Originally posted by The Godfather of Conspira
I would like to clear something up here:

The Russians have every right to defend themselves and their Republics.

THEIR republics? The USSR is no more and no republic???!!!! needs to bow to mother russia again and russia needs to get OVER it. what the hell is this you're spewing? god i feel like this topic is bizarro world.

oops forgot i said i wasn't coming back. now i remember why.

[edit on 8-8-2008 by ~Lucidity]

I think that everyone's desire to be siding with the "Good Guy" against the "Bad Guy" has brought a lot of fuzz to the topic.

The reality is, there are no "Good Guys" in this situation.

Russia: Somebody else said something about Russia starting a war. No, untrue: Georgia started a war. But what Russia is doing, is intervening in another sovereign country's civil war (And don't bring U.S. actions into this, my opinions on that are irrelevant here.) All of you people saying Russia is justified in helping South Ossetia would cry foul and scream 'till your heads popped if it were China going after Taiwan and the U.S. intervened on Taiwan's behalf - and you freakin' know it.

Georgia: People are saying that Georgia is the aggressor and is acting as a U.S. puppet state. I call bull! Show me some communications between the U.S. and Georgia along the lines of, "Hey, do you think you guys could start a major military conflict against our most powerful rival that we'll almost certainly get drawn into at some point? We'd like to try and stretch our forces a little bit thinner." Think about it for a second people! Yes, Georgia started this war. They are entitled to use force to reunite their country. Problem is, genocide and launching your attack in the middle of your own cease-fire aren't exactly the operations of a "good country" either.

Friends, this war is merely a big bully beating up on a little bully for picking on the big bully's friend. No good guys. Stop acting like there is.

Our government is up to it again. Do you really think that we have 2,000 people there for nothing?

Our 2000 people left and the Georgia government is asking for them back, surely wouldn't be enough anyway.

Google is anti-US, so if you think the government can get Google to phase out satellite images of Georgia, you're wrong.

Georgia was provoked into a skirmish by Russia in the break-away province. Russia's long-term goal is to get all the 15 Republics back of the former Soviet Union.

Russia has a major dislike for the Georgian government and don't want them spreading democracy in the region.

Originally posted by mattifikation
The reality is, there are no "Good Guys" in this situation.

That is a good way to look at it. However innocent civilians are dieing by the hundreds, as the result of Georgia's actions. Even if Georgia can said to be standing up for what rightfully belongs to it, this was reckless and irresponsible, especially in the midst of ceasefire and peace talks.

Originally posted by mattifikation
But what Russia is doing, is intervening in another sovereign country's civil war

This Civil War involved Russian civilians - most S. Ossetians have dual Russian citizenship.

Originally posted by mattifikation
All of you people saying Russia is justified in helping South Ossetia would cry foul and scream 'till your heads popped if it were China going after Taiwan and the U.S. intervened on Taiwan's behalf - and you freakin' know it.

How is Taiwan like South Ossetia. Kosovo comparison would be more approprite.

Originally posted by mattifikation
Show me some communications between the U.S. and Georgia along the lines of, "Hey, do you think you guys could start a major military conflict against our most powerful rival that we'll almost certainly get drawn into at some point? We'd like to try and stretch our forces a little bit thinner."

Condoleezza Rice visited a month before the attack. U.S. held military exercises in Georgia right before the increase in hostilities. Bush condemned Russia entering South Ossetia, but did not say anything about Georgia shelling civilians in Tskhinvali. Short of a direct link with the U.S., this tells alot about the U.S. stance on the issue.

Originally posted by mattifikation
Friends, this war is merely a big bully beating up on a little bully for picking on the big bully's friend. No good guys. Stop acting like there is.

There may be no good guys, but Georgia must back off its hostilities. It is trying to spark an ethnical cleansing. Is Russia twisting the whole thing in their favor and taking advantage of this - you bet. Yet the civilians are still dieing, and no one besides Russia can come to their aid.

Originally posted by jetxnet

Google is anti-US, so if you think the government can get Google to phase out satellite images of Georgia, you're wrong.

Do you think that the data comes from google or from US controlled birds in the sky ? Do you think the birds reporting to the US sites on the internet could show anything the government did not want it too?

I hope i'm wrong but I do not think so.

The US has their military satcoms, but Google has their own satellites. They lease from another privately owned company if I remember right. In any case, the government does not control these satellites held by private organizations. These organizations have paid Nasa and even Russia to put them in space for them.

With that said, the US doesn't want to go against Russia right now but the tensions are high though.

USGS is what tells us where the cites are and it is completely government controlled. LOL and last time I checked there wasn't much left in this country not controlled by the goverenment. Did you even go to google maps and see what he is talking about?

It's not completely government controlled, not even close.

Look up who Google uses for their satellites. You'll see it is a privately owned company.

Military satellites use encryption and have different rendering algorithms.

Google has control (or the company they are leasing satellite time from) of the images the satellite is rendering.

Don't forget, none of it is real-time either. You're looking at snapshots from at least 1 day ago if not more.

To think the US is censoring Google maps of Georgia is rediculous. The US would, if anything, want you to see the destruction going on over there.


[edit on 8-8-2008 by jetxnet]