Whatever, they’d better move fast. Saakashvili is turning into quite the YouTube star (search under “tie” and “eating”). Soon enough he’ll be eating paint off the walls and flinging poo at his generals.

Posted by: bjacques | Aug 18 2008 19:02 utc | 3

lol, are you snarking iron butterfly?
OF COURSE!

Posted by: annie | Aug 18 2008 19:41 utc | 5

oh my god i died laughing
(search under “tie” and “eating”)
lol, first i ignored it, after reading b real’s comment my curiosity got the better of me.
is this unique, or a photoshop thing.. or do some guys stuff their ties in their mouths as a sort of nervous habit like picking one’s nose? where have i been?

Posted by: Anonymous | Aug 18 2008 19:51 utc | 7

It looks like the neocons calling for Ukraine’s entry into NATO is not, shall we say, a sure thing. From Asia Times.
http://tinyurl.com/5qde8k
Ukraine’s President Viktor Yushchenko…is waging an uphill battle to bring Ukraine into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO…He is also isolated and increasingly marginalized. The entire coalition of several parties that supports Yushchenko in parliament controls just 72 seats out of 450.
His erstwhile “Orange” coalition ally Yulia Timoshenko (156 seats in parliament) is confidently riding the wave toward the presidency in the next election and has significantly cooled toward the goal of NATO membership. She now says it would require a referendum. Since the vast majority of Ukrainians do not approve of membership in NATO, this puts NATO many years into the future, if ever….
Timoshenko has also become a favorite negotiating partner of Putin’s.
I recently read somewhere that Yushchenko is not pleased that Timoshenko has remained silent over the Russian “invasion” of plucky little war criminal Georgia. Yuschenko and the Lion of All Georgia are goombahs, having baptized each others’ kids.

Posted by: Thrasyboulos | Aug 18 2008 20:39 utc | 9

Billmon Baby YEAHH! I’ll take one of these top drawer discussions every few weeks over the billmon chained to daily postings. Er, no I won’t but shit Billmon Baby, YEAH!!
Somebody tell him there’s a typo ‘to’ instead of ‘too’.

Posted by: aumana | Aug 19 2008 0:22 utc | 11

the russians have the all the “time line horizons” in the world – they will withdraw in the spectral sense taugh to the world by the yankees

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Aug 19 2008 0:56 utc | 13

The billmon article is simply awesome. What a detailed insight it provides into America’s hollowed-out democracy. The historical detail of how resolutions breeze through Congress, and which lead the country, step by step, to the brink of national disaster. The National Security State has overpowered the democracy, leaving really only the vestige of manners and forms, and polite customs of address.

Posted by: Copeland | Aug 19 2008 2:35 utc | 15

If you want a brief synopsis of the real scoop on Saakashvili and Yuschenko click here. It’s the transcript of a telephone call between Saak and Viktor that got released to the public last year.
Pax

Posted by: Soj | Aug 19 2008 5:13 utc | 17

I don’t know if anyone else is stuck watching Olympic gymnastics, but Bela Karoli (sp?) would make a great press secretary for Saakashvili, with the other NBC announcers/whiners bleating along.

Posted by: biklett | Aug 19 2008 6:33 utc | 19

Thanks Soj, very interesting.
By the way, the online mag Exile, banned in Russia, is back.

Posted by: b | Aug 19 2008 11:18 utc | 21

BOTH CANDIDATES, AS WELL AS CONGRESS, MIGHT DO WELL TO LISTEN TO ANDREW BACEVICH… NOT JUST HEAR HIM
Only rarely does someone surface with qualifications as well as insights and a delivery that stimulate thinking. Even more rarely does an individual stimulate the very personal mental articulation of self observation.
http://pacificgatepost.blogspot.com/2008/08/andrew-bacevich-rare-sobering-voice.html
Bacevich deserves as broad an audience as can be exposed to his thoughtful analysis.

