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Israel needs the pipelines routed to its homeland through the balkanized Iraq land (Syria poses the problem for U.S.-Israel in providing the shortcut access, so Syria would have to be conquered to make that feasible).
To clarify the confusion arising from the real reasons for Georgia-Russia war, this is probably over coveting oil-gas resources to satisfy not only the #ty little country's insatiable greed for fuel in profiteering but alleviate that nation's energy crisis, just like Afghanistan was destroyed post 9-11 after Caspian oil deal failed to materialize under Taliban regime. Full Article
But that still doesn't answer the larger question: Why would Saakashvili embark on such a pointless military adventure when he had no chance of winning? After all, Russia has 20 times the firepower and has been conducting military maneuvers anticipating this very scenario for months. Does Uncle Sam really want another war that bad or is the fighting in South Ossetia is just head-fake for a larger war that is brewing in the Straits of Hormuz?
Mikhail Saakashvili is a western educated lawyer and a favorite of the neocons. He rose to power on a platform of anti-corruption and economic reform which emphasized free market solutions and privatization. Instead of raising the standard of living for the Georgian people, Saakashvili has been running up massive deficits to expand the over-bloated military. Saakashvili has made huge purchases of Israeli and US-made (offensive) weapon systems and has devoted more than "4.2% of GDP (more than a quarter of all Georgian public income) to military hardware.
Israel's military relations with Georgia came under the spotlight yesterday as authorities insisted they had repeatedly turned down requests from Tbilisi to supply advanced offensive weapons, writes Tobias Buck in Jerusalem .
Russia lashed out at countries with military ties to Georgia. "Those who have been supplying arms to Georgia should feel part of the blame for the loss of life of civilians, including many Russian citizens," said Sergei Lavrov, the foreign minister.
Israeli media reported that the country's defence industry sold goods worth several hundred million dollars to Tbilisi in recent years, including drones, night-vision equipment and mortar shells. A number of retired Israeli army officers also provided training to Georgian troops.
Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel's biggest newspaper, also stressed the personal ties between the two countries, noting that Davit Kezerashvili, Georgia's defence minister, went to school in Israel.