An [Georgia] interior ministry spokesman told the BBC it was not a military defeat but a necessary step to protect civilians from a “humanitarian catastrophe.”

Right. Not a defeat at all. Why would anyone think that after attacking your own breakaway province then retreating rapidly in the face of a vastly larger and better equipped army could be considered a defeat.

Russia now controls South Ossetia and may be attacking the capitol of Georgia.

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Even if the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline were operational, which it apparently isn’t, there is little chance that oil will be piped through it for the next 15 days. And, uh, why are they just declaring war for 15 days - and asking for a cease-fire at the same time?

Georgia is also recalling its troops from Iraq and they are being ferried back by US planes. Ya, that’ll calm the waters.

Let’s hope we aren’t having an Archduke Ferdinand moment whose assassination in 1914 upset the balance of power and led to WWI (although the war probably would have happened anyway.) Not that anything remotely like WWI is coming but the balance of power is most definitely being upset in the Caucasus.

PS Azerbaijan halts oil exports to Georgia ports

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From a Connecticut lawyer on Cool Justice Report.

My Dad grew up on the east side of Bridgeport [CT], in a pretty tough neighborhood.

He was fond of telling me that there was a saying on the east side that if you went looking for a fight you usually got your butt kicked. Never one to provoke a confrontation, as both a cop and a lawyer, he never ran from a fight. I heard that saying of his most often when he would recount a tale about some jailhouse lawyer advising a client of ours that he should be filing a motion for speedy trial.

His thoughts on indicted Alaska Senator Ted Stevens insisting on having a very speedy trial.

For the senator ’s defense the task is formidable as it is reported that the material developed in the investigation is voluminous. His attorney remarked to the court that this was the first time in his career he had filed a speedy trial request. Maybe he should have grown up on the east side of Bridgeport, he might have known better.

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Many more on Tom Phillip’s site.

Tip: Asymptotic Life

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The harbor of Poti in Georgia is near the major oil terminal of Supsa in the Black Sea.

Georgia is reporting the harbor has been destroyed. This major secondary route for oil on Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline is now closed and the primary route to the Mediterranean through Turkey has been shut down because of sabotage by the PKK.

Thus the pipeline, over which 1.15 million barrels of oil a day travel, now appears to be completely shut down.

BBC on Georgia

You don’t start a military showdown with someone who can turn the gas off.

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Image from Asia Times in 2005 who has useful background on the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline that supplies the US, EU, and Israel.

The pipeline was bombed in Turkey just a few days ago.

The PKK, a Kurdish separatist organization, has claimed responsibility, but the bombing happened outside their traditional zone of operation.

Turkey is saying the pipeline fire happened for “technical reasons” uh huh, while the PKK promises more attacks and predictions are the pipeline will be closed there for up to several weeks.

An Azerbiajan news source from Aug. 4 ominously reports the pipeline could be blown up in Georgia should hostilities start - and electricity could be cut off too.

Under consideration are different options from opening of “second front” and disconnection of power supply to Georgia from Ingur electric power station [in Abkhazia, an autonomous part of Georgia] to acts of sabotage on territory of Georgia. It has been announced unofficially that in case of start of hostilities in Southern Osetia, the specially trained saboteurs can blast BTC pipeline.

The main consumers of oil exported via BTC pipeline route are the United States, European Union and Israel.

The above, as mentioned, is dated Aug. 4 - which is before the overt hostilities started.

Tip: PeakEnergy.blogspot.com

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Georgia declares state of war yet calls for cease-fire. Is this due to muddled reports from the fog of war or someone bit off more than they can chew?

By all accounts, Georgia started it by shelling South Ossetia. But Russia tossed a match on gasoline by invading. Some on the Left say the US was behind it all, somehow forgetting that Russia is basically a thugocracy now. Most of all, for it to explode into such sickening violence so quickly means both sides knew it was coming and wanted it to happen (or figured it was unavoidable.)

The theory this was done on the opening day of the Olympics so people wouldn’t notice is silly. It’s headline news worldwide.

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Asymptotic Life has the details on the latest battles in the water wars. State against state. City against country. Town against town. It’s the wild west all over again.

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Sweet Maria’s has an ultra-scarce super-quality Panama - for the eye-popping price of $125 a pound for green coffee beans (for home roasters.)

In fairness, it must be said that most of their excellent quality beans are $5-7 a pound!

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