the street than tanks Saturday

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080816/ap_on_...ia_forced_labor

Russia’s new nuclear challenge to Europe

Russia is considering arming its Baltic fleet with nuclear warheads for the first time since the cold war, senior military sources warned last night.

The move, in response to American plans for a missile defence shield in Europe, would heighten tensions raised by the advance of Russian forces to within 20 miles of Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, yesterday.

Under the Russian plans, nuclear warheads could be supplied to submarines, cruisers and fighter bombers of the Baltic fleet based in Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave between the European Union countries of Poland and Lithuania. A senior military source in Moscow said the fleet had suffered from underfunding since the collapse of communism. “That will change now,” said the source.

“In view of America’s determination to set up a missile defence shield in Europe, the military is reviewing all its plans to give Washington an adequate response.”

The proposal to bring back nuclear warheads was condemned by Kurt Volker, the US ambassador to Nato, who said he knew of the threat.

“It is really unfortunate that Russia chooses to react by putting nuclear warheads in different places – if indeed it does that – when the rest of the world is not looking at some kind of old-fashioned superpower conflict,” he said.

The warnings came 24 hours after Russia told Poland that it could face a nuclear strike for agreeing to let the United States station components of the missile defence shield on its soil.

The Russian military also said it would ignore attempts to restrict the movement of its Black Sea fleet in and out of Sebastopol, in Ukraine. The Crimean port was emerging as a potential flashpoint in Russia’s efforts to prevent former Soviet countries on its borders from joining Nato.

This weekend Ukraine further angered Russian officials by offering to create a joint missile defence network with western countries.

The Russians have already indicated that they may point nuclear missiles at western Europe from bases in Kaliningrad and Belarus. They are also said to be thinking of reviving a military presence in Cuba.

In Georgia, Russian forces extended their reach across the west of the country yesterday, occupying several towns, seizing control of a main road and blowing up a railway bridge. Working with Abkhazian fighters they seized several Georgian villages and the Enguri power station. They pulled out of Igoeti, a village near the capital, after President Dmitry Medvedev signed a ceasefire agreement. The deal gave the Russians the right to continue patrolling “a few miles” inside Georgia. President George W Bush called the signing a “hopeful step”.

David Cameron, the Conservative leader, seized the initiative with a lightning trip to Tbilisi, becoming the first British politician to meet President Mikhail Saakashvili since the conflict began. Critics have accused government ministers of dithering.

Writing in today’s Sunday Times, Cameron says: “Russian armies can’t march into other countries while Russian shoppers carry on marching into Selfridges.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/worl...icle4547883.ece

East Europe tries to protect itself from Russia

WARSAW, Poland - Poland strikes a deal on a U.S. missile defense base. Ukraine tries to limit the Russian navy's movement in its waters. The Czech Republic's leader warns his nation is in danger of being sucked back into Moscow's orbit.

Russia's attack on Georgia has sparked fears across the young democracies of Eastern Europe that Moscow is once again hungry for conquest — and they are scrambling to protect themselves by tightening security alliances with Western powers.

On Friday, Moscow sent a new jolt through the region when a top Russian general was quoted as saying that the missile defense deal signed the previous day by Washington and Warsaw exposes Poland to an attack.

"Poland, by deploying (the system) is exposing itself to a strike — 100 percent," Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn said, according to Interfax News Agency.

Around the region, memories are being revived of the darkest days of Soviet oppression.

In Prague, where Czechs on Wednesday will mark the 40th anniversary of the Soviet invasion that crushed a reform movement, Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek expressed fears of history repeating itself.

"The Russian tanks on the streets of Georgian towns remind us ... of the invasion in 1968," Topolanek wrote in Mlada Fronta Dnes daily, the country's biggest newspaper.

"But it is not just history. It is still, even now, a relevant question whether we will or will not belong to the sphere of Russian influence."

He appealed to his political opponents to support his unpopular plan to host a U.S. missile defense shield.

Since fighting broke out more than a week ago between Russia and Georgia, the crisis has dominated headlines and sparked pro-Georgia rallies across Eastern Europe.

Poland's President Lech Kaczynski and the leaders of four ex-Soviet republics journeyed together to Tbilisi last week to show solidarity with Georgia. At a demonstration there, Kaczynski declared that the Russians had again "shown the face that we have known for centuries."

Poland was carved in two by Germany and the Soviet Union when they were allies at the beginning of World War II. After the war, Poland and the other east European countries became Soviet satellites for some 40 years.

Fears have grown in recent years as Russia has used its vast energy reserves to exert control over its neighbors, as when it cut off gas to Ukraine the winter after the pro-democracy Orange Revolution of 2004 put the country on a pro-Western course.

"I am scared of those things that are happening in Georgia now," said Juste Viaciulyte, a 23-year-old student among thousands of people who rallied Thursday in Lithuania's capital, Vilnius, to protest Russia's actions in Georgia.

He noted that the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad borders his country "and is beefed up with Russian soldiers, missiles and tanks. It would take just several hours for them to ignite a similar nightmare here in Lithuania if something turned really wrong."

Of all the Eastern democracies, the most vulnerable is probably Ukraine, a nation wedged between Russia and NATO states — and which itself is seeking to join the Western security alliance.

Eugeniusz Smolar, director of the Center for International Relations in Warsaw, said that countries like Poland and the Czech Republic are safer because they already belong to NATO and the EU.

"But not so with Ukraine; with Ukraine there is fear," Smolar said. "It's very unstable politically, there is a strong pro-Russian political element, plus there's strong activity of Russian intelligence."

Ukraine is strategically important to Russia because its pipelines carry Russian oil and gas westward, and its port of Sevastopol is home to Russia's Black Sea Fleet.

The port is leased to Russia through 2017, after which Ukraine wants the navy out. And in a strong show of support to Georgia on Wednesday, Ukraine ordered limits on the movement of the Russian ships since they were deployed to Georgia's Black Sea coast as part of Russia's military onslaught.

Above all, Ukraine, with its huge Russian-speaking population in its east and south, has immense emotional resonance for Russians — and Moscow has been humiliated by Ukraine's push to join NATO.

Feeling vulnerable, Ukraine's pro-Western president, Viktor Yushchenko, is appealing to the West to uphold Georgia's territorial integrity — a message made in a phone call with President Bush on Thursday.

He also stressed the importance of the "Euro-Atlantic partnership," another sign that Ukraine is putting its hope in NATO membership. The Georgia crisis has raised Ukrainian fears that its NATO bid will be shelved for fear of Russia's response.

And there are signs Eastern European countries feel that their NATO membership isn't sufficient protection.

As part of the preliminary missile defense deal that Poland struck with the United States on Thursday, it secured from Washington a commitment of swifter help than that offered by NATO.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said NATO would be too slow in coming to Poland's defense if threatened and that the bloc would take "days, weeks to start that machinery."

"It is no good when assistance comes to dead people. Poland wants to be in alliances where assistance comes in the very first hours of — knock on wood — any possible conflict," Tusk said.

On Saturday, Poland's president, Kaczynski, criticized the way France and Germany have handled the Russia-Georgia crisis, accusing them of being too soft on Moscow due to their commercial ties with Russia.

Kaczynski also said that European Union policy was being decided by the two EU giants without taking into consideration the views of new EU members such as Poland that once fell under Moscow's control.

"Saying that the Union will have a common policy toward Russia is laughable," Kaczynski said in an interview published by the daily Rzeczpospolita and also posted on his official Web site.

Anxiety in the Baltic states runs deep in part because, like Ukraine, they have large Russian minorities.

There is fear that Moscow could repeat there what it did in South Ossetia, the breakaway republic where fighting began: Hand out passports to ethnic Russians. Moscow justified its attack on Georgia as necessary to protect its citizens.

The big question hanging over the efforts to shore up military ties with Western powers is whether they protect them or merely fuel tensions.

Strolling through Kiev's Independence Square, the heart of Ukraine's Orange Revolution, Oleksandr Pylypchuk, a 43-year-old doctor, said he worries that the country's new Western course could be crushed by Russia.

"I remember this square was covered with the orange flags of democracy," he said. "I'm afraid it could become the red of blood."

___

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080816/ap_on_...opZTlDo5M90bBAF

OK EURO-TOPIA, is it a Chamberlain Moment of "Peace in our Time;"

of Obama nation unrealized reality of False Hope"

or is it to be;

A John F. Kennedy moment of, "we are taking this crap from you, unifying moment "Ich bin ein Berliner"...;

" Or will it be the road to resolve to the Russian empire, in a Reagan Moment "O NO YOU DON'T, "Mr Gorbchav! Tear down these walls."

Either way, Old Eurotopia and the Obama nation, will have to change your usual crisis posture.




That is all!!

British wisdom and worldly understanding EXPOSED!

British anti-Americanism 'based on misconceptions'

British attitudes towards the United States are governed by ignorance of the facts on key issues such as crime, health care and foreign policy, according to a new survey.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/...onceptions.html

The test below of Brits comprehension of America, well to be charitable, is not exactly faltering, for a group Euro-utopian, who form the words “Stupid Americas” nearly as frequently as they drink tea.

True or False statements about America

The survey was conducted as part of PoliticsHome’s Phi5000 – a unique daily tracker of British public opinion, conducted using a panel of 5000 voters. The fieldwork was carried out between the 5th and the 8th August and the data was weighted to match the demographic and political profile of
all adults in Great Britain. 1,622 people answered these True or False questions.

