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August 9, 2008 |  16 comments |  Print | E-Mail Your Opinion  

Report from Tbilisi: Georgia Under Full Attack

Tamuna Kekenadze: On Saturday morning, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili requested the Parliament to endorse his decision on declaring martial law on the entire territory of Georgia. The Parliament has approved the presidential decree immediately.

Georgia is currently under heavy attack from the Russian Federation for its attempt to fight back against the aggression of South Ossetian separatist armed groupings which are backed by volunteer armed groups from Russia, and Russian military aircrafts, which have heavily bombed the Georgian territory for two days from South Ossetia to the Black Sea, killing civilians. Clearly, Georgia is in the state of war. Georgian government is being punished by one of the world's largest superpowers for protecting Georgian citizens and trying to renew the constitutional order within the internationally recognized borders of their country.

The latest developments of warfare moving out of the conflict zone on Friday have severely affected the civilian population. Russian jets have bombarded cities, targeting Georgia's economic infrastructure, military bases in Gori (80km from Tbilisi) and Tbilisi, Senaki, the country's largest Black Sea port Poti, and the main road connecting the southern part of Georgia with the east and the airport. Bombing continues throughout Georgian territory, including the Upper Abkhazia. Lots of civilians have been killed and injured. The military base of "Vaziani" which was bombed by Russia on Friday night actually is located within the administrative borders of the Georgian capital.

Despite that the Georgian armed forces control the capital of South Ossetia, Tskhinvali and most of the surrounding villages, except the Roki tunnel. This tunnel is of a strategic importance because it cuts through the Greater Caucasus Mountains, joining North Ossetia in the Russian Federation to South Ossetia. This tunnel was used on Friday by Russians to move in additional heavy military equipment and illegally let the armed groups of volunteers into the Georgian territory. Today the Russian military continues to enter Georgia through this tunnel.

The Georgian government is forced to fight not only on the ground but also virtually. Late on Friday evening Georgian government websites came under a cyber attack. A similar thing happened to Estonians a year ago when they were trying to resolve conflicting issues with Russia. Not only government but also mass media websites ceased to work due to this and still have not recovered. It has been done with one purpose - to cause chaos in the country, people not being able to follow the news, government not being able to communicate and post statements.

However, despite the disjointed communication the civilian population of Georgia has managed to remain calm and is showing its will to protect the country. On Friday President Saakashvili called for mobilization of reservists and the registration points saw large numbers of men also signing up voluntarily. Last night the inhabitants of Tbilisi, following the intense bombings, came together for a peaceful demonstration in front of the Russian embassy. They pledged for peace and asked Russia to stop the offensive but their calls remained unheard. Representatives of NGOs , artists, academics etc have started creating "Peace Councils" throughout Georgian cities , this way expressing their readiness to support Georgian government in this difficult times.

Tamuna Kekenadze lives in Tbilisi, Georgia, and serves as deputy head of New Generation - New Initiative (nGnI), which fosters democratic elections, furthers the NATO integration process as well as the active involvement of youth in civil processes.

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Tags: | Greater Caucasus | North Ossetia | South Ossetia | Georgia |
 
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Marek Swierczynski

August 9, 2008

Marek Swierczynski, journalist at TVP, Diamond Contributor (1090)

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Presidents of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia issued a joint and open declaration on the situation in Georgia in which they "express deep concern with the actions of the Russian Federation and utterly deplore the actions of the RF's armed forces" against the Georgian state. They pledge "to use all means at their disposal as presidents to make sure that agression against a small state in Europe will not be neglected in silence or meaningless statements in which victims are equal to perpetrators". Poland's president Lech Kaczynski in a statement and a televised interview condemned the russian military operation in harsh words and asked whether it was not aimed at toppling the current government in Tbilisi. Further on in the joint declaration the presidents raise questions "whether the russian authorities could still be regarded as suitable partners for the EU" and "whether a family of democratic states could lead a mutually favourable dialogue with a country that usues heavy arms against another country". Those questions may look silly, naive or emotional - and maybe they are - but they come from the hearts of many in the Central and Eastern Europe, certainly from those who remember the Soviet interventions in Hungary or Czechoslovakia. 40 years from the latter, Russia is following a very similar pattern.
Tags: | Russia | Georgia | Poland | Lithanua | Estonia | Latvia |
 
Unregistered User

August 10, 2008

Vladimir Shaporenko

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1,400 killed during the first night of bombing (mostly peaceful residents of Tskhinvali), 30,000 refugees. It's a true humanitarian disaster!

