THE
MASTER GIVES WASHINGTON ITS CUE
Israel
backs Georgia in Caspian Oil Pipeline Battle with Russia
DEBKAfile
Friday, 8 August 2008
JERUSALEM: — Georgian tanks and infantry, aided by Israeli military
advisers, captured the capital of breakaway South Ossetia, Tskhinvali,
early Friday, Aug. 8, bringing the Georgian-Russian conflict over the
province to a military climax.
Russian prime
minister Vladimir Putin threatened a “military response.”
Former Soviet Georgia
called up its military reserves after Russian warplanes bombed its new
positions in the renegade province.
In Moscow’s first
response to the fall of Tskhinvali, president Dimitry Medvedev ordered
the Russian army to prepare for a national emergency after calling the
UN Security Council into emergency session early Friday.
Reinforcements were
rushed to the Russian “peacekeeping force” present in the region to
support the separatists.
Georgian tanks
entered the capital after heavy overnight heavy aerial strikes, in
which dozens of people were killed.
Lado Gurgenidze,
Georgia's prime minister, said on Friday that Georgia will continue its
military operation in South Ossetia until a "durable peace" is reached.
"As soon as a durable peace takes hold we need to move forward with
dialogue and peaceful negotiations."
Jerusalem eyes Caspian oil
DEBKAfile's geopolitical
experts note that on the surface level, the Russians are backing the
separatists of S. Ossetia and neighbouring Abkhazia as payback for the
strengthening of American influence in tiny Georgia and its 4.5 million
inhabitants. However, more immediately, the conflict has been sparked
by the race for control over the pipelines carrying oil and gas out of
the Caspian region.
The Russians may just
bear with the pro-US Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili’s ambition
to bring his country into NATO. But they draw a heavy line against his
plans and those of Western oil companies, including Israeli firms, to
route the oil routes from Azerbaijan and the gas lines from
Turkmenistan, which transit Georgia, through Turkey instead of hooking
them up to Russian pipelines.
Saakashvili need only
back away from this plan for Moscow to ditch the two provinces’ revolt
against Tbilisi. As long as he sticks to his guns, South Ossetia and
Abkhazia will wage separatist wars.
DEBKAfile
discloses Israel’s interest in the conflict from its exclusive military
sources:
Jerusalem
owns a strong interest in Caspian oil and gas pipelines reach the
Turkish terminal port of Ceyhan, rather than the Russian network. Intense negotiations are afoot between Israel,
Turkey, Georgia, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan for pipelines to reach
Turkey and thence to Israel’s oil terminal at Ashkelon and on to its
Red Sea port of Eilat. From there, supertankers can carry the gas and
oil to the Far East through the Indian Ocean.
Israeli 'advisers' involved in attack on Ossetia
Aware of Moscow'’s
sensitivity on the oil question, Israel offered Russia a stake in the
project but was rejected.
Last year, the
Georgian president commissioned from private Israeli security firms
several hundred military advisers, estimated at up to 1,000, to train
the Georgian armed forces in commando, air, sea, armored and artillery
combat tactics. They also offer instruction on military intelligence
and security for the central regime. Tbilisi also purchased weapons,
intelligence and electronic warfare systems from Israel.
These advisers were
undoubtedly deeply involved in the Georgian army’s preparations to
conquer the South Ossetian capital Friday.
In recent weeks,
Moscow has repeatedly demanded that Jerusalem halt its military
assistance to Georgia, finally threatening a crisis in bilateral
relations. Israel responded by saying that the only assistance rendered
Tbilisi was “defensive.”
This
has not gone down well in the Kremlin. Therefore, as the military
crisis intensifies in South Ossetia, Moscow may be expected to punish
Israel for its intervention.
http://www.debka.com/article.php?aid=1358
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