U.S. envoy with links to Scheunemann informed in advance about Georgian invasion plans

[Satyagrahi]

Matthew Bryza, an official at the State Department, says he was woken at 2am on August 7th to be told that the Georgians were lifting the ceasefire. “I tried to persuade them not to do it,” he says.
http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11920992

2 a.m. in Washington is 10 a.m. in Tblisi.

Now compare that to the official timeline:

But by evening (on August 7th), Kezerashvili said, the Georgian side had had enough.

"At 6, I gave the order to prepare everything, to go out from the bases," he said in an interview Aug. 14 at a Georgian position along the Tbilisi-Gori highway. Kezerashvili described the movement of armor, which included tanks, 122mm howitzers and 203mm self-propelled artillery, as a show of force designed to deter the Ossetians from continuing to barrage the Georgian troops' positions inside South Ossetia.

-snip-

At 7 p.m., with troops on the march, Saakashvili went on national television and declared a unilateral cease-fire. "We offer all of you partnership and friendship," he said to the South Ossetians. "We are ready for any sort of agreement in the interest of peace."

-snip-

At 11 p.m., Saakashvili said, he received the first reports that Russian units were passing through the tunnel.

"We started to check, and around 11:50, I got confirmation that Russian armor was coming in," Saakashvili said. "So what we do now? I said, 'Now we respond with fire.' " To do otherwise, he said, would have been to cede Georgian sovereignty. He had no choice, he said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/16/AR2008081600502_pf.html

11:50 p.m. in Tbilisi is 3:50 p.m. in Washington.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Matthew Bryza is married to Zeyno Baran.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeyno_Baran

Zeyno Baran works at the Hudson Institute, alongside Richard Perle and Meyrav Wurmser, the spouse of David Wurmser, former adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson_Institute

Matthew Bryza is also connected to Randy Scheunemann, John McCain's top foreign policy adviser:

Scheunemann spent a lot of time working the phones, talking to key Bush Administration officials about Georgia's efforts to join NATO. He often spoke to Ambassador John Tefft who heads the U.S. embassy in Georgia, as well as Dan Fried and Matt Bryza at the State Department, Dan Fata at the Defense Department and David Merkel from the National Security Council.
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/08/behind_the_scenes_scheunemann.php

A former Israeli soldier has admitted that his company prepared Georgian forces "for war with Russia":

"We knew the training had to be completed quickly because the soldiers would soon have to get into real military activity."

He added that the Georgian officers told their soldiers they would be going to help NATO forces in Iraq, while the real objective was Ossetia and Abkhazia.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3583278,00.html

Were Bryza, Scheuneman or other neocons aware of these Georgian invasion plans? Does this explain McCain's "tough stance toward Russia"?

[FrenchieCat]

1. This whole thing is fishy......I call it an obvious election "Wag the Dog" War

It should be obvious to anyone informed and paying attention to such matters.

[Satyagrahi]

2. It's even worse than "Wag the Dog" because the war in the film isn't real and

only the producer gets killed in the end (if I remember correctly). This, in contrast, is real war with real people dying, Georgians, Ossetians, Russians. The cynicism is absolutely sickening.

[tblue37]

4. The Woody Harrelson character, the criminally insane

soldier who is turned into "Old Shoe," the war hero, also gets killed, by the father of a girl he is trying to rape.

[dipsydoodle]

3. K&R

Good find. :hi:

[bluesmail]

5. K&R I wonder what they're really up to. So far I've thought

The October Surprise was Iran. Maybe it still is. John Conyers and his committee must be on to something HOT. Ron Suskinds BOOK. I'd say fasten up, but then we have been.

[Truth2Tell]

6. K&R

Thank you for the outstanding post!

[Satyagrahi]

7. New York Times: "Wrong signals were being sent" to Saakashvili

Nevertheless, the foreign policy establishment worried the wrong signals were being sent. "We were training Saakashvili's army, and he was getting at least a corps of highly trained individuals, which he could use for adventures," said one former senior intelligence analyst, who covered the region at the time. "The feeling in the intelligence community was that this was a very high-risk endeavor."