I am a Ukrainian who has many Russian and Georgian friends. We have never had any problems building relationships of mutual respect. People build, "saakashvilis" destroy. It's a crime against South Ossetian, Russian, and Georgian people.
 
Unregistered User

August 10, 2008

valentine akishkin

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The count of Tskhinvali civilians killed by Georgian bombardment and ethnical cleansing that began on Friday the 8th of August is now 2000. Obviously this figure is not final.
Russian introduced new forces in South Ossetia on the 9th of August (the next day) after Georgian forces broke through the demarcation line established in 1992 to stop the complete assassination of the South Ossetian people in Tskhinvali. Presently, the city is in ruins. The military infrastructure of Georgia was attacked by Russian aircraft following Georgia’s use of aircraft, heavy artillery, and rocket units in its destruction of Tskhinvali. Russian troops crossed the border of South Ossetia on the 9th of August to enforce its peacekeeping contingent following the assassination of 10 of its peacekeepers and the remorseless destruction of civilian population in Tskhinvali that began at day before. Russian forces now proceed to extrude all Georgian military forces beyond the demarcation line established in 1992. Russia is presently tending to the thousands of displaced and wounded people of South Ossetia.
Russia has announced that it will address The Hague court as Georgia’s action abrogated international law. The murder of thousands of South Ossetians “citizen of Georgia” is nothing other than pure ethnical cleansing and was intended to drive the people of South Ossetia off its territory and deprive it of any signs of Ossetians. Georgia for Georgians was the motto of the former Georgian president Gamsakhudi that began the slaughter in 1992 and it remains the slogan of Saakashvili today.
Regretfully, lop sided information is reaching the western world claiming Russian troops are attacking Georgia. Little or no mention is made of why Russia introduced additional forces in South Ossetia. Russia’s peacekeeping contingent was outmatched in number and weapon systems by the intruding Georgian military forces and the limited contingents of Russian peacekeepers was not capable of stopping the massacre of civilians in Tskhinvali nor protect its own limited contingent that was attacked by a squall of rocket blasts in the first minutes of the attack.
The heated polemics supporting Georgia’s becoming a member of NATO that found place of the pages of this site have received a clear answer.
Russia will never allow any maniac to terrify or murder the people of South Ossetia or Abkhazia and will do all to restore peace on these war torn territories.
Presently, there are no Georgian troops in Tskhinvali as claimed in the article of this impulsive misled lady. Georgians are limited in their information sources as opposing TV channels have been closed down and Russia internet sites providing their account of the happenings have been cut off.





Tags: | Georgia's ethnical cleansing of South Ossetia |
 
Unregistered User

August 10, 2008

grenader

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Russia with Putin and Medvedev are agressors... Russia, out of Georgia!
 
