Russian troops blockade Georgian port
Russian troops have set up land positions outside the Georgian port of Poti. Russian forces were finally beginning to retreat, now some have reversed and blockaded Poti.
This is the probable destination for our flotilla to unload supplies. We will then have Russian and US military forces in close proximity in a tense situation. Not scared yet? Still trusting George Bush to show common sense? There was no word in the Dispatch about Russian Black Sea fleet movements.
If there will be war or not depends on the local commanders. The scary thing is, modern weapons, particularly Naval ones, are very fast and destructive. So what if somebody shoots, we get a garbled radio report and then nothing. Do we launch nuclear weapons in retaliation? If those NATO ships are sunk, that is the only retaliation America can do. We don’t have any other conventional units nearby, expect for perhaps air from Incilirk Turkey. But won’t the Russians in such a case interpret incoming US aircraft as a US nuclear strike and answer in kind? We are right there, a lot depends on local commanders now.
This will be a very nervous weekend.
I will be out of Tokyo for the weekend. To tell the truth, I have told the wife if shooting of any kind starts between Russian and American forces in the Georgia region, go spend the night at her mothers hometown. Don’t be afraid of getting laughed at. If the US airbase at Yokota is hit, all of Tokyo will be in the fallout pattern.
By the way, Russia IS withdrawing.
Posted: August 22nd, 2008 under Best of the Blogs.
Comments: 7
Comments
Comment from Max
Time: August 22, 2008, 12:49 am
By the way, if I am being over dramatic and it turns out that I am wrong, I will gladly dance in the streets of Tokyo with socks on my ears.
But you will have to come to Tokyo to watch, sorry, I can’t afford to give anyone tickets.
Comment from Josh Hammond
Time: August 22, 2008, 5:07 am
Max, there is always YouTube and with your friends at the TV station, everything is possible.
Meanwhile, I did make a comment earlier, but the timing of all of this has not escaped me. Tell me there is NO coincidence between the US aggression here and the Democratic Convention. The US antics in this Georgia question are designed to give McCain cover while he blasts Obama DURING the convention. He will say that world peace and confronting the Russians is more important than disrupting the convention.
An October suprise in August!
Comment from Sasha
Time: August 22, 2008, 5:24 am
There is still room for an October surprise. Can you say Iran?
Comment from Pat
Time: August 22, 2008, 6:33 am
bush allowed 9/11 to happen, he screwed up the war in afghanistan, and then he royally screwed up Iraq, and now he’s restarted the cold war. I can not figure out the American people who feel safer with a Repig in office.
BTW, from what I hear, we have just made a deal with Iraq to start pulling troops out by next June, and to have them totally out by 2011. Sounds like a timeline to me. bush seems to be doing exactly what Obama said should be done as far as Iraq is concerned, except that bush is doing it in 24 months instead of 16. I wonder how McCain is going to respond to bush’s plan to “cut and run”
Comment from Josh Hammond
Time: August 22, 2008, 7:31 am
Pat, I hope Obama and other speakers hammer McCain on flip-flopping, calling it that. I would tie our objection to Russia going into Georgia with the world’s objection of us going into Iraq. Both were illegal invasions. There is a lot of room to paint McCain into a corner, where he belongs.
Comment from timr
Time: August 22, 2008, 11:18 am
Max, as you said in your E-mail to me earlier today, 2 of the 3 ships that the US now want to send to the Black Sea had permission before the current rukus started, so it is now up to Turkey to rescind that permission. Frankly, I believe that they will. After all, dispite the pressure that bush tried to put on Turkey back in 03, Turkey still refused to allow american troops to use their country to get to Iraq. Now that bush is much weaker, and the reason given for the ships passage-training with countries that border the Black Sea-Ahem, ahem;Russia being the main one-that excuse is gone. The Turks will be under tremendous pressure from NATO and Russia to stop the 2 ships-the USCG cutter does not at this time have permission. To Josh’s statement about an Aug suprise. Other than CNN europe, the story appears to remain a non story so far in the US MSM. I looked, saw nothing on the network news, nothing on Cooper 360, nothing in my newspaper this am, nothing anywhere(well I have no idea about fns as I don’t watch them-afraid they will give me brain cooties) but nobody anywhere seems to think that this is a story-YET. Of course if the 2 DD’s(destroyers) do get past Turkey, then the story might get legs. But Turkey refused to allow passage to the USNS Comfort-a hospital ship-calling it an unnecessary provocation. So, coin flip time. Which way will Turkey go. Reminder-The current Turkey govt is run by a religious muslim party
Comment from Vox
Time: August 23, 2008, 2:12 pm
As a Russian I feel pity about those poor Americans sent to Poti to die. There’s no need in nuclear strike. Russian Black Sea Navy has 49 ships. Plus we’ll probably destroy the US ships even without engaging our Navy. A few airstrikes will do for the next Pearl Harbor.
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