Bush Condemns Russia's Attack On Georgia

President Blasts Moscow's "Disproportionate" Response; Georgian Leader Signs Cease-Fire

(CBS/AP)  President George W. Bush on Monday sharply criticized Moscow's harsh military crackdown in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, saying the violence is unacceptable and Russia's response is disproportionate.

The United States is waging an all-out campaign to get Russia to halt its retaliation against Georgia for trying to take control of the breakaway province of South Ossetia.

Mr. Bush, in an interview with NBC Sports, said, "I've expressed my grave concern about the disproportionate response of Russia and that we strongly condemn the bombing outside of South Ossetia."

The president called the violence in Georgia "unacceptable."

He said he did so directly to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who is in Beijing with Mr. Bush for the Olympics, and by phone to Russian President Dmitri Medvedev.

"I was very firm with Vladimir Putin," said Mr. Bush. "Hopefully this will get resolved peacefully."

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said Monday he had signed a cease-fire pledge proposed by envoys from the European Union. He signed the document together with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and his Finnish counterpart, Alexander Stubb.

Saakashvili said the EU mediators will head to Moscow later Monday to try to persuade Russia to accept the cease-fire.

While Georgia said its troops had retreated from South Ossetia and were honoring a cease-fire, Russia disputed the claim, and U.S. officials said Moscow was only expanding its blitz into new areas.

A Russian general issued an ultimatum to Georgian forces on Monday, insisting that troops near the other Georgian breakaway province of Abkhazia disarm or face Russian forces moving into Georgia.

Georgian Security Council chief Alexander Lomaia said Gen. Sergei Chaban in charge of Russian peacekeepers in Abkhazia conveyed the demand Monday through U.N. military observers in the area.

The Russian move would mark a major escalation in the Russian-Georgian conflict. With most Georgian troops concentrated in the east near South Ossetia, it could be hard for Georgia to repel a Russian offensive near Abkhazia, which lies further west on the Black Sea.

A senior general said Russia had no plans to move its troops from Georgia's two breakaway provinces into Georgian-controlled territory.

Deputy chief of General Staff Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn said Russia did not intend to move deeper into Georgia. Georgian officials earlier reported Russian tanks moving from the breakaway province of South Ossetia into Georgian-controlled territory and heading toward the strategic city of Gori before being turned back.

Alex Rossi, of CBS News partner Sky News, told Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith that Gori was bombed early Friday, and that some civilian locations were hit.

Rossi said fighting around the capital city of South Ossetia had largely quieted Friday and that Russian troops appeared to be fully in control of the breakaway region, leaving Georgian forces to retreat and take up defensive positions.

A Russian general said Georgian forces directed heavy fire at positions around Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, early Monday even though Georgia had claimed to be withdrawing from the shattered city and called for a cease-fire.

"Active fighting has been going on in several zones," the Interfax news agency quoted Maj. Gen. Marat Kulakhmetov as saying. He is commander of the Russian peacekeeping contingent that has been in South Ossetia since 1992.

Russia also claimed to have sunk a Georgian boat that tried to attack Russian vessels in the Black Sea.

On Sunday, Vice President Dick Cheney told Georgia's pro-American president that "Russian aggression must not go unanswered, and that its continuation would have serious consequences for its relations with the United States," Cheney's office reported.

Cheney spoke Sunday afternoon with Saakashvili, Cheney press secretary Lee Ann McBride said. "The vice president expressed the United States' solidarity with the Georgian people and their democratically elected government in the face of this threat to Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity," McBride said.

Asked to explain Cheney's phrase "must not go unanswered," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said, "It means it must not stand." White House officials refused to indicate what recourse the United States might have if the attacks continue.

A Russian official said more than 2,000 people had been killed in South Ossetia since Friday; the figure could not be confirmed independently.

Hundreds of refugees from the fighting in South Ossetia sought shelter in Russia on Sunday. They are among thousands who fled the region, and in particular the capital city of Tskhinvali, in recent days as Georgian forces battled for control.

