The New York Times reports that Israeli troops backed by helicopters advanced into Gaza on Saturday in the first ground action of an eight-day offensive against Hamas in the Palestinian enclave. The small column of military vehicles crossed the boundary fence into the northern Gaza Strip under darkness, said a witness, a resident of Beit Lahiya.
An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed the incursion and said the aim was to seize areas from where Hamas was launching rocket attacks on southern Israel.
A little more than one week ago, Israel started air raids into Gaza complaining of Hamas firing rockets into Israel. The violence has escalated on calls for a Hamas ceasefire, which they have resisted.
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Israel occupied Gaza in the 1967 Middle East War and after Palestinian uprisings formally ended its military rule in 2005, although it still controls the borders.
International peace efforts aimed at creating an independent Palestinian state foundered after Hamas won elections in 2006 and drove Fatah forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas from Gaza a year later.
Hamas called off a six-month truce with Israel last month and stepped up the rocket attacks, complaining at Israeli raids into Gaza and a continuing blockade of the enclave.
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plez sez: the middle east is a political quagmire, one of which i'm ill suited to devle into in a short post. the long and short of it is, israel is america's main ally in the region and israel will be protected at all costs... period! you don't have to like it, but it is what it is!
hamas took control of the palestinians during the last election and they are considered a rogue terrorist organization. it was only a matter of time before hamas would grow the cajones to launch an attack - no matter how feeble and half-baked - on israel. they had to know that israel was going to hit back... and hit back HARD. the blood of those dead woman and children in gaza is on the hands of hamas.
they are not going to drive israel (and the u.s.) from the region; they would be wise to set down their arms and stop the senseless bloodshed of their own people. they will never win an armed conflict with the israelis... NEVER!
August 13, 2008 - President George W. Bush on the Russia-Georgia Conflict
False hope for Georgians? This is an excerpt from the New York Times article on US involvement in Georgia:
In Georgia, President Mikheil Saakashvili, who has sharply criticized what he called a failure of the West to support his country, declared the [US] relief operation a “turning point” in the conflict, which began on Thursday when Georgian forces tried to establish control in the breakaway region of South Ossetia, only to be routed by the Russians.
“We were unhappy with the initial actions of the American officials, because they were perceived by the Russians as green lines, basically, but this one was very strong,” he said in a telephone interview after Mr. Bush’s statement in Washington.
Mr. Saakashvili interpreted the aid operation as a decision to defend Georgia’s ports and airports, though Bush administration and Pentagon officials quickly made it clear that would not be the case. A senior administration official said, “We won’t be protecting the airport or seaport, but we’ll certainly protect our assets if we need to.”
Mr. Bush spoke in the Rose Garden of the White House, flanked by his secretaries of state and defense, Condoleezza Rice and Robert M. Gates. He said that Ms. Rice would fly to France to support its mediation efforts and then to Georgia “to continue our efforts to rally the free world in the defense of a free Georgia.”
State Department officials said there were no plans for Ms. Rice to go to Moscow.
Read the CNN.com accounts of developments surrounding the Bush speech on the Russia-Georgia conflict here and here.
Read the New York Times account of developments surrounding the Russia-Georgia conflict here.
Read an interesting New York TimesQ&A on Soviet Georgia here.
plez sez: so george w. bush DEMANDS that russia leaves georgia. or else...
or else, the US will send even MORE humanitarian aid to georgia!
we have neither the will nor the might to tangle with the russians. in bush's speech (and subsequently in responses from administration & pentagon officials), he made it abundantly clear that our troops are not going to georgia to fight, our troops are there to hand out blankets and hot cocoa.
thanks to george bush's failed foreign policy and his illegal war in iraq, we don't have a military capable of backing up bush's hollow demands. at this point, without the threat of military intervention, bush's words are nothing more than a sternly worded suggestion! and i'm afraid that sending the gap-toothed secretary of state of the lamest of lame duck presidents over there won't change much either.
Late Thursday night, troops from Georgia attacked South Ossetia, which sits on the border between Georgia and Russia. Russian forces retaliated with the full might of their armed forces and then continued with raids into Georgia.
On Monday, the Russian military advanced into Georgia on two fronts, heading toward cities outside the breakaway provinces that have been the centers of fighting. From the flashpoint South Ossetia, the Russian military moved south toward the central Georgia city of Gori, Georgia said. Russia said its troops were on the outskirts of the city. Russian troops were also in Senaki, in western Georgia, having advanced from the breakaway area of Abkhazia. Georgia's interior ministry said Russia had also seized control of Zugdidi -- a city on the route between Abkhazia and Senaki.
