U.S. Navy Docks In Key Georgian Port

(CBS/AP)  The flagship of the U.S. Navy's Mediterranean fleet arrived in the Georgian port of Poti on Friday.

The Mount Whitney was the first U.S. naval ship to travel to the port since Georgia fought a short war with Russia last month. Poti was bombed by Russian forces and several Georgian ships were sunk.

Harbor master Vakhtang Tavberidze said Friday the ship had anchored just offshore from the port.

U.S. officials said the ship was bringing humanitarian aid for Georgians.

Russia, however, has been extremely wary about the presence of U.S. and NATO ships in the Black Sea region.

U.S. officials in Washington said Russia would be allowed to inspect the Mount Whitney's cargo.

Russia said Friday it planned no military actions in response to the increased presence of the U.S. Navy in the Black Sea.

Foreign Ministry official Andrei Nesterenko made the comments just before the Mount Whitney arrived in Poti.

Earlier, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin openly questioned the presence of NATO and U.S. ships and pledged an unspecified response.

Asked by a reporter about what Russia's response would be, Nesterenko said Friday that international treaties regulate the presence of naval ships in the Black Sea.

He said: "There is no talk of military action."

Earlier, Russia said U.S. aid to Georgia and recent comments by Vice President Dick Cheney will encourage Georgia's "aggressive ambitions."

A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman made the comments Friday as Cheney continued his tour of three ex-Soviet republics including Ukraine, Georgia and Azerbaijan.

President Bush, for his part, is poised to punish Moscow for its invasion of Georgia by canceling a once-celebrated deal for civilian nuclear cooperation between the U.S. and Russia.

With relations between the two nations in a nearly Cold Warlike freeze over Russia's actions against its neighbor last month, planning is under way at the White House for the largely symbolic move by Mr. Bush, according to senior administration officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision was not yet final.

[memphis_jame]

3 problems with your comment Moscow 22.
1st;the EU, not the US gets oil from Azerbajan.
2nd; T-72s are Russian built from the old USSR.
3rd; no American politician ever claimed that the war was started by the Russians. They have stated the Russians are illegally occupying Georgian territory beyond the disputed areas and that the Georgians didn''t attack Abkhazia. Just South Ossetia; yet the Russians attacked and drove the Georgian forces out of Abkhazia, unprovoked.
Everyone admits the Georgians attacked South Ossetian. No one thus far has agreed on the why of it. The Georgians, Russians, and South Ossetians have all told conflicting stories that will only be answered after total compliance with the Cease-firer Agreement; signed by all the parties concerned; is adhered to. And not a moment before. The longer the Russians take in leaving Georgian territory, the later it will take to get at the truth and resolve these issues.
If you''ll recall; the US had pretty much the same difficulty when it invaded Iraq, until the US agreed to allow the UN to control and administer the task of returning Iraq to it''s soveriegn state. The world was down on the US the same as Russia is now experiencing. Russia has to give in to the UN too, and follow it''s pledge faithfully in the implementations of the six point cease fire agreement.

[prudentvoter]

samsel3 remarks on Bush administrations lust for money in World markets for their BIG OIL buddies. It is refreshing to hear somebody who knows what he is talking about. Prime minister Putin is a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu and a master at turning Bushs and Cheneys lust and aggression against themselves. He lured his dumb and dumber opponents into an ill conceived attack on Ossetia and than then countered with a decisive and punishing counter attack. President Medvedev and the Kremlin are also well advanced in a master chess game that will see Ukraine, Georgia and Azerbaijan all fall within the next few months. Seeing his surrogates driven from power or thrown in jail is likely to give old Cheney another heart attack, and serve as a fitting end to the reign of this evil monster.

[samsel3]

The truth is, this is all about control of oil & gas pipelines. The BTC oil pipeline in South Ossetia & the Nabucco natural gas pipeline in NW Georgia supply markets in the European Union. In November 2003 the World Bank funded the BTC pipeline to circumvent Russian pipelines supplying europe.

Shareholders in the BTC pipeline are: British Petroleum, AzBTC, Chevron, Statoil, TPAO, ENI, Total, Itochu, INPEX, ConocoPhillips & Amerada Hess.

Russia is the second largest supplier of oil & gas on the planet.
After loosing Iraqi oil to Operation Iraqi Freedom, they negotiated supplies with Iran. The Russians were not happy with Cheneys BTC pipeline or the Caspian Sea Pipelines project going through Afghanistan. This threatens their economy based on oil & gas.

Again it s the Bush administrations lust for money in World markets for their BIG OIL buddies.

