Georgia follow up
Well, Georgia gave in the the inevitable yesterday and began withdrawing it's forces from Ossetia and called for a cease fire. Russia it seems is having none of that. It is starting to look like we could be heading for the worst case I described in my previous post. The Russian Foreign Minister had declared that they have no intention of settling for Status Quo Ante. At the very least I expect Russia will annex South Ossetia and Abkhazia. IT is looking like they may be moving to overthrow the government of Georgia as a whole. Russia tanks have moved outside of Ossetia and are moving on the city of Gori in Georgia (birth place of Stalin for you trivia buffs). They have also bombed the airpost in the capital of Tbilisi, deployed several thousand troops into Abkhazia and attacked the Georgians there, and deployed their Black Sea fleet to the patrol the coast of Georgia. I do not know yet if they are imposing a blockade but they have sunk at least one Georgia Gunboat.
Things do not look good for the Republic of Georgia. The Georgia government has declared that if the Russians conquer Georgia they will turn to mass guerrilla warfare.
What can/should we do? hard to say. At the VERY LEAST we need to expedite the return of the Georgia forces in Iraq to Georgia. (Frankly, If I were their commander I would have already moved my forces tot he nearest airport and moved into the first available planes. WE owe them that much at the least. I think we should also supply them with anti aircraft weapons, ammo, and other needed supplies.
It would be a very interesting and dangerous call to send troops. That might make the Russians stop, or it might kick off a much larger war. Militarily we could beat the Russians. Their air force and armored units are not the equal of ours. But there are way, way too many bad ends that could come there.
I'll tell you who is watching this in near terror. Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. They too have large Russian populations and if Russia succeeds here, they are probably next on the menu.
Surprisingly, it is enough to make me wish I were back in the Army.
Things do not look good for the Republic of Georgia. The Georgia government has declared that if the Russians conquer Georgia they will turn to mass guerrilla warfare.
What can/should we do? hard to say. At the VERY LEAST we need to expedite the return of the Georgia forces in Iraq to Georgia. (Frankly, If I were their commander I would have already moved my forces tot he nearest airport and moved into the first available planes. WE owe them that much at the least. I think we should also supply them with anti aircraft weapons, ammo, and other needed supplies.
It would be a very interesting and dangerous call to send troops. That might make the Russians stop, or it might kick off a much larger war. Militarily we could beat the Russians. Their air force and armored units are not the equal of ours. But there are way, way too many bad ends that could come there.
I'll tell you who is watching this in near terror. Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. They too have large Russian populations and if Russia succeeds here, they are probably next on the menu.
Surprisingly, it is enough to make me wish I were back in the Army.
posted by exMI | 07:37
1 Comments:
It can be pretty much said that Georgia has no military now. From what I heard they beat it out of the fighting in mass disorder. Where would Georgian Troops from Iraq begin? Which this, coupled with what your are saying about the former Soviet States, those in Iraq with us, though not large contingents, will probably want to leave with them.
Interesting.
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