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.

[ugot2bfree]

Bush is telling the russians that they over reacted. Does he really think that everybody is stupid. Here he invades a nation half way around the world and takes it completely over and he thinks the russians have over reacted. Bush is an *** and so are the rest of his neocon administration. McBush(McCain) is no different.

[hermitdave]

George Bush had the nerve to tell POOTY POOT that he over reacted in attacking another country? This is a guy who for no legal reason attacked the Afghan people, killing and maiming thousands. Then with crusade number two attacked the innocent people of Iraq. George again wins the pot kettle black award.

[cdfoxtrot2]

Bush is hardly in a position to lecture anyone on "over-reacting", given the hysterical response of America to 9/11. The whole world has experienced terrorism, but the US gets a little taste of it, and everyone in the whole world is supposed to get in line in the ridiculous "war on terror". Bush would also have more credibility on the matter if he were to apply the same standard to Israel.

[randynason]

Who do Dik Cheney and George Bush think they are? Bush admonishes Russia for attacking a sovereign nation, which is exactly what he did when he invaded Iraq. And, Dik Cheney said that this aggression must not go unanswered. Isn''t that exactly what the American people have been saying all along? But, not about Georgia- about Baghdad! Methinks thou dost protest too much, Cheney and Bush!

[trbundro1277]

Bush Says Russia Overreacted In Georgia
*** Note to Bush: You overreacted In IRAQ!

[deacon20081]

Let''s not forget the OIl and Gas Pipelines that run from Russia through Georgia.
Dubya and Cheney are certainly AWARE of that Fact.

[puritan9]

Hey Georgy Boy - I heard that the KGB told Putin that Georgia had WMD''s - that is why Putin is doing this. But you should know that, you looked into his soul and knew him, right?

[mr2258]

It is stupid to try to blame this on Bush,The U.N. and our EU allies think Russia needs to step back.They are trying to settle this without a fullscale war.Now is the time for all Americans to stand together.That means stand with our president.

[pirmin3]

"That means stand with our president. "

Don''t make me laugh. I don''t want anything to do with that POS. The sooner he''s gone the better off the US will be. He''s already done irreparable damage.

[randynason]

Awww... Bush and Putin need to kiss and make up. Get a room, fellas! Look in each other''s eyes and give each other that special little, world-leader lap dance.

[tawpdawg111]

Mr. President:

Many Americans are very worried over this emergency. Please look into Pootey-Poot''s soul and call a press conference to tell us what you saw and what God has told you to do about it.

Thank you for your concern in this matter.

[louthesz9]

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."


So? What''s he gonna do next as a follow-up?? Impose sanctions that almost always don''t work?? Nuke Russia knowing that Russia has more nuclear arsenals in their inventory than the U.S..??? Is he willing to sacrifice 100 million American lives for 100 million Russian lives???

[nothappyatall]

President 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."

LOL HE''S a fine one to talk, mr death squad himself who has caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands with his tirade in IRAQ.

[pvperson]

Did he take a break in partying to make his statement or was it made while he was playing volleyball with the young girls?

[brianbwb-2009]

"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."

Sen. Levin doesn''t seem to mind the US being "way out of line" in Iraq, Afghanistan, and potentially Iran, his double standard is the zenith of hypocrisy.

[tbweb]

It is stupid to try to blame this on Bush,The U.N. and our EU allies think Russia needs to step back.They are trying to settle this without a fullscale war.Now is the time for all Americans to stand together.That means stand with our president.

Posted by mr2258 at 12:39 AM : Aug 11, 2008,,,

This is not the time for Bush bashing! I agree with Pres. Bush in this instance! Russia is going too far. The remedy Russia implemented resolved the issue it was concerned about, Georgia withdrew and implemented a cease fire, yet Russia continues a full scale attack! Without credible opposition Russia won`t stop.

[Michael Arnold]

Bush should shut the hell up. He''s the biggest murderer and thug on the planet.

[oneamerican_]

Vladamir Putin, the KGB hit man, has definite aims to re-create the Soviet Empire.

He has systematically worked to consolidate his power in the Russian government, reverse democratic gains in Russian government, assassinate his political foes, confiscate private oil and raw material enterprises and force their "nationalization" in order to steal their profits. He has also sought to control the governments of Russia''''s neighbors through intimidation, a mass invasion of Russian loyalists into neighboring regions that they wish to claim, and now, through unprovoked military invasions and ethnic cleansing, is committing mass murder.

Recently, Russia has threatened the United States to fly regular bomber missions again to Cuba, as was the case during the Cuban missile crisis.

All terrorist state aggression in the world seems to have a Russian hand in it, especially Iran.

Russia should be immediately thrown out of the U.N. and the G8, and all Russian diplomats in America and all Western Democratic countries should be sent home.

If anyone has been critical of America invading in order to free Iraq from a dictatorship, they should have no problem condemning Russia for trying to expand its suffocating and murderous Communist dictatorship on sovereign nation neighbors.

Vladamir Putins regime of terror needs to be destroyed.

