This is what many folks INCLUDING PASTOR LINDSEY WILLIAMS predicted.
As we march toward this Fall the players are getting ready to play their parts.
CNN, FOX, MSNBC and the other Bilderberg controlled media outlets are as usual lacking in details. CNN is showing some jock who got a new tee shirt!!!!
Search the Alternative Media!
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Stay alert.
'The Beast is slouching his way towards Jerusalem.'
Feel free to share your findings here
Georgia says Russian aircraft bombed its air bases
DZHAVA, Georgia (AP) — Russia sent columns of tanks and reportedly bombed Georgian air bases Friday after Georgia launched a major military offensive Friday to retake the breakaway province of South Ossetia, threatening to ignite a broader conflict.
Hundreds of civilians were reported dead in the worst outbreak of hostilities since the province won defacto independence in a war against Georgia that ended in 1992. Witnesses said the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali was devastated.
"I saw bodies lying on the streets, around ruined buildings, in cars," said Lyudmila Ostayeva, 50, who had fled with her family to Dzhava, a village near the border with Russia. "It's impossible to count them now. There is hardly a single building left undamaged."
The fighting broke out as much of the world's attention was focused on the start of the Olympic Games and many leaders, including Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Bush, were in Beijing.
The timing suggests Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili may have been counting on surprise to fulfill his longtime pledge to wrest back control of South Ossetia — a key to his hold on power.
Saakashvili agreed the timing was not coincidental, but accused Russia of being the aggressor. "Most decision makers have gone for the holidays," he said in an interview with CNN. "Brilliant moment to attack a small country."
Diplomats called for another emergency session of the United Nations Security Council, its second since early Friday morning seeking to prevent an all-out war.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had spoken to the parties involved and was working to end the fighting, State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos told reporters.
Georgia, a staunch U.S. ally, has about 2,000 troops in Iraq, making it the third-largest contributor to coalition forces after the U.S. and Britain. But Saakashvili told CNN that the troops would be called home Saturday in the face of the South Ossetia fighting.
Georgia, which borders the Black Sea between Turkey and Russia, was ruled by Moscow for most of the two centuries preceding the breakup of the Soviet Union. Georgia has angered Russia by seeking NATO membership — a bid Moscow regards as part of a Western effort to weaken its influence in the region.
The leader of South Ossetia's rebel government, Eduard Kokoity, said about 1,400 people were killed in the onslaught, the Interfax news agency reported. The toll could not be independently confirmed.
Ten Russian peacekeepers were killed and 30 wounded when their barracks were hit in Georgian shelling, said Russian Ground Forces spokesman Col. Igor Konashenkov. Russia has soldiers in South Ossetia as peacekeeping forces but Georgia alleges they back the separatists.
Georgia's Foreign Ministry accused Russian aircraft of bombing two military air bases inside Georgia, inflicting some casualties and destroying several military aircraft. Rustavi 2 television said four people were killed and five wounded at the Marneuli air base.
Russia's Defense Ministry said it was sending reinforcements for its peacekeepers, and Russian state television and Georgian officials reported a convoy of tanks had crossed the border. The convoy was expected to reach the provincial capital, Tskhinvali, by evening, Channel One television said.
Georgian State Minister for Reintegration Temur Yakobashvili said government troops were now in full control of Tskhinvali, but the RIA-Novosti news agency quoted Konashenkov as saying late Friday that Russian tanks were firing on Georgian positions in the city.
"We are facing Russian aggression," said Georgia's Security Council chief Kakha Lomaya. "They have sent in their troops and weapons and they are bombing our towns."
Putin has warned that the Georgian attack will draw retaliation and the Defense Ministry pledged to protect South Ossetians, most of whom have Russian citizenship.
Chairing a session of his Security Council in the Kremlin, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev also vowed that Moscow will protect Russian citizens.
"In accordance with the constitution and federal law, I, as president of Russia, am obliged to protect lives and dignity of Russian citizens wherever they are located," Medvedev said, according to Russian news reports. "We won't allow the death of our compatriots go unpunished."
On Friday, an AP reporter saw tanks and other heavy weapons concentrating on the Russian side of the border with South Ossetia — supporting the reports of an incursion. Some villagers were fleeing into Russia.