Overall you are more likely to be murdered in the USA than in the UK

54% said true, 34% said false, 12% didn’t know

True – the general Western European rate, including in the UK, is approximately 1-2 annual murders per 100,000 population, with America’s rate being
approximately 5 per 100,000.1

Overall you are more likely to be victim of a personal assault in the USA than in the UK

35% said true, 51% said false, 14% didn’t know

False – According to the International Crime Victims Survey #4, in both Britain and Australia, more than 6% of the population reported being the victim of a personal assault or threatened assault within the last year, double the American rate.2

Americans who have not paid their hospital fees or insurance premiums are not entitled to emergency medical care.

31% said true, 56% said false, 14% didn’t know

False – there is a legal right to emergency treatment. Overall Americans are more likely than people in Europe to say they have little in
common with people of other races and ethnicities 45% said true, 35% said false, 20% didn’t know False according to a 2002 Pew survey3

Most European countries have been far more successful than the United States at reducing carbon emissions in recent years

70% said true, 14% said false, 17% didn’t know

False according to the Wall Street Journal, which notes: “[T]he U.S. has outperformed the EU-15 since 2000, according to the latest U.N. data. America's rate of growth in CO2 emissions from 2000-04 was eight percentage points lower than from 1995-2000. By comparison, the EU-15 saw an increase of 2.3 points.”4

Since the Second World War, the USA more often sided with non-Muslims when they came into conflict with Muslims, and with non-Arabs when they came into conflict with Arabs.

52% said true, 19% said false, 29% didn’t know

False. Barry Rubin wrote in 2002 for Foreign Affairs: “The overall tally, in fact, is staggering: during the last half-century, in 11 of 12 major conflicts between Muslims and non-Muslims, Muslims and secular forces, or Arabs and non-Arabs, the United States has sided with the former group.”

Those conflicts are:

“Muslim versus non-Muslim states:
Turkey vs. Greece,
Bosnia vs. Yugoslavia,
Kosovo vs. Yugoslavia,
Pakistan vs. India,
Afghans vs. Soviets, and
Azerbaijan vs. Armenia.

Arab versus non-Arab states:
Iraq vs. Iran.

Muslim states versus secular forces:

Saudi Arabia and other monarchies vs. Egypt, Jordan and other
regimes vs. Syria and Iraq, and Kuwait and Saudi Arabia vs. Iraq.”5

1 See the International Crime Victims Survey (ICVS) at http://rechten.uvt.nl/icvs/ and our briefing on America and Crime at
http://americaintheworld.typepad.com/brief...ca-and-c-1.html

2 Ibid

3 Quoted in Kohut, Andrew and Bruce Stokes (2006), America Against the World, Times Books, p.51

4 'Europe v. America on CO2', Wall Street Journal, 14 December 2006, at
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1166060919...ew_and_outlooks


The legal age when one can purchase or publicly possess alcoholic drinks is 21 in America.

84% said true, 8% said false, 7% didn’t know

True – the National Minimum Drinking Act 1984 established fiscal penalties for states with a lower drinking age and by 1988 all states had complied.6

The USA has three or four times as many weekly churchgoers as the UK

85% said true, 4% said false, 11% didn’t know

True – 41% of Americans told Gallup in 2007 they had attended a church or synagogue in the last seven days, and 30% said they normally did so once a
week.7 In 2006, The Tearfund found a figure for Britain of 10% attending once a week or more.8

From 1973 to 1990 the United States sold Saddam Hussein more than a quarter of his weapons.

80% said true, 4% said false, 15% didn’t know

False – according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s investigation, the US supplied 200 (0.46%) of Iraq’s imported weapons in this period, of a total 43,915 from all countries.

The UK supplied 79 (0.18%) of Iraq’s weapons. The USSR, France and China supplied 57%, 13% and 12%respectively.9

Fewer than one in five Americans over 18 own a passport.

63% said true, 15% said false, 22% didn’t know

False – This is a claim made by Michael Moore in a letter to the German publication Die Zeit: “82 Prozent von uns haben nicht einmal einen Pass!”.10 But household surveys in the U.S. and Canada found 34% of Americans (and 41% of Canadians) aged 18 and over own a passport.11]

5 ‘The Real Roots of Arab Anti-Americanism’ Barry Rubin, Foreign Affairs, Volume 81, No. 6, pp.73-86, 2002.

6 'Highlight on Underage Drinking', National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, at
http://alcoholpolicy.niaaa.nih.gov/index.a...mp;Type=B_BASIC

7 'Easter Season Finds a Religious, Largely Christian, Nation', Frank Newport, Gallup.com, 21 March 2008, at
http://www.gallup.com/poll/105544/Easter-S...ian-Nation.aspx
8 'Churchgoing in the UK', Figure 3a Frequency of church attendance among UK adults (February 2006), Jaci
nta Ashworth & Ian Farthing, TearFund, April 2007, p.20 at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs...rfundchurch.pdf

9 ‘Arms transfers to Iraq, 1973-2002’, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, 4 December 2003, at
http://web.archive.org/web/20040601181327/..._Imps_73-02.pdf

10 ‘Nicht ganz Amerika ist verrückt’, Michael Moore, Die Zeit, 6 November 2003, at
http://www.zeit.de/2003/46/AbdruckMoor?page=2

11 ‘The Potential of a Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative Passport Requirement on Canada’s Tourism Industry’ Table A –
Passport possession in the United States and Canada, Canadian Tourism Commission, 29 July 2005, p.9 at
http://www.corporate.canada.travel/docs/re...HTI_eng_web.pdf

In America it is more likely for a white student to be accepted to university than for a black student with the same academic qualifications.

48% said true, 31% said false, 21% didn’t know

False – where academic qualifications are equal, affirmative action policies mean black candidates are more likely to be accepted.


Over a quarter of Americans are obese.

89% said true, 5% said false, 6% didn’t know

True – studies over the last decade reveal the figure easily exceeds a quarter:

30.5% in 1999-2000 and 30.6% in 2001-2002.12 ( While Obesity in the UK is also now over 26% 2007 (21)

Overall taxes are lower in the USA than the UK

69% said true, 11% said false, 20% didn’t know

True - according to the OECD total tax revenue as a share of GDP is 27.3% in the USA and 36.5% in the UK.13

The average American couple has more children than the average British couple.

32% said true, 37% said false, 31% didn’t know

True – The CIA World Factbook 2008 estimates are that Americans have 2.1 children per woman14 as against 1.6615 for Britons.

The USA spends more on defence than the next fifteen-highest spending countries combined.

72% said true, 9% said false, 19% didn’t know

True, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

America’s figure is a little under 50% of the global total – so almost as high as all the rest of the world put together. but as % of GDP some nations are higher in that measure than the US.16

The election of the President of the United States takes place once every five years

46% said true, 40% said false, 14% didn’t know

False – the election takes place in November once every four years.

Polygamy – being married to more than one man or woman at the same time - is legal in some parts of the USA

58% said true, 28% said false, 14% didn’t know

False – it is illegal in all fifty states. “Polygamy is illegal in all 50 states because of the individual criminal codes of the 50 states, and not because of any federal criminal provision. The Model Penal Code section 230.1 defines the third-degree


12 'Prevalence of Overweight and Obesity Among US Children, Adolescents, and Adults, 1999-2002', Allison A. Hedley, PhD;
Cynthia L. Ogden, PhD; Clifford L. Johnson, MSPH; Margaret D. Carroll, MSPH; Lester R. Curtin, PhD; Katherine M. Flegal,
PhD, Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 291 No. 23, 16 June 2004, at http://jama.amaassn.
org/cgi/content/short/291/23/2847

13 'OECD countries’ tax burdens back up to 2000 historic highs', Table A. Total tax revenue as percentage of GDP, Organisation
for Economic Cooperation and Development, 17 October 2007, at http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/44/41/39494985.pdf

14 ‘United States’, The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, at https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/
geos/us.html

15 ‘United Kingdom’, The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, at https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/
geos/uk.html

16 'The 15 major spender countries in 2007', Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, 2008, at
http://www.sipri.org/contents/milap/milex/...rs.pdf/download America’s figure is in fact close to half the global
total. felony of polygamy as cohabitating with more than one spouse at a time in purported exercise of the right of plural marriage.”17


]The USA executes more people than China

26% said true, 46% said false, 28% didn’t know

False. According to Amnesty International, there were 42 executions in the United States in 2007 as against 470 in China.18

The United States is the world’s largest economy

51% said true, 28% said false, 21% didn’t know

True - American GDP is higher than for any other country.19

The USA banned slavery earlier than the UK

23% said true, 47% said false, 30% didn’t know

False – slavery was banned in 1862 in the USA as against 1807 in the UK and 1833 throughout all British colonies20

17 'Testimony of Gregory Brower', United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, 24 July 2008, at
http://judiciary.senate.gov/testimony.cfm?...amp;wit_id=7321

18 'Amnesty report says China leads the world in executions', International Herald Tribune, 15 April 2008, at
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/04/15/...ath-Penalty.php

19 ‘United States’, The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, at https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/
geos/us.html

20 'Chronology - Who banned slavery when?', Reuters UK, 21 March 2007, at
http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKL1561464920070321

http://americaintheworld.typepad.com/home/...eStatements.pdf

Что все !!