[gx1103710]

Georgian forces have comttied war crimes thats should be the main story on every news site and paper in the country yet you all paint the Russian as the bad guys.
Your so called Georgian allies are the real terrorist and fascists killing women and children. Why must you pick sides like children in a school yard?

[alphaa10-2009]

I skipped the low-hanging fruit (George) for the wannabe Russian Tsar at the top of the tree-- Vladimir Putin.

Remember the Ukraine? How a dissident ethnic Russian minority wanted Russia to control the whole country, via Yanukovych?

Instead, Yushchenko-- He of the Dioxin-Poisoned Face-- won the election, and this despite Vladimir''s interference. The majority ethnic Ukranian population was jubilant, claiming democracy had prevailed in a nation that had been the pawn of outside interests for centuries.

Vladimir grumbled loudly to the effect that the Russian minority should run the country, anyway, and quietly vowed, "Never Again!" to allow any former Soviet republic with an ethnic Russian population to assert its independence from him.

In the old Tsarist style, Vladimir clearly has old Tsarist visions. He would reimpose a Russian hegemony on unwilling neighbors, if only in the "spirit of fraternal cooperation and friendship between peoples".

Have we heard that before? Look for heavy-handed treatment of Georgia, well beyond what might be required to assist South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The ultimate objective? Make an example of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, take over the country and install a pro-Moscow proxy. Look for a possible Georgian insurgency, and a new flashpoint in the centuries-old Great Game.

[stn_sage]

My comments are as follows:

1. Bush has set Georgia up for this. He has encouraged them to exert their independent from Russia AND join NATO! Had they already been excepted, NATO would be dragged into this!

2. If he and his party practiced diplomacy instead of hostility, he''d have more influence with Russia. Now, he has none.

3. In light of this, American voters should think TWICE before they put angry, John McSame in the Oval Office for a third Bush term!

4. Bush wanted this war! He''s been trying to get into Iran and hasn''t been able to, yet! It''s good for his military arms supporters, it''s good for him, and it keeps the general public''s eye off his real agenda!

[alphaa10-2009]

OneAmerican_ said, "If anyone has been critical of America invading in order to free Iraq from a dictatorship, they should have no problem condemning Russia for trying to expand its suffocating and murderous Communist dictatorship on sovereign nation neighbors."
---
And we critics of the criminally fraudulent, illegal and unilateral Bush invasion of Iraq have no problem finding parallels between Putin and Bush. After all, Bush looked Putin over at their first meeting and declared he had found a compatriot. ""I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy," Bush said.

As well he might. When Bush needed a pretext to capture Iraq for his patrons in Big Oil, delivering "freedom and democracy" at bayonet point to the Iraqis was just the ticket. Never mind that Bush never found the threat to American security he claimed justified his entire exercise in criminal, impeachable mendacity.

Bush''s War was a first for America, the naked imperial behavior of an unprovoked invasion to control territory. This country will pay for years for the loss of its credibility-- and Exhibit A is the insouciance of Vladimir as he marches into Tblisi.

PS: This is a Russian, but not a Communist empire. Thank Gorbachev for that-- and the previous Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze, Gorbachev''s staunch ally during the years of glasnost and perestroika..

[alphaa10-2009]

gx1103710 asks, "Why must you pick sides like children in a school yard?"
---
You should read your own posts, because you appear to have taken sides, yourself. You did say, "Your so called Georgian allies are the real terrorist and fascists killing women and children", didn''t you?

Welcome to America, comrade. As an ethnic Russian, you no doubt wish Vladimir had better press. Unfortunately, his control of the American press or public forum does not extend beyond his borders.

Suggestion-- tell Vladimir not to imitate his friend George so closely. We can respect any leader who promotes democracy in his own country and respects democracy in others.

[rudy654-2009]

Georgian forces have comttied war crimes thats should be the main story on every news site and paper in the country yet you all paint the Russian as the bad guys.
Your so called Georgian allies are the real terrorist and fascists killing women and children. Why must you pick sides like children in a school yard?

Posted by gx1103710 at 02:46 AM

You are exactly right about the picking sides, as you call it. Despite who is right and wrong, the Georgian government has been brought before the European Court for human rights violations over and over again. This country has a particular problem with human rights, yet it sounds like they are the innocent. They aren''t.

[rwkincaide]

"Bush Condemns Russia''s Attack On Georgia"

Haha. The pot calls the kettle black, and the US MSM dutifully parrots the official party line. All these murdered civilians in Iraq and South Ossetia mean nothing to Bush or Putin, ruthless wannabe despots, both of them.

[kretos_d]

bush the baby killer **** please you are last person of the world who could condemn Russia !

[magas4-2009]

1. Georgian troops invaded South Osetia on August, 7 and killed over 1500 civilians in one day. No one in the western world aware, guess why? Right! Everybody are watching Olympics.
2. Next day, after Russian peacekeepers in the region attacked and many killed, Russia send army for support. Everybody in the rest world aware immediately!!! Guess why? Right! That was planned so and journalists were prepared to show it the "right way".

