SHTF in the Georgian Republic

[unixronin]

That difference of opinion between Russia and Georgia that I mentioned earlier this morning?  Well, it's gone hot.  According to available reports, Georgia has shot down at least two to four Russian warplanes, Russia has been bombing Georgia all day, and a Russian armored column of 150+ vehicles is rolling into Georgia.  Russia is claiming it has received reports of ethnic cleansing in villages in South Ossetia.  South Ossetia is trying to break away from Georgian control; Georgia claims to have taken control of the South Ossetian capital of Tshkinvali, and is accusing Russia of arming Ossetian separatists.

Everyone involved seems to be trying to avoid saying so in so many words, but it looks like Russia and Georgia are now de facto at war.

T72 heavy tanks roll through Georgia (credit: Welt.de).  Unclear whether these are Russian or Georgian.  T72 variant, either way.

Georgian DANA 155mm self-propelled artillery on the move (credit: BBC)

Hind-D attack helicopters (credit: BBC)

See also:  Photo gallery from Der Spiegel

(Pointer credits include luxobscura, tommx, james_nicoll)

Comments

This is bad.

[dakiwiboid.livejournal.com]

We really can't afford to have so much of the world at war. "All the falling bombs keep Georgia on my mind" indeed.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

(Georgia isn't Baltic...)

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Well, OK, technically it's on the Black Sea, not the Baltic. But I've always heard those states grouped under the heading of "the Baltic states".

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

(Thinking maybe of the Balkans?)

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Nope ... You're right that I was mistaken in saying Baltic states, for some reason I was recalling Georgia and the surrounding republics as being more northerly. There b>is, I'm pretty sure, a collective term for that cluster of republics, but I'm completely and utterly blanking on what it is. I was correct in saying they're adjacent to the Black Sea, but that is of course nowhere near the Baltic.

[tommx.livejournal.com]

I'm not afraid to say it. This is a war.

[ilcylic.livejournal.com]

Please tell me Georgia hasn't signed into NATO, yet?

[radarrider.livejournal.com]

Nope, not yet.

[ilcylic.livejournal.com]

Thank Eris for small blessings. I was seeing a repeat of how WWI started up, with us playing the role of "learns nothing from history".

[luxobscura.livejournal.com]

That was my first thought, although I have seen at least one image of Georgian soldiers wearing US Marine Corps 'woodland' digital camo, so apparently the procurement process has started.


http://www.abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=5530894

[rosencrantz23.livejournal.com]

this should be fun to watch from the sidelines...

and it offers us such wonderful news gaffes as this (http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hpNRP9ysixHH3P9izLJRjYT1ATkA) AFP article with a googlemap placing the Russian column somewhere just west of Savannah....*grin*

[rosencrantz23.livejournal.com]

in case the URL didn't copy in my previous comment, here it is in full: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hpNRP9ysixHH3P9izLJRjYT1ATkA (http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hpNRP9ysixHH3P9izLJRjYT1ATkA)

[tabbifli.livejournal.com]

Map fixed now.

[tabbifli.livejournal.com]

Yes, because we all know that there's only one Georgia in the world.

Savannah *would* actually be a loss, but could they take Mason County, Valdosta, and Atlanta out while they're down there?

Geography for the lose.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Heh ;)

I know a recent poll found 60% of college freshmen thought Australia was a US state, but one expects better from a news agency.

Then again .............................

[ithildae.livejournal.com]

Been simmering for a while. Russia has a military base that they don't want to give up. They have been inciting problems in that area since the Georgian revolution.

This should be interesting, from a distance. (Interesting as in: May you live in interesting times.)