Was Georgia’s Aggression An August Surprise? Update

Russian Prime Minister Vladamir Putin Implicates McSame

Two week ago, in my post titled Was Georgia’s Aggression An August Surprise? , I noted speculation from the likes of Randi Rhodes, Greg Sargent at TPM and Daily Kos’s Hunter that Georgia‘s aggression against South Ossetia seemed to bear a “Made in the USA” label, designed to benefit Cold Warrior John McSame‘s presidential ambitions.

Now comes this.

Putin accuses U.S. of orchestrating Georgian war

8/28/08

SOCHI, Russia (CNN) — Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has accused the United States of orchestrating the conflict in Georgia to benefit one of its presidential election candidates.

In an exclusive interview with CNN’s Matthew Chance in the Black Sea city of Sochi Thursday, Putin said the U.S. had encouraged Georgia to attack the autonomous region of South Ossetia.

Putin told CNN his defense officials had told him it was done to benefit a presidential candidate — Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama are competing to succeed George W. Bush — although he presented no evidence to back it up.

“U.S. citizens were indeed in the area in conflict,” Putin said. “They were acting in implementing those orders doing as they were ordered, and the only one who can give such orders is their leader.” […]

Adding fuel to the fire was a visit by one of Darth Cheney’s top national security aids to Georgia shortly before the war began, as reported in the LA Times.

Why was Cheney’s guy in Georgia before the war?

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]

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