> That it has worked so well is a revelation about the awfulness
> better than any investigative reportage would provide.  In fact,
> investigative journalists are simply murdered.

> This has become a nation under increasing authoritarian control
>  -- something colleague Bart Kaplan too often misses.  In Bart's
> idealization of the Russian system and old Marxist theory, he
> misses the reality of things in Russia now and how Putin has
> profoundly altered governance and life there.  Nor does he
> recognize the expansionist approach being used and how this
> impacts the rest of the world and Putin's neighbors.  Nevertheless,
> Bart's posts are filled with a specific assessment of the failed
> capitalist system that reflects his views. They have the merit
> in emphasizing the failure of the US system to deliver value to
> the many while limiting reward to the precious few.

> I hope List members will be excited enough to discuss this
> topic and Putin's actions more while also recognizing the PH
> theories and applications we try hard to do here.      J ATLAS]
> -------------------------------------------------

> Russia to keep 7,600 troops in 2 Georgia regions

> By STEVE GUTTERMAN, Associated Press Writer

> Russia announced Tuesday it would keep 7,600 troops in Abkhazia and  
> South Ossetia

> for the foreseeable future, asserting power in the breakaway  
> regions even as it began a pullout from positions deeper in Georgia.

> The Kremlin's plans for a heavy military footprint in the enclaves  
> mock Georgia's hopes

> that a revised peace agreement will lead to a complete Russian  
> withdrawal from the fractured country at the heart of a bitter fray  
> between Moscow and the West.

> The deal that emerged from a day of frantic French diplomacy Monday  
> may defuse

> tension by removing Russian forces from positions they hold in  
> Georgia weeks after last month's war. But it left serious questions  
> unanswered.

> After hours of talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Russian  
> President Dmitry Medvedev promised to withdraw all Russian forces  
> from positions outside Abkhazia and South Ossetia within about a  
> month.

> Medvedev's pledge seemed like a startling concession from Moscow,  
> which had

> adamantly claimed to have met its obligations under the cease-fire  
> brokered by Sarkozy last month. As recently as Sunday, Georgia said  
> Russia was reinforcing its positions around a key port.

> But even as it promises to pull back from positions outside South  
> Ossetia and Abkhazia, Russia is strengthening its grip on the  
> separatist regions themselves. That runs counter

> to Western demands that they remain a part of Georgia and casts a  
> shadow over

> President Mikhail Saakashvili's hopes of uniting the nation.

> On Tuesday, Russian forces pulled out of a position near Abkhazia,  
> officials and residents said. Georgia's Rustavi-2 television showed  
> residents of the Black Sea coastal town of Ganmukhuri rejoicing at  
> the Russian departure.

> "We have regained our freedom," said one woman.

> Georgian Security Council chief Alexander Lomaia said the Russians  
> had maintained

> three or four armored personnel carriers and a few dozen troops at  
> the post. He said it

> was one of 24 Russian checkpoints or positions outside Abkhazia or  
> South Ossetia as

> of Tuesday morning.

> Russia's RIA-Novosti news agency cited an unidentified Defense  
> Ministry official as

> saying that a full withdrawal had begun Tuesday. However, Defense  
> Ministry spokesmen could not be reached to comment on the report.

> At the Russian checkpoint at Karaleti, on the main road leading  
> from Georgian-controlled territory to South Ossetia, there was no  
> sign of a pullout. And Interior Ministry official

> Shota Utiashvili said later Tuesday that there had been no other  
> withdrawal activity.

> In Moscow, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov told Medvedev in a  
> televised meeting Tuesday that about 3,800 troops will be based  
> each in South Ossetia and in Abkhazia

> — a far larger presence than before the war.

> Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov suggested they would stay  
> indefinitely, saying they were needed to prevent Georgia from  
> trying to regain control of the regions, which Russia has  
> recognized as independent. Only Nicaragua has joined Russia in  
> recognizing the enclaves as independent.

> "They will remain there for a long time," Lavrov told reporters of  
> the troops. "Their

> presence there will be needed at least for the foreseeable future  
> to prevent any relapses

> of aggressive actions."

> Russia repelled Georgia's Aug. 7 offensive against South Ossetia  
> and sent troops and tanks deep into Georgia. Most Russian troops  
> withdrew late last month but ringed the regions with checkpoints  
> and deployed hundreds of soldiers near the Black Sea port of Poti.

> Russia has painted Saakashvili as a dangerously bellicose leader  
> encouraged to use

> force by the United States, which is vying with Russia for  
> influence in the key transit corridor for Caspian and Central Asian  
> oil and gas.

> A senior U.S. official, Undersecretary of Defense Eric Edelman,  
> told lawmakers at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday  
> that the United States is reviewing how to help Georgia rebuild its  
> military.

> Georgia blames Russia for the war and is calling for a complete  
> withdrawal of Russian forces, including from Abkhazia and South  
> Ossetia.

> "There is no way Georgia will ever give up a piece of its  
> sovereignty, a piece of its

> territory," Saakashvili said Tuesday.

> Apparent differences in interpretation threatened further disputes.

> Lavrov suggested that Russia and the European Union may be at odds  
> over the mandate

> of EU observers to be deployed in areas surrounding Abkhazia and  
> South Ossetia by

> Oct. 1. The deal obliges Russia to pull out of those regions within  
> 10 days of the deployment.

> Sarkozy and Georgian officials said EU monitors would have access  
> to the separatist regions themselves. Lavrov, however, said only  
> observers from the United Nations and the Organization for Security  
> and Cooperation in Europe could be deployed there.

> Georgia also vociferously objected to Russia's insistence that  
> Abkhazia and South

> Ossetia be represented at an international conference beginning  
> Oct. 15 in Geneva.

> "This is absolutely unacceptable for Georgia. We are not going to  
> talk to war criminals," Georgia's Reintegration Minister Temur  
> Yakobashvili said. "They are not a side in this conflict. They are  
> puppets of the Russian side."

> ___

> Associated Press writers David Nowak, Vladimir Isachenkov and Mike  
> Eckel in Moscow and Misha Dzhindzhikhashvili in Karaleti, Georgia,  
> contributed to this report.

> __._,_.___

> Join us at our next Historical Motivations Congress in Europe --  
> early July 2009 (arrive Wednesday, sessions Thurs-Sat, depart  
> Sunday) in NURNBERG Germany.  We'll have our usual single-session  
> format, group dining (endless bbq, "Potato" and all the good other  
> restaurants) and sightseeing (a longer visit to everyone's favorite  
> NAZI ARCHIVES for our special tour) as well as catch up on all the  
> latest in historical motivations and psychohistory research.  The  
> 2009 theme: "DOING PSYCHOHISTORY".

> Consider this an early Call for Papers and registration and contact  
> me as soon as possible at this address -- we're starting to get a  
> batch of proposals. As usual, there'll be a significant rate  
> reduction for early
> registrants.   J ATLAS

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