"I saw them (the Georgians) shelling my village," said Maria, who gave only her first name. She said she and other villagers spent the night in a field and then fled toward the Russian border as the fighting escalated.
Yakobashvili said Georgian forces had shot down four Russian combat planes over Georgian territory but gave no details. Russia's Defense Ministry denied an earlier Georgia report about one Russian plane downed and had no immediate comment on the latest claim.
Yakobashvili said that one Russian plane had dropped a bomb on the Vaziani military base near the Georgian capital, but no one was hurt.
More than 1,000 U.S. Marines and soldiers were at the base last month to teach combat skills to Georgian troops. Georgia has about 2,000 troops in Iraq, making it the third-largest contributor to coalition forces after the U.S. and Britain.
South Ossetia officials said Georgia attacked with aircraft, armor and heavy artillery. Georgian troops fired missiles at Tskhinvali, an official said, and many buildings were on fire.
Georgia's president said Russian aircraft bombed several Georgian villages and other civilian facilities.
A senior Russian diplomat in charge of the South Ossetian conflict, Yuri Popov, dismissed the Georgian claims of Russian bombings as misinformation, the RIA-Novosti news agency reported.
Russia's Defense Ministry denounced the Georgian attack as a "dirty adventure." "Blood shed in South Ossetia will weigh on their conscience," the ministry said in a statement posted on its Web site.
Saakashvili long has pledged to restore Tbilisi's rule over South Ossetia and another breakaway province, Abkhazia. Both regions have run their own affairs without international recognition since splitting from Georgia in the early 1990s and built up ties with Moscow.
Relations between Georgia and Russia worsened notably this year as Georgia pushed to join NATO and Russia dispatched additional peacekeeper forces to Abkhazia.
The Georgian attack came just hours after Saakashvili announced a unilateral cease-fire in a television broadcast late Thursday in which he also urged South Ossetian separatist leaders to enter talks on resolving the conflict.
Georgian officials later blamed South Ossetian separatists for thwarting the cease-fire by shelling Georgian villages in the area.
=====================More: Source: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5husI0nTUotIgdN_K5DP4R6b9ubcQD922CNB00
US troops train Georgians amid tension
TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — President Mikhail Saakashvili praised a joint military training program involving more than 1,000 U.S. Marines and soldiers at a former Soviet base Monday, amid heightened tensions with Moscow.
The effort, involving 600 Georgian troops, shows that Georgia has "the best trained and equipped army" in the strategic Caucasus mountain region, Saakashvili said in comments broadcast on Georgian television.
While the exercise was planned months ago, it followed sporadic clashes between Georgians and separatists in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, breakaway regions closely tied to Russia. And it comes amid friction over Georgia's bid for NATO membership, viewed by Moscow as hostile.
Georgia has about 2,000 troops in Iraq — making it the third largest contributor to coalition forces after the U.S. and Britain — but plans to end the Iraq operation by the end of this year.So far, five Georgian soldiers have died in the conflict.
Marine Capt. James Haunty, 30, of Columbus, Ohio, commander of Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines, said Friday that he was keeping an eye on the simmering conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
"I'm not concerned about anything serious happening as long as there are U.S. troops here in Georgia," Haunty said, shortly before 50-caliber machine gun bullets began peppering a hillside at the Vaziani training complex, about 6 miles (10 kilometers) east of the capital. "But we still will monitor the situation."
The U.S. soldiers, Marines and airmen arrived in Tbilisi in mid-July to teach combat skills to Georgian soldiers, as well as 30 troops from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine. The program, called Exercise Immediate Response 2008, includes simulated attacks from roadside bombs and other challenges troops might expect in Iraq, Haunty said.
Lance Cpl. Jonah Salyers, 23, of Columbus, Ohio, a Marine reservist, said it was his first trip outside of the United States and conceded that he might not have been able to find the republic of Georgia on a map.
"I could have found the state, I'll tell you that," he said Friday.
Pointing to the snowcapped Caucasus mountains to the north, Salyers said: "Obviously the countryside is absolutely beautiful."
