Mackie, Mackie, back in town...

[Klondyke]

Another my thread has disappeared within minutes?

So, that's a real censorship. Where are we?

Former governor Mikheil Saakashvili 'forces entry' to Ukraine

Former governor Mikheil Saakashvili 'forces entry' to Ukraine - BBC News

[wasabi]

Well this ones BBC so maybe they like or no like BBC, what're you think.?

[harrybarracuda]

Perhaps because it does not belong in Speakers but in WORLD NEWS you fucking moron.

[Klondyke]

Ex-Leader, Now a Man Without a Country, Surfaces in Ukraine
Sept 10, 2017

Mikheil Saakashvili, a former president of Georgia, finds himself in an unusual position for a former head of state: He is stateless, and spent Sunday trying to enter a country that does not want him, first by train, then by bus and finally on foot with a crowd of supporters who forced open the border into Ukraine.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/10/w...-ukraine.html?

[Neverna]

What's he trying to achieve by entering Ukraine?

[Klondyke]

What's he trying to achieve by entering Ukraine?

Perhaps bringing a message from his friend John McCain...
(and/or asking to get his passport back - in his home land he is facing serious criminal charges and warrant)

[harrybarracuda]

What's he trying to achieve by entering Ukraine?

He doesn't know.

His modus operandus is to post shit he doesn't understand and hope someone will explain it to him.

[Klondyke]

What's he trying to achieve by entering Ukraine?

He doesn't know.

His modus operandus is to post shit he doesn't understand and hope someone will explain it to him.

Someone so kind like Harry

[wasabi]

I do my best as ^ well, for the many who are in the same boat.

[Albert Shagnasty2017]

Perhaps bringing a message from his friend John McCain...

If he's a friend of McCain he's bound to be an utter cvnt

[Klondyke]

^
Relations with the United States are good, but are complicated by Saakashvili's "volatile" behaviour. Former and current U.S. officials characterize the Georgian president as "difficult to manage". They criticize his "risky moves", moves that have often "caught the U.S. unprepared" while leaving it "exposed diplomatically".[31]

Saakashvili's ties with the U.S. go back to 1991 (see Early life and career). Biographies of Thomas Jefferson and John F. Kennedy can be found in his office, next to biographies of Joseph Stalin and Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and books on war. Seeking U.S. support, Saakashvili went outside the United States Department of State and established contacts with Sen. John McCain and forces seeking NATO expansion.[31]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikheil_Saakashvili

[Klondyke]

double post

[Klondyke]

Did McCain Help Bait Russia into Georgia?
09/17/2008

Now that the dust is settling the big question about the dust-up in Georgia remains: Why was Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili so stupid to start this war?

There are a couple of theories. One is Saakashvili was under the mistaken impression the US military, even NATO, would intervene if Russia fought back after Georgia entered the breakaway province of South Ossetia on 7-8 August, devastating Tskhinvali, and according to Moscow, killing a number of Russian peacekeepers.

The US stood on the sidelines when Russia indeed punished Georgia. Georgian civilians at first told Western reporters they were angry at America for not coming to their aid. Then several days later many started to blame Saakashvili for creating such a mess.

It seems hard to imagine he would have tried to seize South Ossetia if he were not led to believe he had American backing. According to Vitaly Churkin, Russia’s UN ambassador, joint US-Georgian military exercises code-named Immediate Response ended just hours before Georgian troops moved into the province.

Churkin says the Americans gave Saakashvili a “green light.” But there was no immediate response from the United States.

It looks like Saakashvili and Russia were both set up.

By eliciting a heavy-handed Russian response, American political leaders, and their mouthpieces in the corporate media, can blame Russia and revive misplaced Cold War analogies. They falsely portray Russia as the brutal aggressor, bent on violently overthrowing the Georgian regime, with Ukraine and others to follow.

