Archive for August, 2008
Posted on August 31, 2008 - by Venik
Operation Coverass
On Monday the EU is expected to announce countermeasures to Russia’s recognition of independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Russian diplomatic sources hinted that any practical economic sanctions against Russia may lead to reduced oil supplies to the European Union. And so the question is: does the Brussels have the balls to take on Moscow [...]
Posted on August 28, 2008 - by Venik
The War in Georgia
For the past two weeks I’ve been trying to collect as much information as possible about the situation in Georgia. I talked to more than a dozen Russian and US military experts, got in touch with my contacts in Tbilisi and North Ossetia, and exchanged information with dozens of journalists in Moscow and here in [...]
Posted on August 25, 2008 - by Venik
Saakashvili Finally Loses It
Ever since Georgia launched its military operation against South Ossetia, killing Russian peacekeepers and hundreds of its own civilians, many have been asking the same question: has Saakashvili gone stark raving mad? It’s now official: yes. In his latest interview to Financial Times, Saakashvili revealed dark depths of madness that made even Putin shudder: “The [...]
Posted on August 23, 2008 - by Venik
Old Dogs, Old Tricks.
Just finished reading “How to Deter Russia”, by William Courtney and Kenneth Yalowitz (The Washington Post, August 23, 2008, p. A15). Courtney is the former US Ambassador to Kazakhstan and Georgia. Yalowitz is the former US Ambassador to Belarus and Georgia. It is absolutely astonishing how two diplomats with so much relevant experience can misinterpret [...]
Posted on August 22, 2008 - by Venik
US Confirms It Knew of Georgia’s Plan to Attack South Ossetia
In its August 22 issue, the Russian business daily Kommersant published the interview with the new US Ambassador to Russia John Beyrly. As should have been expected of an experienced diplomat, Ambassador Beyrly said a lot about nothing. Although he did bring up a couple of points worth mentioning. John Beyrly is a fluent Russian [...]
Posted on August 21, 2008 - by Venik
Georgia’s Propaganda War
Saakashvili must be still under the impression that his presidency will be saved by the outgoing Bush administration. Georgian propaganda warriors continue with their efforts. The New York Times decided to jump on the bandwagon: In the Georgian village of Shindisi on Wednesday, three journalists from The New York Times were present when a researcher [...]
Posted on August 20, 2008 - by Venik
BBC is not Paying Attention
In the Russia scales down Georgia toll BBC claims: Russia has issued new, reduced casualty figures for the Georgian conflict, with 133 civilians now listed as dead in the disputed region of South Ossetia. The figure is far lower than the 1,600 people Russia initially said had died. In reality, however, Russian prosecutors announced that [...]
Posted on August 19, 2008 - by Venik
Latest Developments in Georgia
The Independent just published the most ridiculous timeline of Russia’s operation in Georgia. It is not surprising since the article relies on analysis by Pavel Felgenhauer – Russia’s leading quack in the field of military pseudo-analysis distilled for amateur foreign journalists who can’t read. The problem with “A new world order: The week Russia flexed [...]
Posted on August 17, 2008 - by Venik
Russia’s War Booty
Strength and composition of the Georgian army are a big mystery. I checked over a dozen of authoritative sources and no two report the same numbers. Jane’s published a detailed list of major weapons acquisitions by Georgia since 2000. However, in the past few days the Russian military captured weapons not previously known to be [...]
Posted on August 17, 2008 - by Venik
Verizon FiOS is still too green. I am back with Comcast.
A quick update on my Verizon saga: I had to cancel my new Verizon Business FiOS and went back to my Comcast Business connection. There are just too many issues with Verizon’s service. The primary problems are Verizon’s impossible-to-reach customer service and its inept technical support, but there are also issues with quality of signal [...]
Posted on August 17, 2008 - by Venik
Holbrooke Paid by Saakashvili?
Richard Holbrooke, the former US Ambassador to the UN and currently the vice chairman of Perseus LLC, is now in Tbilisi accusing the cowardly Russian soldiers of stealing pants off the dead bodies of Georgia’s courageous warriors. Holbrooke is claiming that Russia is about to invade Ukraine and is getting ready to take over the [...]
Posted on August 17, 2008 - by Venik
Reuters Published Fake Propaganda Photos, Part II
Just a quick follow-up to the story below about Reuters publishing fake photos of civilian victims in Gori. Russian bloggers have identified the photographer responsible for most of these images. He turned out to be Gleb Garanich (Глеб Гаранич) – a Ukrainian photojournalist working for Reuters. The photos, as it turns out, might have been [...]
Posted on August 15, 2008 - by Venik
Georgia’s Attack on South Ossetia: Washington’s Role
Elusive NATO Membership At the NATO Summit in Bucharest in April 2008 Georgia was denied Membership Action Plan. Aside from Russia’s vehement opposition, the key issues outlined in the NATO Individual Partnership Action Plan, accepted by Georgia in October 2004, remain unresolved. These issues are: Georgia’s antiquated military equipment, insufficient training and deployability of its [...]
Posted on August 14, 2008 - by Venik
The Cease-Fire Deal and Life in Tbilisi
Mark Deen and Reed Landberg of Bloomberg have beat me to the punch with their Russia’s War With Georgia May Reopen U.S. Rift With Europe. Next time I will have to type faster. If you follow the news from Russia and Georgia, you are probably aware of the extraordinary effort by Nicolas Sarkozy to broker [...]
