Buck Naked Politics

US Soldier Kills 5 Fellow Soldiers in Iraq, Injures 3 Others

by Teh Nutroots | Here's tragedy:

The killings appeared to be the worst case of lethal non-combat casualties for the American forces in Iraq since the invasion more than six years ago.

The shooting took place at around 2 p.m. local time at Camp Liberty, a sprawling base next to Baghdad airport, the military said in a statement. The names of the dead soldiers were being withheld pending family notification, the statement said….CNN, citing unnamed officials, said that at least three others were wounded in the attack, which it said had taken place at a clinic for soldiers suffering from war stress….

The death toll from the Monday shooting was the highest for American personnel in a single attack since April 10, when a suicide truck driver killed five American soldiers with a blast near a police headquarters in  Mosul, News agencies reported.  [New York Times]

Congratulations, President-Elect Barack Obama & Welcome to Bush's "Cold Chill" War! (In Other News, Russians Prepare to Deploy Missiles in Response to US Missile Shield)

by Damozel | You've probably heard that George W. Bush is still president for yet awhile.  Tragically, it is true.  And he still has time to make things worse.

We have been repeatedly assured that there is no new Cold War.  Nevertheless, it is quite clear that a certain coolness prevails between the Bush administration and Russia's successor to Putin, President Medvedev. (Memeorandum)  He seems quite prepared to extend this coolness to  Obama should the situation require it. 

US Helicopters Attack Syrian Village, 8 Alleged Dead

by Damozel | So says the Syrian News.  From HuffPost:

The Syrian report comes just days after the commander of U.S. forces in western Iraq told reporters that American troops were redoubling efforts to secure the Syrian border, which he said was an "uncontrolled" gateway for fighters entering Iraq.

A government statement carried by the official Syrian Arab News Agency said Sunday's attack was on the Sukkariyeh Farm near the town of Abu Kamal, five miles inside the Syrian border. Four helicopters attacked a civilian building under construction, firing on the workers inside, shortly before sundown, the statement said.

The U.S. military in Baghdad did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The area is near the Iraqi border city of Qaim, which had been a major crossing point for fighters, weapons and money coming into Iraq to fuel the Sunni insurgency.

Ukrainian Government Collapses; President Expresses Defiance Toward Russia

by Damozel | In a development apparently triggered in part by the Georgian conflict (BBC News2 9-16) , the Ukrainian Ruling Coalition has now officially collapsed. (BBC News 9-16)  In August, President Yushchenko accused Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko of working in Russia's interests in a bid to become president (BBC News 8-18)).  Now, apparently, "[a]ny notion of co-operation, or even civility between the two rivals, has long since vanished." (BBC News 9-16)

Together, the two led the "Orange Revolution," displacing "the fraudulent presidential election victory of a pro-Moscow candidate, Viktor Yanukovych."(BBC News2 9-16)  Since then they've been locked in a power struggle, which has now come to a head.

Russia Pledges Military Support to Georgia's Separatist Regions; Russians Continue to Squabble with Saakashvili Over Who Started the Fight

by Damozel | After ousting Georgian troops from South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Russia has signed a pact for military support to the two separatist enclaves.  (BBCNews)  A BBC update scrolling across the top of the page says that they are arguing that they have the right to build military bases there.  Yes, I'm sure that will go down well with Georgia and supporters in the West.  More on that when more is available.   

As for the treaties, they just signed, according to Reuters:

The treaties formalize military, diplomatic and economic co-operation between Moscow and the separatist regions, which Russia recognized as independent states after its brief war with Georgia last month.

Russia Makes Agreement with European Union Regarding Georgia

by Damozel | The EU has apparently succeeded (again) in persuading Russia to leave Georgia.  The Guardian reports:

Russia last night agreed to pull all of its forces out of Georgia within a month, after an agreement in Moscow between France's president, Nicolas Sarkozy, and his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev. ..Moscow....agreed to scrap its checkpoints inside Georgia in a week and had promised to remove all forces from areas adjacent to the breakaway enclaves of South Ossetia and Abkhazia within a month.

Putin Thinks U.S. Orchestrated Georgia Conflict for Political Motives

by Deb Cupples |   CNN Reports:

"Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has accused the United States of orchestrating the conflict in Georgia to benefit one of its presidential election candidates....

"In an exclusive interview with CNN's Matthew Chance in the Black Sea city of Sochi on Thursday, Putin said the U.S. had encouraged Georgia to attack the autonomous region of South Ossetia."

Russia Looks East for Support; Finds Little Encouragement

by Damozel | Russia turned to its fellow members in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (formed to build relations between China and former Soviet republics) for backing in its actions against Georgia and specifically in its recognition of the separatist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.The member states of the SCO are Russia, China, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.  States with "observer" status are India, Iran, Pakistan and Mongolia.  (Bloomberg)

Russia Recognizes Independence of Georgian Separatists

Posted by Damozel | Well, anyone who has been paying attention knew this was coming. 

President Dmitry Medvedev has declared that Russia formally recognises the independence of the breakaway Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

The move follows a vote in both houses of parliament on Monday, which called on Moscow to recognise the regions.