Condoleezza Rice called Russia’s intervention the new 1968 Soviet intervention in Czechoslovakia. Zbigniew Brzezinski, Barack Obama’s chief foreign policy adviser, compared it to the Soviet invasion of Finland. Right wing radio hosts are rabid about the new Russian “threat.” The New York Times writes about Russia’s supposed challenge to democracies.

Who benefits most from painting this a revival of Soviet-era aggression?

John McCain.

The Georgian crisis has created a campaign issue McCain can run on. McCain’s best chance to win, unless Obama self-destructs, is to portray himself as the Cold War-era war hero ready to do battle again against our old Cold War adversary. McCain is yesterday’s man, so revive yesterday’s “threat.” He stood up to Russia while his opponent was out fishing in Hawaii.

Did McCain Help Bait Russia into Georgia? | HuffPost

[Klondyke]

John McCain threatens to block Trump's deputy defense secretary nominee over Ukraine

Sen. John McCain on Tuesday threatened to block President Trump's deputy defense secretary nominee during a tense exchange over providing weapons to Ukraine.

McCain took issue with Boeing executive Pat Shanahan's written response to the Senate Armed Services Committee that he would need to take a look at equipping Ukrainian allies with lethal arms, something McCain has long advocated.

Shanahan, a vice president who helped improve Boeing's troubled 787 Dreamliner program, changed his earlier submitted answer under McCain's withering questioning.

"I support equipping the Ukrainians," he told the Arizona Republican.

McCain continued with the line of questioning, still not satisfied.

"Not a good beginning, not a good beginning," McCain said. "Do not do that again, Mr. Shanahan, or I will not take your name up for a vote before this committee. Am I perfectly clear?"

Shanahan responded by simply saying "very clear."

John McCain threatens to block Trump's deputy defense secretary nominee over Ukraine

[Klondyke]

‘Ukraine revolution turning incredibly sour’

Published time: 11 Sep, 2017

The fact Mikhail Saakashvili played a prominent role in Ukrainian politics shows the disarray in Ukraine, explains journalist Martin Summers. The economy is in free fall, and the potential of joining NATO might spark further war in the country, he added.
The former Georgian President and Governor of Odessa Mikhail Saakashvili has illegally crossed the Ukrainian border with the help of supporters.
Saakashvili recently became stateless, after having his Ukrainian citizenship revoked by President Petro Poroshenko. The Ukrainian police say he will now face criminal charges.

RT: What do you think happened between the current Ukrainian leadership and Saakashvili? Has he fallen out of Poroshenko’s favor, and why?

Martin Summers: …They don’t get on at all, and [Saakashvili] lost his citizenship. It is hard to see why he fell out. He claimed it was corruption going on. He was being blocked by the government in Kiev. It is hard to know who is right and who is wrong about that. It is probably the worst corruption going on. Saakashvili himself is wanted for corruption in Georgia, as we know. Of course, the danger of him coming back like this is that the Ukrainian authorities, who’ve fallen out with him, might extradite him back to Georgia to face trial there. So he is taking a bit of a risk by trying to come back into the country. They are obviously not on the same page at the moment.

The politics in current Ukraine are very opaque. You’ve got a lot of oligarchs of various kinds jostling for position. The economy itself is in a terrible state. They don’t know what to do about it. The population has not had much joy from this revolution – let’s put it that way.

RT: How did it happen that both Poroshenko and Saakashvili, being two US darlings, are now at loggerheads? In 2014 Saakashvili supported the Maidan revolution that brought Poroshenko to power.

MS: US darlings can fall out with each other. It is may be that the US has decided that Poroshenko is going to be thrown under the bus and Saakashvili is being used as a pawn to try and bring that about. Saakashvili has got a track record for being a loose cannon in his own right anyway. People may remember him eating his tie on television in Georgia when he started the war in Ossetia. He is a bit of a dangerous clown.

RT: What do you make of Saakashvili’s personality, given that after being a resident of one country, he gave up his native citizenship in favor of another? Yet now he's left without any?

