Interesting to read that the Georgian minister for Reintegration is an 
Israeli. Well I never. And how disappointed they are that Russian Special 
Forces damaged the airfields that Israel had hoped to use, plus "other 
facilities". All in all, these things slowly begin to add up to a slightly 
different story than the ones that Fox puts out.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Georgia airfields earmarked for war on Iran

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 16:48:47 GMT

Georgia permitted Israel to use two military airfields for 'a potential 
pre-emptive strike' against Iranian nuclear sites, a report says.

The revelation came after Georgia's offensive into South Ossetia in early 
August prompted Russia to march its Special Forces into the region, United 
Press International reported.

Russian Special Forces raided the airfields - in addition to other Israeli 
facilities in southern Georgia -, where Israeli drones were captured.

According to the report, Israel had used the airfields to 'conduct recon 
flights over southern Russia, as well as into nearby Iran'.

"A secret agreement between Georgia and Israel had earmarked two military 
airfields in the south of Georgia for use by Israeli fighter-bombers in a 
potential pre-emptive strike against Iran," read the report.

Tel Aviv has threatened to launch air strikes against Iranian nuclear 
installations under the pretext that Tehran, a signatory to the nuclear 
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), has plans to develop nuclear weaponry.

This is while the UN nuclear watchdog has confirmed that Iran enriches 
uranium-235 to a level of 3.7 percent - a rate consistent with the 
construction of a nuclear power plant. Nuclear arms production requires an 
enrichment level of above 90 percent.

Iran currently suffers from electricity shortage and has been forced to 
adopt a rationing program by scheduling power outages - of up to two hours a 
day - across both urban and rural areas in the country.

In early June, Israel conducted a military maneuver over the eastern 
Mediterranean and Greece in preparation, according to Pentagon officials, 
for an aerial bombardment of Iranian nuclear facilities.

Over 100 Israeli F-16s and F-15s partook in the exercise, which spanned some 
900 miles, roughly the distance between their airfields and a nuclear 
enrichment facility in the central Iranian city of Natanz.

"(The Georgian airfields) would sharply reduce the distance Israeli 
fighter-bombers would have to fly to hit targets in Iran," continued the 
report.

Israel, in return, has been providing Georgia's pro-Western government with 
considerable amounts of training and armament for its military.

Georgian Minister of Reintegration Temur Yakobashvili, an Israeli citizen, 
said on August 10 that Israeli efforts to strengthen the Georgian army 
caused Russia 'enormous damage'.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili declared on August 13 that 
'effective' Israeli weapons would ensure his country's success in the 
military conflict with Russia.


http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=68368§ionid=351020101
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bill Again wrote:

> All in all, these things slowly begin to add up to a slightly
> different story than the ones that Fox puts out.
> 

Not forgetting, of course, Mr Randy Scheunemann, who is Georgia's foreign
lobbyist, foreign affairs adviser to John McCain, and who, during the 2002
and early 2003 campaign by the Bush administration to generate public
support for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, had a close association with Iraq
exile Ahmad Chalabi.

<quote>
On April 17, 2008, McCain spoke on the phone with Georgia President Mikheil
Saakashvili about Russian efforts to gain leverage over two of Georgia's
troubled provinces. That same day, McCain issued a public statement
condemning Russia and expressing strong support for the Georgian position.
Also on that same day, Georgia signed a new, $200,000 lobbying contract
with Scheunemann's firm, Orion Strategies. Scheunemann remained with Orion
Strategies until May 15, when the McCain campaign imposed a tough new
anti-lobbyist policy and he was required to separate himself from the
company.

In mid-July 2008, The Sunday Times linked Scheunemann to Stephen Payne, a
lobbyist covertly filmed as he discussed a lobbying contract and offered to
arrange meetings with Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice, and others, and recomended donations to the George W.
Bush Presidential Library. Payne said Scheunemann had been "working with me
on my payroll for five of the last eight years." 
</quote>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Scheunemann

-- 
Facts are sacred ... but comment is free