.
Where have we heard the same argument before: “Bush says he will listen to Petreaus’ advice, not Congress, on troop withdrawal”.
GORI, Georgia (Haaretz) – An official of the Georgian Economic Ministry, Avtadeo Irmashvili, was organizing the reopening of the city’s stores. Ten stores and two bakeries have already opened, he said, and the main hospital is also back in operation, though all the patients have been evacuated to Tbilisi over the past few days.
There were no Russian soldiers to be seen in the central square. But they controlled the roads in and out of town, and allowed people to come and go only by the Tbilisi exit. The roads north and west were blocked. Russian soldiers also blocked the roads linking Gori’s neighborhoods. They have been searching public buildings and, according to Gori residents, they take whatever they want from food shops.
Dozens of Russian vehicles were parked at both of the town’s military bases, and convoys of armored personnel carriers went in and out of the gates.
GORI, Georgia (Reuters) – Russian forces have started to withdraw from Georgia, the Russian commander on the front line, Major-General Vyacheslav Borisov, said.
“The columns are moving from Tskhinvali to Russia,” he told Reuters near the central Georgian town of Gori. “(Russian President Dmitry) Medvedev has said we are to withdraw. You must understand there are a large amount of troops.”
Tskhinvali is the capital of Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia, which Georgian forces tried to recapture last week.
The Russian-back separatists counter-attacked and forced the Georgian army to abandon the town of Gori, which controls access to South Ossetia and the main east-west highway across Georgia.
Russian soldiers set up positions about 20 km (12 miles) from Gori on Friday, which Borisov had said was necessary to protect Russia’s military pullout. “We were the first in, so we’ll be the last out.”
GEORGIA’S actions in South Ossetia were excessive and “must not go unpunished”, Russian news agencies quoted President Dmitry Medvedev as saying.
“What the Georgian authorities did exceeded human understanding. Their actions cannot be explained and moreover must not go unpunished,” Mr Medvedev was quoted as saying in remarks to military personnel.
“We take a hard line on security throughout the region, in assuring peace and stability in South Ossetia.
General Anatoly Nogovitsyn: Georgia renews `subversive’ mission in conflict zone
WASHINGTON (AFP) – US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice departed for Europe for crisis talks with NATO allies on the situation in Georgia and to sign a key missile defense shield pact with Poland.
While in Brussels, Rice will also meet EU leadership “to include Foreign Minister of France Bernard Kouchner, European Union High Representative Javier Solana, and European Commissioner for External Relations Benita Fererro-Waldner,” he said.
“We are going to help rebuild Georgia into a strong Georgian state. The Russians will have failed in their effort to undermine Georgia. And we will be looking at what we can do with the states around that region as well.”
Rice urged Russia to honor a pledge to withdraw its forces from Georgia, warning Moscow’s reputation lay “in tatters.”
“There is a ceasefire and Russia is currently not in compliance with this ceasefire,” Rice said, urging Russian President Dmitry Medvedev to keep his side of the French-brokered deal.
Meanwhile, The New York Times reported that Russia has deployed several SS-21 tactical missile launchers and supply vehicles to South Ossetia, putting the Georgian capital of Tbilisi in striking range.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