The move, in defiance of a specific plea from the US president, provoked a wave of protest from Western countries.  (BBC News1)

Gorbachev Discusses the Georgia Conflict, Blames Saakashvili

Posted by Damozel | In 1988, he was TIME’s man of the year and in 1990—for his role in the dissolution of the Soviet Union– the Man of the Decade.  In 1990, he won the Nobel Peace Prize. He’s weighing in on the current crisis.  I was curious to see what he had to say.

Tense Georgian President Chews His Tie (BBC)

Via Wonkette.

He really is a bit high strung, isn't he?  If he were a presidential candidate here, this would finish him:  this image would be shown in every political ad from now till November. You know, I thought he was pretty attractive---sexy even. Not so much now, though. 

Maureen Dowd, Stop Making Sense, Sort Of!: Dowd on the Georgia Conflict

by Damozel | Every time I swear I'm done with her forever, something pulls me back in to her Vortex o' Vacuity..  But having managed for several days not to read her column, I found a quote in The Agonist (h/t!) from a piece with some good bits in it.  Gah.  I hate it when that happens.   

Russia Treats South Ossetia as Non-Georgian Territory; NATO Membership for Georgia; the Ukraine Worries (Not Without Cause); W Takes a Vacation

Posted by Damozel |  Here’s The New York Times:

Even as Russia pledged to begin withdrawing its forces from neighboring Georgia on Monday, American officials said the Russian military had been moving launchers for short-range ballistic missiles into South Ossetia, a step that appeared intended to tighten its hold on the breakaway territory.

The Russian military deployed several SS-21 missile launchers and supply vehicles to South Ossetia on Friday, according to American officials familiar with intelligence reports. From the new launching positions north of Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian capital, the missiles can reach much of Georgia, including Tbilisi, the capital…. (NYT)

Russia-Georgia Conflict: Cease Fire Agreement Reached (Update: and Key Bridge is Blown up)

by Deb Cupples |   Russia and Georgia signed a cease-fire agreement yesterday; though, Russia intends to keep troops in the area for an as-yet-undetermined time period.  The New York Times reports:

"The Russian foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, told reporters that Russian forces would stay in Georgia as long as they were needed. He said their withdrawal would depend on the introduction of what he called additional security measures. He did not explain what those were."

Georgian Conflict: Leaders Show Increasing Anger, Russia Digs in, Civilians Suffer (A News Round-Up)

Posted by Damozel | "[T]he alienation between the United States and Russia has rarely, if ever, been deeper," says Steven Lee Myers. (NYT)   

McCain: Georgia conflict is the ‘first serious crisis internationally since the end of the Cold War.’ (With Blogger Round Up)

Posted by Damozel | I am becoming quite worried about McCain.

The Daily Show on Russia v. Georgia

Jon says what needs to be said about the short term memory problems of Bush, Condi, and John McCain and his team of envoys.   

McCain & Georgia

by Damozel |  Taylor Marsh discusses McCain's statements about Georgia (which I really haven't bothered with).

The Georgian people have suffered before, and they suffer today. We must help them through this tragedy.... This small democracy, far away from our shores, is an inspiration to all those who cherish our deepest ideals. As I told President Saakashvili on the day the cease-fire was declared, today we are all Georgians. We mustn't forget it.
We Are All Georgians, by John McCain  (quoted from Taylor Marsh)

She says, "If you liked the last seven years, you'll love a McCain presidency, especially where foreign policy is concerned." (Taylor Marsh)   

Conflict Over Separatist Enclaves Continues Amid Claims of Atrocities Against Ethnic Georgians

Posted by Damozel | Last week, Georgia’s President Saakashvili accused Russia of intending to destroy Georgia, and take control of energy routes to Europe. (BBC Aug. 9)

And last week, Steven Eke, the BBC News Russian Affairs analyst, pointed out that Putin—enraged by Western support for Kosovo’s independence—would treat Kosovo “as a template for its own actions in the pro-Russian, separatist regions of the former USSR.” (BBC News 8-8-08; cf. 4-30-08) Even before then, “there was a strong body of thought in the Russian political and diplomatic worlds, that believed Russian recognition of South Ossetian and Abkhaz independence would be morally and politically justified.” (BBC News 8-8-08; cf. 4-30-08)    [See also William Kern’s posting on this, which just went up here.]

A "Turning Point" in the Georgian Conflict?

Posted by Damozel | At The New York Times, Andrew E. Kramer discusses the peace plan brokered by the French (as the country holding the rotating presidency of the EU). According to him, it provided the Russians with a rationale for pushing further into Georgia as part of a “peacekeeping” role they demanded under the agreement. Mr. Sarkozy also “failed to persuade the Russians to agree to any time limit on their military action.” (NYT)

The Russians demanded that their troops be allowed “in a peacekeeping role” outside the separatist enclaves and “to implement security measures” while “awaiting an international monitoring mechanism.” (NYT)    Rationale or no rationale, they seemed to have been determined to do this anyway.