Crossfire War – RAPID FIRE NEWS=MOSCOW – TSKHINVILI – SUKHUMI WATCH – South Caucasus Theatre: Moscow – Berlin – Washington – Paris – Yerevan – Baku – Tskhinvili – Sukhumi/Tbilisi – Ankara – Tehran; Georgia Official States “Very Close” to War with Russia – US to Withdraw 3,500 Troops from Iraq in Several Weeks – Iranian General States US Over Extended and Consequently Weaker
Night Watch: BRUSSELS – Georgia State Minister for Issues of Reintegration, Temur Iokabashvili, was speaking to European Union (EU) officials in Brussels yesterday when he mentioned Georgia was “very close” to war with Russia. Swissinfo/Reuters are reporting the official was trying to convince the 27 member international organization to take a more active role in reducing tensions in the region but what the EU did not tell him was that they have always depended on Moscow controlling the Caucasus’ resources and exporting them to industrial centers in the EU. And that therefore the EU is quite willing to watch Russia defeat Georgia which would also end the military assistance that has been sent to Georgia for the past few years from Turkey and Iran in Ankara-Tehran’s attempt to control the region’s resources. [SWISSINFO]
Iokabashvili stated his government knew war was close because, “We know the Russians very well. We know what the signals are when you see propaganda waged against Georgia. We see the Russian troops entering our territories on the basis of false information.” He and Brussels know Moscow is staging these latest incidents with the surveillance drones over Abkhazia one of the territories that seceded from Georgia in 1990 and any day now another such incident will prompt Russia’s attack in support of Abkhazia against Georgia’s ill prepared military.
Baghdad – Xinhua reports the U. S. military has just announced it will withdraw 3,500 troops from Iraq in the next several weeks. Of course the official reason given it is a sign of success in turning control of the country to the Iraq Army and police but in reality it is the countdown to abandonment of a failed mission, the control of Iraq’s vast oil reserves and long term military bases in the country. [XINHUA]
Abu Dsheer – This announcement comes as heavy fighting is continuing in the greater Baghdad area. Xinhua is reporting Tuesday morning the U. S. and elements of the Iraq Army fought members of the Mahdi Army in the Abu Dsheer district of Baghdad. The district is a stronghold of the Mahdi Army nominally headed by Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr but in reality they are an extension of Iran’s military. In the meantime dozens of families are leaving Sadr City, the most heavily contested area, and are moving to safer areas of the capital. I suspect the fighting there will increase as more people leave. [XINHUA]
Tehran – An Iranian general is stating what serious analysts have known for the past five years that Washington has over extended itself by scattering its units and forces on several fronts making its position in international affairs weaker and actually strengthening its enemy Iran which is able to extend its influence through indigenous groups in any country Tehran has strategic relations with. Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in Gaza, Taliban in Afghanistan, the Mahdi Army in Iraq. At the same time Tehran has increased its strategic-military influence through close, genuinely supportive agreements and commitments with Damascus-Athens-Ankara-Belgrade-Islamabad. Iran did not enter into these countries with a series of dictations as is the modus operandi of London-Washington-Brussels (NATO) but with more of a sense of mutual cooperation against a mutual enemy. [PRESSTV]
PressTv quoted Brigadier General Seyyed Massoud Jazayeri, Deputy Head of Iran Armed Forces Headquarters, “The illegal US military presence in different locations throughout the world has created major vulnerabilities for the domineering administration. The launch of a propaganda campaign by the US and scaring Americans of an imminent Iranian attack on the United States is preposterous.” I would be extremely surprised if Iran has ballistic missiles that can reach the U. S. but ever since the end of World War II in 1945 Washington has become addicted to fear tactics as a way of manipulating people. It is quite possible Washington has fallen for its own propaganda.
