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Bush’s War in Georgia: The Official Cover-Up Revealed!
Brian Harring
Following the end of fighting in Georgia and the humiliating rout and disintegration of the American-trained and supported Georgian army, the political recriminations on the part of Tblisi in Georgia and Washington and the Pentagon in America were frantically being created, sometimes out of whole cloth and always with an eye to putting the sole blame on Vladimir Putin and the leadership of the Russian Republic.
In the face of overwhelming evidence that the brief but devastating conflict with Russia was specifically caused by an armor and artillery attack on the breakaway provincial capital of South Ossetia by Georgian forces, the erratic and volatile Georgian President Saakashvili. has now been frantically working with American political and military leaders to present his side of the origins of the conflict. Lengthy Georgian apologia and enhancements have gone to the New York Times, various Pentagon public relations groups and the White House, with especial reference to Vice President Cheney.
The Georgians are finding willing accomplices in their cover-up activities because there is a significant body of highly sensitive Georgian diplomatic and military messaging that shows, very clearly and without question, that the attack on South Ossetia had been planned for some time and with the full, but careful, cooperation of the American military and political leadership, at the highest levels.
Since there is a strong propaganda effort in train, we can clearly explain its basis and progress in two ways: We can lay out an actual sequence of events and then show you the new propaganda line or we can show you the concocted allegation and publish the facts after them.
The U.S. and Georgian governments are on very thin ice here because a great deal of factual material was presented at the time but they always go on the belief that the last interpretation is the one that remains with a dimbulb public. That having been said, let us proceed to present a classic example of the sort of twisted facts and outright lies so beloved by the Bush Administration.
Now, let’s see what the official period Georgian governmental emails, intercepted by both the Russians and Americans, have to say on the issue:
1 August, 2008
On 1 August 2008 Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia Grigol Vashadze received Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the USA in Georgia John Teft. The meeting was held on the US side’s request. The sides discussed the pending actions by Georgian military units in the recovery and control of the Georgian province of South Ossetia. Present at the meeting, in addition to Deputy Minister Vashade and Ambassador Teft were representatives of the American military mission. At this time, a secure telephone conversation between Deputy Minister Vashadze, Ambassador Teft and American Secretary of State Rice was conducted with especial reference to “all support, military and political” from the United States in the forthcoming recovery effort for South Ossetia. The American President, Bush and Secretary of Defense, Gates, have been fully appraised of the forthcoming action and both fully approve. The American Ambassador stated that the action must at once be followed up by an occupation of the province by Georgian troops. A further discussion concerned the presence of American troops in South Ossetia. Deputy Minister Vashadze expressed the official view that if numbers of American troops were present and the Russians were made aware of it, possible retaliatory Russian military action would, of necessity, be minimal or non-existent. The fact that both Presidents Putin and Bush would be in Beijing for the Olympics was stressed. It was generally agreed by all participating parties, to include Secretary Rice, that presented with a fait accompli, President Putin would have no choice but to yield to superior force. The American President has stated via Secretary Rice, that full support of Nato was envisioned and that successful military and police action on the part of the military units of the Georgian army would put paid to stirrings of militancy on the part of Putin. (See transcript of Secretary Rice’s conversation attached)* Also, Republican presidential candidate McCain who has very strong political and positive economic ties to Georgia, has been appraised of this pending episode and has been fully briefed by his senior political advisors.
* Important excerpts of the conversation will be published in the Slaughterhouse Informer on October 1st, 2008.
[1]At about 8:00 AM, Tbilisi time, a pickup vehicle with six Georgian police officers was hit by two remote control explosive devices on the Eredvi-Kheiti by-pass road linking the Didi Liakhvi Gorge – a Georgian enclave north of the breakaway region’s capital Tskhinvali - with Georgia proper. As a result of the attack, five Georgian policemen were severely wounded. The central authorities decided not to retaliate in order not to escalate the situation.
[There is no talk here of a Russian invasion. This discusses actions alleged to have been committed by Ossetian and Abkhazia “dissidents” against the Georgians, which is planned to be used as the basis for the forthcoming attacks]
[2] At this hour, the invading army of the Russian Federation has entered Georgian territory outside the conflict zones of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The Georgian army is retreating to defend the capital. The Government is urgently seeking international intervention to prevent the fall of Georgia and the further loss of life.
