How many jellybeans in this jar?

 

States' rights ... and wrongs

You go, Georgia!

A Georgia man panicked parents and children at a local park and baseball field by randomly walking around and displaying his gun to anyone he encountered in the parking lot. According to witnesses who spoke with WSB-TV, the man wandered around the Forsythe County park last Tuesday night showing his gun to strangers, telling them “there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Just what exactly did you think would happen when you pass these kinds of laws? That people would behave in a civilized manner?  Really?

You go, South Carolina!

SC GOP candidate: Women cause ’95 percent’ of divorces by loving their kids too much

And

SC Republican wants to end public schools: Nothing ‘in the Bible about state education’

And you go, Tennessee!

TENNESSEE PASSES BILL ALLOWING THE BULLYING OF LGBT STUDENTS IN THE NAME OF ‘RELIGIOUS FREEDOM’

You go, Alabama!

Alabama’s chief justice: Buddha didn’t create us so First Amendment only protects Christians

You go, New York!

 NYC cyclist arrested for using cellphone to film cop, told iPhones are ‘being used as guns’

Life, wind and fuck ups.

Why it's worth it to live.

A US wind map.

The Koch brothers very bad no good week.

Georgia.  Yet another state I will not visit nor support if I am able.

The Supreme Court fucks up again.

Women need to recognize verbal sabotage and manipulation.

Curveball.  The excuse created by the neocons to attack Iraq.

That was close....

Too close.

A President McCain, following obediently in Bush's footsteps and standing by the country of Georgia would have put us straight into yet another war...

Book: Cheney pushed for military conflict with Russia.

A new book suggests Vice President Dick Cheney pushed for the US to engage militarily with Russia when Russia invaded the US-allied Georgian republic in 2008. A Little War that Shook the World, published last month, says that in August 2008, as the South Ossetia War between Russia and Georgia was raging, the White House looked at the possibility of taking military action to prevent Georgian forces from being routed by Russian troops.

Georgia's leader, Mikheil Saakashvili, was seen as an ally of Washington and had pushed for NATO membership for his country. "The sheer scale of the Russian attack did lead several senior White House staffers to push for at least some consideration of limited military options to stem the Russian advance," Asmus wrote. "The menu of options under discussion foresaw the possibility of bombardment and sealing of the Roki Tunnel as well as other surgical strikes to reduce Russian military pressure on the Georgian government."

Is total war all these guys understand? They are still talking about attacking Iran fer gawd's sake!

Welcome to the twenty-first century

ASHBURN, Georgia (CNN) -- Students of Turner County High School started what they hope will become a new tradition: Black and white students attended the prom together for the first time on Saturday.

In previous years, parents had organized private, segregated dances for students of the school in rural Ashburn, Georgia, 160 miles south of Atlanta.

"Whites always come to this one and blacks always go to this one," said Lacey Adkinson, a 14-year-old freshman at the school of 455 students -- 55 percent black, 43 percent white.

The students were the ones who knew it was time:

Inside the auditorium, students put the controversy aside and danced for hours. Stone said he was pleased with the outcome. About 150 students, including some dates from other schools, attended.

Students leaving the prom praised the evening.

"We been separated for a while. I sure appreciate how the school got all of us together, and we had a blast" said John Holmes, 16.

Aneisha Gipson, who was crowned prom queen, said the night could not have been better.

"Amazing. It was absolutely amazing. It was perfect."

Superintendent Ray Jordan said he couldn't be more proud of Stone and his students.

"If I could write this story it would be a story of celebration of students making a difference for themselves and for future students. I believe they wanted to leave their mark, and I certainly believe they've done that."

It's WTF Tuesday!

Soldier: Obama not U.S. born, can't send me to Afghanistan:

MACON — U.S. Army Maj. Stefan Frederick Cook is seeking a federal court order to stall and eventually prevent an upcoming deployment to Afghanistan.

In the 20-page document — filed July 8 with the United States District Court, Middle District of Georgia — Cook's California-based attorney, Orly Taitz, asks the court to consider granting his client's request based upon Cook's belief that President Barrack Obama is not a natural-born citizen of the United States and is therefore ineligible to serve as commander-in-chief of U.S Armed Forces.

Major Cook is very brave to bring attention to the fact that he wasn't paying attention in history class. Hawaii isn't part of the United States but one of those weird island nations filled with exotic natives and stuff, apparently.

