Russia: Leaving Georgia By Friday
Independent Television News (ITN) reports that Russia plans to leave Georgia by Friday.
The conflict began earlier this month when Georgia attacked a small province called South Ossetia. Russia responded by counter-attacking in South Ossetia and advancing into Georgia. The countries involved agreed to a cease-fire last week.
According to ITN, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that “most” of his country’s forces will withdraw at the end of the week, with some troops left in a buffer zone. Some sources are reporting that there have been no large-scale pullouts. At a NATO meeting in Brussels, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Russia is “becoming more and more the outlaw in this conflict. They intend and probably still do intend to strangle Georgia and its economy.”
William D. Zeranski, writing for The American Thinker, also notes Russia’s withdrawal has been slow. He adds that Poland’s missile defense agreement and Ukraine’s reported offer to integrate its early warning missile with Europe “may have been fortuitous” in light of Russia’s actions.
There’s nothing fortuitous about it, actually. Russia is a military powerhouse, relatively speaking, and lesser equipped countries know they need to be prepared for possible attacks.
(Map source: American University)
Tags: condoleezza rice, Dmitry Medvedev, Georgia, Russia, South Ossetia