Very nice show, Mr. Bush!

[tapsettle]

Where are the voices of reason amongst the rest of the US politicians? All we hear are the predictable anti-Russian rantings of the discredited neocon murderers. No-one is listening to them any more, so where are the voices of americas political future?

[megfee]

Hello. I think Americans should be gratetfull to Mr Bush for what he did to his country. He succeded to make fight against terror an international issue.

The Americans have to ask this questions : Since when the saudi Arabia started to fight them own terrorists and extremists ? Of course since Bush came to power. Since when the most counties are fighting and spending a lot of money to counter an extremists ? of course since Bush came to white house. Since when an exremist states are fighting a terrorists in them own land ? Of course since Bush came to power.

This is victory of the Bush administration. America need a strong man in this time to continue to defeat a terrorist everywhere.

Bush did what he suppose to do to protect the Americans and that what he did until now.The americans shoud ask him to stay and to get an other extra mandate to achieve his goals.

The ones who will be very happy to see Obama in White House, are first the terrorists organisations and extremist states who are helping them. Hope Mcain will take over and continue to protect the americans.

[juwboy]

Russia`s response is "disproportionate", is it?

So, in WWII, the U.S. should have ceased hostilities when the number of Japanese killed matched the number of Americans who died at Pearl Harbor.

[tapsettle]

Posted by Megfee ... The 9-11 hijackers were saudis, and Bush let the rest of them fly out that day when all other planes were grounded; america is by every measure less safe than before Bush was in power; more countries, including the US, practise torture now than before Bush was in power, americas reputation is down the toilet thanks to Bush ..... are you stupid or just his biographer?

[nextgenman]

On Sunday, Vice President *** 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.
---------

Yawn. Who cares what the US thinks now? You''ve already screewed that pooch Cheney.

[tapsettle]

''It is time for Europe to distance itself from NATO, which has become a US tool, and to choose whether it wants Russia as a friend or an enemy.'' True.

[nextgenman]

Russia`s response is "disproportionate", is it?

So, in WWII, the U.S. should have ceased hostilities when the number of Japanese killed matched the number of Americans who died at Pearl Harbor.

Posted by juwboy at 04:50 AM : Aug 11, 2008
---------

What''s this?! You''re not wholeheartedly supported your Saviour His Holy BushCheney! How Cute!

[nextgenman]

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, "we couldn''t if we wanted to. We wasted all of our resources on the failure in Iraq."

[tapsettle]

Youre right nextGenMan. And another Bush-Cheney conversation a while back "Are there any trouble spots that can be stoked up to show Russia as an aggressor? What about Georgia and the South Ossetia separatists on Russia%u2019s southern border?"

[oneworldusa]

So, when did Bush qualify himself as a moral compass regarding an act of war? Laughable.

[tapsettle]

''A prod at Russia through South Ossetia has doubtless been designed to produce a response that can be spun as Russian aggression'' True.

[nextgenman]

Bush and Cheney were homesick for the Cold War. Old people are like that, living in their glory days past.....

[tapsettle]

The US and NATO are behind the Georgian invasion of South Ossetia as part of their attempts to prevent Russia becoming a member of the EU. Unfortunately for them they ''misjudged Russian restraint for unwillingness to act''.
What they now have is called ''blowback''.

[tapsettle]

Just some food for thought for all you Russia-haters. Stalin, the instigator of the ''iron curtain'', nuclear arms race etc etc ..... was Georgian, born in Gori, just south of South Ossetia.

[beboldin09]

Yawn. Who cares what the US thinks now? You''''ve already screewed that pooch Cheney.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by nextGenMan at 05:04 AM : Aug 11, 2008

FloydZepp, don''t you ever get tired of being an idiot? Seriously!

[srireddy-2009]

Putin... Isn''t he an ex-Prez...

Chimp must be busy playing sand volleyball and forgot the real Prez of Russia is someone else...

Ohhhh Goshhhh.. Are Texans this bad??

[nextgenman]

FloydZepp, don''''t you ever get tired of being an idiot? Seriously!

Posted by BeBoldin09 at 05:46 AM : Aug 11, 2008
----------

????

[nextgenman]

Bush has zero credibility on disproportionate response given the failures he''s perpetrated in Iraq and Afghanistan.

[babooph]

Bush & Cheney lecturing on war is like a couple of pigs lecturing on hygene.

[tapsettle]

If Russias response to an attack on their South Ossetian citizens is ''disproportionate'', what the heck is a US response causing a million dead in Iraq when Iraq didnt even attack anybody?

[juwboy]

nextGenMan:

I`ve never mentioned either Bush or Cheney in a Comment on this board, so how do you know what I think of them?

[anotherview2-2009]

This will be over before the words, "strong diplomacy" are even said. Russia is on the move to remove a thorn from its paw, and will control Georgia before the end of the week, for who will stand in their.

Russia has been preparing for this opportunity and will see it through.

[chimpyout]

Them Georgia boys should have known that Coach Vladimmer was fixin'' to bust ''em upside the haid!