Georgia - Israel an Interesting Relationship

Pardon for my sporadic posting. My life has been very busy lately, hoping things will settle down in the next month and I can devote a little more time, and effort, to the blog.

Now, back to the subject at hand.

As mentioned in my previous post, the Israelis have been training Georgian troops and supplying arms to the country for almost 8 years now. The brutality of the attack on the Ossetian capital are certainly evidence that the 'best' of Israeli methods have been employed: Targetting Civilians. Just as the Israelis targeted scores of civilians during the Lebanon War, shooting at carloads of fleeing people - the same has occured in South Ossetia. Never mind targetting any kind 'militia', nah - just target the people - so they will leave. Ethnic cleansing at its best, learned from the Masters. We shoudn't be surprised here either, as the gentleman (I use the term loosely) who assisted in training the Georgians was none other than General Gal Hirsh:

According to media reports, Brigadier General Gal Hirsch, a senior commander in the 2006 Lebanon war who resigned after the release of a highly critical report on the way the war was conducted, served as an adviser to Georgian security forces.


Given the similarity of the approach, there is little wonder. But the Ossetians aren't Lebanese and the Russians are not Hezbolla, just as the Israelis were sent packing in the disasterous Lebanon Invasion - so too the Georgians have been utterly smacked down by the Russians - protecting the ethnic minorities of South Ossetia. Keep in mind though, the Georgians are the pawn in this event, the chesspiece being used by both the Israeli and American admninistrations. Their motivations may be somewhat different, but certainly they are allied in the use of their puppet, Saakashvili. The Israelis for the pipeline, the Americans for the continuing circling of Russia by NATO (just a wing on the US/Israeli military machine). However, I'm sure that there are those in Israel who would enjoy a nice shot at the Russians for reasons best left for another post.

Of course, now that the going is getting tough - the 'tough' are getting going - home that is. Israelis and Georgian Jews are fleeing via airlift and overland - literally scrambling to get out of the country.

Georgia has enjoyed a large Jewish population, many of whom are in the upper echelons of society and rarely experience any kind of anti-semetism. Will that change? Is that partly what these people are afraid of? When the Georgians realise who helped to orchestrate the brutal, unprovoked attack on South Ossetia, will there be backlash? The numbers of Georgian Jews seeking Aliyah is increasing exponentially. How convenient for them to have an ersatz country to run too when their involvements turn sour. If anything it is this sort of behaviour by both the Israelis and the Americans which turn the worlds sentiments against them: Meddling. Underhanded dealings. I have always held to the belief that the greatest threat to the Jewish diaspora comes from the actions of Israel herself - professing to speak for all Jews everywhere. By best estimates, there are about 20,000 Jewish Georgians, many with a very long history in the region. Interestingly:

Overall, since 1989, 21,134 Jews have moved to Israel. Once numbering as many as 100,000, today the Georgian Jewish population is approximately 13,000. Tbilisi has the largest Jewish population at 11,000 out of 1.5 million. Jewish communities are located in Tbilisi, Kutaisi, Batumi, Oni, Achaltische, Ahalkalaki, Surami, Kareli, and Stalin's hometown of Gori, and synagogues are located in most of these cities. The provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia are virtually void of Jews due to the military conflicts in these areas.


Interesting, so South Ossetia and Abkhazia are devoid of Jews. These are the two 'provinces' who wish to separate and declare soveriegnty. Coincidence? Probably not.

A little farther back in time we find this:

In the beginning of the 19th century, Ashkenazi Russian Jews were forced to move to Georgia by the Russian government. The Ashkenazi Jews and the Georgian Jews began establishing contact with each other, but relations were strained. Georgian Jews viewed the Ashkenazim as godless and secular, while the Ashkenazim looked down on the Georgian Jews.

Zionism was the only uniting cause for the two groups, and Ashkenazim joined Zionist organizations and began to spread their ideas to the Georgian Jewish communities. In 1897, the first Zionist organization was established in Tbilisi. On August 20, 1901, the First Congress of Caucasus Zionists was held in Tbilisi. Rabbi David Baazov led Georgian Zionism during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1903, Baazov attended the Sixth Zionist Congress in Basel. In 1918, the All-Jewish Congress in Tbilisi took place and included representatives from every Georgian and Russian Jewish community in the country, except for Kutaisi, which had become the center of Anti-Zionist activity.

Orthodox leaders, the Hakhams, also fought against the spread of Zionism in the Georgian Jewish communities.

Beginning in 1863, groups of Jews began making aliyah, mostly for religious reasons. By 1916, 439 Georgian Jews lived in Palestine, mostly in Jerusalem near the Damascus Gate. Very few hakhams immigrated to Israel due to their staunch Anti-Zionist stance, and most Jews who made aliyah were poverty-stricken and worked as freight-handlers in Jerusalem.


