Location of South Ossetia
I found references to fighting between Georgia and it’s breakaway province dating back as far as 1918. After the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, South Ossetia declared itself independent of newly independent Georgia. Clearly there is no love lost between the two. There has been a peacekeeping force, consisting of South Ossetian, Georgian and Russian troops in the territory since some time in the 1990s.
There are many ethnic Russians living in South Osetia as there are in the other disputed area of Georgia, Abkhazia. Many of these people hold Russian passports, although they may have been born and lived their lives within Georgian territory. There have been numerous incidents involving both Abkhazia and South Ossetia, shootings, mortar attacks, flyovers of one or anther’s territory by military airplanes. Ususally they are followed by a he said/she said argument about who is to blame. In July there was a large flap over a Georgian claim of a Russian MIG in Georgian airspace near Abkhazia.
So what was the incident that prompted Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili to order a full scale invasion of South Ossetia on August 8th? Nada, zip, bupkiss. As far as I have been able to determine this military operation was intended to be a surprise attack.
So who started this mess? Mikheil Saakashvili did. Why? Beats the heck out of me. Because he wanted to lose any chance of joining NATO?
August 13, 2008 at 11:33 am
A surprise attack on sleeping people in a Town! Two hours after he proclaimed a wish to hold talks because he was very sincere about peace…..
Well the South Ossetians have many resting in peace….. 2-3% of the population was killed before Russians could Mobilize and help.
Kyle
August 13, 2008 at 11:42 am
Every war is like this. Why do we (humanity) keep doing it?
August 13, 2008 at 11:56 am
Why does humanity keep doing it? There are 113 separatist movements active in the world at the moment, and separatism forms at least part of the motivation of one in three of the 37-odd wars currently being waged in the world. So the question is, why does the international community not come up with a framework of rules to enable people who seek independence, or a transfer to another state, to negotiate autonomy or independence, rather than having to fight for it? http://tinyurl.com/6×454j
August 13, 2008 at 12:36 pm
@Dr Richard Lawson
amen i agree
August 14, 2008 at 2:38 am
Admittedly, I was only half paying attention to these recent developments, hearing only the usual naughty-evil-Russian snippets on cable news. So I was caught up short when I started reading stories in the foreign press that Saakashvili/b> should be tried for war crimes.
This story is being covered very differently outside the US (now there’s a surprise). As a column in the Guardian noted:
You’d be hard put to recall after all the fury over Russian aggression that it was actually Georgia that began the war last Thursday with an all-out attack on South Ossetia to “restore constitutional order” – in other words, rule over an area it has never controlled since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Nor, amid the outrage at Russian bombardments, have there been much more than the briefest references to the atrocities committed by Georgian forces against citizens it claims as its own in South Ossetia’s capital Tskhinvali.
August 14, 2008 at 2:39 am
Darn it — sorry about that missing tag.
August 14, 2008 at 6:21 pm
If we were to research this incident we would find tons of disinformation from all the big news media. Georgia is owned and operated by the United States with their President having come to power via the CIA’s help with a coup. Georgia attacked the capital of South Ossetia after months of planning with the help of the US government. It was planned to draw Russia into a trap. It worked as advertised. To top it off, there is no mention in the media of the giant armada heading towards Iran with several other countries in a naval exercise. I’m guessing it will be a blockade of Iran then naval bombardment. Who knows?
August 15, 2008 at 3:13 am
Because the international community doesn’t care less and the world is governed by a ‘ministry of war’. Appealing to humanity strikes me as naivety.
August 15, 2008 at 9:57 am
Maybe everyone could enjoy some free beer
August 17, 2008 at 11:57 pm
I have been searching to find the reason this crap started all over the net, as far as I can see the Georgian leader started this like an idiot, thinking the Stupid U.S. would fall right into place where they are now! making a whole lot of noise about something they have no business (OTHER THAN OIL….AGAIN!) messing with. I say Russia has the right to bomb the hell out of geogia to support it’s own! and the U.S. needs to sit the hell down! They did not give a damn when people in Africa were being killed, they did nothing to help katrina victims in the first days after the storm yet they rush supplies half way around the world in support of their ossetia!
August 18, 2008 at 11:24 am
Russia has agreed, at least twice, to pull out. Let’s hope they do it.
