Defiant Putin accuses US of 'helping Georgia' as fighting escalates amid fears of ground invasion

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

No matter how many facts you give them, Russia will still be evil, Putin will still be more evil than Hitler and Hussein combined. And CNN will still be considered as reliable news source...

The funny thing is, there's never a perfectly Good and Evil side in any regional conflict, except perhaps the religious wars in the Middle East with their perennial "Kill the Jews" motto.

Even conducting consistent, according to its own interests, foreign policy, Russia can be more bad than good in one case; and more good that bad in another case, depending on the interplay of political powers in a particular situation. But the human mind cannot tolerate grey shades and always searches for the Ultimate Bad Guy. Double standards at play, too: USA expanding the sphere of its influence = GOOD; Russia doing the same = BAD!

USA expanding the sphere of its influence = BAD; Russia doing the same = BAD!

Yep. And actually that view has been pretty consistent on here - there's a few people who find ways to justify the wars in Iraq, Vietnam and Korea, but its far from unanimous. Not everyone is a flag-waving dittohead.

[almaty 19]

No matter how many facts you give them, Russia will still be evil, Putin will still be more evil than Hitler and Hussein combined. And CNN will still be considered as reliable news source...

The funny thing is, there's never a perfectly Good and Evil side in any regional conflict, except perhaps the religious wars in the Middle East with their perennial "Kill the Jews" motto.

Even conducting consistent, according to its own interests, foreign policy, Russia can be more bad than good in one case; and more good that bad in another case, depending on the interplay of political powers in a particular situation. But the human mind cannot tolerate grey shades and always searches for the Ultimate Bad Guy. Double standards at play, too: USA expanding the sphere of its influence = GOOD; Russia doing the same = BAD!

There are different world views at work.

Russia's record on human rights and political freedoms isn't particularly great. A softer form of totalitarianism is still totalitarian.

LOL...ask the Chechens are Russian softer totalitarism///

ReutersPublished: July 1, 2008

GROZNY, Russia: A human rights watchdog in Russia's Chechnya region on Tuesday demanded an investigation into a suspected mass grave where it said Russian soldiers buried up to 300 civilians they had killed in an attack.

Russian forces fought two wars against separatist rebels in Chechnya in which both sides killed and tortured civilians. In the past few years the fighting has subsided and local people are slowly starting to seek redress for acts of violence.

Chechnya's official human rights ombudsman Nurdi Nukhazhiyev said a group of residents had told him last week about the suspected mass grave, at an asphalt plant about 25 km (16 miles) from the Chechen capital, Grozny.

The ombudsman said it contained the bodies of men, women and children who were killed on October 30, 1999 ....

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

No matter how many facts you give them, Russia will still be evil, Putin will still be more evil than Hitler and Hussein combined. And CNN will still be considered as reliable news source...

The funny thing is, there's never a perfectly Good and Evil side in any regional conflict, except perhaps the religious wars in the Middle East with their perennial "Kill the Jews" motto.

Even conducting consistent, according to its own interests, foreign policy, Russia can be more bad than good in one case; and more good that bad in another case, depending on the interplay of political powers in a particular situation. But the human mind cannot tolerate grey shades and always searches for the Ultimate Bad Guy. Double standards at play, too: USA expanding the sphere of its influence = GOOD; Russia doing the same = BAD!

There are different world views at work.

Russia's record on human rights and political freedoms isn't particularly great. A softer form of totalitarianism is still totalitarian.

LOL...ask the Chechens are Russian softer totalitarism///

ReutersPublished: July 1, 2008

GROZNY, Russia: A human rights watchdog in Russia's Chechnya region on Tuesday demanded an investigation into a suspected mass grave where it said Russian soldiers buried up to 300 civilians they had killed in an attack.

Russian forces fought two wars against separatist rebels in Chechnya in which both sides killed and tortured civilians. In the past few years the fighting has subsided and local people are slowly starting to seek redress for acts of violence.

Chechnya's official human rights ombudsman Nurdi Nukhazhiyev said a group of residents had told him last week about the suspected mass grave, at an asphalt plant about 25 km (16 miles) from the Chechen capital, Grozny.

The ombudsman said it contained the bodies of men, women and children who were killed on October 30, 1999 ....

Softer than the USSR. How many people did they kill in Afghanistan?

They've gone over to a free-market economy (Oligarchy basically - where the guys like Putin who were powerful in the old regime basically inherited the biggest sliced of the pie), but its still the same old beast underneath.

Edited August 13, 2008 by Number 6

[almaty 19]

how many per capita did they kill in Chenya? under yetlsin and putin admin.

