Russia Assures Rice On Truce

U.S. Official: Russia Tells Secretary Of State It Will Implement Deal "Faithfully"

(CBS/AP)  Georgia's president grudgingly signed a truce with Russia Friday, even as he denounced the Russians as invading barbarians and accused the West of all but encouraging them to overrun his country. A stone-faced Condoleezza Rice, standing alongside, said Russian troops must withdraw immediately from their smaller neighbor.

President Bush talked tough, too, accusing the Russians of "bullying and intimidation," but neither he nor Rice said what the U.S. might do if Russia ignored them.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's press office had no information Friday night on whether he had signed the cease-fire agreement. Russia's foreign minister assured Rice later that his country would implement the deal "faithfully," a U.S. official said. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because Rice's conversation was private, said Russia was likely to sign the deal Saturday.

As the secretary of state spoke in Tbilisi, Russian forces remained camped out just 25 miles away.

Associated Press reporters had seen a convoy of some 50 Russian army trucks and armored personnel carriers roar without warning southeast from the city of Gori on Wednesday, some shouting they were heading to Tbilisi, the Georgian capital. But they veered into a field outside the town of Igoeti and set up camp conspicuously within sight of the road. The Russians were still visible there Friday.

Even as Rice stood with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili in a show of solidarity, he asked, "Who invited the trouble here? Who invited this arrogance here? Who invited these innocent deaths here?"

Shaky and near tears following a difficult, nearly five-hour meeting with her, Saakashvili answered his own question: "Not only those people who perpetrate them are responsible, but also those people who failed to stop it."

Rice let that pass, focusing instead on the demand that Moscow immediately withdraw its forces.

"With this signature by Georgia, this must take place and take place now," she declared.

There was no immediate clue to the Russians' intentions a week after their tanks and bombers attacked Georgia in retaliation for Georgia's attempt to retake a disputed province by force.

Russian troops allowed some humanitarian supplies into the strategic city of Gori but otherwise continued their blockade.

Adding to the day's tensions was a top Russian general's comments that Poland's agreement to accept a U.S. missile interceptor base exposed the ex-communist nation to attack, possibly by nuclear weapons, the Interfax news agency reported.

The statement by Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn is the strongest threat that Russia has issued against the plans to put missile defense elements in former Soviet satellite nations.

Rice responded to the Russian threat from the Georgian capital, accusing the Russians of refusing to accept U.S. assurances that the missile defense system is not aimed at them and not their business, reports CBS News Chief Foreign Affairs correspondent Lara Logan.

"The arrangements that the United States makes with its Polish allies, to make sure that Poland is capable of defending itself and capable of being an active ally, are frankly between Poland and the United States," said Rice.

But Russia's president doesn't agree, and poured scorn on U.S. claims that the missile system doesn't undermine Russia and targets only rogue states, calling them "fairytales," reports Logan.

The cease-fire document sets out no specific penalties or deadlines. It contains concessions to Russia that Saakashvili obviously found hard to swallow. Russia could retain peacekeeping forces in the separatist region of South Ossetia and another breakaway region, Abkhazia, and the forces would have a broader mandate in South Ossetia.

Even if Russia fully complies with the cease-fire, the Bush administration says there will be more consequences to come. Bush's advisers are settling on penalties that would be intentionally modest and subtle, such as continuing to exclude Russia's foreign minister from discussions among his counterparts in elite gatherings of the world's leading economies.

The idea is to give Moscow the diplomatic cold shoulder while offering face-saving leeway for Russia to turn away from a mentality the West sees as throwback to its empire days. Russia would then have motivation, and some wiggle room, to seek inclusion in Western economic, political and security institutions.

In Washington, Bush accused Russia of resorting to thuggery from another era. He insisted the United States will not abandon Georgia, a Western-leaning democracy on Russia's southern flank and once part of the old Soviet Union.

"Bullying and intimidation are not acceptable ways to conduct foreign policy in the 21st century," Bush said. "Only Russia can decide whether it will now put itself back on the path of responsible nations or continue to pursue a policy that promises only confrontation and isolation."

Russian withdrawal from Gori, in the center of Georgia proper, would be a major sign that Russia is not trying to hold permanent sway in Georgia or topple its enthusiastically pro-American government. By holding Gori, Russia holds the small country's only major east-west highway and effectively slices Georgia in half.

The peace pact was worked out earlier in the week by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and both sides had said they agreed to it.

Russian forces remained, however, and U.S. officials said the document would take effect once it was formally signed Friday. It tells both sides to pull their forces back to the positions they held before fighting broke out last week in South Ossetia.

Saakashvili's tirade and the forceful words from Bush in Washington suggested that a week into the crisis, both leaders were reassessing how they got here.

"We will rebuild," Saakashvili said. "We want them out. I want the world to know, never, ever will Georgia reconcile with occupation of even one square kilometer of its sovereign territory. Never, ever."

His leadership is founded on a close alliance with Washington that has always exasperated Moscow.

Bush gave his most sustained explanation of U.S. action during the crisis, saying the conflict is about much more than a small country far away. Bush made clear the real fight is about the power and ambition of nuclear-armed Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union and Russia's resurgence as an energy dynamo.

"The Cold War is over. The days of satellite states and spheres of influence are behind us," Bush said at the White House, before a vacation delayed by the crisis. "A contentious relationship with Russia is not in America's interest, and a contentious relationship with America is not in Russia's interest."