August 21, 2008 at 7:44 am
It is amazing how Georgia is painted by the US media as the poor abused little brother. I’m glad you’re looking for the facts.
Regardless, this has been a very interesting story to watch unfold.
August 23, 2008 at 2:14 pm
If Russia was there as a peace keeper then why did it advance past South Ossetia into Georgia?
Likewise why did Russia advance out of Abkhazia into Georgia?
If Russia was truly an unbiased Peace Keeping force, then they would full return to pre-August positions.
Do not forget the Ethnic Cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia where between 10,000 to 30,000 Georgians were killed by the Abkhaz separatists, foreign mercenaries, and, allegedly, by Russian Federation forces. In addition, roughly 230,000 to 250,000 Georgian civilians were expelled from their homes.
Ethnic Georgians have been expelled or killed from both Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Leaders from the breakaway areas have indicated that they will not let the Ethnic Georgians return to their property. There have been numerious reports of looting and distruction of property.
Also please remember that both Abkhazia and South Ossetia are disputed areas. It is understandable that there will be rifts between the factions involved in the dispute. Namely the various Abkhazia factions and various South Ossetia factions and Georgia. This does not include Russia as they are supposed to be a Peace Keeping force to mediate between the various factions.
Russia has clearly shown that they are party to the conflict and are not suitable as a Peace Keeping force. Russia needs to pull back to the pre August boundarys and eventually be replaced by a UN Peace Keeping force.
September 15, 2008 at 9:05 am
Russia is sick with xenophobia and bigotry and that’s why Russian politics is based on extreme forms of chauvinism and aggression. The Russians started attacking Georgian civilian villages in the beginning of August together with South Ossetian terrorists. President Mikheil Saakashvili did what any other good leader would have done: protect his people and territorial integrity of his country. As always the Russian aggression backfired at Russians and so far, Russia politically is losing this war.
Recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia? Give me a break. The Russians kicked out more than 300,000 Georgian residents over past 18 years, burnt their homes and now they want to declare these Georgian provinces as independent? Let the Georgian population return and conduct a referendum, I am sure the vast majority of residents will have different priorities.
The Russians have only shown Georgia aggression, wars, ethnic cleansing for more than 200 years. This is the reason we are trying and we will obviously join NATO. Russia never wanted peace with Georgia, the Russians always wanted piece of Georgia. But, we will not surrender. We have been fighting wars since the existence of our nation, against Mongols, Persians, Arabs, Turk-Seljuks and Russians won’t enslave us.
We will not give up our freedom, liberties or land. So I would suggest Mr. Putin and Mr. Medvedev that you respect our freedom and if you are truly concerned with small ethnic minorities’ self-determination, then recognize the freedom of all ethnicities that you are controlling with fear and terror, recognize the freedom and independence of Chechnya, Ingushetia, Daghestan, Tatarstand and all the other autonomous republics within the Russian Federation, where local residents do not even speak Russian and despise the Russian government.
Then lets talk about status of South Ossetia and Abkhazia…
September 15, 2008 at 1:24 pm
David Dzidzikashvili, are you writing from Georgia? Were you there during the fighting?
What seems to be missing from western news reports is what led up to Georgia’s attacking South Ossetia. We have heard that ther are “tensions” between Georgia and it’s breakaway provinces but nothing about events immediately prior to Saakashvili’s order to attack. I read in one comment of Widows To Russia that South Ossetian forces were shelling Georgia, but have found no confirmation at all.
What did you experience in the lead-up to this war?
September 17, 2008 at 10:46 am
Dear rotus,
There were no tensions in the beginning of August it was a local scale war/ confrontation with South and North Ossetian illegal militia, who were ruthlessly shelling Georgian villages that surround Tskhinvali. Our police forces had to engage once the Russian peacekeepers declared that “situation is out of control” and “we [Russians] can’t stop the [Ossetian] side to halt the fire.” Saakashvili as the President of the country was under pressure to defend and once the Russians said there were not going to do anything, this was a trigger that escalated the situation. The Russians brought GRAD missiles, armored vehicles and tanks though the Roki Tunnel on August 7. At that point it was a war….
September 17, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Thank you, David. This part of the story is not getting out to us and it makes the war inexplicable. The propaganda coming from Russia is that it was started on a whim by Saakashvili, who they are calling a war criminal.
More needs to be done to bring the facts to light.