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Why Was Cheney's Aide in Georgia Before the War?

Posted by Faiz Shakir, Think Progress at 5:00 AM on August 27, 2008.


Joseph R. Wood, Cheney's deputy assistant for national security affairs, was in Georgia shortly before the war began.

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The LA Times reports that Joseph R. Wood, Vice President Cheney’s deputy assistant for national security affairs, “was in Georgia shortly before the war began.” James Gerstenzang wonders what Wood was doing there. Sergei Markov -- a senior political scientist who is close to Vladimir Putin -- claimed recently that the war was “part of a plot by Dick Cheney” to help John McCain. But media reports indicate that a “parade” of U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, had warned Georgia President Mikheil Saakashvili not to instigate the conflict with Russia.

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Faiz Shakir is the Research Director at the Center for American Progress and serves as Editor of ThinkProgress.org and The Progress Report.


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Ask little joey
Posted by: weathered on Aug 27, 2008 6:21 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
LIEberman?

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Cheney should already be facing Crimes against Humanity
Posted by: Purple Girl on Aug 27, 2008 6:22 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
No doubt he should be facing Treason charges for numerous crimes he and his minions have committed against US.and War crimes for the Oil industries Crusade to seize and control Oil all around the world.
But what this all has lead to is Crimes against Humanity. Cheney and His Oil (& supporting cast of Corps) have caused not only wars, but famine, and natural disasters. citizens around the World were screaming to get off Oil decades ago.Those highjackings, bombings and the Hostage crisis was Middle easterners Screaming for the Oil Incs to get out of their Countries. WE also were screaming to get out and Off! But the Oil Regime continued their Hostile Takeovers, while flying Our flag outside their foreign offices.
We have moved from Pollution to Global Warming because of their business stratedgy. We have All suffered from the effects- flooding, tsumani's Hurricanes , droughts... which has killed millions and has devastated agriculture- Our Food Supply!
If anyone deserves to be Waterboarded then hung in the Public square for High crimes it is Dick Cheney!
Want to see people get their corps priorities straight immediately....Use DICK as an example of what happens to people who put profits over Humanity!
Not a big supporter of capital punishment, but No one is more deserving it is DICK!

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Why does a Vice-President have a "national security advisor?"
Posted by: scott.gregory on Aug 27, 2008 6:36 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The constitutional role for the VP is "President of the Senate." Why has the Congress funded a full-fledged set of policy advisors for a vice-president? The VP should be informed, yes, but he shouldn't have his own executive department (i.e., branch of federal govt.) staff. He should interact with the President's staff. He shouldn't have his own duplicative set of offices and officeholders....he isn't the President!!!

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» umm, dude... Posted by: hurricane hugo
Two opinions
Posted by: witchjug on Aug 27, 2008 7:17 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
First, Cheneys aid was there to give the green light to the american puppet president of georgia to ethnicaly cleanse south whogivesafuckia of russian separatists. Although you never hear it from any american media, georgian troops invaded, shot, and killed first in this conflict. Second, this was a total win win win action on Cheneys part. Win - give McSame a chance to sound butch. Win - resussitate the cold war with russia cause islamic extreamists just aren't pumping the fear into the fat dumb and happy (murkins) the way they used to and we need a new boogie man. Win - create a bullshit conflict to send troops into to protect the pipelines er uh democracy. Those are my two opinions on this post. Be thankfull they still bother to wag the dog at all, it means they still fear us.

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» RE: Two opinions Posted by: Basenjis
Ready To Explode
Posted by: QQOblivion on Aug 27, 2008 8:43 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This whole thing in Georgia is ready to explode between the US and Russia, possibly leading to full-out nuclear war. And I wouldn't be surprised if that is what Cheney wants. What does he care? He has a secret underground bunker where he can ride out Armageddon.

But back to Georgia, it seems to me that the US administration is TRYING to provoke a conflict between the US and Russia. Why are we tempting fate by sending a US warship with "humanitarian" supplies (emphasis on the quotes) to a port patrolled by Russian troops? Are we hoping for an incident that would justify war? And this war could conveniently occur at a time that would take the wind out of the momentum generated by Obama's nomination at the DNC.
It is all part of a plan. That seems almost obvious.

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» RE: eady To Explode Posted by: VZEQICVA
» RE: eady To Explode Posted by: rinthy
Warnings
Posted by: Archie1954 on Aug 27, 2008 9:11 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
If Bush Administration officials were warning Georgia not to bait the bear they should have mentioned that to the VP because it is quite obvious that he was arranging just that.

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Cheney wants to protect access to Caspian Sea oil and gas
Posted by: AngryWhiteFemale on Aug 27, 2008 10:07 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
There's two things going on here:

1) BushCo want to get Georgia and Ukraine into NATO. They are breaking all the promises made by Reagan to Gorbachev. NATO was not set up to extend all the way into Russia's backyard. The other NATO members do not want those two countries in. Instigating the Orange and Rose revolutions in the Ukraine and Georgia was a way for us to get them to break ties with Russia and side with us. And we could begin encircling Russia.

There's rumors that there is a split between Condi Rice and Cheney. The State Dept wants dialogue with Russia, but Cheney wants war. No way could Shaakashvili have attacked South Ossetia without a green light from the White House.

Israel has been supplying Georgia with arms and technology for a while. We and the Israelis had training exercises with the Georgian military two weeks before the attack. It is no coincidence that Georgia attacked South Ossetia on the opening day of the Olympic Games.