Asked about the possibility of sending the U.S. military or other aid to Georgia, Mr. Bush's deputy national security adviser Jim Jeffrey said, "right now, our focus is on working with both sides, with the Europeans and with a whole variety of international institutions and organizations to get the fighting to stop."

Levin, too, did not see the chance of U.S. military involvement, though he said the U.S. needs to make clear to Russia that its action "is way out of line."

American "military intervention here is unthinkable," Brookings Institution senior foreign policy fellow Michael O'Hannlon told The Early Show's Smith. "Russia is a nuclear state. They are very close to this region and we are very far away."

Georgia, whose troops have been trained by American soldiers, began an offensive to regain control over South Ossetia overnight Friday, launching heavy rocket and artillery fire and air strikes that pounded the provincial capital, Tskhinvali. In response, Russia launched overwhelming artillery shelling and air attacks on Georgian troops.

"We're alarmed by this entire situation, and every escalatory step is a further problem," Jeffrey told reporters.

"The Georgian gambit of trying to push the Russians out of its breakaway border territories seems to have had the opposite effect of consolidating Russian control," reported CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips. "It's still unclear whether this crisis can be contained with only the destruction and loss of life it has caused so far."

At the core of this conflict is Russian mistrust of Georgia's Western leanings and its desire to join the NATO military alliance, reported Phillips. Russia has long been wary of the alliance advancing toward its western border.

The U.S. military began flying 2,000 Georgian troops home from Iraq after Georgia recalled the soldiers following the outbreak of fighting with Russia. The decision was a timely payback for the former Soviet republic, which was the third-largest contributor of coalition forces in Iraq after the U.S. and Britain.

Putin criticized the U.S. on Monday for airlifting the Georgian troops, saying the move would hamper efforts to solve Russia's conflict with Georgia.

[nafanyaminsk]

People of the world. You deceive! World mass media conduct propagation of a
false information. Russia DID NOT ATTACK Georgia! 07.08.2008 at 22:00
Georgia has attacked South Ossetia. At 3:30 08.08.2008 tanks of the
Georgian armies have entered into city Tskhinvali. Artillery
bombardment all the day long proceeded, fights with use of tanks and
heavy combat material, both against ossetic armies, and against peace
inhabitants were conducted. 2000 civil people already were lost. The
Russian peacemakers have arrived to South Ossetia in the evening
08.08.2008 for settlement of the conflict and prompting of the world in
republic and protection of the Russian citizens living on territory of
South Ossetia. Georgia has attacked South Ossetia on eve of Olympiad,
it is top of cruelty and cynicism. Proofs and video-materials look on :

http://www.1tvrus .com/ ,
http://www.1t v.ru/owa/win/ort6_main.main ,
http://www.rian.ru/ ,
http://www.vesti.ru/news ,
http://news.ntv.ru/ ,
http://www.ren-tv.com/ ,
http://www.newsru.com/ .
We shall tell is not present to WAR!!!

[drrc1]

When Bush speaks we wander not about what he is saying, but how many he has had before he spoke.

[not_ignorant]

Why are people not looking at true events?

Georgia bombed their "own territory" killing innocent women and children...innocent civilians. If this is truly Georgian territory...why did they kill their own people? Saddam Hussain did something similar to the Kurds and we condemned him as a monster...someone had to stop this killing.

Or...as Ossitia claims to be a sovereign nation INDEPENDENT of Russia AND Georgia...Georgia bombs a sovereign nation...Russia defendes the attacked nation...and we BLAME Russia? WHAT?

Russia did not invade Georgia, people...get the facts before you spout off...the US should be condemning Georgia''s actions...and supporting Russian''s actions to protect lives and territory of an self proclaimed independent country.

[metsobitso]

Bush should be on trial for crimes against humanity.

[nuffera]

I thought Bush looked into Putin''s eyes and saw his soul? Putin would "bury" Bush! Keep our hands off Russia''s politics! Who was it that said "We come to bury you!" Bet old Bushie is messing his pants and Cheney''s ticker is skipping a beat!