SHOW ME THE MONEY

May 31 2008 http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php?type=L






DEMOCRATIC

Donations 90% or greater of Special Interests Groups Donations


UNION- American Federation of Teachers

2008 $1,246,925 $1,245,925 $1,000 100%


UNION-United Food & Commercial Workers Union

2008 $1,370,628 $1,364,128 $1,500 100%


ProChoiceLIB Sp INT -EMILY's List

2008 $1,557,599 $1,557,599 $0 100%


UNION-United Steelworkers

2008 $1,473,450 $1,469,450 $4,000 100%


PAC-LIB Sp INT-National Cmte for an Effective Congress

2008 $236,000 $236,000 $0 100%


UNION-AmerFedn of St,Conty & Muni Employees

2008 $1,458,554 $1,443,054 $13,000 99


UNION-United Auto Workers

2008 $1,064,825 $1,058,075 $6,750 99%


UNION-Intl Brotherhood of Electrical Workers

2008 $2,688,963 $2,636,635 $47,128 98%


UNION-Communications Workers of America

2008 $1,008,824 $989,324 $13,500 98%


UNION-Machinists & Aerospace Workers Union

2008 $1,875,691 $1,831,550 $44,141 98%


UNION-American Postal Workers Union

2008 $798,308 $783,308 $15,000 98%


UNION-Teamsters Union

2008 $1,017,658 $991,408 $25,750 97%


UNION-Sheet Metal Workers Union

2008 $1,734,560 $1,681,060 $48,500 97%


UNION-American Assn for Just-(Trail Lawyers)

2008 $2,050,000 $1,957,250 $92,750 96%


UNION-Ironworkers Union

2008 $1,155,900 $1,111,700 $44,200 96%


UNION-Human Rights Campaign

2008 $664,733 $636,672 $28,061 96%


UNION-Service Employees International Union

2008 $1,881,370 $1,776,620 $104,750 94%


UNION-National Assn of Letter Carriers

2008 $870,746 $818,746 $52,000 94%


UNION-Plumbers & Pipefitters Union

2008 $1,583,350 $1,466,400 $116,950 93%


UNION-Laborers Union

2008 $1,680,250 $1,552,550 $127,700 92%


UNION-United Transportation Union

2008 $1,045,625 $955,125 $90,500 91%


UNION-AFL-CIO

2008 $843,424 $757,124 $85,800 90%


Total 90% $28,319,703 $962,980

% all donations -37.98%


Donations 80% or greater

UNION- Seafarers International Union  

2008 $374,800 $334,500 $40,300 89%

UNION-Marine Engineers Beneficial Assn

2008 $265,350 $229,850 $35,500 87%

UNION-Carpenters & Joiners Union  

2008 $1,249,350 $1,083,850 $165,500 87%

UNION-Operating Engineers Union  

2008 $2,087,535 $1,804,035 $283,500 86%

UNION-National Education Assn  

2008 $1,034,609 $883,909 $150,700 85%

UNION-Air Line Pilots Assn  

2008 $1,714,750 $1,463,750 $251,000 85%


Total 80% or > $6,726,394

% of total donation-8.72%


Donors to Democrats who contributed 80% or greater of ALL donations equaled 46.70% of all Democratic donations reported to the FEC as of May 31 2008 with 98.9% being from UNIONS.




-------------------------------------------------------------------


REPUBLICAN

Donations 90% or greater of Special Interests groups donations


COMM-MCI Inc  

2008 $500 $0 $500 100%

Consumer-Amway Corp   

2008 $356,930 $2,300 $354,630 99%

MTg-American Financial Group   

2008 $536,050 $27,900 95%

> 90% $891,180 $30,200

% of all Republican donations 2.16%



Donations 80% or greater

Bus-National Resturants Assoc

2008 $714,700 $144,200 $570,500 80%

Tobabco-RJR Nabisco/RJ Reynolds Tobacco  

2008 $502,650 $96,100 $406,550 81%

Sp Int-National Rifle Assn  

2008 $724,025 $145,130 $578,895 80%

[size=4] $1,555,945 $385,430 $1,555,945

% of all Donations 3.77%

Republican donations from groups who gave 80% or more of all their donations were not concentrated and only amounted to 5.93% of all Republican donations.




** next will be 70% 60% for each Democratic and Republic donors.

You will not be suprised at just how concentrated Democratic money is and from whom.

WHOSE FOR SPECIAL INTEREST is the question?

We here Democrats beat that drum for every year incessantly. YET, are not UNIONS "a special Interest group who has an equal reputation for corruption, malfesants, criminality and LOSING AMERICAN JOBS, BY OVER PRICING THEM, than the so called Republican Business aliiance of evil the DOOM have made much myth about while they deal will as corrupot if not more so corrupot special interest group as their PRIME BASE?

Go to the link at the top and ses for yourself.

THAT IS ALL!!

Click to view attachment

Is the Obama nation choking on its on negativity of leftist vitriol and deception?


RCP Average 08/04 - 08/19 -- 44.9 43.6 Obama +1.3


60 days ago Obama average lead was 5.8%....




Reuters/Zogby 08/14 - 08/16 1089 LV 41 46 McCain +5

Reuters/Zogby 07/09 - 07/13 1039 LV 47 40 Obama +7


A 12% NEGATIVE swing in 30 days?


LA Times/Bloomberg 08/15 - 08/18 1248 RV 45 43 Obama +2

LA Times/Bloomberg 06/19 - 06/23 1115 RV 49 37 Obama +12


A 10% NEGATIVE swing in 60 days


Gallup Tracking 08/17 - 08/19 2658 RV 45 43 Obama +2

Gallup Tracking 08/01 - 08/03 2659 RV 46 43 Obama +3


a 1% NEGATIVE swing in just 14 days.


Rasmussen Tracking 08/17 - 08/19 3000 LV 47 46 Obama +1

Rasmussen Tracking 08/01 - 08/03 3000 LV 46 47 McCain +1


A 2% NEGATIVE swing in 14 days.


Quinnipiac 08/12 - 08/17 1547 LV 47 42 Obama +5

Quinnipiac 07/08 - 07/13 1725 LV 50 41 Obama +9


a 4% NEGATIVE swing in 30 days.


Battleground 08/10 - 08/14 1000 LV 46 47 McCain +1

Battleground 05/11 - 05/14 1018 LV 49 47 Obama +2


A NEGATIVE swing of 3% in battle ground states in 90 days.


IBD/TIPP 08/04 - 08/09 856 RV 43 38 Obama +5

IBD/TIPP 07/07 - 07/11 854 RV 40 37 Obama +3


a POSITIVE swing of 2% in 30 in days.


http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/20..._obama-225.html

THAT IS ALL!!

US, Iraq close in on deal for pullout of US troops

Highlights:

US TROOPS TO LEAVE IRAQ CITIES FOR BASES, NO MORE PATROLING TARGET PRACTICE NEXT JUNE 2010

US TROOPS OUR OF IRAQ BY 2011- contingent on circumstances...

Bush takes Dooms only game card out of their hands and lays the pullout on his plate not theirs....


BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq and the U.S. pushed close to a deal Thursday setting a course for American combat troops to pull out of Iraqi cities by next June on the way to broader withdrawal from the long and costly war by 2011.

Subject to final approval by the top Iraqi leadership, the exit date for U.S. troops would be December 2011, although the Americans insist on linking that target to additional security and political progress.

President Bush has long resisted a timetable for pulling out, even under heavy pressure from a nation distressed by American deaths and discouraged by the length of the war that began in 2003. But that has softened in recent weeks.

The timing has major political importance in both Iraq and the United States.

The two contenders to replace Bush as commander in chief, Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama, spar almost daily over the future course of the war.

Obama wants all U.S. combat forces out of Iraq within 16 months of his taking office, saying they are needed more urgently in Afghanistan. McCain says recent security improvements in Iraq show that decisions on the timing of further pullouts should be determined by circumstances on the ground rather than by prearranged timetables — a position the White House has vigorously held until recently.

The administration has inched toward the Iraqi view that setting at least a target date for withdrawal would make it politically palatable for Iraq's government to accept a substantial U.S. troop presence beyond this year.

The rationale for the pullout is that Iraqi security forces will be ready to stand on their own, although it remains possible that some U.S. military training role would continue. In Iraq, provincial elections are supposed to be held later this year, followed by national balloting in 2009.

In one key part of the draft agreement, private U.S. contractors would be subject to Iraqi law, unlike at present, but the American side held firm in its insistence that U.S. troops would remain subject exclusively to U.S. legal jurisdiction, officials said.

There is an additional sense of urgency to complete a deal because the U.N. Security Council resolution that sets the legal basis for the U.S. troop presence in Iraq is due to expire at the end of this year.

Asked about withdrawal, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, said Thursday in Baghdad, "We have agreed that some goals, some aspirational timetables for how that might unfold are well worth having in such an agreement." Her use of the term "aspirational" suggested that the timetables would be linked in some undisclosed way to the attainment of measurable progress in the security, political and perhaps economic fields.

Other U.S. officials said the deal includes agreement that by June 30, 2009, U.S. combat forces would be out of Iraq's cities, set up elsewhere in the country in what the military calls an overwatch role — available to assist Iraqi security forces as needed, while continuing to train and advise Iraqi troops.

At a joint news conference, Rice and Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said the two sides had accepted the draft agreement and would await a review by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other top Iraqi leaders — some of whom oppose some parts of the deal — as well as the Iraqi parliament. The next step is consideration by al-Maliki and his executive council Friday.

In the Sadr City section of eastern Baghdad, more than 500 followers of the anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr held a rally Thursday evening to denounce the Rice visit and the proposed security arrangement. Marchers carried flags and al-Sadr's picture, chanting, "No to the agreement."

Saleh al-Mutlaq, leader of the second-largest Sunni faction in parliament, issued a statement saying the Americans should not depend on any agreement signed with the Shiite-dominated government. He called on the government to put the deal to a popular referendum rather than simply submit it to parliament.