Why didn't soldiers think of this excuse with Bush? "He wasn't elected but selected, so doesn't have the right to send me to his Neocon war of choice." That excuse would at least been based on the truth!
-----------------------------------------

That's a lot of fake brake repairs....

Rarely do stories generate the kind of consumer response that The Bee received after the state attorney general's office sued a Modesto businessman and his 22 Midas Automotive Service franchises.

The civil lawsuit, which seeks $222 million in penalties, claims the shops owned by Maurice "Mike" Irving Glad used false advertising and fraudulent business practices to sell consumers unnecessary parts and services. The case stems from a four-year investigation and 30 undercover sting operations.

For his part, Glad says he was the victim of overzealous enforcement by the state Bureau of Automotive Repair that was designed to deceive his mechanics. He defended his business practices and workers, vowing to fight the lawsuit aggressively.

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Chan Akya of The Asia Times digs a hole trying to explain why he took offense to Krugman's ... use of slang which makes his economic theories all wrong?

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Ya give a kid a credit card....

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Speaking of money, we'd like to see this corporation's uncooked books:

US bank Goldman Sachs reported a net profit of $3.44bn (£2.1bn) for April to June, beating analysts' forecasts.

Less volatility in stock markets, rises in global share prices and involvement in many firms' rights issues and takeovers had boosted profits, it said.

The bank said it had set aside $6.65bn for pay and bonuses in the quarter - an average of $226,000 per employee.

Goldman has recently paid off $10bn of government loans it had taken as part of a government bail-out programme.

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But lead is a natural substance... and makes you feel full!:

A new study by Consumer Lab found that many multivitamins contain potentially dangerous levels of lead, and many did not contain the vitamins and minerals their labels proclaim.

[snip]

Almost no vitamins were found to be free of lead, according to the Sacramento Bee (the study results are by subscription only). Indeed, lead-free may be an impossible goal because fruits and vegetables absorb lead from soil and water.

What's a person to do? Your best bet is to buy a well known brand and look for a stamp on the bottle from USP, NSF or Consumer Lab.com. Living in California helps, because our state is the only one to regulate vitamins. By California law, 15 percent of the vitamins evaluated ought to carry a warning label.

Wait a minute! That's not a shrimp!

Can't they find it by the glowing crabs? (my bold)

More than 50 years after a 7,600lb (3,500kg) nuclear bomb was dropped in US waters following a mid-air military collision, the question of whether the missing weapon still poses a threat remains.

[snip]

Shortly after midnight on 5 February 1958, Howard Richardson was on a top-secret training flight for the US Strategic Air Command.

It was the height of the Cold War and the young Major Richardson's mission was to practise long-distance flights in his B-47 bomber in case he was ordered to fly from Homestead Air Force Base in Florida to any one of the targets the US had identified in Russia.

[snip]

As he cruised at 38,000 feet over North Carolina and Georgia, his plane was hit by another military aircraft, gouging a huge hole in the wing and knocking an engine almost off its mountings, leaving it hanging at a perilous angle.

[snip]

As he dropped to 20,000 feet, he somehow got the damaged craft under control and levelled out.

He and his co-pilot then made a fateful decision which probably saved both their lives and the lives of countless people on the ground.

[snip]

He managed to direct the B-47 a mile or two off the coast of Savannah and opened the bomb doors, dropping the bomb somewhere into the shallow waters and light sand near Tybee Island.

He then managed a perfectly executed descent from which he and his crew walked away unscathed.

[snip]

Immediately after the crash, a search was set up to find the unexploded nuclear weapon, buried somewhere too close for comfort to the US's second-largest seaport and one of its most beautiful cities.

Numerous other searches have followed, both official and unofficial, and each of them has also proved unsuccessful.

So the bomb remains tucked away on the sea-bed, in an area which is frequently dredged by shrimp fishermen, any one of whom could suddenly find that they have netted something a touch larger and scarier than a crustacean.

How dangerous the bomb is after all these years is a matter of hot debate.

Right. So who will we blame and bomb when this thing finally goes off?

That's what you've wanted to do all along, right Georgie?

Practicing real diplomacy by pissing off Russia while putting the use of nukes back on the table:

WASHINGTON — In a pointed but mostly symbolic expression of displeasure with Moscow, President Bush on Monday canceled a once-celebrated civilian nuclear cooperation deal with Russia.