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/18/washington/18diplo.html?hp=&adxnnlx=1219058616-XK4AKK7XFezWg3cdna%201qQ&pagewanted=print

And that's exactly what he did:

Georgia conflict: How a flat tyre (!) took the Caucasus to war

-snip-

Georgia also calculated that by dawn the following the day, the world's attention would be focused on Beijing for the opening of the Olympic Games. Its US-trained Georgian army therefore formed an audacious plan to sabotage the bridge more than 100 miles behind enemy lines. The operation, however, was a only a partial success. The bridge was damaged and almost one dozen Russian vehicles were blown up, but the Russians then regrouped and repulsed the Georgians.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/georgia/2570754/Georgia-conflict-How-a-flat-tyre-took-the-Caucasus-to-war.html

Apparently, according to the New York Times article, Georgian officials actually believed that "seizing South Ossetia would be militarily easy". (!)

[Satyagrahi]

8. Cheney was pushing for military escalation

From the same New York Times article:

Within the Bush administration, “the fight between the hawks and the doves” erupted anew, said one administration official. In this case, the people he called the “hawks” —Mr. Cheney and the assistant secretary of state for Europe, Daniel Fried — argued for more American military aid for Georgia; the “doves” — Ms. Rice, Mr. Hadley, Mr. Burns — urged restraint.

-snip-

A senior adviser to Mr. Saakashvili said Mr. Cheney’s office was more openly critical of the Russians after the episode than was the State Department, which struck a more balanced tone, asking Russia to explain their actions.

Bush administration officials have been adamant that they told Mr. Saakashvili that the United States would not back Georgia militarily in a fight with Russia, but a senior administration official acknowledged that “it’s possible that Georgians may have confused the cheerleading from Washington with something else.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/18/washington/18diplo.html?hp=&adxnnlx=1219058616-XK4AKK7XFezWg3cdna%201qQ&pagewanted=print

[leveymg]

9. Always the same play book - Condi read the role of Amb. April Gilespie

"We Americans have no preferences in purely Arab-on-Arab disagreements."

Bush: "Poor little Kuwaiti babies thrown on the ground like firewood."

[annabanana]

10. So THIS is how the famously unpopular B*sh admin chose to "help"

the McCain candidacy...

(Actually, that's the story that makes sense)

[KharmaTrain]

11. Methinks Saashavilli Got Majoly Pwned

Many here have pointed out the timing and the motives...and we see many of the usual suspects with their grimy hands on this situation. There was the meeting in Yalta with Rover (who should have been testifying in front of Congress...and should now be in jail for contempt) along with other neo-cons all but prodding Saashavilli to poke a stick at the "Soviet Bear" to create a diversion from the disasters of Iraq and Afghanistan and give Gramps the chance to look like a "leader". The script writers of "Wag The Dog" couldn't have penned this any better...all that was missing was Willie Nelson singing "Old Shoe".

Sure seems that the Saashmeister figured he bought "proetction" from this criminal enterprise and he'd either force the Russians out or the US would somehow come to his aid...either through diplomatic or military means. Instead he got gotten...and may pay the ultimate price for his blind faith in a bunch of criminals. When he cried out to Gramps to help him, he had lost...and so has Gramps.

While the pundits and bobbleheads are salivating at the thought of a new Cold War and a militarized Russia, many of us who grew up under "Duck and Cover" and "The Day After" have a visceral reaction to those "good old days"...espcially in light of the massive failures in the GWOT and the military fiascos in Iraq and Afghanistan.

My gut tells me that crashcart and company couldn't get the military to go along with their adventurism and attack on Iran...and in desparation looked for another pot to stir to get some kind of right wing xenophobia and corporate media angst...and Sassshavilli was the perfect toadie for this purpose. Fool!