Why did Georgia attack the Peace Keepers without, at least, giving an ultimatum for their withdrawa

[Ezana]

ultimatum for their withdrawal. How can Georgia explain its redicules killing of UN approved Peace Keepers. Such action has never been done even in Africa.

How can one blame the Russians for being so pissed off with Georgian action !!! At least not me.

[seemslikeadream]

1. You are being facetious

aren't you?

[malaise]

2. Well as most of Europe is saying

Georgia made a major strategic blunder. Chalk up one more clusterfuck to Bushco and his puppets. Meanwhile innocents die.

This planet needs a balance of power. Add.

[AuntPatsy]

3. Where did you read that they did that?

[High Plains]

5. The Georgians began bombarding S. Ossetia last Friday.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080809/ap_on_re_eu/georgia_south_ossetia

Georgia, a U.S. ally whose troops have been trained by American soldiers, launched the major offensive overnight Friday. Heavy rocket and artillery fire pounded the provincial capital, Tskhinvali, leaving much of the city in ruins.

It was the worst outbreak of hostilities since South Ossetia won de facto independence in a war against Georgia that ended in 1992.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters Saturday in Moscow that some 1,500 people had been killed in South Ossetia since Friday, with the death toll rising. The figures could not be independently confirmed.

But Tskhinvali residents who survived the bombardment by hiding in basements and later fled the city estimated that hundreds of civilians had died. They said bodies were lying everywhere.

[AuntPatsy]

7. proof that Georgia begun the hostilities?

[Ezana]

4. How can the US claim that Russians are responding unproportionally

while their previous words, during the last Lebanon-Isreal war speak the opposite.

During the last Isreali response to the Hizbola´s (Lebanon´s)agression, the Isrealis responded with tremendous air-bobardment aimed at Lebanon´s infrastructure (The Isreali´s even threatened of turning Lebanon to stonage). And what were the words from US (Secretary of state) for Lebanon´s appeal to the US for asking Isreal to stop the Bombardment ? America´s response was: it is not yet time for a cease-fire. So much for proportionality !!!

[magellan]

9. Falluja is another example

...of the US administration's definition of "proportional response". The meaning changes depending on the ideological bent of the speaker. What doesn't change is that it's always civilians who pay for the distortions with their lives.

[Ezana]

11. Is it not hypocracy for country to claim that Russia is using unproportional response while it

invades a whole country, that never attacked the US, Iraq, which is tens of thousands of killometers away from it.

The US is more smart when it is shuts up, not blaming others.

[KharmaTrain]

6. Kinda Hard To Launch A Surprise That Way

Especially against a country that's far bigger than you are and sits on the UN Security Council. I kinda snicker at the calls for a UN resolution condeming the invasion cause Russia can VETO it. So much for that idea.

Georgia was hoping for a quick hit...catch the Russian and the world flat-footed and hope to have occupied their objectives and solidify their positions before the Russians could react. They failed, big time.

There are a lot of details from the war zone that are in conflict...and from what I was looking at (Google Earth can be your friend), the bulk of the UN forces (which weren't many) were in Abkahzia, not in Osetsia.

[Ezana]

8. Georgia may have the right to get its land back but not in a manner it did.

The fact that Georgia attacked first was all over the western media before the Russian attack. Of course now most of the corporate media has started demonising Russia.

[KharmaTrain]

13. You Could Say That Was An Objective As Well

Surely Kindasleezy, Crashcart and all the neo-cons who pushed for this stupid invasion could rely on their toadies in the media to be both lazy and exploitive...and they have been right. They wanted to create a Davy/Goliath impression; creating worldwide sympathy for Georgia...thus the reminders of Soviet tanks in Hungary and Czechoslovakia...and as expected, the corporate media has run with it.

The question of that being "Georgia's land" is open to debate...while internationally recognized, the region had been a quasi-Russian protectorate since 1991...as well as Abkazia. There seemed to be a working, uneasy truce for many years, and why is it now, during the waning days of this regime (and American imperialism, I hope) that this situation escalated? Well I've got an oil pipeline in the region that may explain. And not the control of it, but keeping it out of operation...taking even more oil off the open market that will continue to keep prices high.

Sure enough...after two weeks of falling prices, oil is "steady" or slowly rising today. Mission accomplished.

Cheers...

[eleny]

10. When you''re figting over an oil pipeline there's no time for such

And I mean no snark. After learning here at DU yesterday that Georgia pipelines Caspian Sea oil, that was it for me. It's all about the black gold. So there's no rhyme or reason or care for the innocents on that stage.

[daleo]

12. Several peacekeepers were killed during Israel's incursion into Lebanon in 2006

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5215366.stm

So, unfortunately, this is not without precedent.