Bush had sent the agreement to Congress for approval in May, after a much-heralded signing by the two nations that capped two years of tough negotiations. On Monday, he officially pulled it back, a move announced by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

"We make this decision with regret," said Rice, in a statement read by spokesman Sean McCormack. "Unfortunately, given the current environment, the time is not right for this agreement."

[snip]

Administration officials determined almost immediately that Russia must suffer some consequences for its bloody use of force in a sovereign, Western-allied neighbor, but wanted to take punitive measures in concert with Europe. They have been frustrated, though, at the lack of similar resolve among allies, who have offered criticism of Russia but little else.

There may be more actions to come from Washington.

The $1 billion economic recovery package for Georgia puts the impoverished Black Sea nation in the top tier of U.S foreign aid recipients. Though it does not include any military aid, U.S. officials have indicated some will probably be added in the future.

The U.S. had been helping the Georgian military modernize and it is likely the U.S. will help the Georgian forces rebuild again after their near-total rout by Russia. That effort could be given more punch _ and will likely be greeted angrily in Moscow _ if Washington agrees to start selling sophisticated anti-aircraft and anti-tank military hardware to Georgia.

Moscow has already accused the U.S. of instigating or even helping Georgia make its ill-fated incursion into South Ossetia.

Strange, isn't it, Georgie. Nobody remembers the Cold War as fondly as you do...

The Georgia war had Cheney's fingerprints on it?

What was a top national security aide to Vice President Dick Cheney doing in Georgia shortly before Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's troops engaged in what became a disastrous fight with South Ossetian rebels -- and then Russian troops?

[snip]

And yes, Joseph R. Wood, Cheney's deputy assistant for national security affairs, was in Georgia shortly before the war began.

But, the vice president's office says, he was there as part of a team setting up the vice president's just-announced visit to Georgia. (It is common for the White House to send security, policy, communications and press aides to each site the president and vice president will visit ahead of the trip, to begin making arrangements and planning the agenda.)

The White House disclosed on Monday that Cheney would hurry over to Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine and Italy next week, almost immediately after addressing the Republican National Convention on Labor Day.

And so it was that a team from the vice president's office, U.S. security officials and others were in Georgia several days before the war began.

It had nothing to do, the vice president's office said, with a military operation that some have said suggests a renewal of the Cold War.

Uh huh. Right. And we should believe you exactly why? After all this time where nothing out of the Vice President's office has been the truth?

I don't think so.

THIS is supposed to make me feel better?

Make me feel safer? Are you kidding me?

SACRAMENTO -- Cindy McCain, wife of Sen. John McCain, is headed to the Republic of Georgia, where tensions between the government and Russia have sparked international concern and have become an issue on the presidential campaign trail.

McCain announced to a group of fundraisers in Sacramento that his wife was headed to the country, but the campaign did not provide any details about the trip.

McCain has been very aggressive in his condemnation of Russia's invasion of Georgia, and his campaign has been critical of Obama's more measured response when Russian tanks first pushed into the country.

McCain spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker confirmed Cindy McCain is enroute to the nation and said she is visiting as part of the World Food Program. She said she will meet with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and visit with wounded Georgian soldiers.

Since the outbreak of violence, several people seen as emissaries from the two campaigns have visited. McCain sent Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.); Sen. Barack Obama signed off on a trip by his new vice presidential running mate, Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.)

Upping the ante

Dick Cheney on the loose:

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney will be meeting with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili next week, the White House said on Monday. The visit comes as the international community pressures Russia to honor a ceasefire agreement with Georgia, and after the Russian parliament issued a statement recognizing Georgia's breakaway regions as independent.

Cheney will be traveling to Azerbaijan, Georgia, Ukraine and Italy beginning Sept. 2 to hold talks with officials "on issues of mutual interest." He will be the most senior U.S. politician to visit Georgia since the conflict with Russia erupted on Aug. 8.

Why does the term "mutual interest" scare me?

And Iran:

Tehran, Iran (AHN) - Iran's Defense Minister Gen. Mostafa Mohammad Majjar on Monday unveiled the production line of the Islamic state's all-domestically built, mid-sized submarine capable of firing missiles and torpedoes.

State television said the submarine, named "Ghaem," was the realization of the government's huge investments in the country's defense capabilities. Iran wants to achieve self-sufficiency in the defense area and equip its armed forces with modern weapons.

The report adds that the Iranian Navy earlier received two submarines named "Ghdair."