[This of course is totally untrue. There were no Russian troop movements anywhere on this date.]
“We no longer know the limits of the invading Russian army—Russia seems intent on overthrowing the democratically elected government of Georgia and occupying the country,” said Alexander Lomaia, the Secretary of the National Security Council. “As a consequence, the National Security Council has just decided to bring the Georgian army to Tbilisi in order to defend the capital and prevent the fall of Georgia.”
{The Russians had not attacked but the Georgians were preparing to. Here is their justification for their surprise attack. Don’t forget, this was in a conversation with U.S. Ambassador John Teft}
2 August,2008
As for the incidents of the last two days, a terrorist act committed on 1 August left 5 policemen wounded, one of them severely. On 2 August, late at night, bandit groups of the criminal regime opened fire at the villages of Kvemo and Zemo Nikozi, Avnevi, Eredvi and Ergneti. Shootings proceeded in the direction of a Georgian peacekeeping battalion and police checkpoints as well. As a result, six peaceful civilians and a policeman of the Interior Ministry received various wounds and injuries. Several dwelling houses were damaged.
We have on more than one occasion focused the attention of the international community, including the Russian Federation on the fact that the existence of the criminal regime in the Tskhinvali region poses threat to peace and stability in the Caucasus region as a whole.
{Again, it is important to note the date of this official statement. It is five days before the commencement of ‘hostile actions’ on the part of the Russians}
South Ossetian separatist government announced evacuation of more than 500 people, including about 400 children. However, Ermak Dzansolov, deputy prime minister of Russia’s North Ossetian Republic, told Interfax news agency that it was not an evacuation. Sending children to North Ossetia was part of a pre-arranged summer-camp programme, as he explained.
5. August, 2008
On 5 August 2008 Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia Eka Tkeshelashvili met with representatives of the Embassies of the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany and China. The meeting was held on the Georgian side’s request.
The aim of the meeting was to brief the aforesaid embassies on the recent development of events in the Tskhinvali region. Discussions also focused on prospects for peaceful resolution of the protracted conflicts on the territory of Georgia and further development of cooperation in this direction.
{Here we have the issuing of a diplomatic smokescreen designed to cover the massing of Georgian artillery and armor planning to assault South Ossetia.}
On 5 August, at 00.15, armed gangs of separatists carried out an attack on the police checkpoint of the Interior Ministry of Georgia. Three mortar grenades were fired at the police checkpoint, of which the two fell on the building and the third one blasted in front of it. This incident lays bare the criminal regime’s aim to outlast its days of existence by escalating the situation in the conflict zone through any means.
{Growing concern on the part of the peaceful but alarmed Georgian government about attacks on them by illegal dissidents. The classical Gleiwitz action. In September of 1939, the German Gestapo faked a Polish attack on th.e German Gleiwitz radio station and used this as an excuse to launch the Second World War.}
6. August, 2008
6 August, separatists opened mortar fire at Georgian populated villages of Eredvi, Prisi, Avnevi, Dvani and Nuli. Georgian government forces fired back in order to defend the positions and civilian population. As a result of intensive cross-fire during the night, two servicemen of the Georgian battalion of the Joint Peacekeeping Forces were injured. Separatist regime also claimed several injured persons on their side. Despite the targeted attacks on peaceful population and villages, as well as on the Georgian police and peacekeeping forces, the central authorities decided not to respond through heavy exchange of fire, in order not to injure the local population.
{Again, the peaceful Georgians are growing more alarmed at the brutal activities of the South Ossetians but are showing wonderful restraint in the face of terrible provocations. What, one asks, are they ever to do about this?}
7 August 2008
7 August 2008, on the initiative of Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia Grigol Vashadze, a meeting was held with the delegation of the EU Troika represented by Fabienne Drout-Lozinski, Deputy Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of France - current EU Presidency, Robin Liddell, First Counsellor of the European Commission’s Delegation to Georgia and Ivan Jestřāb, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Czech Republic - next EU Presidency.