The Georgian government said it was recalling the army to Tbilisi "to defend the capital." U.S. officials reported seeing Georgian tanks and personnel pouring into the capital. Russia has not threatened to enter Tbilisi and says its operations are peacekeeping. However, Georgia fears an invasion of its capital.
On Monday, President Bush said Russia's attacks against Georgia have "substantially damaged Russia's standing in the world." He stated that Russia should accept the cease-fire proposal from Georgia.
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said the internationally brokered proposal would be taken to Moscow by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb on Monday evening. The proposal calls for an unconditional cease-fire, a non-use of force agreement, a withdrawal of Russian troops from Georgian territory, including the South Ossetia region, and provisions for international peacekeeping and mediation.
Russia's ambassador to the United Nations said Russia would not sign off on a draft U.N. resolution calling for a cease-fire discussed by the U.N. Security Council, because the proposed resolution, drafted by French officials, was lacking in a "serious number" of areas. Namely, the draft resolution does not mention Georgia's previous "aggression" in South Ossetia.
The situation in South Ossetia escalated rapidly from Thursday night, when Georgia said it launched an operation into the region after artillery fire from separatists killed 10 people. It accused Russia of backing the separatists. South Ossetia, which has a population of about 70,000, is inside Georgia but has an autonomous government. Many South Ossetians support unification with North Ossetia, which would make them part of Russia, which supports the South Ossetian government, has given passports to many in South Ossetia, and calls them Russian citizens.
BLOG UPDATE (08/12/2008 9:00 AM EST) - CNN.com reports Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Tuesday that he had ordered an end to military operations against Georgia, but reports from Tbilisi say that there were more attacks after the statement was made.
Prior to meeting with French President Sarkozy, Medvedev is quoted as saying, "I have reached a decision to halt the operation to force the Georgian authorities to peace. The aggressor has been punished and has incurred very significant losses. Its armed forces are disorganized."
Read CNN.com articles about the Russia - Georgia conflict here and here.
Read the New York Times articles about the Russia - Georgia Conflict here and here.
plez sez: if you thought for even a moment that i was referring to the state of georgia (in the united states)... go to jail. go directly to jail. do not pass GO. do not collect your $200.
you can rest assured that plezWorld has no horse in this race, except my college russian professor was a sweet lady from tbilisi, georgia.
i get a slight chuckle when i read that the georgian president seeks assistance from the US and NATO (the same NATO that wouldn't allow georgia to join because of pressure from russia). i laugh alittle harder when i hear president bush admonishing the russians for invading a sovereign nation, this being the same george w. bush who invaded a sovereign nation five years ago... a sovereign nation, named IRAQ, that had done NOTHING to the united states!
before he started laughing, it's a sure bet that russian prime minister vladimir putin told french president nicolas sarkozy to kiss his ass!
and i'm sure that after he stopped laughing, putin told bush to kiss his ass! i mean, what are we going to do? all of the us forces are stretched thin in iraq and afghanistan... we don't have the bandwidth to even consider joining a peacekeeping force at the russia-georgia border. and if we had the bandwidth, we wouldn't have the balls to join the NATO forces necessary to enforce a cease-fire by the russians. i guess all we can do is condemn the act and hope we can shame the russians into leaving the poor georgians alone. ROTFLMAO!
and i bet georgia (if there is still a georgia after this conflict is resolved) will think twice before starting something that they sure as hell can't finish... like the old saying goes, "don't start none, won't be none!"
~ husband ~ father ~ son ~ brother ~ mentor ~ subdivision dweller ~ northern by birth ~ southern by choice ~ raised a black baptist, now guided by the spiritual ~ raised a kennedy democrat, now politically dead center (moderate) ~ raised in a Cadillac Coupe Deville, now hooked on an SUV ~ college educated and still a student of life ~ wild college frat boy and now a settled alumnus ~ intellectual yet fun-loving geek ~ technical and leading edge ~ corporate cog ~ consultant ~ college football saturday devotee ~ and a ramblin' gamblin' helluva engineer (GO JACKETS!) ~
This is my personal blog. The views expressed on these pages are mine; and they are in no way associated with the views of my employer, family, friends, or associates.
The New York Times reports that Israeli troops backed by helicopters advanced into Gaza on Saturday in the first ground action of an eight-day offensive against Hamas in the Palestinian enclave. The small column of military vehicles crossed the boundary fence into the northern Gaza Strip under darkness, said a witness, a resident of Beit Lahiya. 
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