Georgia on my mind

Billmon at the Daily Kos on the fiasco of Georgia and Russia, egged on by the incompetence and thoughtlessness of US politicians:

And so, with an absolute minimum of democratic process, the United States of America committed its full prestige and power (if not, just yet, a legally binding guarantee) to the defense of the two former Soviet republics, even though the Russians have repeatedly stated that they regard NATO membership by either country as a direct threat to their own vital security interests. As others have already noted, this is as if China had unilaterally announced a military alliance with Mexico and Cuba. Actually it’s worse: Imagine the US reaction if China announced a military alliance with Mexico, after which the president of Mexico started dropping public hints about taking New Mexico back – by whatever means necessary. (And if that comparison seems unnecessarily paranoid, consider the history of Russia in the 20th century. Even paranoids have real enemies.)

A careful search of Nexus and Google reveals that the number of stories appearing in the pages of major US newspapers and magazines, or on the wires of major American news services, taking note of this fateful decision, equals exactly one: a brief item out of UPI’s Moscow bureau, warning of the Russian reaction. The Georgian and Ukranian press, on the other hand, gave the new law saturation coverage – encouraged by their respective governments, both of which issued official statements describing their future NATO admissions as, in effect, done deals.

If you have time, read the post. He offers a wealth of background and facts, and works through the tangle of connections and intrigue to present a very clear picture of the recent events.

crossposted at SteveAudio

At least we're not talking about Georgie's quagmires anymore

Oh look. Georgie has created a missile crisis!

The neocons who have missed the Cold War so terribly must be so proud:

WASHINGTON — Even as Russia pledged to begin withdrawing its forces from neighboring Georgia on Monday, American officials said the Russian military had been moving launchers for short-range ballistic missiles into South Ossetia, a step that appeared intended to tighten its hold on the breakaway territory.

The Russian military deployed several SS-21 missile launchers and supply vehicles to South Ossetia on Friday, according to American officials familiar with intelligence reports. From the new launching positions north of Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian capital, the missiles can reach much of Georgia, including Tbilisi, the capital.

The Kremlin announced Sunday that Russia’s president, Dmitri A. Medvedev, had promised to begin the troop withdrawal in a conversation with President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, who negotiated a six-point cease-fire agreement. Mr. Medvedev did not specify the pace or scope of the withdrawal, saying only that troops would withdraw to South Ossetia and a so-called security zone on its periphery.

The United States and European leaders reacted with wariness, and Russia’s recent military moves appeared to add an element of frustration.

Update 8/18: Now the Ukraine is on board:

Ukraine has said it is ready to make its missile early warning systems available to European nations following Russia's conflict with Georgia.

The foreign ministry said Moscow's abrogation earlier this year of an accord involving two tracking stations allowed it to co-operate with others.

Diplomacy is hard werk

In the time since the summit, numerous foreign policy observers have concluded that Bush's resolute advocacy of promising Tbilisi NATO membership caused unnecessary tensions with the Kremlin. At the same time, if NATO now backs away from its pledge to Georgia, this could also be perceived by Moscow as a reward for its actions.

Well... forget that. Bush will save the day by sending help!:

WASHINGTON — President Bush Wednesday promised that U.S. naval forces would deliver humanitarian aid to war-torn Georgia before his administration had received approval from Turkey, which controls naval access to the Black Sea, or the Pentagon had planned a seaborne operation, U.S. officials said Thursday.

As of late Thursday, Ankara, a NATO ally, hadn't cleared any U.S. naval vessels to steam to Georgia through the Bosporus and the Dardanelles, the narrow straits that connect the Mediterranean and the Black Seas, the officials said. Under the 1936 Montreaux Convention, countries must notify Turkey before sending warships through the straits.

Pentagon officials told McClatchy that they were increasingly dubious that any U.S. Navy vessels would join the aid operation, in large part because the U.S.-based hospital ships likely to go, the USNS Comfort and the USNS Mercy, would take weeks to arrive.

"The president was writing checks to the Georgians without knowing what he had in the bank," said a senior administration official.

Whatever, let's build more missile shields and piss Russia off even more!:

WASHINGTON: The United States and Poland have reached a deal to place an American missile-defense base on Polish territory, in the strongest reaction so far to Russia's military operation in Georgia.

Russia reacted in anger, saying that the move would worsen relations with the United States, which had already been strained severely in the week since Russian troops entered separatist enclaves in Georgia, a close American ally.

