Georgia appeals for help as Russia advances
Reuters
Georgia pays the price for messing with a bear.....
TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgia appealed for international intervention on Monday and pulled its battered forces back to defend the capital, as Russian troops moved further into its territory, ignoring Western pleas to halt.
"The Georgian army is retreating to defend the capital. The Government is urgently seeking international intervention to prevent the fall of Georgia," a Georgian statement said.
Moscow snubbed a plea from the Group of Seven (G7) industrial powers for a ceasefire. It said Georgia had not kept a promise to halt fighting and was shelling the Russian-held region of South Ossetia where the conflict began last Thursday.
A Reuters witness saw Georgian helicopter gunships bombing targets near the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali, sending dark smoke billowing into the air. A second reporter heard heavy artillery bombardments on the road north of the wrecked town.
The conflict has unsettled oil markets because Georgia hosts a key pipeline supplying the West. It has alarmed investors in Russia and has raised fears of a wider conflagration in the volatile region bordering Iran, Turkey and Russia.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy was due to visit Georgia and Moscow on Tuesday for a round of diplomacy on behalf of the European Union, though it was unclear what could be achieved.
Moscow appeared in no mood to compromise, opening a second front in the fighting by moving troops out of Abkhazia in the west and taking the Georgian town of Senaki, though Russian officials earlier said they did not intend to occupy territory beyond the two separatist areas of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
A senior Georgian official later claimed that Russian troops had seized the Georgian town of Gori, some 40 km (25 miles) from South Ossetia. Moscow denied that report and a Reuters correspondent said no troops were visible in Gori's streets.
they'd yell out "he's austrian, shoot to kill!!!"
..its just plain crazy that this supposed UNITED NATIONS council, well there's a misnomer in the first place, if Nations were United there'd be no reason for a UN, but when they're not united the UN is powerless to act unless......! A paradox
Torque
...& ever since that abysmally handled school siege fiasco a few years back, nothing surprises me anymore...
Torque
NO! Neiether would a Kangaroo disguise..
We joke about it, but Georgia is a beutiful place and I wouldn't like it to end up like Chechniya..
As an aside.. As the war rages, the oil markets get jittery, the price of crude goes up and Russia gains...Interesting eh ?
britexpat, i suppose "don't shoot, i'm australian" won't work then.
I wouldn't recommend it.. The Russians seem to pretty trigger happy at the moment..
I'd love to go to Georgia right now and help 'em out. I'm in the mood for shooting something, or someone, at the moment.
for Russia to take a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
Good observation, I like that with as much feeling as I dislike what little they're doing about this conflict!
What year are we now & still war's are fought, why 'we' as humans don't learn from the war filled histories we've had for thousands of years....??
Torque
basically do what they want because of thir Veto powers and screw anyone outside the group.., It should be disbanded..
I agree Alexa.. Georgia has made a big mistake and the innocents are paying.. What worries me is that Russia may go too far in its attempt to make an example out of the country...
Torque, the United Nothing u mean?
"Jordan's gonna have a case of "assus beatus redus". That's Latin for I'm gonna beat his a55 til it glows."
RIP Bernie Mac
As I said the other night, it's always the innocents that seem to suffer the machinations of Governments & their disagreements!
What they need is a good forum to discuss their differences & debate them, oh there is one, the U.N. which only seems to act when the U.S. wants something....
or am I just being cynical?
Torque