[samsel3]

November 4, 2004 the IAGS Energy Security reported :

"Much of the stability along the BTC corridor would depend on Russia. Russia is not supportive of BTC. It sees it as a U.S. plot to gain control over the Caucasus and cut all links between Moscow of the former Soviet states, building an economic infrastructure that would prevent the former Soviet states to ever reunite with Russia. Moscow also views BTC as a way to weaken its position as major supplier of oil to the European markets. In a recent article at Asia Times Online, John Helmer refers to the BTC project as an effort %u201Cto redraw the geography of the Caucasus on an anti-Russian map.%u201D

Russia sold it s investment share of the BTC pipeline to Japan before the Iraq invasion.

After loosing Iraqi oil to Operation Iraqi Freedom, they negotiated supplies with Iran. The Russians were not happy with Cheneys BTC pipeline or the Caspian Sea Pipelines project going through Afghanistan. This threatens their economy based on oil & gas.

[samsel3]

Moscow -- Armed forces will be used if necessary, including preventively and with the use of nuclear weapons, for protection of Russia and its allies, the Russian Armed Forces Chief of the General Staff Yuri Baluyevsky said on Saturday.

"We do not intend to attack anybody. But all our partners must realize that for protection of Russia and its allies if necessary armed forces will be used, including preventively, including with the use of nuclear weapons," Baluyevsky was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying.

Baluyevsky reportedly made the statement at a scientific conference of the Academy of Military Sciences January 19, 2008.

[moscow22]

What you, Americans are forgeting: Russia had peacekeeping forces that were attacked,with the hospital by missle systems( Grat). But American polices contradict the fact that Russian peacekeepers were attacked first by Georgians on Ukrainian T-72s and rifles of NATO from Germany. Aslo Cheney had to make a blitz visit to Azerbajan whose oil pipeline goes through South Osetia to ensure that America gets oil,

[gce65]

Bush/Cheney Phone Call part II)

Cheney: No! Restarting of the Cold War for profit! Only this time I will control ALL THE OIL when it''s over! I WILL CONTROL THE ENTIRE WORLD!

Uh...I mean WE will control the entire world.

Bush: Isn''t that what Operation Iraqi Liberation (OIL) was about?

Cheney: I told you never to call it that! It''s FREEDOM! Operation Iraqi FREEDOM! Otherwise everyone will figure it out. And that was just a start.

Bush: Yes sir, Mr Presid-- Uh, I mean...Mr VICE President. Can I do anything here to help? Maybe raise the National Fear level? I love how it''s color coded. Easier to understand that way.

Cheney: THREAT Level, you moron! THREAT Level! Hmmm, with an election coming up we may just need that. Raise it to Orange.

Bush: But it''s already at Orange, Sir.

Cheney: Then raise it to RED! Gotta keep the public in FEAR! That''s our strategy in this election: Ignore the issues, play up the FEAR!

Bush: Fear....right. Laura! Bring me my magic markers, especially the RED one.......

Cheney and Bush: Muaaaaww-ha-ha-ha-ha!!!!!

[gce65]

Secret phone call between Bush and Cheney (Part I)

Bush: President Cheney, people here at home seem to like this Obama guy.

Cheney: I told you NEVER to call me that! For publicity purposes YOU''RE president!

Bush: Yes sir. But Iraq also isn''t going well. The generals say we can''t bring troops home for a while. And Bin Laden and al Qaeda are still on the loose. People want change!

Cheney: Silence, chimpy! We can stall for a while on Iraq. Just keep repeating over and over, "the Surge is working." I''m seeing to it that we attack the Pakistani border regions from Afghanistan. I know it''s one sovereign nation attacking another, but who cares? It''ll add to international tensions and fear. That''s what we want.

Bush: What''s all this I''m hearing about Georgia? I like Georgia. They have peaches. I like peaches. It''s where the Atlanta Braves play. I like baseball.

Cheney: Not that Georgia, idiot! The REPUBLIC of Georgia! In the Caucasus! I''m working on starting a war there for even more oil.

Bush: Huh-huh, he said...Caucasus.

Cheney: Silence, fool! This will be the grand finale of my master plan...

Bush: Safety and security in the world?

(to be continued)

[kohin-2009]

You have to look who Mcsame choose for the VP nominee,
An alaskan gov. who believe that the war in IRAQ WAS GOD`S PLAN and the ALASKAN PIPELINE IS GOD`s WILL( check on UTUBE: sarah Pallin church and sarah Pallin alaskan...) and Mr Bush believed he was choosen by GOD to lead the "free world".
What is going on ?????

[cfin5]

This is called "Read between the lines" diplomacy. Russians lie when they ask stupid questions as to why the Whitney''s there. Sets the Georgians at ease some though after what they were provoked into starting. Who doesn''t remember the Russians teasing them into it the last 6 months or so?