The objective of the meeting was to acquaint the European side with the recent development of events in the Tskhinvali region.
According to the Deputy Foreign Minister, the situation in the conflict region remains extremely tense. The Ossetian side’s actions are not of sporadic nature, rather, they represent a well-planned and perfectly-organized military operation. However, the Georgian side continues to abstain from taking any kind of military action and does not plan any military offensive or defensive operation. The Georgian side calls on the European Union and its member states to register their firm position and employ all levers at their disposal to exert pressure on the Russian Federation capable to make a direct influence in terms of de-escalation of the situation
[Either the Georgians have taken a leaf directly from the Bush Iraq war book or someone from the U.S. State Department is helping them write their messages. The point of these plaintive meetings with representatives of friendly foreign governments is to establish justification and motive for their forthcoming assault.]
8 August,2008
On 8 August 2008 Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia Grigol Vashadze received Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States to Georgia John Teft.
The Georgian side provided the foreign diplomat with detailed information concerning the recent development of events and provocative military actions instigated by the separatist regime, which led the Georgian Authorities to take decisive measures for the protection of Georgian villages and peaceful population.
The Georgian side confirmed the readiness of the Georgian Authorities to sit at any time at the negotiation table. It was also emphasized that the international community should employ all resources at its disposal to make Russia desist from undertaking provocations against Georgia’s territorial integrity as well as the citizens of Georgia, both Georgians and Ossetians.
The meeting was also attended by Deputy US Ambassador Kent Loxton and representative of the Embassy’s political division Joy Davis Kirshner.
On 8 August 2008 Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia Eka Tkeshelashvili held a meeting with the diplomatic corps accredited in Georgia.
18:44 A motorcade of Russian tanks, armored vehicles and trucks loaded with different kinds of weapons reach Tskinvali by the Dzara by-pass road, 2 kilometers west of Tskinvali. The Russians opens intensive fire towards Georgian forces located in Tskinvali and on the neighboring heights. A second motorcade, which also came from Russia via the Roki tunnel, is stopped near the Georgian government controlled area of Dmenisi, 7 kilometers north of Tskinvali, and Russians open heavy fire toward Georgian forces.
[In light of the current Georgian and American claims of earlier Russian ‘vicious and unprovoked assaults’ on Georgia, here we have an interesting observation on the timing of this horrible assault by the evil Putin. Note the timing. Comment is superfluous. It does remind a scholar of the Pearl Harbor controversy]
21:11 The separatist authorities claim to have altogether 1400 people dead and wounded. At the same time, the Russian Ministry of Defense announces that there are 10 dead among Russian “peacekeepers”.
Having digested the propaganda, perhaps we can see comments from other sources not involved with the Georgian attack.
The chief military attaché of the German government in Moscow submitted to the German Foreign office in Berlin, a report analyzing the actions of the Russian military in the recent Russian/Georgian conflict. Generalmajor Heinz Wagner stated that the Russian response to the attacks by the Georgian army against the civilian population to be “entirely appropriate.”
"The extent of the use of military force by the Russian side appears - seen from here and despite reports to the contrary from Georgia and the picture conveyed by the media - not inappropriately high."
Generalmajor Wagner also said on August 11, 2008, that Russia had no choice but to react to the Georgian military action in South Ossetia.
The Russian peacekeeping forces stationed in the breakaway Georgian region "were not in a position, given their weapons and equipment, to defend themselves effectively or even to resist,"
”Russia had been compelled to ensure that the land forces of its 58th Army were able to move without being threatened by the Georgian Air Force, and for this reason Georgian planes had been prevented from intervening, “
”The Russians had moved to strengthen their peacekeepers, deployed under a mandate from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), to protect Russian citizens and to restore the status quo ante,” Wagner wrote "The deployment of air power - despite the regrettable civilian casualties - can be seen as militarily appropriate to the operation,"
The attempt to reconstruct the five-day war in August continues to revolve around one key question: Which side was the first to launch military strikes? Information coming from NATO and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) now paints a different picture than the one that prevailed during the first days of the battle for the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali
NATO headquarters in Brussels reported on September 2nd, 2008 that their assessments indicated that the Georgians had started the conflict and that their actions were more calculated than pure self-defense or a response to Russian provocation. In fact, the NATO officers believed that the Georgian attack was a calculated offensive against South Ossetian positions to create the facts on the ground, and they coolly treated the exchanges of fire in the preceding days as minor events. Even more clearly, NATO officials believed, looking back, that by no means could these skirmishes be seen as justification for Georgian war preparations.