2) It's about the BTC oil pipeline. Russia supplies almost all of Europe's natural gas needs via a pipeline from the Caspian that runs through Russia and terminates in Germany. A few years ago, we built the BTC pipeline (Baku-Tblisi-Cerhan) from Azerbaijan to Turkey via Georgia. However, it runs damn close to South Ossetia and we want to protect it and build another to carry natural gas. As a matter of fact, the BTC was blown up in this latest conflict. The BTC is eventually supposed to connect Cerhan in Turkey to Ashkelon in Israel.
Cheney wants to protect the interests of the companies who have a stake in this before his disaster of an administration finally exits.

Here's a timeline of the mischief we were making in Georgia in the month before they attacked South Ossetia:

GlobalResearch

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Setting the stage for more war profiteering
Posted by: rick702 on Aug 27, 2008 11:38 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
As an Californian whom travels to Russia and has a Russian fiancee, I find this conflict and the media spin its received rather disturbing. The Georgians launched a surprise attack on a territory full of Russian Peace Keepers that Putin has said for years Russia would defend. So how does that make Russia "the bad guy"? Because they used overwhelming force? How does that differ from "Shock and Awe"? And isn't the point of any military conflict to overwhelm your opponent? I think the Bush/Chaney warmongers are just trying to create another bogyman where one doesn't exist, to advance the profits of their two favorite industries; the oil industry (if Russia cuts the supply to Europe, today's high prices we'll be only a dream), and the military contract industry. To these guys, a new Cold War with Russia would be good for business.

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Bombs falling
Posted by: dougo on Aug 27, 2008 2:37 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
One thing for sure,Russia has the capability to strike us with heavy bombers and ICBMs.Is this what McCain wants?If not,he should step up and offer some fig leaf of diplomacy.So far he beats the military drum of Bush/Cheney.Sure,we can also strike them back and assure mutual destruction but you know what,we're all dead.Haven't we had enough of the warmongers and puppeteers? THIS IS NOT A GAME......

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CHENEY'S NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO WENT TO GEORGIA!
Posted by: Quannah on Aug 27, 2008 3:46 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
That's where Karl Rove went when he was avoiding appearance at the House Judiciary Committee! Coincidence? I think not!

Not only that... Henry Kissinger was also dispatched just before the war started.

These people are crazy!

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Not only was the mad bomber Henry Kissinger dispatched
Posted by: TruthBeTold on Aug 28, 2008 7:11 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
to Georgia, but consider this: **

Who gave Mikheil Saakashvili the greenlight to launch an attack on South Ossetia? Was this an early October Surprise by Cheney/Bush?

Condi Rice met with Mikheil Saakashvili in Georgia on 7/9/08 for a private dinner.

Randy Scheunemann, McCain’s foreign advisor, was/is a lobbyist for Georgia.

Randy Scheunemann had 49 contacts with McCain or his staff regarding Georgia since 2001.

On 4/12/08, Scheunemann set up a phone call between McCain and Saakashvili after which McCain issued a statement of support for Georgia which threatened the Russians.

This statement WAS WRITTEN for McCain by Randy Scheunemann, warning Russia over Georgian sovereignty in South Ossetia.

John McCain claims a long time friendship with Saakashvili.

On April 17, a month and a half after Scheunemann stopped (?)working for Georgia, his partner Michael Mitchell at Orion Strategies, signed a $200,000 agreement with the Georgian government. ($800,000 + paid to Orion Strategies between 2004 to mid-2007).

Karl Rove was on a panel at Yalta, Ukraine, on 7/12/08 (while a fugitive from his summons to appear before Congress. Topic: "Elections in Russia and the USA: Impact on Ukraine and Europe". (Yalta is just a hop-skip-and jump across the Black Sea from Georgia).

Mikheil Saakashvili was a Keynote speaker on one of the panels of this conference on 7/12/08.

On the panel were: Sergey Glaziev, Dir, Institute for New Economy, and a member the Russian State Duma AND Kostyantyn Gryshchenko, Ambassador to Russian Federation & First Deputy Sect National Security & Defense Council of Ukraine.

Consider: the Russians, Georgia president and Karl Rove discussing the American election?

Karl Rove is a shadow adviser to John McCain, hense all of the dirty tricks.

Randy Scheunemann is a SIGNATORE to the The Project for the New American Century which developed the blueprint for the invasion and destruction of Iraq. Scheunemann ran the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, set up in November 2002, to lie to the public who were beginning to learn the truth about Iraq. (the gullible members of the puplic thought).

John McCain is a SIGNATORE to PNAC. He also pushed for the invasion and destruction of Iraq.

Joseph Wood, Dick Cheney's deputy assistant for national security affairs, was in Georgia shortly before the war began.

Cheney/Bush cherry-picked the data to create a reason for the invasion and destruction of Iraq.

The region has buco oil which is making the oil men (Cheney/Bush and their cohorts) salivate. Like they havenb't stolen enought money.

The US government had about 130 US military advisors, meaning soldiers, in Georgia at the time Saakashvili attacked South Ossetia.

My belief:
Saakashvili was given the impression that it was ok to attack South Ossetia and that the Russia had agreed to take no action. Being Russians and looking to gain an upperhand in that area and show up George Bush, since we don't have the capability to take action (other than drop a nuclear bomb) they did not adhere to the plan.

This an early October Surprise that went wrong) to give the cold-war hero John McCain a chance to play presidential, while George Bush hids out in Texas.

** left out of this scenario (because this stuff makes my head hurt) are what George Bush gave Georgia for sending soldiers to Iraq, training of Georgian soldiers by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and US soldiers, the sale by Israel of more that $500 million worth of military equipment to Georgia, and reports of the deaths of 3 US and 4 Israeli soldiers in Georgia.

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