U.S. officials in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity because the deal is not final, said Bush administration acceptance of the arrangements was not in doubt unless Iraqi leaders insisted on changes. The administration has pledged to inform Congress but not submit the agreement for formal approval.

In Baghdad, Rice met with Zebari, al-Maliki and other officials on a brief visit intended to push the Iraqis toward agreement.

Said Zebari: "This agreement determines the principal provisions, requirements to regulate the temporary presence and the time horizon, the mission, of U.S. forces."

Bush has stood firmly behind al-Maliki, and the U.S. resisted pressure last year from its Sunni Arab allies elsewhere in the Middle East to dump the Shiite prime minister in favor of a more secular leader.

But al-Maliki has apparently taken a tough stand in the negotiations to refurbish his nationalist credentials and avoid the label of "America's man" ahead of coming elections.

The Shiite political establishment is also anxious to run the country without U.S. constraints, believing it has the right as leaders of Iraq's largest community, which had been marginalized politically since the modern Iraqi state was established following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after World War I.

Rice spoke optimistically of completing a deal but stressed that it still needed top-level Iraqi approval. She also said it was made possible by security improvements.

"I have to say, if I could just make the point, the reason we are where we are going, talking about this kind of agreement, is that the surge worked, Iraqi forces have demonstrated that they are strong and getting stronger," she said.

Zebari, asked about fears expressed by neighboring countries over such a pact, said in Arabic: "This decision (agreement) is a sovereign one and Iran and other neighboring countries have the right to ask for clarifications. ... There are clear articles (that) say that Iraq will not be used as a launching pad for any aggressive acts against neighboring countries and we already did clarify this."

A State Department transcript of Zebari's remarks said he added that Iran had been advised of that provision.

Associated Press reporters Matthew Lee and Robert Reid contributed to this story from Baghdad.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hcWJu9b...uTGqHQD92MU4S80


US, Iraq reach deal to pull US troops out by June
By MATTHEW LEE and QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA – 2 hours ago

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq and the U.S. have reached preliminary agreement to withdraw American forces from Iraqi cities by next June, six years into the increasingly unpopular war, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Thursday after meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

The negotiations over a withdrawal timetable follow long insistence by President Bush that setting any schedule for U.S. troops to leave would be dangerous. The draft agreement with Iraq would link troop reductions to achievement of certain security milestones, although the details have not been made public.

Time has become ever more important in discussions between U.S. and Iraqi officials with Bush heading into its final months and the presidential candidates tussling daily over how and when they would move to end the war.

Democrat Barack Obama has said he would begin pulling troops out immediately upon taking office and have all combat forces out within 16 months. Republican John McCain has said the situation in Iraq will dictate any pullout schedule, not a timetable set up without consideration of how the war is going.

Rice and Zebari, appearing together at a news conference, asserted that the proposed deal reflects growing confidence in the ability of Iraqi forces to secure the country. A final agreement would require endorsement of the proposed deal by top Iraqi leaders and the Iraqi parliament.

Zebari said the draft would be presented to top leaders, including Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Some members of al-Maliki's Cabinet are known to oppose some aspects.

"What we have accomplished in this agreement is the most advanced version of any" such deal between the United States and other countries where U.S. forces are based, Zebari told reporters, "because the U.S. negotiators indeed showed a great deal of flexibility and understanding."

Rice spoke optimistically of completing a deal but stressed that it still needs top-level Iraqi approval.

"We think it's a good agreement," she said. "We recognize that the government still has to review this agreement ... and we'll await that process, and then it obviously has to go to the Council of Representatives." She was referring to the Iraqi parliament; the Bush administration does not plan to submit the deal to Congress for approval.

The Iraqis have demanded specific timelines for the departure of American forces, and initially the Bush administration resisted.

"We have agreed that some goals, some aspirational timetables for how that might unfold, are well worth having in such an agreement," Rice told reporters after meeting with Iraqi officials, including the prime minister. The two sides had come together on a draft agreement earlier this week and Rice made an unannounced visit to Baghdad to press officials there to endorse it.

Zebari, asked about fears expressed by neighboring countries over such a pact, said in Arabic: "This decision (agreement) is a sovereign one and Iran and other neighboring countries have the right to ask for clarifications. ... There are clear articles (that) say that Iraq will not be used as a launching pad for any aggressive acts against neighboring countries and we already did clarify this."

A key part of the U.S.-Iraqi draft agreement envisions the withdrawal of American forces from Iraq's cities by next June 30, according to Iraqi and American officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because the proposed deal's details have not been publicly announced. A related issue is setting additional timelines for troop withdrawals, including a date by which all U.S. forces would be gone.

Said Zebari: "This agreement determines the principle provisions, requirements, to regulate the temporary presence and the time horizon, the mission of the U.S. forces."

U.S. military forces went into in Iraq in early 2003 and overthrew President Saddam Hussein and the war is now in its sixth year. There have been more than 4,100 U.S. deaths there and countless losses among Iraqis. The war looms as a key issue in the campaign in the United States to elect a successor to Bush, with McCain accusing Obama of advocating too precipitate a withdrawal of U.S. forces from the country.

"We're not sitting here talking about an agreement to try to get out of a bad situation," Rice said, asserting that the draft "builds on the success we have had in the last year. This agreement is based on success."

Followers of anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr criticized Rice's visit and repeated their opposition to the security agreement. Sadr's followers control 30 of the 275 seats in parliament.

Associated Press reporter Robert Burns from Washington and Robert Reid from Baghdad contributed to this story.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hcWJu9b...uTGqHQD92MSSF80

[size=7]color=red] THAT IS ALL!![/color]

Barack Obama names Joseph Biden!!

Barack Obama has picked Joseph Biden as his U.S. vice presidential running mate, Reuters and AP have reported, citing several unnamed sources in the Democratic Party.

Mr Biden, 65, is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a highly respected voice on international affairs.

Mr Obama's presidential rival Reublican John McCain has not yet named his choice for the number two spot on the ticket.

Mr Biden, of Delaware, who has twice sought the White House, is a Catholic with a generally liberal voting record and a reputation as a long-winded orator.

Across more than 30 years in the Senate, he has also served as head of the Judiciary Committee, with its jurisdiction over anti-crime legislation and Constitutional issues.

The Democratic National Convention meets next week in Denver to hand Mr Obama his long-sought presidential nomination, and then confirm Mr Biden.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/worl...icle4594747.ece



If correct some would conclude the obama nation has admited it is very weak in the area of International and Military affairs.




THAT IS ALL!!

O Yes we can CHANGE, it is just that we choose NOT to.



Obama Nation unassertive by the Congressional Biden 18% approval lobotomy.

The analysis:

Barack Obama nation needed to shore up its most serious weakness — elitism and inexperience in leadership and foreign and military policy. He did so oddly by showing it is not a true agent of change but just another old time political hack. Who, in clear desperation needs a 35 year inside the beltway give them the moon walker, who can throw knives and is merely another old guard insider Yankee cowboy, who, unlike Bush, who shoots allegedly from the hip. instead this yankee half cock of a cowboy shoots from the lip. with manger of a spit, in the hopes he can defend the Obama nation messiah from himself.

If the Obama nation strategy is make out McCain’s record but Bush II, then Biden is Bush Lite with supplemental additives, in the congressional record's fine print of how much more he is alike to Bush, than is Obama unlike Bush.

The pick say something profound about Obama. Worried insecurity and a clear counter weight to his being something new and different when in the end his choice makes more him clearly more of the same inside the DC Politico game playeras all the rest. Biden is anything but a change agent, having been in office longer than half of all Americans have been alive 35 years. Longer than even McCain who has had at least one other caeerer besides being a politician, which is what, 2 points above a common criminal and or a used car saleperson?

So in summary the Obama nation has presented us with a choice of 18 % approval rated career Politicians. One, with no or a questionable resume but on paper with even less experience than pages on his resume, and an inbeed of the same strip, another whose entire life has been nothing more than being one of those 18% approval rated politicians.

NOW JUST HOW IS THAT CHANGE, adding a 3 year, still unproven, in long haul, complex, not yet understood, nor proven reliable, hybrid, to a 35 years V8 gas guzzler which is worn out and stripped over as much as if not more than the alleged arch evil they oppose. Both arte like bewing made in mafia, "Made in DC political back room by insider hacks vechicles of choice no change from the same manufacture and designers who have been wrong about so many things they have been so stridently and miscalculating about of late. now that is the ticket of change and a new idea and way the Obama nation is NO WE CAN’T ABOUT.

All we need now is for McCain to choice another DC insider candy striper and we will have the only 18% approval candidacy for President and Vice president in our History as the choose for America future.

That is why I fight for the 2nd amendment, in the hope that maybe just one day someone will put in a bill unnoticed, like all those" I never voted for a pork barrel project in my life politican do, that would allow a "hunting season for just 10 days, every 4 years, for any and all encumbent politicans who hold elected office, unless other wise permitted by the people, as off limits, for a season at a time.

HOPE ETERNAL or the great abyss?


McCain Launches TV Ad Using Biden’s Words Against Obama

Obama Biden response

39% Say Biden the Right Choice, Women Less Enthusiastic

On the day that Barack Obama announced Joe Biden as his running mate, 39% of voters said he made the right choice. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 25% disagreed and another 35% are not sure.

Women are notably less enthusiastic than men—33% of women say Biden was the right choice while 27% disagreed. Men, by a 46% to 24% margin, said that Obama made the right choice.