German Foreign Minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier publicly called for clarification on the question of who is to blame for the Caucasus war. "We do need to know more about who bears what portion of the responsibility for the military escalation and to what extent," Steinmeier told a meeting of Germany's more than 200 ambassadors in Berlin. The European Union, he said, must now "define our relations with the parties to the conflict for the medium and long term," and that the time has come to have concrete information.
The OSCE maintains a mission in South Ossetia, which was caught between the fronts when the war erupted. According to a so-called spot report that OSCE officials wrote at 11 a.m. Georgian time on Aug. 8: "Shortly before midnight, central Tskhinvali came under heavy fire and shelling, with some of it presumably coming from launching pads and artillery stationed outside the conflict zone. The Tskhinvali office of the mission was hit, and the three remaining international employees sought shelter in the basement."
NATO's assessments.
According to this intelligence information, the Georgians amassed roughly 12,000 troops on the border with South Ossetia on the morning of Aug. 7. Seventy-five tanks and armored personnel carriers — a third of the Georgian military's arsenal — were assembled near Gori. Saakashvili's plan, , was to advance to the Roki Tunnel in a 15-hour blitzkrieg and close the eye of the needle between the northern and southern Caucasus regions, effectively cutting off South Ossetia from Russia.
At 10:35 p.m. on Aug. 7, less than an hour before Russian tanks entered the Roki Tunnel, according to Saakashvili, Georgian forces began their artillery assault on Tskhinvali. The Georgians used 27 rocket launchers, including 152-millimeter guns, as well as cluster bombs. Three brigades began the nighttime assault.
The intelligence agencies were monitoring the Russian calls for help on the airwaves. The 58th Army, part of which was stationed in North Ossetia, was apparently not ready for combat, at least not during that first night.
The Georgian army, consisted primarily of infantry groups, which were forced to travel along major roads. It soon became bogged down and was unable to move past Tskhinvali. Western intelligence learned that the Georgians were experiencing "handling problems" with their weapons. The implication was that the Georgians were not fighting well.
The intelligence agencies conclude that the Russian army did not begin firing until 7:30 a.m. on Aug. 8, when it launched an SS-21 short-range ballistic missile on the city of Borzhomi, southwest of Gori. The missile apparently hit military and government bunker positions. Russian warplanes began their first attacks on the Georgian army a short time later. Suddenly the airwaves came to life, as did the Russian army.
Russian troops from North Ossetia did not begin marching through the Roki Tunnel until roughly 11 a.m. This sequence of events is now seen as evidence that Moscow did not act offensively, but merely reacted. Additional SS-21s were later moved to the south. The Russians deployed 5,500 troops to Gori and 7,000 to the border between Georgia and its second separatist region, Abkhazia.
All of this having been published, the propaganda machines will continue their labors and the obedient American press will publish their revisionistic efforts on the back pages. The collapsing American economy will be taking prominence on the first and second pages. Unless, of course, this badly-baked cake is served up by the Bush-McCain forces to divert public attention from yet another Bush-created, and McCain supported, disaster. BH
Comment: Sifting through the large piles of intercepted Georgian governmental records (and other captured papers), it is very, very clear that the Georgian assaults on South Ossetia were planned long in advance and were not only thoroughly known to U.S. and NATO commands but were obviously instigated by certain sectors of the American government. Success has many fathers, as is said, but failure is an orphan. So it is with this business. There is an ongoing and frenzied attempt on the part of the perpetrators to shut this off, especially before the American presidential elections. No one cares about Bush anymore but as John McCain was also part and parcel of the planning, the Republicans are trying to protect him. Good luck, chaps! Editor