US Warship, USS McFaul passes through Bosphorus en route to Georgia

[North Pole Resident]

America is making wrong moves....

[North Pole Resident]

..............BREAKING NEWS....................



The US Navy AEGIS guided missile destroyer, the USS McFaul, was pictured passing through the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles Straits into the Black Sea on Friday and is nearing Gerogia.

A potential flash point is developing around the Georgian port city of Poti where Russian forces continue to occupy areas around the city, where the American vessels would most likely unload their humanitarian supplies. The US views the pull back from Poti, in conjunction with other Russian pull backs, as a key to diffusing the situation.

READ MORE -- http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2066300/posts





In anticipation of the Russian withdrawal that Russian President Medvedev assured the world on August 19th would take place by Friday, August 22nd, and having received permission from the Turkish government to transit the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles Straits, the United States announced that it would have three of its military vessels in the Black Sea of the coast of Georgia to perform humanitairan support for the people of Georgia in the next few days. The guided missile destroyer, USS McFaul, the Command and Control Ship, and flagship of the US 6th fleet, the USS Mount Whitney, and the US Coast Guard, high endurance cutter, USCGC Dallas, will all be in place in that time frame.

The USS McFaul is a front line, major US Navy combatant. An AEGIS Destroyer, she is very good at anti-sub work, anti-surface work, and outstanding at anti-air defense. She's been loaded with humanitarian supplies, and will be the first ship to arrive, probably Friday, th 22nd, or Saturday, the 23rd. Although she is there to help with humanitarian needs, there can be no mistake that she is also a sign of US resolve to assist Georgia.

http://www.jeffhead.com/georgia/mcfaul.jpg

USS McFaul DDG 74

READ MORE -- http://www.jeffhead.com/georgia/20-24.htm

[North Pole Resident]

It seems like Turkey changed its mind...


Thu Aug 14


U.S. officials said the Turks hadn't cleared U.S. naval vessels to transit the Bosporus and the Dardanelles.

"The Turks haven't been helpful," said a State Department official. "They are being sluggish and unresponsive."

The Russian invasion of Georgia has almost certainly unnerved Turkey because it has huge energy and trade interests in adjacent Central Asia .

Turkey also may be reluctant to jeopardize the $24 billion in annual trade it does with Russia , which provides around 70 percent of its natural gas supplies. The Turkish Navy also shares the Black Sea with Russia's powerful Black Sea Fleet, which in part has prompted Ankara in recent years to restrict U.S. and NATO naval operations and exercises there.

The current situation echoes the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq , when the Bush administration tried to send thousands of U.S. troops into northern Iraq through Turkey — a Muslim nation where most people opposed the war— without first obtaining Ankara's permission.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20080815/wl_mcclatchy/3018675_1



21 hours ago:

http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/01Ci7SG6LD6O1/610x.jpg

The U.S. Navy destroyer McFaul, the first of the three US navy ships, sails under Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul heading to Black sea with relief supplies to Georgia, August 22, 2008. The ships will be the first U.S. vessels to deliver aid to Georgia since the Caucasus conflict erupted this month.



http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0ecm9FJfgx3jc/610x.jpg

: The U.S. Navy destroyer McFaul, sails through the Bosphorus waterways in Istanbul taking relief supplies to Georgia, August 22, 2008. The ships will be the first U.S. vessels to deliver aid to Georgia since the Caucasus conflict erupted this month.

http://www.daylife.com/photo/01Ci7SG6LD6O1


US move arouses Russian suspicion

Saturday, August 23, 2008

GÜL MUM İstanbul Ataşehir
Otel, Düğün, Davetlere Mum
Nikah Şekeri Mum, Mumu imalattan al

ANKARA – Turkish Daily News


The United States' move to pass a missile destroyer loaded with humanitarian supplies through the straits on its way to Georgia has drawn reaction from the Russian military, reported NTV news channel Friday.

“The United States sending a military vessel to the Black Sea is raising suspicions,” Anatoly Nogovitsyn, deputy chief of the Russian military's general staff, was quoted as saying.

The U.S. destroyer McFaul headed through the Bosporus on Friday, taking relief supplies to Georgia via the Black Sea. The ship will be followed by two other U.S. ships, said officials. A U.S. official, speaking with the Turkish Daily News, said the mission was entirely an aid operation to meet Georgia's humanitarian needs.
“The United States and other countries and international organizations have responded to the humanitarian crisis in Georgia by sending urgently needed humanitarian aid,” added the same official. “We encourage future contributions to meet Georgia's humanitarian needs.” Washington has already provided $10.7 million in humanitarian aid to Georgia.

Turkey says any military vessels in compliance with the Montreux Convention can pass through the straits. Turkish diplomatic sources told the TDN that Turkey was ready to help international efforts to get aid to Georgia and that it could not prevent humanitarian aid operations to the war-torn country unless the ships loaded with relief supplies violated the convention.

“It is not rational to expect Turkey to block the passage of military vessels carrying aid to Georgia in line with the established principles,” said a Turkish diplomat. Meanwhile, Ankara's firm stance not to penetrate the long-standing Montreux Convention was welcomed by the Russians, learned the TDN.

Turkey governs international traffic through the Bosporus and Dardanelles under the 1936 Montreux Convention, which sets weight restrictions on ships belonging to countries that do not have coastal access to the Black Sea.

Turkey, which has close ties with neighboring Georgia and is a key strategic ally of the United States, has been walking a delicate diplomatic line during the Caucasus conflict trying not to antagonize its energy partner, Russia.

http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=113453