So, as one can see there is a long history of Israel/Georgian relations. It has also been reported that the number of Jews in Georgia wishing to make Aliyah in the past few days is more than the total of the last full year. What does this tell us? Things are most likely going to get worse before they get any better.

It's also been hinted at by Saakashvili that Israel is continuing to supply military aid, he praises the Israeli weaponry: The president added "the Israeli weapons have proved very effective".

Well, there you have it. Again, make of it what you will. Just don't forget Israel's role in all of this - as it won't be reported on in the North American Dead Tree Press.

Israel and Georgia

Since you won't read about this in any North American dead tree paper, or hear it on the brainwashing device known as television, I figured I'd post it here:


War in Georgia: The Israeli Connection

Excerpts:

The fighting which broke out over the weekend between Russia and Georgia has brought Israel's intensive involvement in the region into the limelight. This involvement includes the sale of advanced weapons to Georgia and the training of the Georgian army's infantry forces.

The Defense Ministry held a special meeting Sunday to discuss the various arms deals held by Israelis in Georgia, but no change in policy has been announced as of yet.


This seems to contradict what I read earlier, that Israel had ceased selling weapons to Georgia, it turns out they are only supplying 'defensive' weapons now... like that makes it any better:

Israel began selling arms to Georgia about seven years ago following an initiative by Georgian citizens who immigrated to Israel and became businesspeople.

"They contacted defense industry officials and arms dealers and told them that Georgia had relatively large budgets and could be interested in purchasing Israeli weapons," says a source involved in arms exports.

The military cooperation between the countries developed swiftly. The fact that Georgia's defense minister, Davit Kezerashvili, is a former Israeli who is fluent in Hebrew contributed to this cooperation.

Interesting, to say the least. Provacative - for sure. Read on...

"It was clear that too many unmistakable Israeli systems in the possesion of the Georgian army would be like a red cloth in the face of a raging bull as far as Russia is concerned," explained a source in the defense establishment.

For inctance, the Russians viewed the operation of the Elbit System's RPVs as a real provocation.

"It was clear that the Russians were angry," says a defense establishment source, "and that the interception of three of these RPVs in the past three months was an expression of this anger. Not everyone in Israel understood the sensitive nerve Israel touched when it supplied such an advanced arms system to a country whose relations with Russia are highly tense."

Gee, really? You think so?

This last bit really drives the point home:

"The Israelis should be proud of themselves for the Israeli training and education received by the Georgian soldiers," Georgian Minister Temur Yakobashvili said Saturday.

Yakobashvili is a Jew and is fluent in Hebrew. "We are now in a fight against the great Russia," he said, "and our hope is to receive assistance from the White House, because Georgia cannot survive on its own.

"It's important that the entire world understands that what is happening in Georgia now will affect the entire world order. It's not just Georgia's business, but the entire world's business."

One of the Georgian parliament members did not settle Saturday for the call for American aid, urging Israel to help stop the Russian offensive as well: "We need help from the UN and from our friends, headed by the United States and Israel. Today Georgia is in danger – tomorrow all the democratic countries in the region and in the entire world will be in danger too."


This has the potential, due to Israeli and American involvment to get really ugly - really fast.

Now that the Americans are airlifting Georgian troops out of Iraq and returning to fight in the front lines in Georgia - this can be viewed as direct involvement of the US military against Russia herself. Not a good sign.

Can the Americans really afford to take on another protectorate? She can barely afford to keep Israel, as her own infrastructure crumbles, schools close and unemployment increases in the US, really how much longer can the GOP justify the amount of aid given to various puppets around the world? Will the American people rise up? Will they demand a halt to all this meddling? Or will they, given the false information the msm provides them, rally to involve themselves in yet another war - a war which could lead to an unmitigated disaster for the entire region, and yes possibly the entire world?

With the Israelis itching to invade Iran, the Georgian debacle could provide the perfect cover as the world's eyes are glued to the rather fishy events unfolding in South Ossetia, could Israeli sneak in the back door and begin the other war she so badly wants?

I tell ya folks, no good will come from any of this.

George and Georgia

I posed the question in the comment section in the Israel/Georgia post, pondering the involvement of George Soros in Georgia.

Well, seems my foggy memory served me well:

From 2003:
Georgia revolt carried mark of Soros

He also has a warm relationship with Mr. Shevardnadze's chief opponent, Mikhail Saakashvili, a New York-educated lawyer who is expected to win the presidency in an election scheduled for Jan. 4. Last year, Mr. Soros personally presented Mr. Saakashvili with the foundation's Open Society Award.

