CNN - Putin Accuses U.S. of Orchestrating Georgian War

**New Governor Of Alaska** · 08-28-2008, 12:58 PM

1 hour ago: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, right, seen during an interview with CNN in Moscow on Thursday, Aug. 28, 2008. Putin has suggested the United States pushed Georgia toward war and said he suspects a connection to the American presidential campaign. At left is CNN correspondent Matthew Chance.

SOCHI, Russia (CNN) -- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has accused the United States of orchestrating the conflict in Georgia to benefit one of its presidential election candidates.

In an exclusive interview with CNN's Matthew Chance in the Black Sea city of Sochi Thursday, Putin said the U.S. had encouraged Georgia to attack the autonomous region of South Ossetia.
Putin told CNN his defense officials had told him it was done to benefit a presidential candidate -- Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama are competing to succeed George W. Bush -- although he presented no evidence to back it up.

"U.S. citizens were indeed in the area in conflict," Putin said. "They were acting in implementing those orders doing as they were ordered, and the only one who can give such orders is their leader.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino blasted Putin's statements, saying they were "patently false."
"To suggest that the United States orchestrated this on behalf of a political candidate just sounds not rational," she said.

U.S. State Department deputy spokesman Robert Wood concurred, and labeled Putin's statements as "ludicrous."

"Russia is responsible for the crisis," Wood said in an off-camera meeting with reporters in Washington on Thursday. "For the Russians to say they are not responsible for what happened in Georgia is ludicrous. ... Russia is to blame for this crisis and the world is responding to what Russia has done."
When told that many diplomats in the United States and Europe blame Russia for provoking the conflict and for invading Georgia, Putin said Russia had no choice but to invade Georgia after dozens of its peacekeepers in South Ossetia were killed. He told Chance it was to avert a human calamity.
The former Russian president, still considered the most powerful man in the country, said he was disappointed the U.S. had not done more to stop Georgia's attack.

Putin recalled he was watching the situation in Georgia and South Ossetia unfold when he was at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games on August 8.

He said he spoke to U.S. President George W. Bush, also attending, who told the Russian prime minister he didn't want war -- but Putin spoke to CNN of his disappointment that the U.S. administration didn't do more to stop Georgia early in the conflict.

READ MORE -- http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe...=ib_topstories

**New Governor Of Alaska** · 08-28-2008, 01:15 PM

From kremlin.ru:

August 10, 2008 18:30
Sunday

Dmitry Medvedev instructed the Russian Federation Prosecutor General's Office Committee of Inquiry to document crimes committed in South Ossetia in order to prosecute the perpetrators.

Mr Medvedev had a working meeting with Chairman of the Committee of Inquiry Alexander Bastrykin.

Mr Bastrykin will fly to Vladikavkaz to coordinate work in the field on collecting documented evidence of crimes committed by Georgian forces in South Ossetia. This work has already begun. The Investigations Committee is sending another 150 criminal investigation specialists to reinforce the efforts underway. The evidence gathered will be used as the basis for future prosecution of the perpetrators of crimes.

Working meeting with Chairman of the Russian Federation Prosecutor General’s Office Committee of Inquiry Alexander Bastrykin.

http://kremlin.ru/eng/sdocs/news.shtml#205091

**New Governor Of Alaska** · 08-28-2008, 01:44 PM

We will not let America to get away with war crimes.....

**New Governor Of Alaska** · 08-28-2008, 01:45 PM

America trained Georgian troops.

From The Guardian:

Captain Kelly Smith's eyes widened with horror as he entered the control tower. Standing in the ruins of a Georgian army firing range, he sighed. 'I was hoping to see some electrical equipment here,' he muttered, amid the debris.
Smith is one of 26 American soldiers who arrived two weeks ago in Tbilisi, the first of a 150-strong force designed to train and equip the crumbling Georgian army.

Washington and Tbilisi have said Georgia is under threat from 'terrorists' in the Pankisi Gorge on the border with war-torn Chechnya. They say the Georgian military needs Western help to prevent the gorge's terrorists - some reportedly al-Qaeda - from moving farther inland.