Cpl. Georgi Adaze, 21, who joined Georgia's 4th Infantry Brigade seven months ago, said he enjoyed working with the American troops. "I am ready to serve my country and get military experience," he said, in an interview closely monitored by two Georgian military officers.
Georgia, which was ruled by Moscow for most of the two centuries preceding the breakup of the Soviet Union, has angered Russia by seeking NATO membership — a bid Moscow regards as part of a Western effort to weaken its influence in the region.
In January, Georgian defense officials began to phase out use of the Russian-designed Kalashnikov rifle and introduce the American M-16. Georgian troops were training mostly with American weapons on two gunnery ranges Friday. Many NATO countries use the M-16.
Georgia's government also decided earlier this year to increase the size of its armed forces from about 32,000 to 37,000.
Russia, meanwhile, has strengthened ties in recent months to the two Georgian separatist regions, which Saakashvili has pledged to bring back under Tbilisi's control. No U.N. member state recognizes Abkhazia or South Ossetia's claims to sovereignty.
The current round of tensions have led to clashes in recent months between Georgian authorities and separatists, including a July 9 skirmish on Abkhazia's de-facto border that injured two Abkhaz separatist troops and three Georgian policemen.
Russian fighter jets circled over South Ossetia during a visit to Tbilisi by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice earlier this month. Later, Georgia threatened to shoot down any Russian planes that violated its air space.
The same day Immediate Response began, the Russian military announced that it had launched its own military training exercise in its nearby North Caucasus region. A spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry denied there was any connection between those exercises and the U.S.-Georgian training effort.
From Stars and Stripes: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=63409&archive=true
U.S. troops kick off training exercises in Romania, Georgia
By Scott Schonauer, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Tuesday, July 15, 2008
KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany – Hundreds of American troops are in the countries of Georgia and Romania, training in separate exercises this month. A rotation of about 900 U.S. servicemembers are in Romania to improve combat skills and build relations with their Romanian counterparts. Joint Task Force East — which oversees training in Romania and Bulgaria — marked the second annual training rotation with a ceremony at MK Airfield, near the coastal town of Constanta. The military has dubbed the rotational unit Task Force Vampire. U.S. European Command is hoping to eventually rotate brigade-sized units in and out of Romania for training. The military sent its first rotation of soldiers last summer as part of the 2007 Proof of Principle Exercise. "Every year we learn something new," said Maj. Jennifer Johnson, a Joint Task Force East spokeswoman. "Every time someone rotates in here, we pick something up that we didn’t know before." A company from the Hohenfels, Germany-based 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry is among the units deployed to Romania. The unit expects to deploy to Afghanistan and serve with Romanian troops at a later date, Johnson said. In Georgia, another 1,000 soldiers from the Vicenza, Italy-based Southern European Task Force (Airborne) and the Kaiserslautern-based 21st Theaters Sustainment Command along with Marines with the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines and the state of Georgia’s Army National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 121st Infantry are participating in an exercise called "Immediate Response 2008." They are joined by soldiers from Armenia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan to build relations and boost security operations training. The exercise is designed to "promote understanding and cooperation," a U.S. European Command press release said. The exercise comes as Georgia has tried to build stronger ties with NATO members and tensions with Russia have increased.
Other U.S. units include Army National Guard units from Utah and North Dakota along with the Gulfport, Miss.-based Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 74. American and Romanian squads are integrated throughout the exercise and will focus on combat training using simulated ammunition to make the training as realistic as possible, Johnson said. The rotation ends its tour in Romania on July 30.
From Army times: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/08/military_georgia_080808w/
Pentagon closely monitoring Georgia situation
Posted : Friday Aug 8, 2008 14:03:14 EDT
Pentagon officials say the roughly 130 U.S. troops and contractors in the former Soviet republic of Georgia have all been accounted for, and there are no plans to pull them out in the face of a military clash between Georgia and Russia over the breakaway Georgian province of South Ossetia.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters Aug. 8 that U.S. officials have had some contact with Georgian authorities, but the Georgians had made no requests for assistance. Whitman said he does not believe U.S. military officials have had any contact with the Russians.
U.S. officials were continuing to monitor the situation closely as of Friday afternoon.
