MISSILE DAY ALERT: Russian forces invade, bomb Georgia as Tbilisi reasserts control over South Ossetia; Saakashvili alleged KGB agent

- War Erupts between Russia and Georgia as Putin Attends Beijing Olympics, Confers with Fellow Communist Hu, Chats Up Bush

- South Ossetian President Blames USA, Ukraine for Provoking Georgia into Attacking Breakaway Region

- Two Tu-160 Bombers Complete 12-Hour Mission over Arctic, Atlantic

The manufactured crisis in the Caucasian republics exploded into full-blown war yesterday as Georgia launched a major offensive to reassert control over the breakaway region of South Ossetia. This region and Abkhazia, another rebellious microstate, are both legally part of Georgia. During Thursday's offensive 10 Russian peacekeepers stationed at a barracks in the regional capital of Tskhinvali were reportedly killed as a result of Georgian shelling, providing the pretext required by Moscow to dispatch its troops and tanks into South Ossetia today.

All of the actors in this red-scripted drama are "ex"-cadres of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, graduates of the Soviet Komsomol, proteges of some communist official, or "ex"-KGB or "ex"-GRU types. This includes South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity, Abkhazian President Sergei Bagapsh, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, and Russian "President" Dmitry Medvedev. In June Kokoity attended a low-profile meeting in North Ossetia with Communist Party of the Russian Federation Chairman Gennady Zyuagnov, whom we consider to be one of the powers behind the throne in "post"-communist Russia. According to Georgian dissident Irakli Kakabadze, "pro"-Western Saakashvili is a long-time KGB agent, while it is more commonly known that his political career was jumpstarted under the auspices of former Georgian Communist Party boss and Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze.

Pictured above: The "one clenched fist" of the Moscow-Bejing Axis personified: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Hu Jintao meet in Chinese capital on the occasion of the Olympic Games' opening ceremony; pictured here: US President George W. Bush (center) walks with his bud Putin (left) to a banquet at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing; pictured below: A Russian fighter jet attacks a Georgian position near the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali, 100 kilometres from Tbilisi; pictured at bottom: Russian tank column moves toward Tskhinvali, in this image grab from Russian Channel 1. All of these pictures were taken on August 8, 2008.

Georgia surrounds capital in rebel province
August 8, 2008 - 8:19PM

Georgian forces surrounded and shelled the capital of the breakaway South Ossetia province on Friday, drawing warnings of retaliation from Russia which supports the separatist administration.

Amid spiralling tensions, reports said Russian forces on peacekeeping duty in South Ossetia had been killed and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned his country would respond to Georgia's offensive in the Caucasus trouble spot.

A Kremlin spokesman said President Dmitry Medvedev was considering "emergency measures" in response to the Georgian attack.

Georgia said Russian warplanes had bombed targets in its territory but this was denied by the Russian foreign ministry.

At least 15 civilians were killed in the fighting and Georgian shelling and air raids on the separatist capital Tskhinvali, South Ossetian officials and reports said.

The European Union, United States, NATO and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) all called for a halt to the fighting in South Ossetia -- which broke away from Tbilisi's control in the early 1990s.

The International Committee of the Red Cross appealed for a "humanitarian corridor" to be set up to evacuate the wounded from the province.

The United Nations expressed concern but failed to agree on a Russian statement urging Georgia and the rebels to halt the fighting.

Georgia accuses Russia of seeking to take over South Ossetia.

An AFP reporter saw Georgian forces fire over a dozen missiles towards South Ossetia from a position inside Georgia and witnessed helicopters and hundreds of soldiers in trucks moving towards the region.

A large plume of smoke rose from Tskhinvali shortly after dawn and explosions and heavy weapons continued regularly as they had all night.

The Russian military said a barracks for Russian peacekeepers in Tskhinvali was hit and that some troops were killed, Russia's Interfax news agency reported.

"As a result of the Georgian artillery shelling there are fatalities among the peacekeepers," a representative of the Russian command was quoted as saying.

Three Russian Sukhoi-24 aircraft entered Georgian airspace and one dropped two bombs near the border village of Kareli, a Georgian interior ministry spokesman told AFP.

The Georgian defence ministry said Russian planes dropped four bombs near Gori, the main Georgian city near South Ossetia.

A Russian foreign ministry spokesman told AFP the Georgian claims were "nonsense" and "rubbish".

Georgia's President Mikheil Saakashvili said "Most of South Ossetia's territory is liberated and is controlled by Georgia."

He added in televised comments that Russia was conducting flights over Tskhinvali and declared: "I demand Russia stop bombardment of peaceful Georgian cities."

But Putin, the former Russian president who is now its influential prime minister, condemned Georgia's "aggressive actions" and said his country would have to retaliate.

"It is regrettable that on the day before the opening of the Olympic Games, the Georgian authorities have undertaken aggressive actions in South Ossetia," said Putin in Beijing.

"They have in effect begun hostilities using tanks and artillery," he added. "It is sad, but this will provoke retaliatory measures."

