The year is 2008...

[achilles118]

there is no such thing as a whole delta force battalion and if there was this would not be one of there jobs.

[Da Fish]

Well, meeting them head on wouldn't be one of their jobs. Attacking supply convoys, blowing up bridges, performing C.T.R., snatch and grab operations of head personnel and generally being right royal pains in the ass would be in the job description. But a battalion? surely that would be a job better suited to Spec Ops capable units under the SOCOM umbrella? Leave delta well alone to do jobs no one else wants to do. Or are capable of doing.

Anyhow there are strong rumours of the Georgians having used merc's/PMC's to attack Tskinvali.

Im now off to invest in the renewable energy sector. With all that's going on in the Russia/Georgia at the moment I want to be giving as little of my cash to the Russians as possible. Before they annex my car and gas hob!

[farmboy]

Yeah...I'm surprisingly ignorant of military jargon considering how long I've been on this forum.  Platoon; I meant PLATOON.

[achilles118]

ther is no spec ops unit in the world that operates in a battalion sized ellement, 6 to 12 man teams (battalion is about 1000 soldiers)
truth be told delta does the jobs were not supposed to do, they dont touch convoys or bridges more along the lines of assassinations and such.

can the Georgian government even afford mercs? and yes im sure this will have some kind of impact on the oil price situation

[Da Fish]

Well it all depends on whether Georgia paid for the Merc's or whether another larger more friendly country helped er..... "subsidise"...

(im currently trying to find the link, and failing) it was over on www.globalsecurity.org but I cant find it now!)

[achilles118]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080812/ap_on_hi_te/tec_georgia_internet;_ylt=Aq1S1edWHYXH.ZRTr9WH4Lis0NUE

bwahahahahaha, all ur country r belong to us

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,402043,00.html

Condoleeza Rice just made a speech about diplomatic efforts and aid to refugees but didnt give a military option infact a reporter asked her about possible military actionand she ignored him. couldnt find a link though.

[DaSmerg]

Hard to get a read on all of this IMHO.

All the initial reports that I saw stated that Georgia was the one who provoked this current crisis by moving it's military into South Ossetia in a vain attempt at taking over.  Shooting down a couple of Russia's fighters probably didn't help matters.

Mudding things further from my POV is that the back story is that while western leaders have been very publicly supportive of Saakashvili, apparently they have been privately trying to persuade him to not take any provocative actions in South Ossetia because western leaders feared a heavy handed reaction from a seemingly up tight Russia.

We (meaning our governments here in the west) have been poking the bear a little bit.  And for readers of Mono's thread, the bear has been poking us back over the past few years as well.

[Da Fish]

There was some half arsed attempt of video of South Ossetian rebels attacking Georgian troops shown on the news in the UK yesterday. Troops looked Russian equipped, but there was no land marks or time stamp so its hard to gather where or when they where filmed.

An interesting point I heard earlier. Look at the response times between Georgian troops attacking South Ossetia and the Russian reaction. Either they have super fast reactions and transport or the Russians "knew" something was going to take place.

Although Im still having difficulty finding an accurate time line to support this theory beyond this: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7551576.stm

[Lostroth]

wouldn't surprise me if the Russians had troops at the ready for a moment like this to "peacekeep". Russia wants Georgia back under their control and what better way than come to the "aid" of pro-Russian states in Georgia.

the Russian Ambassador to the UN wants the Georgian President ousted. Let me guess, Russia has a list of candidates ready to take his place?

[achilles118]

All the initial reports that I saw stated that Georgia was the one who provoked this current crisis by moving it's military into South Ossetia in a vain attempt at taking over.  Shooting down a couple of Russia's fighters probably didn't help matters.

South Ossetia is still an offical part of Georgia, so really they were just securing there own territory.

An interesting point I heard earlier. Look at the response times between Georgian troops attacking South Ossetia and the Russian reaction. Either they have super fast reactions and transport or the Russians "knew" something was going to take place.

wouldn't surprise me if the Russians had troops at the ready for a moment like this to "peacekeep". Russia wants Georgia back under their control and what better way than come to the "aid" of pro-Russian states in Georgia.

thats what Im getting out of this, I think the Russian were chomping at the bit for this chance.

[Lostroth]

well looks like Russia is pushing for the Capital and ignoring the Cease-Fire. this is getting more tense by the hour it seems

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2008/08/13/pf-6441346.html

An AP reporter saw dozens of trucks and armoured vehicles leaving Gori, roaring southeast. Soldiers waved at journalists and one soldier jokingly shouted to a photographer: "Come with us, beauty, we're going to Tbilisi!"

But the convoy later turned north and left the highway about an hour's drive from Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, setting up camp about 1.5 kilometres off the road.

[achilles118]

yeah I saw that too, wonder how this is going to play with American military personnel providing aid inside the undisputed portion of Georgia. Russia and the U.S. may come to a shooting war after all

[farmboy]

whatever exactly is going on, this is not going to end well, methinks.