U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates delivers a speech at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul Wednesday Sept. 17, 2008.
Photo: AP
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U.S. Threatens Russia with War
Russia will encounter a violent response, if it attacks Georgia after it joins NATO, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced on Thursday. At the same time, Gates urged NATO not to respond provocatively to Russian actions in relation to Georgia, the British television channel Sky News reported. Gates was speaking before an informal meeting of NATO defense chiefs in London, where a response to post-conflict challenges from Russia was discussed.
"I think we need to proceed with some caution because there is clearly a range of views in the alliance about how to respond, from some of our friends in the Baltics and Eastern Europe to some of the countries in Western Europe. I think what is important here is the unity of the United States and Europe in addressing what Russia has done," Gates said.
On the night of August 7, the Georgian army invaded South Ossetia and nearly reduced the capital city Tskhinvali to ruins. The Georgian army killed the elderly, women and children; fired on columns of humanitarian aid and fired on or set fire buildings with civilians in them. Units and subdivisions of the Russian 58th Army came to the aid of the people of South Ossetia and forced the Georgian out. Russia declared a ceasefire on August 12. More than 1500 civilians died as a result of the Georgian aggression. Russia recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia on August 26.
After the expulsion of Georgian forces, NATO warships approached Georgian shores. Officially, the member states of the alliance declared that they were carrying out preplanned military exercises and providing the Saakashvili regime with humanitarian aid, but representatives of the Russian General Staff said that the ships were carrying weapons along with the aid shipments and the exercises were only a cover.
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