you know that they have an own language too?

wow so i'm a englishman because i can speak english or what?

@Einstein

"Plus Russia's logistics here are much simpler than the United States had, as this is a border nation, and they have plenty of railroads to the region... Plus airbases and military bases..."

hell you really need a map.. there is one road into south-ostsetia... unless you want to clim montains....

"Georgia has 27,000 soldiers, 7 aircraft, 86 MBT's, and 3 helicopters."

making up numbers is a bad thing you know... or you using very old numbers

"So lets see, the loss ratio vs # of defenders... using the smaller estimate of Iraqi forces... This means Russia will lose about 44 tanks in 'ratio' and 22 aircraft 'in ratio' during this war.
"

first of all why do you compare that at all?
second "The number of personnel in the Iraqi military prior to the war was uncertain, but it was believed to have been poorly-equipped."

i bet Georgia has is better equipped army

lets not forget the Russians were caught off-guard in this war.

the Iraqis had virtually zero air defences. Georgia will atleast have Soviet era air defences.

as for anti-tank missiles- what did Iraq have? RPGs, that is the bare minimum Georgia have not to mention the fact that Russia usually deploy tanks in the weight category of 40-50tons. while US tanks are 60-70tons so are less vulnerable to infantry anti-tank weapons.

p.s. its very difficult to distinguish Russian equipment from Georgian. I believe the Georgians are using T72s while the Russians use the similar but more modern T80.

against Iraq in both wars the allies established total air superiority before systematically wiping out iraqi command & control, all this took time. Russia on the other hand have decided to react more quickly & directly rather than take a more methodical approach. they are still mobilizing units to the region as we speak so its clear they are not near full strength.

Russia has always been rather cavalier with the lives of its troops. if the US had lost 2 planes there'd be a big deal about it, Russia are like- 2 planes? & your point is?

Iraq's air defense system outlined:

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/air-defence-equipment.htm

According to some estimates there are as many as 7,000-7,500 AAA guns of 23 mm or greater caliber [IISS estimates about 6,000 such guns]. The most numerous AAA guns were reportedly the 57-mm S-60 and the 100-mm KS-19.

By the summer of 1990, Iraq possessed 16,000 radar-guided and heatseeking surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), including the Soviet SA-2, SA-3, SA-6, SA-7, SA-8, SA-9, SA-13, SA-14, and SA-16, and the Franco-German Roland. Additional air defense was provided by Air Force interceptors and organic Army assets, including the SA-7/14, SA-8, SA-9/13, SA-16 missile systems, and the ZSU-23/4 self-propelled AAA system. In addition, the Iraqi air defense had more than 7,500 AAA pieces protecting all targets of value, some deployed on the roofs of numerous buildings in Baghdad housing government facilities. These weapons -- 57-mm and 37-mm AAA pieces, ZSU-23/4 and ZSU-57/2 self-propelled AAA systems, and hundreds of 14.5-mm and 23-mm light antiaircraft weapons -- formed the backbone of the integrated air defense network. In major high value target areas (such as Baghdad, airfields, chemical agent production complexes, and nuclear facilities) the combined arms air defense could prove lethal to aircraft operating below 10,000 feet.

The Iraqi air defense system was formidable, combining the best features of several systems. The multi-layered, redundant, computer- controlled air defense network around Baghdad was more dense than that surrounding most Eastern European cities during the Cold War, and several orders of magnitude greater than that which had defended Hanoi during the later stages of the Vietnam War. If permitted to function as designed, the air defense array was capable of effective protection of key targets in Iraq.

The UN and Kuwait say Iraq did not return extensive Kuwaiti military equipment, including one Hawk battery and 675 Russian-made surface-to-air missile batteries.

Between December 1998 and February 2000 the United States claims to have have effectively destroyed 30 percent of Saddam's air defense capability across the board - missile systems, triple A [Anti-Aircraft Artillery], radars, command and control, etc.--methodically, precisely, carefully, with minimal if any collateral damage. These claims are apparently not reflected in standard bean counts, which inexplicably suggest that Iraqi air defenses were as much as one-third stronger in 2000 than they were prior to the Gulf War.
~~~~~

Do not forget Iraq had GPS jammers they got from Russia. Georgia does not have this high tech.

~~~~~

http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/report/2004/isg-final-report/isg-final-report_vol1_rfp-05.htm

Interesting read if you care, but extremely long.

"Georgia has asked the United States to help transport the 2000 soldiers they have in Iraq to Georgia. I wonder if the transports will have fighter escorts which will in self defense shoot down a dozen or so Russian fighters in an 'unfortunate incident'."

Your an idiot.

"i doubt russia will gain a square inch over this situation."

They are going to gain so much that its sickening.

"Lets compare Russia to the United States if you wish
Operation Iraqi Freedom..."

Did i mention, you are an idiot?

"especially since Russia says its there to protect RUSSIANS"

Russians were killed by, allegedly anyway, Georgian attacks. Georgia wanted to retake, Russia said no. Now Georgia is crying for peace. They are scared of war. They will surrender soon, for sure.

"the Iraqis had virtually zero air defences. Georgia will atleast have Soviet era air defences."

Thankfully, the Iraqis were poorly equipped with outdated technology thanks to their greedy leader. But, most importantly, they were under trained.

Georgia has been focusing on their war capabilities for some time now, with U.S. and Israeli help. They have weapons for the soviet era, and they have weapons from their new 'pro-west' era.

The Russians don't need technology. They have numbers.

It's not the material that is lacking, it's the quality of the Russian armed forces.

They would spend the $$ anyhow.

Now I know what it was like to live through 1938.

Well this is an interesting update...

http://www.debka.com/article.php?aid=1358

Seems Israeli soldiers are involved in this war also. Officially they have been training Georgian troops recently, as were US troops... Who are still (both sets) in the nation.

Also noting that Georgia has made some talks with Turkey recently as well...

"Putin also discussed an aid package to help North Ossetia cope with the influx of refugees by announcing that the Russian government was planning to assign about USD 400m for the reconstruction of South Ossetia."

> Deci wrote:

> > Newb wrote:

> now, if only one seriously considered that possibility, they may not have their heads stuck in the sand and miss out on what may actually be happening.

still waiting to hear the reason why european union would want to see the demise of united states, one of their biggest trading partners. got any? or are you a conspiracy wacko?
________________________________________________
You're still waiting because you didn't ask.
I'll answer you but you'll have to wait.
I logged in here too late.

Are you an anti-conspiracy wacko?

"I will fight for your right to be wrong!" << S.G. Tallentyre
"I am a flexible centrist: not stuck on right-wing, not stuck on left-wing, and not stuck on centre...and I don't flip-flop either" <<< me
Fighting for peace is like stopping the raping of a virgin.

> Right now, it's going to be a regional conflict.  Is it possible for Israel to increase its role for Georgia, or even intervention by Turkey?

No.

But it wouldnt surprise me if this whole thing brought on a military buildup by both sides...And as we all know, where theres a buildup, there is always the mistake of that buildup accidently being 'unleashed' by either side.

> You mean the Asians?

No...The Russians. They have superior numbers in both infantry and vehicles, compared to say Georgia. So in this instance, they dont need technology -- they have numbers.