MS: He lost his Georgian citizenship, he lost his Ukrainian citizenship. If he comes back in Ukraine, he might be extradited to Georgia. Or he may just have to go back Poland and hang around there in a stateless way. I don’t know how this is going to play out. It’s all a game of cat and mouse, isn’t it?

RT: How was it even possible that Saakashvili was given such an important role in Ukraine? What does it say about the Ukrainian state of affairs in the recent years?

MS: It is very odd that he played such a big role in Ukrainian politics since he isn’t Ukrainian and had been given the governorship of the Odessa, which is a key region, especially since it has got a large Russian population. He was parachuted in by the Western powers. I think what is going on – it just shows in what disarray Ukrainian politics are. The revolution is turning incredibly sour – nobody really knows what to do next. The economy is in free fall, they are not going to be joining the EU anytime soon. They are talking about joining NATO – but all that will do is potentially spark further war...The government in Kiev is very weak. The population is very unhappy. The war has been a failure in every possible way you can imagine. I don’t see a very good future for Ukraine, unless there is a change in the geopolitical situation, which allows the situations to stabilize so their Russian neighbors and their Western neighbors can cooperate better, so they can cooperate better. But I am not holding my breath.

https://www.rt.com/op-edge/402929-georgia-ukraine-saakashvili-illegal/

[Klondyke]

Saakashvili leads mass anti-government rally in Ukrainian capital
Tue Oct 17, 2017

Former Georgian president and Ukrainian governor Mikheil Saakashvili has led a mass anti-government rally in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev.

Around three thousand people gathered outside main parliament building in Kiev on Tuesday, protesting against the government of President Petro Poroshenko and his policies.

Some protesters chanted slogans against Poroshenko and called on him to resign in the face of growing economic woes in Ukraine. The number of protesters dwindled in the afternoon to a few hundred people. Some vowed to stay in tents overnight to push with their demands.

Saakashvili, who has become a major anti-government figure on the back of growing differences with Poroshenko, said the president was responsible for persistent poverty in Ukraine.

PressTV-1000s march in Kiev against Poroshenko

[Dragonfly]

why is it everytime Americans meddle with a country politics, it simply turns to shit

[Klondyke]

Riots spark in Ukraine again, but people will not die for idiots this time

Is there another Maidan brewing in Ukraine now with the help of former Governor of the Odessa region and exiled President of Georgia Mikhail Saakashvili? On the one hand, there is a crowd of protesters, there are tents and field kitchens, people demand a change of power again. On the other hand, the number of protesters is too small in comparison with the riots that Kiev saw in the winter of 2013-2014. Today, there are no burning tyres, no Molotov cocktails, and no (thank God) victims. Only three protesters and one police officer were hurt.

Mikhail Saakashvili came to Kiev's central square to speak, but he could speak for only 10-15 minutes. Some people in the crowd started shouting: "Saakashvili is our president!" They were obviously paid for that. In his emotional speech, the ex-President of Georgia urged sitting Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to step down.

When concluding his speech, Saakashvili, against whom there are a few criminal cases pending in his home country Georgia, promised to struggle against corruption in Ukraine. "They will not be able to buy us! I've been to two revolutions here, I know what it looks like." In other words, Mr. Saakashvili confessed that he, when serving as President of Georgia, had taken part in anti-government actions in Ukraine.

"They use people and then they scam them. They use people's blood and make billions out of it. We will not let Poroshenko do it again, because we are stronger and wiser. The people of Ukraine will defeat thieves, corruption, their lies and the external enemy that stands on our borders and inside our borders," Saakashvili said.

Read more:
The biggest question is: Can Ukraine live without Maidan riots at all?

[Klondyke]

It has to be a happy life to live in Ukraine - for the ones who have not (yet) left the country - after they could "democratically" elect their new president Poroshenko. Many millions have left either to East or West. How lucky are the ones who have a "good paid" jobs in England. Wondering whether more lucky than the ones who moved to Crimea and/or other parts of Russia?

