Late Thursday night, troops from Georgia attacked South Ossetia, which sits on the border between Georgia and Russia. Russian forces retaliated with the full might of their armed forces and then continued with raids into Georgia.On Monday, the Russian military advanced into Georgia on two fronts, heading toward cities outside the breakaway provinces that have been the centers of fighting. From the flashpoint South Ossetia, the Russian military moved south toward the central Georgia city of Gori, Georgia said. Russia said its troops were on the outskirts of the city. Russian troops were also in Senaki, in western Georgia, having advanced from the breakaway area of Abkhazia. Georgia's interior ministry said Russia had also seized control of Zugdidi -- a city on the route between Abkhazia and Senaki.
The Georgian government said it was recalling the army to Tbilisi "to defend the capital." U.S. officials reported seeing Georgian tanks and personnel pouring into the capital. Russia has not threatened to enter Tbilisi and says its operations are peacekeeping. However, Georgia fears an invasion of its capital.
On Monday, President Bush said Russia's attacks against Georgia have "substantially damaged Russia's standing in the world." He stated that Russia should accept the cease-fire proposal from Georgia.
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said the internationally brokered proposal would be taken to Moscow by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb on Monday evening. The proposal calls for an unconditional cease-fire, a non-use of force agreement, a withdrawal of Russian troops from Georgian territory, including the South Ossetia region, and provisions for international peacekeeping and mediation.
Russia's ambassador to the United Nations said Russia would not sign off on a draft U.N. resolution calling for a cease-fire discussed by the U.N. Security Council, because the proposed resolution, drafted by French officials, was lacking in a "serious number" of areas. Namely, the draft resolution does not mention Georgia's previous "aggression" in South Ossetia.
The situation in South Ossetia escalated rapidly from Thursday night, when Georgia said it launched an operation into the region after artillery fire from separatists killed 10 people. It accused Russia of backing the separatists. South Ossetia, which has a population of about 70,000, is inside Georgia but has an autonomous government. Many South Ossetians support unification with North Ossetia, which would make them part of Russia, which supports the South Ossetian government, has given passports to many in South Ossetia, and calls them Russian citizens.
BLOG UPDATE (08/12/2008 9:00 AM EST) - CNN.com reports Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Tuesday that he had ordered an end to military operations against Georgia, but reports from Tbilisi say that there were more attacks after the statement was made.
Prior to meeting with French President Sarkozy, Medvedev is quoted as saying, "I have reached a decision to halt the operation to force the Georgian authorities to peace. The aggressor has been punished and has incurred very significant losses. Its armed forces are disorganized."
Read more about the Russian cease-fire here.
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Read CNN.com articles about the Russia - Georgia conflict here and here.
Read the New York Times articles about the Russia - Georgia Conflict here and here.
plez sez: if you thought for even a moment that i was referring to the state of georgia (in the united states)... go to jail. go directly to jail. do not pass GO. do not collect your $200.
you can rest assured that plezWorld has no horse in this race, except my college russian professor was a sweet lady from tbilisi, georgia.
i get a slight chuckle when i read that the georgian president seeks assistance from the US and NATO (the same NATO that wouldn't allow georgia to join because of pressure from russia). i laugh alittle harder when i hear president bush admonishing the russians for invading a sovereign nation, this being the same george w. bush who invaded a sovereign nation five years ago... a sovereign nation, named IRAQ, that had done NOTHING to the united states!
before he started laughing, it's a sure bet that russian prime minister vladimir putin told french president nicolas sarkozy to kiss his ass!
and i'm sure that after he stopped laughing, putin told bush to kiss his ass! i mean, what are we going to do? all of the us forces are stretched thin in iraq and afghanistan... we don't have the bandwidth to even consider joining a peacekeeping force at the russia-georgia border. and if we had the bandwidth, we wouldn't have the balls to join the NATO forces necessary to enforce a cease-fire by the russians. i guess all we can do is condemn the act and hope we can shame the russians into leaving the poor georgians alone. ROTFLMAO!
and i bet georgia (if there is still a georgia after this conflict is resolved) will think twice before starting something that they sure as hell can't finish... like the old saying goes, "don't start none, won't be none!"