He said the 130 Americans in Georgia, which include “a few dozen” civilian contractors, are all working to prepare the Georgian forces for their next deployment to Iraq. All those U.S. trainers, he said, have been accounted for, none has been injured, and there are no plans to pull them out of the country.
He said the trainers are in the area of the Georgian capital, Tblisi, but he would not say exactly where.
Georgia has about 2,000 troops deployed to Iraq, making it the third largest coalition force contributor behind the U.S. and Great Britain.
The U.S. called Aug. 8 for an immediate cease-fire in the conflict, which began when Russia sent columns of tanks and reportedly bombed Georgian air bases after Georgia launched a major military offensive to retake the breakaway province of South Ossetia.
One of the air bases reportedly bombed was Vaziani, where in July about 1,000 U.S. Marines and soldiers participated in a combat-skills training exercise with Georgian forces.
The exercise, Operation Immediate Response 2008, ended less than 10 days before the current clash between Georgia and Russia began.
The Marines and soldiers taught combat skills to Georgian soldiers, as well as about 30 troops from nearby Armenia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine. The U.S. troops included about 300 reservists with 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines, and about 300 Army reservists with the Winder, Ga.-based 1st Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment.
The exercise included simulated attacks from roadside bombs and other challenges troops might expect in Iraq.
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili praised the exercise July 21, saying on Georgian television that it showed the country had “the best trained and equipped army” in the strategic Caucasus mountain region, according to the Associated Press.
The region includes Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
On a regular basis, about 25 to 30 Marines are stationed in Georgia, said Maj. David Nevers, a Marine Corps spokesman.
About six serve as security guards at the U.S. Embassy in the capital of Tbilisi, with the rest working on a regular basis to train Georgian troops as part of the Georgia Sustainment and Stability Operations Program.
That program began in 2005 to help Georgian armed forces sustain coalition efforts in Iraq by providing training and other support, according to an embassy statement.
Nevers said the program originally was an Army mission, but was turned over to the Corps a few years ago. Most recently, Marines have been teaching Georgian soldiers how to drive military vehicles.
“A lot of it’s very basic stuff,” Nevers said. “It’s everything from how to put on a uniform to how to fire and maneuver.”
Nevers said there was no immediate plan to change the Corps’ mission in Georgia, pointing out that the fighting was concentrated away from Tbilisi.
On the same day Operation Immediate Response began, the Russian military announced it had launched its own military training exercise in its nearby North Caucasus region. A spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry told the AP there was no connection between the Russian exercises and the U.S.-Georgian training effort.
In the clash between Georgian and Russian forces that began Aug. 8, hundreds of civilians were reported dead in the worst outbreak of hostilities since South Ossetia won de facto independence in a war against Georgia that ended in 1992.
The U.S. was sending an envoy to the region to meet with the parties involved to try to end hostilities.
“We support Georgia’s territorial integrity,” State Department spokesman Gonzalo Gallegos told reporters. “We are working on mediation efforts to secure a cease-fire.”
Georgia, which borders the Black Sea between Turkey and Russia, was ruled by Moscow for most of the two centuries preceding the breakup of the Soviet Union. Georgia, a staunch U.S. ally, has angered Russia by seeking NATO membership — a bid Moscow regards as part of a Western effort to weaken its influence in the region.
The conflict between Georgia and Russia has great strategic importance because it pits one of Washington’s staunchest allies in the war on terror against Russia, a re-emerging superpower with vast energy reserves that is showing growing eagerness to assert its will on the international stage.
However, one analyst suggested that Georgia’s unexpected assault on South Ossetia on Aug. 7 may have been rooted as much in a sense that its NATO bid was faltering as in antagonism with Russia.
Earlier this year, NATO quashed Georgia’s drive to get a so-called “road map” for alliance membership amid alarm that President Mikhail Saakashvili was backtracking on democracy with his violent suppression last year of opposition rallies.
Although Georgia got assurances that it could eventually join, “this pushed Georgia into a philosophy of self-reliance — the idea that Georgia will be able to regain breakaway entities only by its own means,” said Nicu Popescu of the European Council on Foreign Relations.
Although the United States and other NATO members have sent substantial aid to build up Georgia’s once-shabby military, diplomats often have shown clear discomfort with Saakashvili’s headstrong ways.
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