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August 10, 2008

CESACO

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Must say too that there is a clear villain in this conflict, * who was certainly supported in his ambitions by some Western Govts with political interests of their own* and it's Saakashvili. I don't want to demonise the guy, he ain't the son of satan but his election platform of retaking separatist states and wanting to join NATO has been an outright provocation to Russia for a few years now. NATO has never been of pure, unsullied purpose but it's now such a tool for expanding US political influence, Georgian membership would bring a serious, unacceptable threat to Russia's front door.
Russia's own imperialist history in the region has been a large factor in events now, it sure as hell can't claim victimhood, but that ain't no excuse to let an equally belligerent power like the US Govt attain dominance in the area. Also, Western humiliation of Russia since the demise of the Soviet Union was abhorrent, the attempts to castrate Russian influence have backfired now Russia has pulled itself out of the mire and become an influence again. What an opportunity we wasted, there's never going to be a solution to the mess we're in while these political power games continue. We need UN reform to prevent it being used by member states to further their national political interests. Additionally, it's well gone time for euthanasia of NATO, a new organisation should be created that isn't blatantly biased.
Back to the current conflict. =) Saakashvili shouldn't be demonised but he has broken both ethical and international law with the Georgian atrocities inflicted on the South Ossetians. In the context of the current political game playing and Russia/S.O's long history of shared interests, Russia has responded appropriately. It's Georgia that seeks to annexe S.O, i personally like the idea of it being a separate state between Russia and Georgia. There have been some accidental civilian deaths in Georgia but Russia's bombing of military bases in Georgia was fair do's as a response to Saakashvili's aggression. He has deliberately targeted civilians in S.O, possibly stirred up even worse consequences for the region and should be held to account for his actio

Tags: | South Ossetia |
 
Unregistered User

August 10, 2008

vasili

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Georgia's President Mikheil Saakashvili is often described as 'pro-West', although 'pro-NATO' would be more precise, which in most of the former Soviet Union translates unambiguously as 'anti-Russia'.
But that is not a definition that the North Atlantic alliance should embrace, especially not in the context of the war currently being waged over the tiny republic of South Ossetia.
Russia says it has acted to restore a peace that it was mandated to keep in the region; a peace that was violated when Tbilisi launched an all-out assault to reclaim the separatist enclave last week. Since that attack claimed the lives of Russian soldiers based in South Ossetia, Georgia, according to the Kremlin, has declared war.
But if the origins of the dispute are obscured by historical detail, the strategic miscalculations of recent days are clear. The biggest belongs to Georgia.
President Saakashvili has pledged to 'reintegrate' the areas that broke away from Georgia when it gained independence from the Soviet Union - Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Both are supported by Moscow. Mr. Saakashvili desperately wants his country to join NATO and knows that the existence of enclaves inside his borders but outside his jurisdiction is a serious obstacle to that goal. Mr. Saakashvili appears to have interpreted that lukewarm invitation to NATO as a statement of unalloyed solidarity and a license to bring the separatists to heel. He calculated that Russia would not dare invade a NATO member-in-waiting. He was wrong.

Tags: | Georgia's problems |
 
Unregistered User

August 10, 2008

john

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Leave aside the geopolitics for the moment and have pity for the people who will suffer most from this, the citizens - mostly ethnic Ossetians but also some Georgians - who have already died in their hundreds. It is a tiny and vulnerable place, with no more than 75,000 inhabitants of both nationalities mixed up in a patchwork of villages and one sleepy provincial town in the foothills of the Caucasus.
Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili seems to care less about these people than about asserting that they live in Georgian territory. Otherwise he would not on the night of 7-8 August have launched a massive artillery assault on the town of Tskhinvali, which has no purely military targets and whose residents, the Georgians say, lest we forget, are their own citizens. This is a blatant breach of international humanitarian law.
Tags: | Breach of international law South Ossetia |
 
Unregistered User

August 10, 2008

norman

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Modeling himself on the medieval Georgian king David the Builder, Saakashvili said Georgian territorial integrity would be re-established by the end of his presidency. He has sought to tear up the imperfect Russian-framed negotiating framework for South Ossetia, but has not come up with a viable alternative other than to open bloodshed in South Ossetia.
Tags: | bloodshed in South Ossetia |
 
Unregistered User

August 10, 2008

edd

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This conflict was entirely avoidable. Its origin lies in one of the many majority-minority disputes that accompanied the break-up of the Soviet Union. The Ossetians, a divided people with one part living on the Russian north side of the Caucasus, the other in Georgia, generally felt more comfortable with Russian rule than in a new post-Soviet Georgian state. A small nasty war of Georgia against South Ossetia in1990 - 1991 claimed the lives of thousands and left huge bitterness in the people of South Ossetia. No wonder 34 thousand civilian refugees have chosen to flee to Russian territory seeking safety from the villainous attacks that Saakashvili organized on Tskhinval so treacherously on the 8th of August in the late hours of the night.
Tags: | S.O. |
 