Rice said the time had come "to begin a discussion of the consequences of what Russia has done. This calls into question what role Russia really plans to play in international politics."

The Russians may now get more than they bargained for as the West responds to their aggression, says a former U.S. ambassador to Georgia.

"Every one of Russia's neighbors feels less secure today than it did a week ago. This is going to mean that they're going to want help from the outside," William Courtney, former U.S. ambassador to Georgia, told CBS News. "A greater Western military presence in the region is not something Russia wanted, but by it's own actions, Russia has forced this to happen now and the West will respond to this."

Rice was flying to Texas, where she was to give Bush a firsthand account of her diplomatic mission.

Apparently concerned that her awkward news conference with Saakashvili had set the wrong tone, Rice spoke briefly on her own before leaving Georgia.

"It's obviously a very emotional time here in Georgia," she said after visiting wounded people in a hospital.

"It's clearly a very emotional time, but I think that it should still be seen that this was a productive day. I hope now that peace can return to Georgia and Georgians can return to a normal life."

[trrrorislamx]

Flew in from Miami Beach BOAC
Didn''t get to bed last night
Oh, the way the paper bag was on my knee
Man, I had a dreadful flight
I''m back in the USSR
You don''t know how lucky you are, boy
Back in the USSR, yeah

Been away so long I early knew the place
Gee, it''s goo to be back home
Leave it till tomorrow to unpack my case
Honey disconnect the phone
I''m back in the USSR
You don''t know how lucky you are, boy
Back in the US
Back in the US
Back in the USSR

Well the Ukraine girls really knock me out
They leave the west behind
And Moscow girls make me sing and shout
That Georgia''s always on my my my
my my my my my my mind
Oh, come on
Hu Hey Hu, hey, ah, yeah
yeah, yeah, yeah
I''m back in the USSR
You don''t know how lucky you are, boys
Back in the USSR

Well the Ukraine girls really knock me out
They leave the west behind
And Moscow girls make me sing and shout
That Georgia''s always on my my my
my my my my my my mind

Oh, show me round your snow peaked
mountain way down south
Take me to your daddy''s farm
Let me hear your balalaika''s ringing out
Come and keep your comrade warm
I''m back in the USSR
Hey, You don''t know how lucky you are, boy
Back in the USSR
Oh, let me tell you honey

[trrrorislamx]

American citizen telling the truth about Georgian invade in South Osetia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCwTo9AdT2c&feature=related

The first day war of Georgia against Ossetia.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2DncU5FdCU&feature=related

Georgian attack on capital of Ossetia is beaten off.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQ4NSNtV8Jk&feature=related

Georgian terrorist armies kill inhabitants of South Ossetia.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnob0TQDeN8&feature=related

[trrrorislamx]

Defying warnings from Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, around 1,000 volunteers from Abkhazia, Georgia''''s other breakaway province are headed to South Ossetia to aid seperatists there against the Georgian military. Abkhazia''''s foreign minister told Der Spiegel:

We understand very well that we Abkhazians are next in line after South Ossetia. If the situation doesn''''t stabilize again, then we will have to open a second front.

Abkhazia''''s tensions with Tblisi have been getting far more media attention than South Ossetia''''s over the past few months. The status of both territories have been a matter of dispute since the end of bloody civil wars in the early 1990s and both are backed by Russia in their bids for independence.
http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/node/9473

[trrrorislamx]

ABKHAZIA AT WAR WITH GEORGIA SINCE 1992

Abkhazia declared itself independent on 23 July 1992. Since then it has been at war with, and partially occupied by, Georgia.
http://www.crwflags.com/FOTW/flags/ge-abkha.html

[lambor59]

Ugliness is not a crime but this ugly looking woman name Rice is not only smelly but very sick in the head just like Bush, and she is #3 criminal behind Bush and Cheney.

[lambor59]

Putin assured this ugly C.Rice that she and Bush will get their b.u.t.ts kicked real good....but the USA is spared.

[starleo146]

Russia Assures Rice On Truce
U.S. Official: Russia Tells Secretary Of State It Will Implement Deal "Faithfully"

I bet they believe them as they have for 71/2 years, and look where we are? gheeze Just shut up already, and don''t try to fix a thing for matters to get worse than they already are

[starleo146]

And McCain is going right along in perfectly synchronized goosestep with them.

Posted by hungry1968 at 08:41 AM : Aug 16, 2008
+ repor

Hungry, I think this invasion is a way of letting these Georgians and sending a message at the same timer to the Us. Letting Georgia know we want you back in the Russian hands, and as far as the Us, saying we do not want this Missile system in Poland, and this could happen to you. I do feel the Missile system we are building is really rocking there boat, just curious as to your opinion which I do value

[mahalapril]

Hungry 1968-You obviously is a stupid American who CAN''T DISTINGUISH the difference between the attack in Iraq and the Russian attack in Georgia.You are so immature and naive.Do you even remember Russia''s invasion after WW2 of eastern Europe which was called the Warsaw Pact nations which started the cold war.That is what Rusiia is doing again. If you call Bush a liar and a criminal for the attack on Iraq then the UN,EU and American Congress would be charged similarly since they approved the invasion after Saddam defied the multiple sanctions and warnings and refuse the search.There was no WMDs at that time so why did Saddam refused the search ? He invited the invasion.He refused the search because did not want Iran to know that he has no WMDS because Iran would retaliate from Iraq''s attack against Iran using WMD.

[hwy71so]

You guys need to lay off the crack pipe...