Not surprisingly, Democrats were more supportive of Obama’s decision than anybody else—52% of those in his party agreed with his pick while 19% disagreed. However, just 43% of Democratic women said the presumptive nominee made the best pick while 23% disagreed

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_con...ss_enthusiastic


Please help me if you can!

THAT IS ALL!!

Troops Capture Suspected Hezbollah Associates in Baghdad
August 23, 2008 11:51 AM EST


Coalition forces picked up two suspected associates of the Kataib Hezbollah criminal network during operations this morning in Baghdad's New Baghdad district, military officials reported during a teleconference with bloggers and Internet journalists.


Acting on intelligence tips, coalition forces raided the home of a suspected Kataib Hezbollah propaganda expert who is believed to have uploaded more than 30 attack videos to the criminal ring's now-defunct Web site. Coalition forces entered the house, where they detained two of the wanted man's brothers, who are believed to be involved in his criminal enterprises.

Coalition forces have detained more than 15 suspected members of Kataib Hezbollah in the last two months, officials said. Kataib Hezbollah is reported to receive funding, logistics, and weapons such as improvised rocket-assisted mortars from Iran. The group also is believed to receive guidance or direction from the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

In other operations today and yesterday, coalition forces in Iraq detained 16 suspected terrorists in the central and northern parts of the country.

An alleged weapons facilitator in Mosul is in coalition custody after forces captured him and six additional suspects today. The wanted man allegedly stores explosives for terrorist attacks and delivers weapons to foreign terrorists and suicide bombers. He also is assessed to have ties to al-Qaida senior leaders in Mosul, officials said.

Coalition forces captured a wanted man and three additional suspects today in Beiji, about 160 kilometers south of Mosul. The wanted man is suspected of directly conspiring with al-Qaida leaders to plan an attack using poison.

In Suwayrah, about 50 kilometers south of Baghdad, coalition forces detained a suspect today while targeting a man involved in the al-Qaida in Iraq propaganda network. An operation yesterday in Mosul targeted the same network and netted four suspected terrorists.

In operations Aug. 20, Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers detained suspected Iranian-backed "special groups" leaders, and Iraqi security forces dismantled a homemade booby trap in southern Baghdad's Rashid district.

Soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division's Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, detained a suspected terrorist linked to attacks using improvised explosive devices and suicide vests in Baghdad.

Soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division's Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, working on actionable intelligence, arrested a suspected special groups criminal in West Rashid's Hadar neighborhood.

Meanwhile, in southwestern Baghdad's Risalah community, Iraqi National Police discovered a homemade booby trap. The police immediately dismantled the bomb and confiscated the bomb-making materials. The police moved the munitions to a combat outpost for temporary storage and notified an explosives ordnance disposal team.








THAT IS ALL!!]

CNN = (PARTISAN) POLITICS.

2008-

CNN 51% Democrats ---18% Republican---23% Indep---8% DK +6% Democrats, -3% Republicans, -3% Ind

MSNBC 45% Democrats---18% Republican---27% Indep---10%DK -3% Democrats, -1% republicans, +1% Ind

FOX 33% Democrats---39% Republican---22% Indep---6%DK +7% Democrats, +1% Republicans, Even Ind

2006

CNN 45% Democrats ---22% Republican---26% Indep ---7%DK

MSNBC 48% Democrats---19% Republican---26% Indep---7% DK

FOX 31% Democrats---38% Republican---22% Indep---9%DK





News Audiences More Democratic

The general public has become more Democratic since 2006, and this is reflected in the audiences for leading TV news outlets. The audiences for CNN and MSNBC, which were heavily Democratic two years ago, have become even more so: fully 51% of CNN's regular viewers are Democrats while only 18% are Republicans. MSNBC's audience makeup is similar - 45% of regular viewers of MSNBC are Democrats, 18% are Republicans.

The regular audience for nightly network news also is now about two-to-one Democratic (45% vs. 22% Republican). In 2006, 40% of the regular viewers of nightly network news were Democrats compared with 28% who were Republicans.

The regular audience for the Fox News Channel continues to include more Republicans than Democrats. Currently, 39% of regular Fox News viewers are Republicans while 33% are Democrats; in 2006, the margin was 38% to 31%.

http://people-press.org/report/?pageid=1353



http://people-press.org/reports/pdf/444.pdf

Hmm? if audience demographic is an indication of partisship and from that impartuality and balanced news, then who seems to for that bill my willy Coyotes who use hubris and hyperbolic as if it were indiosputible facts...

However in the interest of all the facts this tells soemthing as well.



Yet even more so so does this show us something equally important by age.



This one explains what comes out of the core Obama nation.




News You Watch Says a Lot About How You’ll Vote

Eighty-seven percent (87%) of Fox News viewers say they are likely to vote for John McCain, Only 9% nine percent of those who watch Fox News say they will vote for Obama.

Yet, it over 3 to 1 for the other cable news groups for Obama
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 65% of CNN voters plan to vote for the Democratic candidate versus 26% who intend to go for the Republican. Similarly, MSNBC watchers plan to vote for Obama over McCain 63% to 30%.


Nationally the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll continues to show a very close race for the White House.

In a separate survey, 52% of Americans say they watch local television news for information on the campaign at least several times a week, including 37% who say they watch it every day. Half (50%) say they watch cable news for that information during the week, including 26% who watch daily.

Among those who get their information on the presidential campaign from local television, the new survey finds that the amount of time one watches impacts how they plan to vote. Those who watch local news every day support Obama over McCain 52% to 42%. But for those who say they watch several days a week but not every day, it’s McCain over Obama 50% to 43%.

McCain has the edge among all viewers who tune into cable news of any kind at least once a week.

Those who read a print newspaper during the week are fairly evenly divided between the two candidates, but among those who read the same papers online, Obama has the edge. Among those who get their campaign information from online sources in general, again time spent is the key. Those who go online every day are evenly divided, but over half of those who go online one or more times a week plan to vote for McCain.

While McCain is regarded favorably by 88% of Fox News viewers, only 43% of CNN viewers and 38% of those who watch MSNBC agree. But just 14% of Fox viewers have a favorable opinion of Obama, as opposed to 70% of CNN watchers and 72% of those watching MSNBC.

How voters rate the importance of issues is also reflected in the cable news programming they prefer. For 36% of Fox viewers, national security is the most important issue in the campaign, followed by 32% who say economic issues are number one. By contrast, those who watch CNN rate economic issues over national security 56% to 13%, and MSNBC viewers agree 50% to 12%.

Nationally voters in this election cycle rank economic issues as their primary concern versus national security which was the leading issue in the 2004 election. Those who get their campaign information from local television mirror this view, with nearly half rating economic issues most important versus around one-quarter who put national security first.

Talk radio is also McCain territory. More than 60% of those who listen at least several times a week plan to vote for the Republican versus less than a third who say they will vote for Obama. National security also polls as a much stronger concern among those who listen regularly to talk radio than it does to voters overall.

For Obama there is good news -- and bad news -- in the findings among those who watch the anchors of the three major television networks. Seventy percent (70%) of those who watch CBS’ Katie Couric every day plan to vote for Obama, as do 71% of the daily viewers of ABC’s Charles Gibson and 67% of those watching NBC’s Brian Williams.

The bad news is when asked specifically about the networks and their star news anchors, well over half of Americans say they rarely or never watch Couric or Gibson for information on the presidential campaign. Just under half (49%) say they rarely or never watch Williams.

In a separate survey last month, 49% of voters believed that most reporters are trying to help Obama win the presidency. Only 14% thought they are trying to help McCain win.

In the 2004 election cycle, most Americans felt the three major television networks – ABC, CBS and NBC – and the two chief cable networks, Fox News and CNN, were all biased in their coverage to help the candidate of their choice – Fox for President Bush, the other four for his Democratic challenger, Sen. John Kerry.

http://beta.rasmussenreports.com/public_co...how_you_ll_vote



2008 DNC Obama Nation, Generation Duh Ameba world, discussing world affairs but on MARS!!

Why should 97% of the population pay 3% of the taxes?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsOsp086Hn4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj42X5DYVLg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qa-fhCGnVhg

THAT IS ALL!!

Feds: Immigrant Raid at Mississippi Plant Largest in U.S. History



inmigrantes ilegales boleto gratis a casa pagado por los sindicatos y los Demócratas

LAUREL, Miss. — The largest single-workplace immigration raid in U.S. history has caused panic among Hispanic families in this small southern Mississippi town, where federal agents rounded up nearly 600 plant workers suspected of being in the country illegally.

One worker caught in Monday's sweep at the Howard Industries transformer plant said fellow workers applauded as immigrants were taken into custody. Federal officials said a tip from a union member prompted them to start investigating several years ago.

Fabiola Pena, 21, cradled her 2-year-old daughter as she described a chaotic scene at the plant as the raid began, followed by clapping.

"I was crying the whole time. I didn't know what to do," Pena said. "We didn't know what was happening because everyone started running. Some people thought it was a bomb but then we figured out it was immigration."

About 100 of the 595 detained workers were released for humanitarian reasons, many of them mothers who were fitted with electronic monitoring bracelets and allowed to go home to their children, officials said.

About 475 other workers were transferred to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Jena, La. Nine who were under 18 were transferred to the custody of the Office of Refugee Resettlement.

John Foxworth, an attorney representing some of the immigrants, said eight appeared in federal court in Hattiesburg on Tuesday because they face criminal charges for allegedly using false Social Security and residency identification.

He said the raid was traumatic for families.

"There was no communication, an immediate loss of any kind of news and a lack of understanding of what's happening to their loved ones," he said. "A complete and utter feeling of helplessness."