Edited August 13, 2008 by almaty

[Ilya R. 0]

On the same coin, where's Russia's consistency with S. Ossetia since it backed Serbia's claim to Kosovo? If you can answer that, then I'll totally engage the American policy of picking and choosing whom to support (while having skeletons in our own closet, mind you).

Piece of cake. In the case of Serbia, Russia backed "Slavic brothers" against the Kosovo Muslims supported by the US. In the case of S. Ossettia, Russia backed Russian citizens and peacekeeping troops against the Georgian backed by the U.S. No consistency, you say?

The only consistency is that Russia is full of bigoted racist a33holes.

Ever met a Russian who wasn't a bigot or a racist? Good luck.

Da I've met Russians that weren't racist or prejudiced against others.

I haven't yet. I'm only talking about Russians, mind. Ukrainians, Belorussians and other neighbours are usually ok.

From your posts you seem to quiet the hater towards Russians. Hmmm Where do you meet these racist, bigots Russians? In your imagination? Just because you know how to spell your nickname in Russian doesn't make you an anthropologist in Russian culture or people.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

how many per capita did they kill in Chenya? under yetlsin and putin admin.

Well you can't relativise these things... but I would hazard a guess that the death toll in Afghanistan was higher.

[almaty 19]

On the same coin, where's Russia's consistency with S. Ossetia since it backed Serbia's claim to Kosovo? If you can answer that, then I'll totally engage the American policy of picking and choosing whom to support (while having skeletons in our own closet, mind you).

Piece of cake. In the case of Serbia, Russia backed "Slavic brothers" against the Kosovo Muslims supported by the US. In the case of S. Ossettia, Russia backed Russian citizens and peacekeeping troops against the Georgian backed by the U.S. No consistency, you say?

The only consistency is that Russia is full of bigoted racist a33holes.

Ever met a Russian who wasn't a bigot or a racist? Good luck.

Da I've met Russians that weren't racist or prejudiced against others.

I haven't yet. I'm only talking about Russians, mind. Ukrainians, Belorussians and other neighbours are usually ok.

From your posts you seem to quiet the hater towards Russians. Hmmm Where do you meet these racist, bigots Russians? In your imagination? Just because you know how to spell your nickname in Russian doesn't make you an anthropologist in Russian culture or people.

i have know several russians in my life..and a close friend in kazakhstan..they are unbiased and humanistic..to label a people as biased in over generalization and not true..most russian people are caring for their families and each other

Edited August 13, 2008 by almaty

[HAL 9000 96]

On the same coin, where's Russia's consistency with S. Ossetia since it backed Serbia's claim to Kosovo? If you can answer that, then I'll totally engage the American policy of picking and choosing whom to support (while having skeletons in our own closet, mind you).

Piece of cake. In the case of Serbia, Russia backed "Slavic brothers" against the Kosovo Muslims supported by the US. In the case of S. Ossettia, Russia backed Russian citizens and peacekeeping troops against the Georgian backed by the U.S. No consistency, you say?

No matter how many facts you give them, Russia will still be evil, Putin will still be more evil than Hitler and Hussein combined. And CNN will still be considered as reliable news source...

Evil? Facts?

I thought this was about land and the sovereign integrity of nations, not the arbitrary assignment of good and evil according to whom you liken as a 'brother.'

Please forgive us that reason along the lines of the rights of nations to uphold their sovereignty.

Uphold their sovereighty? By killing thousands of civilians? Great plan. If they wanted to uphold it so bad, they should have gone another way about it. They tried to sucked punch, and they ended up being K.Oed

I could agree with that completely. I suppose a regular war to suppress the independence movement like the Serbs tried in Kosovo and supporting Serb militias in Bosnia-Herzegovina as well as fighting those crazy Croats right after the breakup of Yugoslavia would have been up to Moscow's expectations then. Instead of bombing their own citizens that had received Russian passports by ethnicity alone, they could simply have mounted a Russian-backed campaign like Serbia did and we wouldn't be having this enlightened discussion since at that point there wouldn't have been an invasion of Georgia.

The point is there was no regular war. It was called a frozen conflict for a reason. 15 years of just little bickering, until that clown came to power. Now he is feeding his media happy bullshit to all the news agencies. Ever since he came to power he stirred more and more trouble. He loves media, he loves being a drama queen and he loves lying, just like a good american politician. And once again, there were plenty of Georgians that have received Russian passports after 1991. I for one know a Georgian citizen who has a Russian passport and lives in Turkey.

Damn those Americans and their evil politicians. Damn those Georgians that want to be just like them, too.

THAT should be in itself enough reason to invade. That settles it.

[almaty 19]

how many per capita did they kill in Chenya? under yetlsin and putin admin.

Well you can't relativise these things... but I would hazard a guess that the death toll in Afghanistan was higher.

i agree it was higher, but the civilian lost was higher in chechenya

[Blues Fairy 0]

The only consistency is that Russia is full of bigoted racist a33holes.

