Foreign Correspondence

[Amaunet]

The following excerpt brought to mind Georgia. The Russian Defense Minister in referring to Chechnya has accused the U.S. of wanting the "permanent smoldering of a manageable armed conflict" in this region.
#msg-3775550

Boy does that sound familiar.

I think that Saakashvili’s job is to keep the Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions smoldering just as Chechnya is kept smoldering.

One marvels at how the untested new president Saakashvili could have upped the ante so considerably in such a short period, unless he feels sure of American backing. That a small country commanding a weak military feels it can play chicken with Vladimir Putin is inconceivable. However, though speaking loudly while carrying a small stick has never been much of a recipe for success, Saakashvili seems well assured. Perhaps last week’s meetings with top-level officials such as Rice, Powell and Donald Rumsfeld had something to do with that.
#msg-3767830

reference:
AN OFFER YOU CAN'T REFUSE
First the U.S. government simply and firmly ruled out any Iranian pipeline. They announced they would not lift their embargo on Iran--and they would not allow major U.S. companies to participate in any major projects there. That was the end of the Iranian pipeline.

Then the Russian plans for the northern pipeline "suddenly" ran into huge problems: War broke out in Chechnya and Dagestan--border areas of Russia where oil from Baku travels on its way to the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossisk.

War broke out in Dagestan in August 1999--just as the aging Baku-Novorossisk pipeline broke down and the Russian oil corporations were trying to move Baku's oil through Dagestan by rail. Then the fighting spread from Dagestan to nearby Chechnya. The Russian army initiated a brutal campaign to crush resistance and pacify the region. About 200,000 Chechens are refugees, as many as 4,000 may be dead, and much of this small nation has been devastated.

Meanwhile, plans for northern Russian-controlled oil pipelines have been torpedoed by this fighting--during exactly the timeframe when the oil companies have to decide on which pipeline to begin building. There is no documented evidence that the U.S. unleashed and armed the Muslim secessionist forces of Chechnya. But clearly the timing of this new war has been very useful for U.S. plans in the Caspian.

The Russian Defense Minister has accused the U.S. of wanting the "permanent smoldering of a manageable armed conflict" in this region.