The superintendent of the county school district said about half of approximately 160 Hispanic students were absent Tuesday.

Roberto Velez, pastor at Iglesia Cristiana Peniel, where an estimated 30 to 40 percent of the 200 parishioners were caught up in the raid, said parents were afraid immigration officials would take them.

"They didn't send their kids to school today," he said. "How scared is that?"

Those detained were from Brazil, El Salvador, Germany, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, and Peru, said Barbara Gonzalez, an ICE spokeswoman.

Elizabeth Alegria, 26, a Mexican immigrant, was working at the plant Monday when ICE agents stormed in. When they found out she has two sons, ages 4 and 9, she was fitted with a bracelet and told to appear in federal court next month. Her husband, Andres, was not so lucky.

"I'm very traumatized because I don't know if they are going to let my husband go and when I will see him," Elizabeth Alegria said through a translator Tuesday as she returned to the Howard Industries parking lot to retrieve her sport utility vehicle.

"We have kids without dads and pregnant mothers who got their husbands taken away," said Velez's son, Robert, youthes it a felony for an illegal immigrant to accept a job in Mississippi. A message was left with the district attorney's office after hours seeking comment on whether he would use the law to bring state charges against Howard Industries or the workers.

The Mississippi raid is one of several nationwide in recent years.

On May 12, federal immigration officials swept into Agriprocessors, the nation's largest kosher meatpacking plant, in Iowa. Nearly 400 workers were detained and dozens of fraudulent permanent resident alien cards were seized from the plant's human resources department, according to court records. In December 2006, 1,297 were arrested at Swift meatpacking plants in Nebraska and five other states.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jO9WZoM...bjtjkgD92Q96S00

That is all!!

wow !

SoloNav what a nice lovely conversation you are having here with .... UStrader !

or actually it looks more like he is having very live conversation with himself !

='Razin' date='Aug 28 2008, 04:27 AM' post='105199'
wow !

SoloNav what a nice lovely conversation you are having here with .... UStrader !

or actually it looks more like he is having very live conversation with himself !






That is all!

A more likely account of all aspects of the Russian bear 48 to 1 bear hug Georgia.

ROAD TO WAR IN GEORGIA
The Chronicle of a Caucasian Tragedy

By SPIEGEL Staff

Many in the West were surprised by the outbreak of war between Georgia and Russia. But there were plenty of signs that the conflict was approaching. SPIEGEL reconstructs the road to violence.

The Sheraton Metechi Palace Hotel in the Georgian capital Tbilisi has a sand-colored façade, dozens of floors and a bright atrium-style lobby. It is an ideal base for guests working abroad who are eager not to attract attention.

A small group of American soldiers along with US advisors in civilian clothes stand huddled around laptop computers, whispering with officers and looking at images on the screen. As soon as a visitor walks over to see what they're up to, they snap the computers shut. A man in his mid-30s, wearing a blue polo shirt, explains: "We're the worst-informed people in Tbilisi. I can't even tell you what we're doing here."

As of the end of last week, the roughly 160 American military advisors still stood their ground in Georgia. They weren't the only foreign soldiers in the country, though. Russia withdrew far more slowly than Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had promised. And Moscow has likewise announced that some 500 soldiers will remain in the country to secure a buffer zone between Georgia and South Ossetia.

It is, in short, a messy situation. But who is actually responsible for this six-day war in the southern Caucasus?

Georgia President Mikhail Saakashvili criticizes what he calls a "brutal Russian attack and invasion." In return, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin calls Saakashvili a "war criminal" and talks of the "genocide" committed against Russian citizens. But what are the representatives of the Western community of values saying? The fact is, they are still puzzled.

If They Only Looked

This is surprising, because the war that erupted on the southern flank of the Caucasus Mountains was almost as inevitable as thunder after a lightening strike. The dozens of witness statements and pieces of intelligence information at SPIEGEL's disposal combine to form a chronicle of a tragedy that anyone could see coming -- if they only looked.



But a true reconstruction of events must begin well before Aug. 7 -- the day when Georgian troops marched into South Ossetia. A war of words had been raging between Moscow and Tbilisi since the beginning of the year and, before long, both sides were conducting military maneuvers, which, in retrospect, can be seen as preparation for actual conflict. A number of intelligence agencies had observed troop movements in Georgia and South Ossetia, with satellites providing precise images of what was happening on the ground. United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice became involved in shuttle diplomacy, trying to appease Saakashvili on the one hand, while criticizing Putin, on the other.

In truth, the world should have been able to predict what was about to happen in the southern Caucasus. Nevertheless, when the armed conflict finally erupted, it was to great astonishment worldwide. No one had wanted a return to the Cold War.

Between Jan. 5, 2008, the day of Mikhail Saakashvili's re-election as president of Georgia, and May 7, 2008, the last day of Vladimir Putin's term in office as president of Russia, there was a great deal of movement along the fronts in the conflict over South Ossetia and Abkhazia, separatist Georgian provinces for the past 18 years.

It was as if the Caucasus populist Saakashvili and the coolly calculating Russian Putin, facing the nominal end of his regency, had realized that it was finally time for a showdown.

'Only Through the Force of Weapons'

Saakashvili wanted to bring his country into NATO as quickly as possible and was confident that he had the support of the West. Putin, who wanted to establish his country as a hegemonial power in the southern reaches of the former Soviet empire, relied on the skills he had acquired as an agent working for the KGB -- especially those involving a careful analysis of the enemy.

The signals that Saakashvili was sending after his re-election set off alarms in Moscow. The Georgian, who, since 2004, had been promising his people that he would regain control over all of Georgian territory, was getting impatient. He attempted to discuss a plan to invade Abkhazia with Washington, before Georgia, as a candidate for NATO membership, came under more intense scrutiny. Meanwhile, SakarTVelo, a Georgian military television station with the motto "We serve those who serve," was using a 1932 quotation attributed to Adolf Hitler to advertise for new recruits: "Only through the force of weapons" could lost territory be regained.

Putin, meanwhile, watched and waited -- he wanted to see how the Kosovo question would turn out. He made it clear that if the ethnic Albanian province was granted the right to secede from Serbia, the West could not deny Abkhazia and South Ossetia the right to secede from Georgia. On Feb. 17, 2008, the United States, Great Britain and France recognized Kosovo's independence.

After Saakashvili's state visit to Washington on March 19, when he clearly enjoyed his reception as the president of a key ally in the war on terror, there was the NATO summit in Bucharest. In response to a German and French initiative, the alliance denied Georgia and Ukraine its consent to their joining NATO, but promised membership at a later date.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko promptly predicted that this decision would have "the gravest consequences for overall European security." US President George W. Bush met with Putin at his Black Sea vacation home in an effort to restore calm. But Bush apparently failed to take the Russian president's warnings as seriously as they were intended. In retrospect, Western observers describe what happened in the ensuing few days in April as a "point of no return" for the Georgian-Russian war.

Ideologue of Expansionism

Twelve days after the NATO summit, Putin issued an order to upgrade Russia's relations with the separatist regimes in Abkhazia and South Ossetia almost to the point of recognition. On April 20, a Russian fighter jet shot down a Georgian reconnaissance drone over Abkhazia. According to observations by the International Crisis Group, Saakashvili then assembled 12,000 Georgian soldiers at the extremely well-fortified Senaki military base. It was still a good three months before the outbreak of hostilities.

In May and June, Moscow sent additional troops to the separatist regions, allegedly for "humanitarian purposes." They included 500 paratroopers and a maintenance team of 400 men, which arrived in Abkhazia on May 31 to repair segments of a railroad south of the capital Sukhumi. The work was necessary to prepare for transporting tanks and heavy military equipment.

By that time, Alexander Dugin had set up camp. Dugin is the bearded chief ideologue of those in favor of an expansionist Russia -- and an advisor to Putin's United Russia Party. He had come to the region to tour a tent camp set up by members of his youth movement about 25 kilometers (16 miles) from the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali. Thirty army tents housed the 200 attendees. The program included geopolitical seminars and paramilitary training. The pro-Russian forces in South Ossetia provided the group with Kalashnikovs and live ammunition for its field exercises.

"Here is the border in the battle of civilizations," said Dugin. "I think Americans are great. But we want to put an end to America's hegemony." It was a sentiment shared by the young men in the tent camp -- and Dugin's dreams did not end at the Russian-Georgian border. "Our troops will occupy the Georgian capital Tbilisi, the entire country, and perhaps even Ukraine and the Crimean Peninsula, which is historically part of Russia, anyway," he continued.

As Dugin's supporters were preparing for the worst, the situation along the borders between both South Ossetia and Abkhazia and the areas controlled by Tbilisi became increasingly tense. There were even exchanges of grenade fire between the two sides, all under the eyes of OSCE and United Nations emissaries

Part 2: Practicing for War

On July 3, an assassination attempt was made on the pro-Georgian head of the South Ossetian administration, Dmitry Sanakoyev. Sanakoyev had once served as the separatists' head of state and was then recruited by Saakashvili -- and he is widely considered to be one of the wild cards in the Caucasus region. His name rarely surfaces in the threat analyses prepared by Western intelligence agencies. And yet men like Sanakoyev hold key roles in the geopolitical jockeying for position in the Caucasus, where even village chiefs and minor Mafiosi occasionally manage to enter the global spotlight.

In mid-March Sanakoyev, Georgia's man on the Russian border, said: "If Moscow recognizes South Ossetia, there will be war." On July 3, his Nissan SUV hit a landmine and then came under machine-gun fire. Three bodyguards were seriously injured, but Sanakoyev miraculously survived.

