Reply #21: Matthew Bryza - Zeyno Baran - Hudson Institute - Perle, Wurmser - Cheney [View All]

[Satyagrahi]

Is the key U.S. diplomat in Georgia a neocon?

Former Georgian minister Georgy Khaindrava told the SPIEGEL (no translation yet) that Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Matthew Bryza encouraged Saakashvili's 'adventurism'.

The Wall Street Journal had a similar report:

U.S. Diplomat, Close to Saakashvili, Plays Key Role in Conflict

By JAY SOLOMON in Washington and MARC CHAMPION in Tbilisi, Georgia
August 16, 2008; Page A5

When Russian tanks rolled out of South Ossetia and into Georgia proper Monday, triggering fears of a full-scale invasion, a man began furiously shoving U.S. diplomat Matthew J. Bryza around the lobby of the Marriott Tbilisi, the capital's fanciest hotel.

"It's your fault too," shouted Georgy Khaindrava, a former Georgian minister for conflict resolution. "If you hadn't propped up Misha Magariya , we wouldn't have tanks here now," he said, referring to Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121885135947146439.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Bryza denied the accusation:

President Saakashvili spoke on the phone to Secretary of State Rice to brief her, according to the State Department's point man on Georgia, Matthew J. Bryza. Other U.S. and Georgian officials were talking too. Mr. Bryza says all had the same message, one they had been delivering for months: "Avoid an unwinnable confrontation with Russia."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121884450978145997.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

However, it is a fact that Matthew Bryza has neocon ties.

He is married to Zeyno Baran.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeyno_Baran

Zeyno Baran works at the Hudson Institute, alongside Richard Perle and Meyrav Wurmser, the spouse of David Wurmser, former advisor to Vice President Dick Cheney.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson_Institute