Unregistered User

August 10, 2008

steven

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Saakashvili is a famously volatile risk-taker, veering between warmonger and peacemaker, democrat and autocrat. On several occasions international officials have pulled him back from the brink. On a visit to Washington in 2004, he received a tongue-lashing from then Secretary of State Colin Powell who told him to act with restraint. He could have triggered a war with his other breakaway province of Abkhazia by calling for the expulsion of Russian peacekeepers from there, but European diplomats persuaded him to step back. This time he has yielded to provocation and stepped over the precipice.
Tags: | Triggering war |
 
Unregistered User

August 10, 2008

Unregistered User

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The Georgian President is rash to believe this is a war he can win or that the West wants it. Both George Bush and John McCain have visited Georgia, made glowing speeches praising Saakashvili and were rewarded with the Order of St George. But Bush, at least in public, is now bound to be cautious, calling for a ceasefire.
The reaction in much of Europe will be much less forgiving. Even before this crisis, a number of governments, notably France and Germany, were reporting 'Georgia fatigue'. Though they broadly wished the Saakashvili government well, they did not buy the line that he was a model democrat - the sight last November of his riot police tear-gassing protesters in Tbilisi and smashing up an opposition TV station dispelled that illusion. And they have a long agenda of issues with Russia, which they regard as more important than the post-Soviet quarrel between Moscow and Tbilisi. Paris and Berlin will now say they were right to urge caution on Georgia's Nato ambitions at the Bucharest Nato summit

Tags: | NATO ambitions |
 
Cyril Myakshin

August 10, 2008

Cyril Myakshin, Pomor State University, Russian Federation, a Russian citizen, (3)

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Russia is planning to initiate an international military tribunal for Ossetia. I guess it's high time to do it. The Saakashvili government is a wretched puppet of the USA. Henceforward after all these murderous deeds the Saakashvili regime is considered to be politically maniacal and criminous. I guess The USA, NATO, Georgia, Ukraine and other countries embarked on shady hostile enterprises and a dirty information warfare against Russia will be confronted with a wide range of political and diplomatic difficulties while dealing with Russia. The recent bloody enterprises will entail serious coolness and perhaps a long-term crisis in relations with NATO. EC and the USA (not to mention Georgia whose president is considered to be a political maniac and criminal by the considerable part of Russians). By the way how can you explain the presence of numerous international mercenaries among Georgian soldiers who assassinated the civilian population of Ossetia (mostly Russian citizens) and Russian peacekeepers?

Time will put everything right ...
Tags: | Future trends in the relations with Russia after the genocide iniciated by Georgia and other interested countries in Ossetia |
 
Unregistered User

August 11, 2008

valentine akishkin

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The prime minister of Russia Putin has come up with a bid of 500 million US dollars to start restoring Tskhinvali and other settlements in South Ossetia leveled to the ground by Georgian rocket squalls and infantry attacks assisted by foreign mercenaries on the 8th of August 2008
Tags: | Russia's help to South Ossetia |
 
Marek Swierczynski

August 12, 2008

Marek Swierczynski, journalist at TVP, Diamond Contributor (1090)

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I guess 500 mln dollars is a fraction of what Gazprom will earn extra when Russia blocks Ceyhan and other pipelines going through Georgia.
 
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August 12, 2008

Unregistered User

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Mr. Swierczynski,
You are not only a celebrity criminologist in “Russian” poisoning conspiracies, now I bear witness to your knowledge in oil pipe lines, I really think your true specialization should be entertaining others with soap bubbles.

If what you say ever happens, give me notice, and I’ll see to it that you get your share.

With deepest respect

Valentine Akishkin
Tags: | western soap bubbles |
 
Marek Swierczynski

August 13, 2008

Marek Swierczynski, journalist at TVP, Diamond Contributor (1090)

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Pipeline routes from Baku
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Baku_pipelines.svg
Anyone can see that Georgia is a country on detour route from Gazprom controlled area.
Tags: | pipeline routes |
 

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