Five days later, Russian fighter jets penetrated Georgian air space in what Moscow called a signal to the "hotheads in Tbilisi." The timing of this show of strength was carefully chosen, being only one day before Georgian President Saakashvili planned to meet with US Secretary of State Rice over dinner in Tbilisi. In retrospect, Saakashvili and Rice would interpret their conversations in different ways. Rice claims that she warned Saakashvili against military conflict with Russia, while Saakashvili recalls Rice's assurances of firm solidarity. Rice left Tbilisi 28 days before the war broke out.

Combative Language

On July 10, Georgia recalled its ambassador to Russia, in protest over the violation of its airspace. At the same time, tensions were growing in the Black Sea republic of Abkhazia, where bomb attacks killed four people. There were even explosions in the nearby Russian resort of Sochi, the site of a future Olympic venue. Georgian nationals were suspected of committing the attacks

Even as Russian tourists were enjoying their low-cost vacations on Abkhazian beaches, troops and military vehicles were being deployed to the breakaway region. Using combative language, Abkhazian leader Sergei Bagapsh told the Moscow magazine Ogonjok: "We are ready for war. But I am not about to stand here and tell you exactly how we have prepared ourselves."

On July 15, an unprecedented show of military strength began on both sides of the main ridge of the Great Caucasus Range. In the south, not far from Tbilisi, close to 1,000 Americans joined the Fourth Infantry Brigade of the Georgian army in a maneuver called "Immediate Response 2008."

On the same day, a maneuver called "Caucasus 2008," under the command of high-ranking General Sergei Makarov, the commander of the northern Caucasus military district, began on Russian territory north of the Caucasus ridge, between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. The exercise included 8,000 troops from all branches of the military. Troops with the 76th Air Landing Division, from Pskov, conducted their exercises openly on a military training ground in the Daryal Canyon, not far from the Roki Tunnel to South Ossetia -- the eye of the needle between Russia and Georgia.

According to claims coming from Moscow, Russia's troops in the field were prepared to "come to the aid of the Russian peacekeepers" stationed in South Ossetia. The government in Tbilisi was quick to respond, noting that it was unaware of a "right to conduct any actions on Georgian soil."

Western intelligence agencies observed that, after the July 30 end to the "Caucasus 2008" exercises ended, the dispatch channels set up by the Russians were kept in place, hardly the usual practice following military exercises. Furthermore, the 58th Army remained in a state of heightened readiness. For US intelligence, with its arsenal of spy satellites, reconnaissance aircraft and unmanned drones, this should have been a reason for concern.

48 Russians for each Georgian

More reasons for worry quickly followed. Following the military exercise on the Georgian side, President Saakashvili -- directly under the noses of the American military advisors -- sent parts of his army toward South Ossetia instead of ordering them to return to their barracks. The artillery brigade, for example, which would begin firing on the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali eight days later, on Aug. 7, is normally divided between two towns, Senaki and Gori. But after July 30, the brigade was concentrated in Gori.

The outbreak of the war was still seven days away. Two armies, both well-equipped but of unequal strength, were facing off across the border. In case of conflict, there would be 48 Russian troops for each Georgian soldier. A tragedy was gradually taking shape, and yet the world public was still in the dark.

The skirmishes became more frequent in the final days leading up to all-out war. On Friday, Aug. 1, five Georgian police officers were injured in a bomb attack in South Ossetia. A short time later, snipers shot and killed six people, most of them police officers with the pro-Russian separatist government, while they were fishing and swimming. Ossetians began sending their women and children to safety in Russia.

On Aug. 3, the Russian foreign ministry issued a final warning that an "extensive military conflict" was about to erupt. Officials in Europe's seats of government and intelligence agency headquarters had a sense of what the Russians were talking about. Saakashvili's plans for an invasion had been completed some time earlier. A first draft prepared in 2006, believed to be a blueprint of sorts for the later operation, anticipated that Georgian forces would capture all key positions within 15 hours.

A plan B -- in the event of failure -- did not exist.

Three days before the outbreak of the war, officials in Israel emphatically stated that the country had not sold offensive weapons to Georgia in months, and that "frantic requests" from Tbilisi, including those requests for Israeli-made Merkava tanks and new weapons, were rejected. From the perspective of the Israelis, Georgia and Russia were clearly on a collision course.

The People Would Pay the Price

Georgia had increasingly made headlines as a goldmine for Israeli arms dealers and veterans from the military and the Mossad, Israel's intelligence agency. According to reports in the Jerusalem media, cousins of Georgian Defense Minister David Kezerashvili, who himself lived in Holon near Tel Aviv and speaks Hebrew, acted as reliable contacts for Israeli arms dealers. And Temuri Yakobashvili, who, as Georgia's state minister for reintegration, is responsible for South Ossetia and Abkhazia, said openly: "The training of our military units by Israelis makes me proud to be a Jew."

But did Georgia's young elite misinterpret the importance of their own country and misunderstand the motives of its allies, friends and trading partners? That conclusion seemed more and more likely as war approached. But it would be the people who would pay the price.

At about 10 p.m. on Aug. 5, teacher Sisino Javakhishvili, after bathing her granddaughter, went into the courtyard of her house in the Georgian village of Nikosi, three kilometers from the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali, to fetch water. She had heard gunfire before, but suddenly she sensed that it was serious. "No one here is surprised by individual gunshots or even machine-gun fire, but this time it was truly massive," she says. "We had not noticed anything out of the ordinary in the days before then. The only thing we did notice were the television stories about Ossetian residents being taken out of Tskhinvali. We saw busses full of people departing for Russia. But my husband said that it was to intimidate us."

The evacuation of the women and children was complete by Aug. 6. In the Georgian-controlled villages of South Ossetia, skirmishes between Georgian army infantry and South Ossetian militias became more intense, erupting into nonstop artillery exchanges during the ensuing night. Georgian sources reported that Russian soldiers had entered the conflict on the Ossetian side.

According to Western observers, by the morning of Aug. 7 the Georgians had amassed 12,000 troops on the border to South Ossetia. Seventy-five tanks and armored personnel carriers were in position near Gori. In a 15-hour blitzkrieg, the tanks were to advance to the Roki Tunnel to seal it off. At that point, there were only 500 Russian soldiers and another 500 fighters with the South Ossetia militia armed and ready to defend Tskhinvali and the surrounding area. At 4:06 p.m., the South Ossetian authorities reported that Tskhinvali had come under attack from grenade launchers and automatic weapons. Fifty minutes later, they reported "large-scale military aggression against the Republic of South Ossetia." According to Western intelligence sources, the Georgian artillery bombardment of Tskhinvali did not begin until 10:30 p.m. on that Thursday. It was orchestrated by 27 Georgian army rocket launchers capable of firing ordnance with a maximum caliber of 152 millimeters. At 11 p.m., Saakashvili announced that the goal of the operation was the "re-establishment of constitutional order in South Ossetia."

Part 3: A Disastrous Decision

During his invasion, the Georgian president relied primarily on infantry units that had to advance along major roads. At 11:10 p.m., the Georgian side informed the general in charge of the Russian peacekeepers that they planned to use military force to re-establish "constitutional order" in the Tskhinvali Region, the Georgian term for South Ossetia. Half an hour later, a Georgian grenade struck the roof of a three-story building occupied by Russian troops, killing two soldiers on observation duty.

Salvos from multiple rocket launchers rained down on the complex. The peacekeepers' cafeteria was reduced to rubble and all of the buildings went up in flames. Eighteen Russian soldiers died in the attack. Four minutes before midnight, the South Ossetian authorities reported: "The Georgian armed forces' storm on Tskhinvali has begun."

Russian soldiers did offer resistance. According to Georgian reports, they included members of both the peacekeeping force and Ossetian militias. The Georgians, however, became bogged down during their attack and failed to advance beyond Tskhinvali. They were inexperienced -- the civilian casualties in Tskhinvali were high. The Georgian interior ministry -- instead of the defense ministry -- managed the campaign. The choice was consistent with international law, given the fact that South Ossetia nominally belongs to Georgia. From a military standpoint, however, the decision was disastrous.

Saakashvili Was Unavailable

In Russia, shortly before the war began, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin was sitting in his office on the seventh floor of a Stalin-era skyscraper in downtown Moscow. It was the evening of August 7, following a rainy, late-summer day. Karasin is in charge of managing Russia's strained relations with the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), including conflict zones on the territory of the Black Sea republic of Georgia.

In the past three years, says Karasin, hardly a day has gone by when he has not discussed South Ossetia and Abkhazia with European, American or Georgian officials.

But starting in early August, Karasin began receiving unsettling reports from Yuri Popov, the relevant special ambassador and commander of the Russian portion of the peacekeeping force. At approximately 9 p.m. on the evening of Aug. 7, Karasin was informed that Georgia was amassing troops along the South Ossetian border. The special ambassador reported counting five tanks, six armored personnel carriers, five howitzers, multiple rocket launchers, trucks and buses full of soldiers and officers on the road back to Tbilisi from Tskhinvali.

Karasin stayed in his office until after 10 p.m., and when he arrived at home he called Russian President Medvedev. It was one of seven conversations with the president conducted that night. Medvedev instructed Karasin to contact Saakashvili immediately, but the Georgian president was unavailable. Instead, Karasin called Dan Fried, his American counterpart, who told him that Washington was doing its best to get the situation under control. That was the extent of the conversations on that night.