"It's generally accepted public opinion here that Mr. Soros is the person who planned Shevardnadze's overthrow," said Zaza Gachechiladze, editor-in-chief of The Georgian Messenger, an English-language daily based in the capital.

That helped put the current perp in power: Mr. Saakashivili. And what of him? What do we know?

A little more background, from 2004:
Georgia on His Mind - George Soros's Potemkin Revolution

Late last fall, Saakashvili led thousands of "spontaneous" demonstrators, bused in from around Tbilisi, brandishing flowers as they invaded the president's palace. This was during the freezing Georgian winter when any roses not black and brittle had to be flown or trucked in, courtesy of the same bankroll that funded the fleet of rented buses for demonstrators: that of George Soros, the Hungarian-born billionaire and egotist. A former member of the Georgian Parliament said that in the three months before the "Rose Revolution," "from August through October, Soros spent $42 million ramping-up for the overthrow of Shevardnadze."

Soros has publicly committed himself to funding the "democratic" presidency of Mikhail Saakashvili, just as he has publicly committed himself and his money to the destruction of the presidency of George W. Bush, whom he has compared to Yasser Arafat and Hitler. Soros and the United Nations are paying the wages of all of Saakashvili's top government officials--ministers, deputies, the road police, and others--on the grounds that this will keep them from stealing. As if bribery and corruption were simply a problem of immediate financial need, not greed.

Shevardnadze's attempt to rig the November 2003 parliamentary elections was a handy catalyst for the coup, but it was already in the works. The previous summer Soros had flown Saakashvili and his followers to a seminar he sponsored in Belgrade on how to stage your own "Velvet Revolution." And perhaps Soros would deserve some credit--except for the undeniable fact that, ever since his anointing in a crooked election in January, Saakashvili has sounded more like a raging nationalist and authoritarian thug than a democrat strewing rose petals.

There is alot of really good info on Saakashivili here, and some rather unflattering comparisons of him, by his wife of all people:

Saakashvili, now 36, was an only child with an absent father. He was raised by a divorced, domineering, and ambitious mother, and his tough-talking Dutch-born wife, Sandra Roelof, appears to follow in that tradition. (Saakashvili married her in lower Manhattan in 1993 while he was attending Columbia for a year on a U.S. taxpayer-funded scholarship.) In February, Roelof gave an interview to a Dutch magazine for a breathless Vanity Fair-like profile headlined "Sandra Roelof's Fairy Tale: From a Zeeuws Girl to First Lady of Georgia." Roelof seems to have taken to Georgian politics:

Georgia has produced strong leaders. Stalin, Beria, Gamsakhurdia. Even Shevardnadze, before he got addicted to power. They looked beyond Georgia. My husband does the same; he fits in the tradition. This country needs a strong hand. It is incredibly important that respect for authority returns. That laws are less frequently broken, that people simply pay their bills for once. There is hardly a sense of responsibility here. . . . I think my husband is the right person to frighten people. That is not to say it is immediately fascism or something. Should he develop extremist traits he will be alerted to that. All eyes are looking at us now.

*snip*

The second man to whom Sandra Roelof compares her husband is Lavrenty Beria, Stalin's secret police czar and the Georgian-born father of the Soviet Gulag. Beria, a notorious pedophile, was responsible for the deaths of millions of Soviet citizens. He was executed on Khrushchev's order after Stalin's death in 1953.

Next on Roelof's list is Zviad Gamsakhurdia, the first elected president of Georgia, a rabid nationalist completely intolerant of any opposition. He was deposed in a coup in the early '90s and later shot himself in the head (or was murdered). Two weeks ago Saakashvili announced that 2004 would be "the year of Gamsakhurdia," whatever that is intended to mean.

The last of Roelof's major players is Shevardnadze, the mentoring father figure Saakashvili never had, who brought him into parliament, appointed him to his cabinet, and guided him along until Saakashvili turned and stabbed him. Despite the relentless encomiums from the last three U.S. administrations, Shevardnadze was brutal and corrupt. (Saakashvili, who lives around the corner from Shevardnadze in Tbilisi, has never had him arrested.)



How nice.

Make of it what you will.

Could this be a whole set up? Designed to take out a loose cannon?

ETA: "Republic of South Ossetia" News

Israel and Iran, Israel and Georgia..

Gosh Israel is just as busy as the US in minding other folks' business and starting wars:

Israel backs Georgia in Caspian Oil Pipeline Battle with Russia

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.



Hmmm...

Updated:Israel, Georgia: Israel To Halt Arms Sales To Georgia


A little too late I see.


Not only is Israel busy in Georgia:
Israel 'using Kurds to build power base'

Where else are they?