David, from the Georgian Secret Service, smiled as he spoke of the days he spent being trained in San Antonio, Texas, but stiffened when he admitted 'there is no guarantee that any of us are safe'. He added: 'We don't know when we can leave.'

READ MORE -- http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002...sh.theobserver

**Andrew-Austin** · 08-28-2008, 01:48 PM

Seems like Putin is stabbing back at Obama and McPain for their anti-Russian rhetoric, because I really don't think the US powers would orchestrate the conflict to benefit either one of them. I'm not doubting the US had a hand in it, I'm just disagreeing with what Putin is claiming the United States motive was.

We will not let America to get away with war crimes.....

Who is the "we" you are referring to? Why do you speak as you live outside of the US? Why as a member of this forum, are you exclusively concerned with US foreign policy, posting like ten articles a day?

**SigurdVolsung** · 08-28-2008, 02:48 PM

I think he is quoting the article, the "we" being the Russian government/people.

**New Governor Of Alaska** · 08-28-2008, 03:12 PM

Putin blames US provocation

By Charles Clover in Moscow and Daniel Dombey in Washington

Published: August 28 2008 19:47 | Last updated: August 28 2008 19:47

Vladimir Putin, Russia’s prime minister, on Thursday accused the US of provoking the conflict between Russia and Georgia, in the latest sign of escalating tensions between Moscow and Washington. The Bush administration dismissed his comments as “ludicrous”.

“Why . . . seek a difficult compromise solution in the peacekeeping process?” asked Mr Putin in an interview on CNN. “It is easier to arm one of the sides and provoke it into killing another side. And the job is done . . . ”

In an apparent allusion to John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, who has taken a tough line on Russia, Mr Putin said: “The suspicion arises that someone in the US especially created this conflict with the aim of making the situation more tense and creating a competitive advantage for one of the candidates fighting for the post of US president.” He added, in a reference to the presence of 130 US military advisers in Georgia: “The American side in effect armed and trained the Georgian army."

On Thursday, Anatoly Nogovitsyn, the deputy head of Russia’s general staff, also held a press conference in Moscow to display a US passport belonging to a Michael Lee White which he said was found by Russian forces at a base previously used by Georgian commandos near the south Ossetian capitol of Tskhinvali.

Dana Perino, spokeswoman for President George W. Bush, said Mr Putin’s claims were “patently false”, adding: “To suggest that the United States orchestrated this on behalf of a political candidate just sounds not rational.”

But in a possible warning shot against US sanctions, Mr Putin also announced that 19 US poultry companies would be banned from exporting to Russia because of failed health and safety tests, CNN reported. Mr Putin said the decision was unconnected with the Georgian conflict, but warned 29 more companies could also be banned unless they improved their standards.

READ MORE -- http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e0b855f6-7...nclick_check=1

America trained Georgian troops.

From The Guardian:

David, from the Georgian Secret Service, smiled as he spoke of the days he spent being trained in San Antonio, Texas, but stiffened when he admitted 'there is no guarantee that any of us are safe'. He added: 'We don't know when we can leave.'
READ MORE -- http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2002...sh.theobserver

**Defining Obscene** · 08-28-2008, 04:55 PM

Thanks for banning this spamming asshat.

Moving on... I think Russia wants to gain support from the world which so desperately needs a friend against the big bad Americans. And he just might get it, I hope.

**Flash** · 08-28-2008, 08:47 PM

Originally Posted by Defining Obscene

Thanks for banning this spamming asshat.

Moving on... I think Russia wants to gain support from the world which so desperately needs a friend against the big bad Americans. And he just might get it, I hope.

After we supported Georgia attacking Russia and had the media totally lie about the situation, I would say we're pretty bad.

**DAFTEK** · 08-28-2008, 08:53 PM

Did U.S. officials know about Georgia's plans to attack its breakaway region? The issue deserves a special hearing in the U.S. Congress, according to American political commentator Pat Buchanan.

VIDEO-> http://www.russiatoday.com/guests/video/1484