Oil, South Ossetia, Israel, Russia and the US

Pipeline story






As DK noted in one of her comments below (Down the 70s road and Ossetia..).. it's gotta be about the oil and how 'nice' to see the US is not the only one playing this game.. here are some excerpts of the DEBKAfile;

DEBKAfile’s geopolitical experts note that on the surface level, the Russians are backing the separatists of S. Ossetia and neighboring Abkhazia as payback for the strengthening of American influence in tiny Georgia and its 4.5 million inhabitants. However, more immediately, the conflict has been sparked by the race for control over the pipelines carrying oil and gas out of the Caspian region.

The Russians may just bear with the pro-US Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili’s ambition to bring his country into NATO. But they draw a heavy line against his plans and those of Western oil companies, including Israeli firms, to route the oil routes from Azerbaijan and the gas lines from Turkmenistan, which transit Georgia, through Turkey instead of hooking them up to Russian pipelines.

Saakashvili need only back away from this plan for Moscow to ditch the two provinces’ revolt against Tbilisi. As long as he sticks to his guns, South Ossetia and Abkhazia will wage separatist wars.

and

DEBKAfile discloses Israel’s interest in the conflict from its exclusive military sources:

Jerusalem owns a strong interest in Caspian oil and gas pipelines reach the Turkish terminal port of Ceyhan, rather than the Russian network. Intense negotiations are afoot between Israel Turkey, Georgia, Turkmenistan and Azarbaijan for pipelines to reach Turkey and thence to Israel’s oil terminal at Ashkelon and on to its Red Sea port of Eilat. From there, supertankers can carry the gas and oil to the Far East through the Indian Ocean.

Aware of Moscow’s sensitivity on the oil question, Israel offered Russia a stake in the project but was rejected.

Last year, the Georgian president commissioned from private Israeli security firms several hundred military advisers, estimated at up to 1,000, to train the Georgian armed forces in commando, air, sea, armored and artillery combat tactics. They also offer instruction on military intelligence and security for the central regime. Tbilisi also purchased weapons, intelligence and electronic warfare systems from Israel.

These advisers were undoubtedly deeply involved in the Georgian army’s preparations to conquer the South Ossetian capital Friday.

In recent weeks, Moscow has repeatedly demanded that Jerusalem halt its military assistance to Georgia, finally threatening a crisis in bilateral relations. Israel responded by saying that the only assistance rendered Tbilisi was “defensive.”

This has not gone down well in the Kremlin. Therefore, as the military crisis intensifies in South Ossetia, Moscow may be expected to punish Israel for its intervention.

Click here for the full article.

Now what you should really learn about is Pipelineistan..Eurasia's import (=importance) due to gas and oil reserves...!


Zbigniew Brzezinski "Seventy-five percent of the world population, most of its material riches, 60 percent of the world's GNP, 75 percent of sources of energy, and behind the US, the six most prosperous economies and the six largest military budgets." and "no other power would take possession of this geopolitical space".


Those hawks sure know their strategies..

Down the 70s road and Ossetia and Georgia

Now I'm down the 70s road and this is one of the sweetest, passionate love songs by Ramses Shaffy and Liesbeth List. Eventhough there's no video to speak off, listen to this while you remember Ossetia, and the puppeteers at work;

Roots of conflict stretch back to Stalin

*Most Ossetians are Orthodox Christians, and live on the northern and southern slopes of the Caucasus mountains. Russia controls North Ossetia; South Ossetia is legally part of Georgia, but most of it is run by a rebel government that wants to unite with the north.

*Stalin divided Ossetia between the Russian and Georgian Soviet Republics in 1922, despite protests from the Ossetians.(divide and conquer, remember Tito and Yugoslavia?)
*Calls for reunification grew louder as the Soviet Union weakened and finally collapsed, and nationalism intensified in Georgia. Tbilisi sent troops to crush the rebellion, sparking a war in 1991-92, in which at least 2,000 people are thought to have died and thousands were driven from their homes. Russia covertly supported the rebels, and ultimately helped shape a peacekeeping deal for the region.

*Georgia says the peacekeeping format is being abused by Russia, which it accuses of financing and arming the breakaway government. Tbilisi says Moscow is destabilising South Ossetia and another breakaway region, Abkhazia on the Black Sea, to maintain influence in the Caucasus and undermine Georgia's bid to join Nato. Both areas, Georgia says, are rife with smuggling of arms, drugs and people.

*South Ossetian officials claim 65,000 people live in the territory; Georgia puts the figure nearer 20,000.

listen, if you would, to yet another Dutch song. Sometimes, not knowing the lyrics but having to listen to music is like being at a film; the music evokes, unwillingly, if done right, the right response.
Ramses Shaffy - Zing, Vecht, Huil, Bid, Lach, Werk en Bewonder (Sing,Fight,Cry,Pray,Work and Admire)
"For those who thought they were alone, to those, we all are in it together"