Putin wants to invade Georgia in exchange for support for us to attack Iraq. Powell is for that, Rumsfeld against it.
But with recent proof (UPI Hears post) that Chechens are allied with al-Qaeda types, and these terrorists are attacking Russia from Georgia, I think Bush should email Putin a mpeg file of "That's the night the lights went out in Georgia".
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Excerpts with links:
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On Monday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov told reporters in Madrid that Russia wouldn't necessarily object to a new U.N. resolution if it were to make the work of U.N. inspectors more effective, and indicated that Moscow may not oppose a U.S.-led military strike against Iraq as a measure of "last resort."
Russia's stance on Iraq seems to be closely intertwined with the U.S. position on Georgia, a tiny Caucasian nation that harbors Chechen rebels wanted by Moscow. Russia has threatened to launch pre-emptive strikes on Georgia if the Tbilisi authorities failed to crush guerrilla bases in the Pankisi Gorge.
Ivanov appeared to have softened his opposition to Washington's intentions on Iraq following his talks at the White House and the Pentagon last week, where he presented what he claimed was "irrefutable proof" of Georgia's links with international terrorists based in the Pankisi Gorge.
On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told Moscow's influential Izvestia daily that the Kremlin was free to choose ways how to defend its own territory.
"I think Russia must decide for itself what it must do in self-defense, I have no intention of telling Russia what to do," Izvestia quoted Powell as saying in a front-page report.
Powell's comments were widely interpreted in Moscow as a sign that Washington would not stand in the way of Russian military action in Georgia.
However, U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld Wednesday dispersed hopes that Washington may close an eye on a potential Russian military incursion into Georgia in exchange for Moscow's vote in the U.N. Security Council on a new resolution on Iraq.
"The United States' position is that it's important that Georgia's sovereignty be respected," Rumsfeld said at the end of a two-day meeting of NATO defense ministers in Warsaw, Poland, which was attended by his Russian counterpart Ivanov. "We do not favor bombing in that area," he said.
Both Moscow and Washington have officially said that the Iraqi crisis and the continuing spat between Russia and Georgia cannot be equated, though diplomatic analysts say behind-the-scenes speculations of some sort of deal are rife.
upi.com
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Russia warns Georgia over link to clashes
WARSAW, Poland, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- Russia may launch a military strike against neighboring Georgia if reports that Chechen rebels invaded the Russian autonomous republic of Ingushetia from Georgian territory are confirmed, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov told reporters Thursday.
Asked if Thursday's rebel attack and clashes with federal forces in Ingushetia might be the last straw for Russia, Ivanov replied: "It may be."
washtimes.com
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Videotape just released by the Chechen rebels confirms what U.S. intelligence has suspected -- and what Russian President Vladimir Putin has long claimed -- that the Chechen's so-called "moderate" leader Aslan Maskhadov has bowed to the Islamicist hard-liners and gone "jihadi." On the tape, his commentary on the shooting down of a Russian military helicopter, he is seen wearing epaulets inscribed with verses from the Koran. Behind him was the rebels' green flag, which used to feature the Chechen nationalist emblem of a wolf of Ichkeria, has been replaced by Koranic verse and a scimitar. The result looks very like the flag of Saudi Arabia, reflecting the puritanical and intolerant Wahhabi sect of Islam. At one point in the videotape, which Russian officials have made available to the Americans, Maskhadov refers to the armed men in camouflage gear surrounding him as "Mujahedin." American enthusiasm for getting the Russians back to the negotiating table with Maskhadov has accordingly nose-dived. The Russians, who have been warning for months that the Chechens were snuggling ever deeper into bed with al Qaida, are raising a new hot potato -- the question of Saudi funding for the Chechens. |