By the next morning, it was too late for a peaceful solution. Starting at 2:06 a.m. on Aug. 8, the tickers of international press agencies began running reports of Russian tanks in the Roki tunnel. Depending on the estimate, the Russians moved between 5,500 and 10,000 soldiers into South Ossetia through the Roki tunnel. Meanwhile, there were already between 7,000 and 10,000 Russian soldiers at the Georgian-Abkhazian border, many of them brought there on ships from Russia. The "Moskva," a guided missile cruiser and flagship of Russia's Black Sea fleet, with the fleet commander himself on board, was patrolling off the Georgian coast.

Sukhoi and Tupolev combat aircraft, including the models Su-25, Su-24, Su-27 and Tu-22, were patrolling the air. For the people living in the Georgian villages in South Ossetia, Russian air superiority quickly became a nightmare.

'Explosions Every Few Seconds'

A 68-year-old mechanic from Kurta, a village northeast of Tskhinvali, couldn't believe his eyes. "It was terrible, when the planes came and shot at us. Every bomb didn't explode only once, but several times in succession, a little farther along each time, creating long strips of explosions; the planes made a droning noise as they approached. I hid in the cellar and looked at my watch. There were explosions every few seconds."

The Russian planes must have been using cluster bombs -- as did the Georgians, according to reports by observers with the organization Human Rights Watch. It was a war that was unleashed on the basis of archaic 20th-century geopolitics, but fought with 21st century technology. It was a war that caught the world policemen in a globalized community off-guard. And by the time the world noticed, it was already in full swing.

Alexander Stubb, the Finnish foreign minister and current chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), did not see the war coming: "The OSCE has always been involved here, since 1992. There were many reports about smaller conflicts. I received the first information about the major conflict in the night before Aug. 8. It took us by surprise. I spoke with my mission chief in Tbilisi on Aug. 7. She told me that it was very dangerous there, but that it was not a problem. The, in the night before Aug. 8, all hell broke loose."

The civilian dead have now been buried. No one knows the real death toll. Seventy-four Russian soldiers died (400, according to Georgian sources), and the Georgians lost 165 (4,000, say the Russians). But which of the countries truly won? Which can hope for a better outcome once the dust from this strange Caucasian war has settled? And how long will the new Cold War, which appears to have erupted between Russia and the West, last?

In recent days, President Saakashvili has tirelessly met with foreign dignitaries and relished the international spotlight. First Condoleezza Rice returned to Tbilisi, followed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Foreign Minister David Miliband. Meanwhile, Poland signed a treaty with the United States for the development of the missile defense shield. Moscow responded by commenting that in doing so, Warsaw had also placed itself into Moscow's nuclear sights. In the UN Security Council, Russia and the West introduced resolutions that had no chance of approval, because the current and former superpowers were vetoing each other.

During all this, the withdrawal of Russian troops from Georgian soil dragged on into the night before last Saturday. The soldiers destroyed key bridges, railroad lines and roads. The military victor went to great lengths to humiliate the loser, which had allowed itself to be provoked into an attack.

It could take Georgia years to recover from this Six-Day War.

By Manfred Ertel, Uwe Klussmann, Susanne Koelbl, Walter Mayr, Matthias Schepp, Holger Stark and Alexander Szandar

Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan


http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/...,574812,00.html

Asian alliance rebuffs Russian plea for support


Russia finding NO friends, only potential enemies.. GasPutin's Folly or GasPutin coming adventuresinto Soviet Empirial Russia?


DUSHANBE, Tajikistan - China and several Central Asian nations rebuffed Russia's hopes of international support for its actions in Georgia, issuing a statement Thursday denouncing the use of force and calling for the respect of every country's territorial integrity.

A joint declaration from the six-member Shanghai Cooperation Organization also offered some support for Russia's "active role in promoting peace" following a cease-fire, but overall it appeared to increase Moscow's international isolation.

Russia's search for support in Asia had raised fears that the alliance would turn the furor over Georgia into a broader confrontation between East and West, pitting the U.S. and Europe against their two main Cold War foes.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had appealed to the Asian alliance, which is made up of China, Russia and four ex-Soviet Central Asian nations, for unanimous support of Moscow's response to Georgia's "aggression."

But the alliance, which was created in 2001 to improve regional coordination on terrorism and border security, opted to take a neutral position and urged all sides to resolve the conflict through "peaceful dialogue."

"The participants ... underscore the need for respect of the historical and cultural traditions of each country and each people, and for efforts aimed at preserving the unity of the state and its territorial integrity," the alliance's statement said.

None of the other alliance members joined Russia in recognizing the independence claims of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, in an interview with CNN, accused the U.S. of orchestrating the conflict in Georgia to provide a talking point in the American presidential campaign. The White House press secretary Dana Perino called the claims "patently false."

Russia's decision to recognize Georgia's separatist regions Tuesday sparked another storm of criticism from the West because both provinces make up roughly 20 percent of Georgia's territory. The West had already criticized Russia for what it calls a disproportionate use of force in fighting this month with Georgia, its small southern neighbor that wants to join NATO.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Robert Wood expressed satisfaction about the Asian group's statement, saying "it wasn't what I would call an endorsement of Russia's recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia."

China has traditionally been wary of endorsing separatists abroad, mindful of its own problems with Tibet and Muslims in the western territory of Xinjiang. The joint statement, which was unanimously endorsed, made a point of stressing the sanctity of borders — two days after Russia sought to redraw Georgia's territory.

The Asian alliance's statement offered some praise of Moscow's actions, at least in the context of the peace deal signed five days after the war began Aug. 7. The alliance said it supports "the active role of Russia in promoting peace and cooperation in the given region."

The four Central Asian members of the group — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan — all seemed reluctant to damage their relations with Europe and the U.S.

Kazakhstan enjoys significant Western investment in its rich hydrocarbon sector, and impoverished Kyrgyzstan earns $150 million in aid and rent for hosting a U.S. air base that supports military operations in Afghanistan.

The alliance conducts joint military exercises and aspires to become a counterweight to NATO. In 2005, its members called for a timetable for U.S. forces to leave Central Asian bases the U.S. uses to support operations in Afghanistan.

Despite continuing Western protests and a visit by U.S. warships to Georgia's Black Sea coast, Russian troops remain at checkpoints inside areas controlled by Georgia prior to the recent conflict.

While a cease-fire agreement calls for both sides to withdraw to their previous positions, the Kremlin says the agreement allows Russian forces to occupy "security zones" outside the rebel regions.

In a rare gesture of conciliation, Russian forces turned over 12 Georgian soldiers on the border of Abkhazia. The Georgians were seized Aug. 18 and paraded — blindfolded and hands tied behind their backs_ on top of Russian armored vehicles.

The soldiers appeared unharmed Thursday, and some were smiling.

But there was also new conflict in the region. South Ossetia claimed to have shot down an unmanned Georgian spy plane that was scouting the skies over the republic. Georgia denied the report and its parliament later urged the country's leadership to break off diplomatic relations with Russia, calling it an "aggressor country."

Russia responded to Georgia's military offensive on South Ossetia by sending hundreds of tanks rolling into the rebel region, pushing Georgian troops out of South Ossetia's capital, Tskhinvali, before driving deep into Georgia proper.

The West accuses Russia of excessive force in response to the Georgian offensive, of failing to meet its troop withdrawal commitments under an EU-brokered cease-fire and of violating international law in recognizing the two separatist regions.

In Vienna, Georgian Foreign Minister Eka Tkeshelashvili said Russian forces and their armed allies have driven all Georgians out of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and were now ethnically cleansing villages in other areas of Georgia. Russia denied the charge.

___

Associated Press Writers Jim Heintz and Misha Dzhindzhikhashvili in Tbilisi, Georgia; and Catrina Stewart, Nataliya Vasilyeva, David Nowak, Doug Birch and Steve Gutterman in Moscow contributed to this report.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080828/ap_on_re_eu/georgia


THAT IS ALL!!

Russian Markets and Currency Hit by Georgian Conflict

Russia's currency and stock market have suffered substantial losses since the outbreak of hostilities in Georgia three weeks ago. VOA Moscow correspondent Peter Fedynsky reports investors are nervous going into the weekend over the possibility that European heads of state may apply sanctions against Russia during a special summit on Monday to discuss the Georgian crisis.

Russia's RTS Index of leading stocks fell more than six percent the day hostilities broke out in Georgia and reached their lowest point in nearly two years when President Dmitri Medvedev formally recognized the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Bloomberg News reports the Russian ruble is headed for its biggest monthly decline against the U.S. dollar in more than nine years as investors reduce their Russian holdings. In addition, Russia's Central Bank says the country lost more than $16 billion in the week following the launch of military operations in Georgia on August 8. Financial observers attribute the loss to nervous investors pulling capital from Russia.

The RTS index reached its peak in April and has been ratcheting down since. Timur Nazardinov, chief trader at the Troika Dialogue Investment Bank in Moscow says the Georgian conflict accelerated the decline.

Nazardinov says events in Georgia brought uncertainty into the market, which naturally reacted negatively. He adds that investors witnessed declines of five to ten percent in the course of a day and the market reached bottom on Tuesday when President Medvedev recognized South Ossetian and Abkhaz independence.

Nazardinov notes the market experienced a late session rally that day as investors bought stocks at bargain prices. But Russian stocks going into the weekend are mostly down. The stock trader says there is some nervousness ahead of Monday's special EU summit to discuss a European response to the Georgian crisis.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Thursday that Europe may apply sanctions against Russia. While a source in the office of French President Sarkozy now says that sanctions will not be considered, Timur Nazardinov says the very mention of them has made investors nervous.

He says the word sanctions is a considerable negative on the market, and if the summit imposes serious mea