Posted by: PacificGatePost | Aug 19 2008 15:18 utc | 23

unless i missed some small print somewhere else in the document, the congressional research service’s aug 13th report for congress — “Russia-Georgia Conflict in South Ossetia: Context and Implications for U.S. Interests” — pretty much whitewashes, if not omits, the august 7/8 georgian attack on south ossetia
from the summary of the rpt,

Simmering long-time tensions erupted on the evening of August 7, 2008, when South Ossetia and Georgia accused each other of launching intense artillery barrages against each other. Georgia claims that South Ossetian forces did not respond to a ceasefire appeal but intensified their shelling, “forcing” Georgia to send troops into South Ossetia that reportedly soon controlled the capital, Tskhinvali, and other areas.
On August 8, Russia launched large-scale air attacks across Georgia and dispatched seasoned troops to South Ossetia that engaged Georgian forces in Tskhinvali later in the day.

from the body,

On the evening of August 7, 2008, South Ossetia accused Georgia of launching a “massive” artillery barrage against Tskhinvali that damaged much of the town, while Georgia reported intense bombing of some Georgian villages in the conflict zone. Saakashvili that evening announced a unilateral ceasefire and called for South Ossetia to follow suit. He also called for reopening peace talks and reiterated that Georgia would provide the region with maximum autonomy within Georgia as part of a peace settlement. Georgia claims that South Ossetian forces did not end their shelling of Georgian villages but intensified their actions, “forcing” Georgia to declare an end to its ceasefire and begin sending ground forces into South Ossetia. Georgian troops reportedly soon controlled much of South Ossetia, including
Tskhinvali.
Russian President Medvedev addressed an emergency session of the Russian Security Council on August 8. He denounced Georgia’s incursion into South Ossetia, asserting that “women, children and the elderly are now dying in South Ossetia, and most of them are citizens of the Russian Federation.” He stated that “we shall not allow our compatriots to be killed with impunity. Those who are responsible for that will be duly punished.” He appeared to assert perpetual Russian control in stating that “historically Russia has been, and will continue to be, a guarantor of security for peoples of the Caucasus.”

CRS rpts play a large role in informing members of congress

Posted by: b real | Aug 19 2008 17:28 utc | 25

I have a hard time to listen to more than 2 minutes of the Moyers guy. He starts of with blaming Putin to have attacked Georgia and falsely states that the BTC pipeline is owned by U.S. companies (BP is the mayor runner). Then he talks about Putin’s ‘sardonic smile’, fighting “violent Islam” …
Bacevich is quite right – a sane voice – he says it doesn’t matter much who will be president because the U.S. will not change.
Moyers is just a no-little tool as many other journalists are.

Posted by: b | Aug 19 2008 17:34 utc | 27

i’m sure mrs milliband spent a night with the gyspies because – that piece of shit currently in georgiai – is not ralph milliband’s son – it is endless posturing – like you find in very, very bade english thearte academies to which saak no doubt took one of his diplomas
each day they insult russia & its people – a curtain of conceit will fall across europe created by the u s empire

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Aug 19 2008 19:58 utc | 29

Blaze engulfs Egypt’s parliament
The fire broke out on the second floor of the parliament building and spread to the third [AFP]
Egypt’s upper house of parliament is facing collapse after being engulfed by fire, injuring at least six people.
Flames and black clouds of smoke covered the three-storey building on Tuesday where helicopters dumped water scooped up from the Nile river.
Al Jazeera’s Amr el-Kahky in Cairo, said the building “faces the threat of collapse”.
“It is out of control – extending to the lower floor after starting at the top.
“Now the roof has collapsed. Even the smallest gust of wind makes it grow bigger,” he said.
“According to security experts, all options are open, you can never tell the reason behind the fire at this particular moment.”
Palace ravaged
Parliament workers and firefighters were among those hospitalised suffering smoke inhalation and burns, Ahmed Salah, a fire operations supervisor, said.
There was no official word on the cause of the fire, which ravaged the 19th century palace, but state-run television said in a brief statement that the cause was probably a short circuit.
Fire engines that sprayed water from hoses caused parts of the ceiling on the top floor to collapse.
“Parliament is currently on summer recess and very few people would have been in the building,” a police official said.
Police forces cordoned off the area around the building in downtown Cairo, which is close to the American University in Cairo and several Western embassies.
Source: Al Jazeera and agencies

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Aug 19 2008 20:20 utc | 31

hamburger, all that remains is for us to grab some fine old whiskey, sit in a corner and savor it while we watch everything turn to shit.
how can it be possible that a small group of greedy and foolish men can have such a stranglehold over literally billions of people?

