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Strategies & Market Trends : The coming US dollar crisis -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Real Man who wrote (10080)	8/10/2008 7:34:59 AM
From: Giordano Bruno	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71454

Ethnic strife has always been with us and may continue forever. I hope not. We are territorial and to some degree racist in the end. youtube.com

To: Real Man who wrote (10080)	8/10/2008 8:11:36 AM
From: Giordano Bruno	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71454

Even the players have no clue what's going on. Typical war stuff. -g- Georgia Pulls Out of South Ossetia As Crisis Spreads to Other Territory By MARC CHAMPION August 10, 2008 7:49 a.m. Georgia said Sunday a Russian-backed assault had begun in a second separatist territory, even as Georgia said it had withdrawn its troops entirely from the separatist enclave of South Ossetia to stave off all out war. Head of Georgia's national security council Alexander Lomaia said he had just received word Sunday afternoon that separatists in Abkhazia had launched an attack on Georgian troops in so-called Upper Abkhazia. He also said Russian jets had been bombing the valley during the night and Sunday morning. He said seven vessels from Russia's Black Sea fleet unloaded heavy equipment and up to 4,000 troops at Abkhazia's port of Ocamcire overnight. It was not possible to verify Sunday's attack, although Abkhazia had declared a general mobilization and announced Saturday that it planned to drive Georgian troops from Upper Abkhazia -- an isolated valley that had been run by a Georgian warlord until 2006, when government troops seized it. Abkhazia is a separatist territory on Georgia's Black Sea Coast, where the ethnic Abkhaz minority, backed by Russian volunteers, fought a brutal war for independence after an equally brutal Georgian crackdown in the early 1990s, driving out some 250,000 ethnic Georgians -- approximately half the population. Russia said Sunday it was checking whether Georgian forces really were pulling back from positions they occupied. One Russian military commander told the Interfax news agency that he saw no signs of a Georgian withdrawal, though Russian troops were in control of the main city Tskhinvali. Georgia withdrew its troops "as part of a very conscious decision by the Georgian government to end this spiral of violence," said Georgian Foreign Minister Eka Tkeshelashvili in a phone interview. She said Georgia had delivered a message to Moscow asking for a ceasefire, but had yet to receive a response. Ms. Tkeshelashvili said Georgia had decided to retreat to the boundaries of South Ossetia, as Russia has demanded, because of an escalating Russian aerial bombing campaign across Georgia. "For us, with our limited resources, it has become extremely difficult to secure the safety of our citizens without knowing what the limits are to the actions of the Russian Federation," she said, accusing Russia of bombing villages, apartment blocks and civilian installations. "We are appealing for the Russian Federation to come to the negotiating table, and we are appealing to the international community to moderate a solution," said Ms. Tkeshelashvili. Earlier Sunday, Georgian officials said Russian aircraft had bombed military facilities at Tbilisi airport at 5:45 AM local time. The main international civilian airport was not damaged and remained open. Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili said Georgian positions around Tskhinvali in South Ossetia were under heavy attack Sunday morning. Abkhazia's President Sergei Bagapsh said he issued a decree putting the province's troops on high alert and mobilizing some reservists after Georgia launched the campaign to regain control over South Ossetia. Reports Sunday indicated that Russian warships off the Georgian coast were attempting to enforce an economic embargo. At least two ships carrying supplies for Georgia had been turned away, agencies reported. Russian troops first entered Georgian territory late last week under disputed circumstances. Russia says Georgia had launched an unprovoked assault on South Ossetia Thursday night and that Russia was obliged to protect its peacekeepers and citizens. In recent years, Moscow has issued Russian passports to most South Ossetians, an ethnic group estimated to number up to 70,000 in Georgia. Georgia says South Ossetian troops breached a ceasefire Thursday and launched a major attack, while Russian forces were already en route to back them up. South Ossetia and Abkhazia broke away from Georgia in the early 1990s in heavy fighting, back by volunteers and air support from Russia. Abkhazia seeks independence, while South Ossetia wishes to join Russia. --Andrew Osborn contributed to this article. Write to Marc Champion at marc.champion@wsj.com online.wsj.com