Bush: Russians looking to depose Georgian government; Update: Video added
posted at 5:49 pm on August 11, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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President George Bush finally let Russia have it with both barrels this afternoon, at least in diplomatic terms. In a terse and angry statement after his return from the Beijing Olympics, Bush accused Moscow of reneging on its commitment to proportionate response and said that “intelligence” indicated that Vladimir Putin might depose the freely-elected government in Tbilisi. He also warned Russia that it risks relationships with the US and Europe and its standing in the world:
In a Rose Garden statement Monday, Bush said there appeared to be an attempt by Russia to unseat Georgia’s pro-Western president, Mikhail Saakashvili.
He demanded an immediate cease-fire, the withdrawal of Russian troops from the conflict zone and a return to the status quo as of Aug. 6.
Bush appears to have become angered at Russian double-dealing. His statement suggests that Putin told him something very different than what has become obvious over the last 24 hours: the Russians want to take Georgia by force. This statement offers the strongest indication yet that the US may start taking a more active role in assisting Georgia in resisting the Russian invasion. It was the kind of firm, unmistakable signal that we should have sent in the conflict’s opening hours.
I’ll look for the video and post it ASAP.
Update: Still looking for video, but the West sent a very strong signal to Putin today. The G-8 met on a conference call — or should I say the G-7?
Rice and the foreign ministers of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan spoke in a conference call, during which they noted that Georgia had agreed to a cease-fire and wanted to see Russia sign on immediately, he said, adding that the call was one of more than 90 that Rice has made on the matter since Friday. …
The Group of Seven, or G7, is often expanded into what is known as the G8, a grouping that includes Russia, but Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was notably not included in the call.
McCain has long called for the G-8 to expel Russia. This snub indicates that the members may decide to trim their membership, and with it some economic benefits for Moscow.
Update II: MS-NBC has the first embeddable video of the speech:
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Georgia and Ukraine are listed as EPAC member countries. Not really sure how that relates to the NATO treaty.
Oldnuke on August 12, 2008 at 12:03 PM
Can you imagine the carnage that would be taking place if Kerry would have been the POTUS? I shudder at the thought.
trs on August 12, 2008 at 12:41 PM
I sure hope we still have lots of nukes pointed that direction. It’s too bad we dropped the ball with Russia back when they were flirting with democracy. They had oil…. we had food..seems we could have gotten together somehow.
Too late now I imagine.
Ernest on August 12, 2008 at 1:37 PM
Doesn’t this crisis make you wish that Barak Hussein Obama was already president? Hmmm
Ernest on August 12, 2008 at 1:45 PM
Yes. Yes, it does.
MadisonConservative on August 12, 2008 at 1:49 PM
Very worrisome. They seemed to try to provoke a conflict. I am glad that we had very professional crews who knew their jobs and did them error free.
Johan Klaus on August 12, 2008 at 4:21 PM
Interesting. Same with us but we did find their seamanship to be somewhat clumsy. They did seem to enjoy playing chicken though.
Oldnuke on August 12, 2008 at 4:34 PM
Ya. I read ” Blind Mans Bluff “, very scary.
Johan Klaus on August 12, 2008 at 4:47 PM
Yep, I was a skimmer so my experiences were more like the Bedford Incident. A sub driver friend of mine recommended Blind Mans Bluff to me and then told me he wouldn’t care to comment on anything in the book though.
Oldnuke on August 12, 2008 at 5:01 PM
Ya, I checked out “The Bedford Incident”, “Fail Safe”, and “Dr. Strangelove”. Very scary senarios, but Hollywood did’nt know the built in safeguards and the professionalism of our military.
Johan Klaus on August 12, 2008 at 5:22 PM
I still get a chuckle whenever one of the hollywood crew ‘Takes the reactor to 110%’. I guess to some folks that sounds daring and exciting. To me it just sounds silly. But hey it’s just a movie :-)
Oldnuke on August 12, 2008 at 5:36 PM
Another thing, is everyone spitting nails about a single B-52 transporting a t.nuclear device onboard in a flight across the U.S.. What the heck do these people think was loaded in our bomb bays {plural x X2} in the fifties and sixties and flying twenty four-seven?
Johan Klaus on August 12, 2008 at 5:57 PM
It’s a different world out there these days Johan. We used to do a lot of things that folks today would have a hissy fit over. We’re not safer now either.
Oldnuke on August 12, 2008 at 6:12 PM
Where are George Patton and Black Jack Pershing when we need them?
Johan Klaus on August 12, 2008 at 6:27 PM
And don’t forget “Chesty” Puller.
Johan Klaus on August 12, 2008 at 6:30 PM
Pardon me for coming in three days late to the party, but I have a question:
Have the rats from the fever swamp been crowing about Bush, claiming some sort of hypocrisy and equating the Russian power play with Iraq?
I have no doubt that they have.
Jaibones on August 13, 2008 at 10:42 AM
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