Posted by: dan of steele | Aug 19 2008 20:34 utc | 33

dan, I think I agree. A bottle of Rioja in a small place somewhere near the Med.
George Carlin once said something like: I used to want to change the show, now I’m just watching the show.
But I’m not ready to give up. I believe in the power of reason, of evidence, and rhetoric that can move people beyond superstition and fear. Can Bacevich be on Obama’s ticket? – as if that would matter.

Posted by: Hamburger | Aug 19 2008 21:04 utc | 35

“how can it be possible that a small group of greedy and foolish men can have such a stranglehold over literally billions of people?”
It may be perplexing if one wishes to retain optimism concerning human nature. But for the cynic, not so.
Lovecraftian conspiracy theories and stale-plotted episodes of Dr Who notwithstanding — the Elite are not a different species. Do we not know of humans wielding what my old church calls “unrighteous dominion” at every scale, small and great? — the bully among children, the matriarch among family, the boss among laborers, the bishop among priests.
It would take much to unconvince me that, on this subject at least, there is nothing new under the sun.

Posted by: Anonymous | Aug 19 2008 21:52 utc | 37

#37 is me. Also remember Acton’s dictum. Even he didn’t believe it fully, apparently, as he was a Roman Catholic. Cynicism is a hard road to tread consistently.

Posted by: Cloud | Aug 19 2008 21:57 utc | 39

Billmon writes: the United States of America committed its full prestige and power (if not, just yet, a legally binding guarantee) to the defense of the two former Soviet republics.. and makes one or two other remarks in this direction. New Europe – or rather some of its selected leaders – cynically chose to accept such semi-promises, following large pay-off or pay-ins; but most ppl know that the US only follows up on commitments when it suits, its promises are worth nothing. And those who make them are fully apprised of that..
In such conditions, NATO, its actions, its membership, are a joke, and rest on personal influence, temporary alliances, financial deals, vote fixing, arm-twisting, etc. – there is no economic / military / strategic / ideological unity. It has become an international MacMafia Monopoly game, with pins put on territories, banks roped in, chatter on the phones – an unrealistic transparent overlay, or better yet, a Power Point Presentation, in distorted scale, with bluster and guff – lots of color and serious, ponderous statements in bold…
Lets not forget that Yeltsin himself was a US pick, to get rid of Gorby; that Saak was groomed, boosted, selected; that Georgia is an Israeli outpost (what good that could do one cannot fathom; maybe the hope was better! than the last foray in Lebanon.)
Billmon more or less suggests that NATO expansion, as seen thru US eyes (never mind dead Georgians or pissed off Ukrainians) was some kind of mistake, and reminds us, quite rightly, that the expansion is similar to that of the old USSR, without the clout. That is partly because the economics of the matter are controlled by the EU, and while there is overlap between NATO and the EU, territory and politics, the relationship is very uncomfortable. Much like, as an illustration, in Iraq, where the Gvmt, oil contracts, food for the people, and traffic rules seem always to be at odds with each other, always shifting, arbitrary, subject to the local Mafia or interest groups – be it the Iraqi police, or Exxon-M, US pontificators, controllers, army, or even, yes, occasionally, waitresses in the Green Zone.
In the eyes of a large chunk of Europeans (setting aside US influence, the history, ww2, cold war, etc.) NATO utterly disgraced itself in Yugoslavia.
Hysteria, trivia, cover-up, miscalculations, etc.

Posted by: Tangerine | Aug 19 2008 22:12 utc | 41

hamburger, it would seem as if p c rroberts is in exactly the same mood as you

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Aug 20 2008 0:12 utc | 43

Bulgaria Local Administration Discusses US Military Bases with US Officials…Lieutenant General Gary D. Speer, the Acting Commanding General for the United States Army Europe and Seventh Army had a meeting Tuesday at the Novo Selo grounds with representatives from the municipal administrations of the cities of Yambol, Sliven and Bourgas.