I sincerely hope Obama is not genuinely as niave as you.. Russia has a history of agression.. "dont start none ... " doesnt apply to russia.
ReplyDeleteSecondly S.Ossetia is in Georgia.. not between Georgia and Russia ..
If Georgia didnt try to do something then in 10 years time the map of Georgia would be a bit smaller.
Not that I care one way or the other.. but if your going to write something .. do it right and tell the truth.
crypty wrote: "I sincerely hope Obama is not genuinely as niave as you.. Russia has a history of agression.."
ReplyDeletei must ask, what does Barack Obama have to do with what i wrote? i don't know Obama and i certainly don't speak for him. but i am sure he has a better grasp of world affairs than me...
as to my being naive about anything russian... if i were you, i'd first learn how to SPELL the word "naive"... don't tell anyone, but SPELL CHECK comes free on most computers!
it was georgia that fired the first shots in south ossetia, and russian tanks rumbled in to retaliate... to most sane people, that is starting something.
i'll grant you that i am not a scholar of russian politics and policies, but from my vantage point, georgia was the instigator and they were not ready to handle the russian response to their aggression.
if you take a quick look at the map provided, the borders of south ossetia are situated between the borders of georgia and russia... that is how the russian forces "invaded" georgia.
and in response to your last comment asking me to "do it right and tell the truth"... correct me if i am wrong, but you have not cited one place in my post where i stated an incorrect fact or did not tell the truth. all of the facts about georgia, russia, and south ossetia were pulled directly from news accounts on CNN.com and the New York Times. in my opinion, i stated that i felt that georgia had instigated the action and that they were ill-equipped to handle the "fresh can" that the russian troops opened up on them.
i stand by my assertion: "don't start none, won't be none!"
well its been on since thursday (thank goodness to turkish daily news link on my blog) but obama and mccain probaly dont know as much as i do about the conflict, region or what is really at staek and thats sad 4 im a serf
ReplyDeletebut torrance, you're a "smart" serf!
ReplyDeleteIf Georgia didnt try to do something then in 10 years time the map of Georgia would be a bit smaller.
ReplyDeleteYou won't need to wait ten years, the map of Georgia just became smaller. I doubt Putin will try to annex South Ossetia in the near future, doesn't matter since the residents have been given Russian passports and "Misha" will have to sign a non-agression pledge if he expects Putin to cease all hostilities
I read the artical by Robin Oakley
ReplyDeleteAnalysis: Georgia's major miscalculation?
Can't find the address to ask the author. Wrote to CNN to ask why are TV reports ignoring Georgia's role in starting up this latest battle.Most of what you will see here in the media will slant toward the bad Russians and the good Georgian's.
CNN sent my question to technical who send me an email apologizing for Spam. What? Oh well I guess we are back in the cold war and will be fed manure again. Still I would like to hear from Robin Oakley and hope anouther artical comes out.
tvanel,
ReplyDeleteit is obvious that Georgia bit off way more than they could chew with their "show" of military might. this is the reason why you build coalitions PRIOR to starting a fight!
hamburger,
despite what Russia was doing in South Ossetia, Georgia fired the first shots! i have not seen anything about their use of diplomacy prior to last thursday's action.
i agree with you... it would be nice to hear a nice unfiltered & unbiased accounting of what led to this conflict in the first place.
Western Europe needs to act. They should send peace keepers in and defend Georgia's capital and force Russia to back down or else Russia will soon be rescuing ethnic Russians in Ukraine the same way Hitler was protecting ethnic Germans in Sudetenland. Unfortunately the Europeans have been using the U.S. as a shield for the last fifteen years and will likely wait until we act to do anything. I is really sad because the Georgians have been working hard to become a true democracy.
ReplyDelete