SFGate: On Conflict in Georgia : Georgia unleashed this war

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On Conflict in Georgia : Georgia unleashed this war

Although there has been widespread coverage in the American and European media of the tragic events unfolding in South Ossetia, essential background information about the conflict has often been omitted. First and foremost, nearly all of the articles avoid calling Georgia's action on Aug. 7 what it was - a clear act of military aggression by Georgia directed against the residents of South Ossetia and the Russian peacekeepers deployed in the region.It also seems to have been largely forgotten in the Western press that this is the second time that such a tragedy has happened. In the early 1990s, President Zviad Gamsakhurdia, then the leader of Georgia, proclaimed a policy of "Georgia for Georgians," abolished the autonomous status of South Ossetia (even though two-thirds of the population of South Ossetia is ethnic Ossetian or Russian rather than Georgian), and launched war against its people. It was after the resulting bloodshed (more that 1,000 killed and 2,500 wounded, many of them civilians) that a peacekeeping coalition comprised of Georgians, Ossetians, and Russians was established. Russian peacekeepers have been stationed in South Ossetia since that time to make sure that there is no further violation of peace in the conflict zone.

On the opening day of the Olympic Games - a symbol of peace and international cooperation - Georgia for the second time unleashed war in South Ossetia, violating the cease-fire that it had agreed to earlier in the day by attacking Russian peacekeepers, civilians, residences and humanitarian convoys. In this situation, Russia had no other choice but to respond. One might expect Georgia's violation of the cease-fire and use of force against South Ossetians to be met with strong international condemnation, but this did not occur. Instead, we saw attempts by some American experts and politicians to shift responsibility away from their Georgian ally by attributing to Russia ulterior motives in its response to the attack, such as the wish to restore its domination over this former part of the Soviet Union, to obstruct NATO enlargement, and so on.