Note that these are NOT NATO bases but USA bases.
Europeans (EU) are a hell of the laughing stock. They are as powerless, arm twisted and practically occupied by USA as much as poor Bulgaria that does not have any choice.
Talking about Empire spreading as epidemic…

Posted by: vbo | Aug 20 2008 1:06 utc | 45

inner city press: France’s Georgia Resolution Is Dismissed by Russia, Wanting All 6 Points of Agreement In

UNITED NATIONS, August 19 — Amid charges in Georgia of non-compliance with the cease-fire, France on Tuesday unveiled a three-paragraph draft resolution which the Russian mission nearly immediately dismissed. President Dmitri Medvedev, it was noted, has said that any Council resolution should include all six points of the agreement. But the French draft contains only a demand to comply with the cease-fire and for “the immediate withdrawal of Russian forces to the lines held prior to the outbreak of hostilities, and the return of Georgian forces to their usual bases.” Add to that the reference to “territorial integrity,” and the French draft is a non-starter, sources tell Inner City Press.
As to why the Russians want all six points in the resolutions, sources point to negotiations about status — read, Kosovo — and the ability to stray outside the technical boundaries of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Western diplomats were asked, Do you expect it today to go into blue, which means to become a final draft that can be voted on within 24 hours. No, was the answer.
But, for a briefing from Under Secretary General for Political Affairs by Lynn Pascoe — or, “the American,” as the Russians have taken to call him — the Council moved into the Chamber for an open meeting.
…
Update of 5:21 p.m. — Russian Ambassador Churkin asked if the U.S. is going to be transporting the 2000 Georgia troops back to Iraq, to comply with the Moscow Agreement. One wag by the stakeout jokes, maybe they should be re-directed to Afghanistan…

On Georgia, As Sarkozy Drafts Sloppily, the World Catches a Cold War

UNITED NATIONS, August 19 — The rift on Georgia at the UN Security Council traces back, as it happens, to French President Nicolas Sarkozy. He traveled to Moscow, as part of France’s European Union presidency, and came up with a six point plan agreed to by Russia’s Dmitry Medvedev. The sixth point concerned future negotiations of the status and lasting security of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Georgia’s two breakaway regions. Russia, then as now, latched onto the sixth point, as it hearkens to the status talks about Kosovo that resulted in that region’s declaration of independence from Serbia.
After France on Tuesday introduced a draft Security Council resolution which despite Russia’s requests did not include Sarkozy’s six points, certainly not the sixth, Inner City Press asked France’s Deputy Permanent Representative Jean-Pierre Lacroix if his country or president had envisioned the talks on the future of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as including on the table independence, a la Kosovo. We are committed to Georgia’s territorial integrity, Ambassador Lacroix answered. One wag at the stakeout snarked, “That’s not what Sarkozy said, or got, in Moscow.”
Afterwards, Inner City Press asked Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin if his country interprets Principle Sixth as allowing for the full breakaway of Abkhazia and South Ossetia from Georgia. Yes, he said, and then narrated the history of the clause. Sarkozy in Moscow agreed with Medvedev to include the word “status” in Principle Six. Then Sarkozy went to Tblisi, where according to Churkin he met with Georgian President Saakashvili and “his American advisors.” After that meeting, Sarkozy called Medvedev and asked to “shorten” Principle Six. Churkin said Medvedev agreed, because with the phrasing “lasting security,” independence was still on the table in Russia’s reading.
Now, however, France is trying to impose its interpretation on the phrase, as not inconsistent with territorial integrity, ignoring Russia’s statement that Sarkozy had agreed to the inclusion of the word “status” in Principle Six.
Churkin also expressed frustration that Sarkozy had earlier on Tuesday called Medvedev, without mentioning that his mission to the UN would be introducing a draft resolution without the six points in it. Churkin guessed that the mid-day change is attributable “to Brussels,” where a meeting of NATO foreign ministers took place. He also said that prior to Tuesday’s meeting requests to participate were submitted by Abkhazia and South Ossetia and reminded that the U.S. had previously problematized visas for Abkhaz representatives to come to New York.
When we finally do the meeting on the big resolution, Churkin said, if there are problems with the visas, we can move the meeting to a European capital. See you in Geneva? Or Paris?

