Georgia, Russia - demonstrating democracy ....

(K): THIS is how a country removes a leader they do not want.  If the
U.S. had truly wanted a better leader for the Iraqi people, they would
have been able to convince the Iraqis that there was a better way and
that Iraqis could make that choice - with the backing of the coountries
of the United Nations.  The U.S. invaded a country that they had weakened
through years of sanctions and embargos.

The Russian people have shown the world that they, the people under a
government they wanted gone, were the ONLY ones to depose that government.
No interference from a country that is known for its imperialism under the
pretext of 'world policeman'.
______________________________________

Georgia's Shevardnadze resigns

Georgians mount an armourned vehicle near the residence of Georgian
President Eduard Shevardnadze in Tbilisi to celebrate his resignation Sunday.
 
Mark MacKinnon and Associated Press - Sunday, Nov. 23, 2003 


Tbilisi, Georgia  

Fireworks exploded over the Georgian parliament this evening after it was
announced that President Eduard Shevardnadze had signed his resignation
papers, ending a three-week standoff over allegedly rigged elections.


The 75-year-old, best known in the West as the man who helped Mikhail
Gorbachev end the Cold War, formally stepped down a day after opposition
protestors seized the parliament and declared what they called a "velvet
revolution."

"To a free Georgia! Shevardnadze is no more!" shouted a group of young men
pouring champagne on Rustaveli Avenue, Tbilisi's main drag.

"In the West you think he's a hero well look at your hero now," said Ramaz
Chilakhadze, a protestor draped in the red-and-white flag of the
opposition national movement.

"He was just an old thief. People want money and jobs."

A crowd of protesters massed in front of parliament erupted into cheers
and waved flags after opposition leader Mikhail Saakashvili went on
national television and announced the president's resignation.

"I consider that it is necessary to do this," said Mr. Shevardnadze, who
has led the ex-Soviet republic for a decade, after signing the resignation
at his residence on the outskirts of Tbilisi, the Interfax news agency
reported.

The announcement came after two days of turmoil in Tbilisi, triggered by
Nov. 2 parliament elections that the opposition and the United States say
were rigged. Opposition protesters took over parliament on Saturday,
driving Shevardnadze out of the chamber, and declared an interim government.


The opposition had seized parliament a day earlier, forcing Mr.
Shevardnadze to flee the building as he attempted to open the first
session of the new parliament elected in the widely denounced Nov. 2 voting.

"The president has accomplished a courageous act," Mr. Saakashvili said in
remarks shown on Georgian television. "By his resignation, he avoided
spilling blood in the country ..... History will judge him kindly."

Mr. Saakashvili had promised to guarantee the safety of the Georgian
leader and his family if Mr. Shevardnadze resigned.

Zurab Zhania, another key opposition figure, said Mr. Shevardnadze would
not leave the country, but further details on his circumstances were not
immediately available.

Mr. Zhvania said parliamentary elections would be held within 45 days.

Mr. Shevardnadze's control of this ex-Soviet republic had been slipping
Sunday as leaders of protesters already occupying parliament urged tens of
thousands of supporters to seize more organs of state power, and some
military units defected to the jubilant protesters thronging the capital's
streets.

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          If we're winning the war on terrorism, 
          why do we keep going up to orange alert? 
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