Now the deposed president of a neighbour country Georgia Saakashvili - who 10 years ago got a similar strong support of the "international community" like his friend Poroshenko - wants to fight the corruption in Ukraine (never mind that he is wanted in his own country for corruption either). And to fight his former friend Poroshenko either, despite being illegally in Ukraine.

However, at the end of the day, enough is enough, the stronger and mighter of the two former friends strikes at last: "behind the bars with him."


Chaotic scenes as former Georgian president Saakashvili detained in Kiev

KIEV (Reuters) - Ukraine detained former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili on Tuesday on suspicion of assisting a criminal organization, sparking clashes between his supporters and police who fired teargas into the crowd.

Masked officers dragged Saakashvili from an apartment in the capital Kiev while his supporters protested on the street and tried to stop the police van from leaving, crowding the vehicle and setting up a barricade with tires, wood and stones.

It is the latest twist in a prolonged feud between Ukrainian authorities and Saakashvili, who was invited by President Petro Poroshenko to become a regional governor after protests in 2014 ousted a pro-Russian president but quickly fell out with his one-time ally.

Addressing supporters earlier from the roof of the house, Saakashvili had accused Poroshenko of being a traitor and a thief. He tried to address the crowd again as he was being bundled into a blue minivan.

“What they are doing is lawlessness in the eyes of the whole world,” Saakashvili said. “I urge all Ukrainians to take to the streets and drive out the thieves.”

Saakashvili could be jailed for up to five years if found guilty. Georgian prosecutors said they had not been informed of Tuesday’s developments by their Ukrainian counterparts. The 49-year-old is wanted in Georgia on criminal charges which he says were trumped up for political reasons.

Saakashvili made a dramatic return to Ukraine in September, barging his way across the border from Poland despite having been stripped of Ukrainian citizenship and facing the threat of possible extradition to Georgia.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-u...KBN1DZ0VU?il=0

[Dragonfly]

Perhaps because it does not belong in Speakers but in WORLD NEWS you fucking moron.

[Klondyke]

Saakashvili deported from Ukraine after 'kidnapping'
13 Feb 2018

Mikheil Saakashvili, a Ukrainian opposition leader and a former president of Georgia, says he has been kidnapped in Kiev and sent to Poland. Security footage showed Saakashvili being dragged from a restaurant by men in military uniforms.

It later emerged this was a government operation to deport him.

Saakashvili was a marked man in Ukraine for rallying against President Petro Poroshenko.

Saakashvili deported from Ukraine after 'kidnapping' | Georgia News | Al Jazeera


Saakashvili wants to settle in the Netherlands
The Dutch justice ministry says it will allow ex-Georgian president to stay on the basis of family reunification.
14 Feb 2018

Mikheil Saakashvili, the former Georgian president, arrived in the Netherlands on Wednesday to apply for Dutch residency, his lawyer Oscar Hammerstein told broadcaster NOS.

Hammerstein added that his client’s stay in the Netherlands “has been arranged and approved” by the Dutch authorities.

The former Ukrainian opposition leader is married to a Dutch woman, Sandra Roelofs. The Dutch justice ministry said last year that it would be willing to help Saakashvili and allow him to stay in the country on the basis of family reunification.

Saakashvili was detained in Kiev on Monday and deported to Poland.

He served as governor of Ukraine’s Odessa region until he fell out with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, a former close friend. The Polish border service reported that they had let him into their country upon Ukraine’s request.

Saakashvili, who served as Georgia’s president for two terms until 2013, came to Ukraine following the country’s 2014 pro-Western revolution.

https://www.politico.eu/article/mikh...e-netherlands/

[Klondyke]

Just airing on RT.com
https://www.rt.com/on-air/

A role the former Gruzian president (expelled) Saakashvili played in
Ukraine on Fire
https://www.rt.com/shows/documentary...ical-premises/