Posted by: b real | Aug 20 2008 2:15 utc | 47

annie @ 40: after she sees this on 60 minutes in 2012 it will sink in.
Yeah. We can only hope. All of NATO, the EU, the media has established the “fact” of the Russian invasion. The trickle of reports “correcting” the timeline in the MSM have been largely ignored. This a.m. CNNI news reader Robin Curnow challenged CNN’s European political editor Robin Oakley thusly: But what about the collective amnesia in the media that it was Georgia that initially attacked South Ossetia? R. Oakley, agreed, but added, well we’ll have to wait and see what the official investigators tell us … !!!
It’s been reported that both Georgia and Russia employ (American?) PR firms. Somebody otta get fired.
Gorbachev in today’s (Wed.20 Aug) NYT is a little late out of the box.

THE acute phase of the crisis provoked by the Georgian forces’ assault on Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, is now behind us. But how can one erase from memory the horrifying scenes of the nighttime rocket attack on a peaceful town, the razing of entire city blocks, the deaths of people taking cover in basements, the destruction of ancient monuments and ancestral graves?

Even this account backgrounds the Georgian attack in a relative clause, fercryingoutloud.

Russia did not want this crisis. The Russian leadership is in a strong enough position domestically; it did not need a little victorious war. Russia was dragged into the fray by the recklessness of the Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili. He would not have dared to attack without outside support. Once he did, Russia could not afford inaction.
The decision by the Russian president, Dmitri Medvedev, to now cease hostilities was the right move by a responsible leader. The Russian president acted calmly, confidently and firmly. Anyone who expected confusion in Moscow was disappointed.
The planners of this campaign clearly wanted to make sure that, whatever the outcome, Russia would be blamed for worsening the situation. The West then mounted a propaganda attack against Russia, with the American news media leading the way.
The news coverage has been far from fair and balanced, especially during the first days of the crisis. Tskhinvali was in smoking ruins and thousands of people were fleeing — before any Russian troops arrived. Yet Russia was already being accused of aggression; news reports were often an embarrassing recitation of the Georgian leader’s deceptive statements.
It is still not quite clear whether the West was aware of Mr. Saakashvili’s plans to invade South Ossetia, and this is a serious matter. What is clear is that Western assistance in training Georgian troops and shipping large supplies of arms had been pushing the region toward war rather than peace.
If this military misadventure was a surprise for the Georgian leader’s foreign patrons, so much the worse. It looks like a classic wag-the-dog story.
…

How long will it take for history to be rewritten? Will NATO, the MSM, the EU ever do a rosanne rosannadanna? Even by 2012? I don’t think so.

Posted by: Hamburger | Aug 20 2008 9:52 utc | 49

@ 43, 44. Oh yes.

Posted by: Hamburger | Aug 20 2008 10:32 utc | 51

C. J.,
Yeah – I saw that and have been overwhelmed by how effective it was in turning the conversation away from the RUSSIAN INVASION. Not.
Gorby was even on Larry King last week and said the same thing, to which King said: “so you’re saying Georgia started this?” and then King turned the topic, never to return.

Posted by: Hamburger | Aug 20 2008 11:19 utc | 53

So Hamburger, can we join you at the landing pod, come the revolution?
=)

Posted by: beq | Aug 20 2008 11:36 utc | 55

Cranky MSM commentator

…
I am sick and tired of the president of the United States embarrassing me. The world we live in is too complex to entrust it to someone else whose idea of intellectual curiosity and grasp of foreign policy issues is to tell us he can look into Vladimir Putin’s eyes and see into his soul.
George Bush’s record as a student, military man, businessman and leader of the free world is one of constant failure. And the part that troubles me most is he seems content with himself.
He will leave office with the country $10 trillion in debt, fighting two wars, our international reputation in shambles, our government cloaked in secrecy and suspicion that his entire presidency has been a litany of broken laws and promises, our citizens’ faith in our own country ripped to shreds. Yet Bush goes bumbling along, grinning and spewing moronic one-liners, as though nobody understands what a colossal failure he has been.
I fear to the depth of my being that John McCain is just like him.

Does America listen to Jack Cafferty crab on or is he the crazy uncle no one pays any attention to?

Posted by: Hamburger | Aug 20 2008 12:22 utc | 57

Pfaff
An outstanding piece by William Pfaff–pointed, witty and right.

Posted by: alabama | Aug 22 2008 12:34 utc | 59