[intheshade-2009]

Next time you are in Russia, look around and you will see hard working, very intelligent and highly educated people. The country has no, zero, national or foreign debt, and the economy is growing so fast they don%u2019t have enough people to fill all the jobs. They have done it all on their own. Neo-Coms should not have any illusions that they will be able to push Russia around.

[patriot12436]

one american
Russian only threatened to put missiles in cuba when we started putting missiles in countries neighboring Russia. If the shoe was on the other foot what would you do to defend your country ?

[patriot12436]

justateen
Actually Putin is leade4r of the communist party and this falls in line with their goals. They went bankrupt, now they have rebuilt their resources and can afford to mobolize to regain their territories. Georgia was stupid to open the door for them to do this.

[patriot12436]

causeway
Actually those like one american are too stupid to find their way there.

[patriot12436]

hotpaulie
Your not keeping up with the polls, last time i heard it was only 23% that support him blindly now.

[patriot12436]

Bush is like a woman beater, wouold never step up against a man. However since he is delusional anything is possible.

[ndjam]

Turkey wants to enter the European Union badly, WHY??

[ndjam]

The European Union should be ashamed of themselves. They have shown time and time again how they are cowards. Imagine wanting to be part of this bunch? Not once have they come to the aid of their allies. They are truly the laughing stock of this Earth. The U.S will not do anything here either, they are too busy in Iraq and Afghanistan. They''ve been there for 7 years now. So, that gives Russia the green light to invade whomever they want, whenever they want. Who will be next? Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland. We shall see.

[wothah]

In 03 Bush sent Congress a bill to restock all of the weapon''s that is running low or that is getting old, not only did Congress passed this bill but double it. They also put an open end blank check, that the weapon''s used will be replaced with out any further approval. I bet that all of the weapon''s that Russia is now using is older that the ones using them. The US now has almost a hundred f-22 fighter bombers that is in the last faze of being combat ready, but that was yesterday, I bet that their is now a few dozen in rout or is already their. Cruse at super-sonic, stealth, twice the fire power than anything else up to bombers, 50% the range of anything else. Just one can take on 10 of Russia''s top line fighters. Who please god save US from Russia''s military might an fire power, look at Iraq an what they did to US, an that was before all of this new supplys that we now have.

[wothah]

Has anybody heard from Obama on this, let me guest, all we need to do is to have a face to face an end this miss understanding that we have here, now here''s your glass of milk an cookies, sweet dreams

[lochlan-2009]

So, who gets to give Chindia the trillion $$$ fuel bill?

I''m surprised they''re not in there fighting for it.


And mcape, your Dukes of Hazard rerun is on. Now go play.

[mcapek]

Send over some B2s for precision strikes against the old Russian armor. In the middle of night, bombs will wipe out their columns, how it happened nobody knows. That will give Russians some serious thoughts about continuing their aggression.

[wothah]

Has anybody stop an think about what Irasel is now thinking about, if they hit Iran right now it will put every body on the hot plate. This is a free pass for there cause, an what in the hell could Russia do about it. Plus, if you think that the US is not ready for this, when was the last time you heard or seen a fighter jet playing top gun here in the US, I live about 50 miles from Ft Worth an that is about all that one hears above them, today I haven''t heard one fighter jet playing top gun.

[lochlan-2009]

Posted by samsel3

That''s a bulls eye. Kudos for you, too.

Imagine the world, if the majority of posters here had any clue to what you were talking about.

[lochlan-2009]

looks like Israel will not get their way. There will be no pipeline going up to Turkey. HAHAHAHAHA
Now if Palestine can gain control of the gas fields in and off the coast of Gaza, the Israeli''''s will have no gas or oil to generate capitol.
HAHAHAHAHA

Posted by getoffmine


Hollllly ******!!!! Some one who knows what all this is about. It''s so good to see some intelligence on these sites. Thank you.