At a news conference Friday, a senior Russian defense official, Colonel General Anatoli Nogovitsyn, suggested that Poland was making itself a target by agreeing to serve as host for the antimissile system. Such an action "cannot go unpunished," he said.

Not to worry, Poland! Just look at how we've treated Georgia!

Bullying and intimidation?

What are you going to do to bad ol' Putin and Medvedev, Georgie? Your manly mighty military is bogged down in your vanity wars, thanks to your desire for a crusade to shock and awe. Besides, you've perfected your own bullying and intimidation over these horrible eight years not only to your own citizens but the world, so you should talk.

Actually that's all you've got, isn't it?:

Ms. Rice warned of “consequences” for Russia over its military offensive in Georgia. Earlier, in Washington, President Bush condemned as unacceptable what he called Russia’s “bullying and intimidation.” He also said Friday that Russia must withdraw its troops from all of Georgian territory and said the United States would stand with Georgia in the conflict.

“Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity must be respected,” he said.

However, neither Ms. Rice’s remarks nor those by Mr. Bush contained any hint of any further American response should Russia not pull back its troops.

And so much for looking into Putin's eyes to see his soul:

Mr. Gates’s remarks, while critical of Mr. Putin, also included an implicit rebuke of any effort to base American policy solely on a perceived friendship within the Kremlin. At the Pentagon, Mr. Gates was asked whether he trusted Mr. Putin anymore, and he paused before responding.

“ ‘Anymore’ is an interesting add,” he said. “I have never believed that one should make national security policy on the basis of trust. I think you make national security policy based on interests and on realities.”

And John McBush did have his flags and speech all buffed up and ready to go...

Robert Scheer: Was the War in Georgia a Neocon Election Ploy?

Is it possible that this time the October surprise was tried in August, and that the garbage issue of brave little Georgia struggling for its survival from the grasp of the Russian bear was stoked to influence the U.S. presidential election?

Before you dismiss that possibility, consider the role of one Randy Scheunemann, for four years a paid lobbyist for the Georgian government who ended his official lobbying connection only in March, months after he became Republican presidential candidate John McCain's senior foreign policy adviser.

Previously, Scheunemann was best known as one of the neoconservatives who engineered the war in Iraq when he was a director of the Project for a New American Century. It was Scheunemann who, after working on the McCain 2000 presidential campaign, headed the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq, which championed the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

There are telltale signs that he played a similar role in the recent Georgia flare-up. How else to explain the folly of his close friend and former employer, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, in ordering an invasion of the breakaway region of South Ossetia, an invasion that clearly was expected to produce a Russian counterreaction? It is inconceivable that Saakashvili would have triggered this dangerous escalation without some assurance from influential Americans he trusted, like Scheunemann, that the United States would have his back. Scheunemann long guided McCain in these matters, even before he was officially running foreign policy for McCain's presidential campaign.

A war for political gain? What an odd concept....

Russia stops military action

After five days of fighting. What did Russia want to achieve?:

At the start of the conflict, there were questions as to whether the Kremlin had a clear strategy.

As it went on though, it seems to have settled on two main objectives: one military, and one political.

"The logical conclusion is to destroy the military capacity of Georgia," Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, said of the aims of Russia's campaign.

Now, presumably, Russia feels it has dealt a strong enough blow to the Georgian military. That objective has been achieved.

Deep mistrust

The unspoken political objective is the weakening, or perhaps removal, of Mikhail Saakashvili.

The Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, has denied that Russia had any intention to depose the Georgian president, while adding: "It would be better if he went."

Any formal negotiation is still a way off. And, given the clear level of mistrust between the Russian and Georgian governments, it is always possible that fighting may break out again.

But even before agreeing to take part in any talks, Russia has, in effect, imposed conditions: no negotiations with Mr Saakashvili, and no Georgian troops in South Ossetia.

So... what is Bush's stratergery?:

In remarks yesterday, President Bush strongly criticized Russia's actions in Georgia. Though press analyses widely suggest that the US has little leverage in the region, this morning the Russians announced a halt to the invasion, saying they had "punished" the Georgians. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reports "criticism is mounting that the Bush administration didn't do enough to manage its strategic relationship with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili -- and keep him out of trouble." The Journal adds "many officials in the US government who have worked on the Russia relationship in recent years said...Bush lionized Mr. Saakashvili as a model for democracy in the region to a point that the Georgian leader may have held unrealistic expectations about the amount of support he might receive from the US and the West." These officials "also point to a lack of clarity governing the US-Georgia military relationship" and said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice "seemed so preoccupied with Iraq, Iran and the Arab-Israeli conflict that she didn't have time to fashion an effective response to Russia's muscle-flexing on its borders."