Putin said he had discussed the crisis with Chinese leaders and with US President George W. Bush. "Everybody agrees -- nobody wants to see a war."

Russia called a special meeting of the UN Security Council which expressed concern over the fighting but could not agree on a Russian statement urging the warring sides to renounce the use of force and return to the negotiating table.

The European Union, NATO and United States all called on both sides to stop the fighting and hold talks.

South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity said earlier his forces still controlled Tskhinvali.

"We fully control our capital. The battle is continuing on the outskirts of Tskhinvali," Kokoity was quoted as saying by Interfax. "The situation is completely under control."

"Georgian SU-25 planes are dropping bombs on innocent civilians in the Republic of South Ossetia," a statement on the official website of the South Ossetian authorities said.

The offensive was described by General Mamuka Kurashvili, who leads Georgia's contribution to the peacekeeping mission in South Ossetia, as an attempt to "restore constitutional order" in the region.
In recent months, Moscow and Tbilisi have sparred repeatedly over South Ossetia and another breakaway Georgian region, Abkhazia.

Georgia's pro-Western government accuses Moscow of seeking to annex the two regions and derail its efforts to join the transatlantic NATO alliance, which Russia vehemently opposes.

The Georgian offensive came within just hours of reports that Georgia and South Ossetia agreed to meet Friday for talks and the declaration of a unilateral ceasefire by the Georgian president.

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

Two days ago communist organ Pravda quoted President Kokoity, with reference to earlier Georgian "provocations," as saying: "Georgia has declared a sniper war on the Republic South Ossetia and again undertook an attempt to unleash a large scale war. The Ukraine and the USA bear responsibility together with Georgia. The Ukraine transmitted to Georgia 40 units of sniper armament, 120 units were transmitted from the USA. Those countries bear responsibility together with Georgia in supporting the pseudo-democratic image of Georgia."

Keeping in mind the disengenuous nature of the Sino-Soviet border clash of 1969, which was portrayed by Moscow and Beijing as evidence of disunity within the Communist Bloc, the nationalistic dispute between Moscow and Tblisi should be viewed as part of the ongoing Soviet strategy to portray the Commonwealth of Independent States as a target of Western subversion and NATO aggression. The "pro"-Western regimes in both Georgia and Ukraine have sought admission to NATO, prompting no end of fulminations from Moscow.

The Great Chess Game of Geopolitics

Meanwhile, we must consider the following questions in light of the current geopolitical situations unfolding in the world today: Is the USA using the Olympic Games and the Caucasus conflict to divert world attention from its plans to impose sanctions upon Iran? Or, are Russia and China using the Olympic Games and the Caucasus conflict to divert world attention from their plans to attack the West?

The US, British, French, and Brazilian navies have just wrapped up the two-week joint maneuver Operation Brimstone in the Atlantic Ocean. The geopolitical analysts at Debkafile expect that the first three countries that participated in this drill are preparing to implement a naval blockade against Iran should Tehran fail to terminate its "peaceful" nuclear power program, following the ultimatum produced by an international meeting in Geneva on July 19.

Yesterday American blogger "Lord Stirling" rightly observed that Russia and China will oppose a naval blockade against Iran and, intriguingly, suggests that a "strategic diversion has been created for Russia" by the Western Alliance in the form of Georgia's offensive against South Ossetia. However, Lord Stirling rightly concluded that "The Russians are great chess players and this game may not turn out so well for the neo-cons." Indeed. Washington may believe that it is using Tblisi to advance its own interests in Central and Southern Asia when, in fact, Tblisi is doing Moscow's bidding.

The large and very advanced nature of the US Naval warships is not only directed at Iran. There is a great fear that Russia and China may oppose the naval and air/land blockade of Iran. If Russian and perhaps Chinese naval warships escort commercial tankers to Iran in violation of the blockade it could be the most dangerous at-sea confrontation since the Cuban Missile Crisis. The US and allied Navies, by front loading a Naval blockade force with very powerful guided missile warships and strike carriers is attempting to have a force so powerful that Russia and China will not be tempted to mess with. This is a most serious game of military brinkmanship with major nuclear armed powers that have profound objections to the neo-con grand strategy and to western control of all of the Middle East's oil supply.

A strategic diversion has been created for Russia. The Republic of Georgia, with US backing, is actively preparing for war on South Ossetia. The South Ossetia capital has been shelled and a large Georgian tank force has been heading towards the border. Russia has stated that it will not sit by and allow the Georgians to attack South Ossetia. The Russians are great chess players and this game may not turn out so well for the neo-cons.

In a possibly related story, two supersonic Tu-160 Blackjack bombers, which are comparable to the US Air Force's B-1 Lancer bomber only larger and faster, completed a 12-hour mission over the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans today as part of the Russian Air Force's revived regular overseas bomber patrols. As usual, reports state-run Novosti, neo-Soviet officialdom denies that Russia's strategic aviation violated international rules of flight. The Blackjack is the heaviest combat aircraft ever built.