Ever met a Russian who wasn't a bigot or a racist? Good luck.

This reminds me of: "Most of all I hate RACISTS... and the BLACK PEOPLE!"

[HAL 9000 96]

On the same coin, where's Russia's consistency with S. Ossetia since it backed Serbia's claim to Kosovo? If you can answer that, then I'll totally engage the American policy of picking and choosing whom to support (while having skeletons in our own closet, mind you).

Piece of cake. In the case of Serbia, Russia backed "Slavic brothers" against the Kosovo Muslims supported by the US. In the case of S. Ossettia, Russia backed Russian citizens and peacekeeping troops against the Georgian backed by the U.S. No consistency, you say?

The only consistency is that Russia is full of bigoted racist a33holes.

Ever met a Russian who wasn't a bigot or a racist? Good luck.

Da I've met Russians that weren't racist or prejudiced against others.

I haven't yet. I'm only talking about Russians, mind. Ukrainians, Belorussians and other neighbours are usually ok.

They're all OK to me. Now those Visigoths... damn those Visigoths. And Vandals... Vikings... hate 'em. They must also bear the brunt of a full-fledged invasion too.

No matter how many facts you give them, Russia will still be evil, Putin will still be more evil than Hitler and Hussein combined. And CNN will still be considered as reliable news source...

The funny thing is, there's never a perfectly Good and Evil side in any regional conflict, except perhaps the religious wars in the Middle East with their perennial "Kill the Jews" motto.

Even conducting consistent, according to its own interests, foreign policy, Russia can be more bad than good in one case; and more good that bad in another case, depending on the interplay of political powers in a particular situation. But the human mind cannot tolerate grey shades and always searches for the Ultimate Bad Guy. Double standards at play, too: USA expanding the sphere of its influence = GOOD; Russia doing the same = BAD!

There are different world views at work.

Russia's record on human rights and political freedoms isn't particularly great. A softer form of totalitarianism is still totalitarian.

LOL...ask the Chechens are Russian softer totalitarism///

ReutersPublished: July 1, 2008

GROZNY, Russia: A human rights watchdog in Russia's Chechnya region on Tuesday demanded an investigation into a suspected mass grave where it said Russian soldiers buried up to 300 civilians they had killed in an attack.

Russian forces fought two wars against separatist rebels in Chechnya in which both sides killed and tortured civilians. In the past few years the fighting has subsided and local people are slowly starting to seek redress for acts of violence.

Chechnya's official human rights ombudsman Nurdi Nukhazhiyev said a group of residents had told him last week about the suspected mass grave, at an asphalt plant about 25 km (16 miles) from the Chechen capital, Grozny.

The ombudsman said it contained the bodies of men, women and children who were killed on October 30, 1999 ....

Softer than the USSR. How many people did they kill in Afghanistan?

They've gone over to a free-market economy (Oligarchy basically - where the guys like Putin who were powerful in the old regime basically inherited the biggest sliced of the pie), but its still the same old beast underneath.

I guess you can replace the Communist Party Oligarchy with the same clowns now. Essentially its the same right?

[bob_bonner 0]

i have know several russians in my life..and a close friend in kazakhstan..they are unbiased and humanistic..to label a people as biased in over generalization and not true..most russian people are caring for their families and each other

Good for you. All the Russians I ever met were either bigots or racists, nostalgic for the

folie de grandeur of Russian imperialist ambitions.

[Ilya R. 0]

i have know several russians in my life..and a close friend in kazakhstan..they are unbiased and humanistic..to label a people as biased in over generalization and not true..most russian people are caring for their families and each other

Good for you. All the Russians I ever met were either bigots or racists, nostalgic for the

folie de grandeur of Russian imperialist ambitions.

Are you really Canadian?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

how many per capita did they kill in Chenya? under yetlsin and putin admin.

Well you can't relativise these things... but I would hazard a guess that the death toll in Afghanistan was higher.

i agree it was higher, but the civilian lost was higher in chechenya

I don't know about that - as there aren't official statistics to that effect. There's an estimated total death toll of at least 1 million in Afghanistan (with about 5-6 times that being displaced) but nothing concrete - and given that the Afghans lacked a regular army its not exactly clear how that breaks down in terms of civilian vs. military casualties.

But I think we can agree that both of those situations are heinous and the Russia has a lot of blood on its hands.

[bob_bonner 0]

The only consistency is that Russia is full of bigoted racist a33holes.

Ever met a Russian who wasn't a bigot or a racist? Good luck.

This reminds me of: "Most of all I hate RACISTS... and the BLACK PEOPLE!"

Touché! Only it's not. See, I don't hate anyone.

Volunteering to Kill Georgians