And:

After a buzz of criticism in the media and on the blogosphere -- Agence-France Presse reported that the secretary of State had been "noticeably absent on the diplomatic scene, having failed to interrupt her holidays" -- she returned yesterday to tackle the Russian attacks on Georgia.

And Cheney is again way out in rightwing field:

On Sunday, Vice President Dick Cheney said that "Russian aggression must not go unanswered, and that its continuation would have serious consequences for its relations with the United States."

So... Dick: 'Must not go unanswered'? Serious consequences?' With whose army are we going to answer Russia? Oops, sorry. You broke the military in your two self-inflicted quagmires. Are you itching to nuke just one country before you leave office? Is that it?

Like father, like son

Like G. H. W. Bush encouraging the Iraqis to rise up against Saddam and then not following up with US action while a massacre took place, it looks like Georgie has egged on Saakashvili to go kick Putin in the shins and then is standing back as the slaughter ensues:

Matthew Yglesias:

The Limits of Bluster»

Fred Kaplan, always worth reading, dives deeper into the issue of what was Shakashvili thinking and concludes that, basically, his big mistake was taking George W. Bush seriously:

It’s heartbreaking, but even more infuriating, to read so many Georgians quoted in the New York Times—officials, soldiers, and citizens—wondering when the United States is coming to their rescue. It’s infuriating because it’s clear that Bush did everything to encourage them to believe that he would.

And here's Saakashvili's response to the lack of response : (pdf)

Saakashvili, in an interview with CNN, vowed to fight on alone “until the end” if necessary, but added, “My people feel let down by world democracies.”

The Los Angeles Times goes on to call Saakashvili 'brash': (pdf)

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, a U.S.-trained attorney regarded by Washington as a pro-democracy wunderkind, has made a political career of brinkmanship with neighboring Russia. This time, he may have overplayed his hand. Saakashvili helped oust former Soviet Foreign Minister and Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze in the so-called Rose Revolution in 2003 and became Europe’s youngest president the following January at the age of 36.He has been jousting with Moscow ever since over control of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, two pro-Russian regions of his country.

Which pretty much hangs him out to dry.

US mercenaries like Blackwater fighting Russians?

Earlier today, RIA-Novosti’s Russia Today TV broadcast a report detailing possible U.S. involvement in the conflict. Eduard Kokoity, the president of South Ossetia told Russia Today Ukrainians and mercenaries from the Baltics as well as nationals from other countries were involved in the fighting, as “foreigners have been found among their bodies.” Dmitry Medoev, the South Ossetian envoy to Russia, confirms this claim. “In yesterday’s most recent tank attack, the advancing tanks were supposedly crewed by Ukrainians. Two unidentified bodies found today are said to be black, possibly they are Americans, but we can’t say for sure yet.”

[snip]

In another report, a woman interviewed by Russia Today in Tsknivali, South Ossetia, talked about the presence of Georgian troops with American insignias. “There are lots of bodies over there, a lot of people have been killed, mostly Ossetians, but also Georgians, they had American emblems on their forearms and they were in black uniforms,” she said.

Black uniforms are a trademark of Blackwater and DynCorp mercenaries (see Chris Hedges, America’s Holy Warriors). DynCorp’s presence in Eastern Europe is well documented, particularly in occupied Bosnia where it engaged in sex-trafficking and prostitution.

In a Friday press conference, Chairman of Russia’s State Duma Security Committee Vladimir Vasilyev said without U.S. aid, Tbilisi would have been unable to start military operation in South Ossetia. “The further the situation unfolds, the more the world will understand that Georgia would never be able to do all this without America,” said Vasilyev. “In essence, the Americans have prepared the force, which destroys everything in South Ossetia, attacks civilians and hospitals.”

It is entirely feasible the U.S. has “prepared the force” with mercenaries as well.

What a surprise. The Bush administration really does miss the Cold War, doesn't it? Wants to bring back the good old days?

Update:

The Russian news website Izvestia is reporting that an African American soldier/mercenary has been captured by Russian forces. He was captured with a number of Georgian soldiers, whose specialty was in handling ordinances. The report mentions that they believe he is a Nato instructor, and that he has been transferred to the Russian base of Vladikavkaz.