GEORGE W. BUSH WITH VLADIMIR PUTIN IN BEIJING; MR. PUTIN ACCUSED THE U.S. OF HELPING GEORGIA (PHOTO: REUTERS; APPEARING IN MAIL ONLINE, LONDON)
Like most Americans, I was led to believe that Russia unjustifiably invaded Georgia on August 7th. That is what was portrayed in the mainstream press in the United States.
Why would the press want to intentionally mislead Americans? (The media did, in fact, mislead us.) Russia was not the aggressor; Russia responded with force in defense of innocent residents of South Ossetia.
“The coverage of the western media has been abysmal,” wrote Mike Whitney in an article that appeared in Counterpunch. “Nearly every article and TV news segments begins with accusations of Russian aggression concealing the fact that the Georgian Army bombarded and invaded the capital of South Ossetia one full day before the first Russian tank even crossed the border. By the time the Russians arrived, the city was already in a shambles and thousands were dead.”
The Washington Post did allow an op-ed piece by former Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev, who wrote in part: “For some time, relative calm was maintained in South Ossetia. The peacekeeping force composed of Russians, Georgians and Ossetians fulfilled its mission, and ordinary Ossetians and Georgians, who live close to each other, found at least some common ground. . . . What happened on the night of Aug. 7 is beyond comprehension. The Georgian military attacked the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali and with multiple rocket launchers designed to devastate large areas. . . . Mounting a military assault against innocents was a reckless decision whose tragic consequences, for thousands of people of different nationalities, are now clear. The Georgian leadership could do this only with the perceived support and envouragement of a much more powerful force. Geogian armed forces were trained by hundreds of U.S. instructors, and its sophisticated military equipment was brought in a numerof countries. This, coupled withthe promise of NATO membership, emboldened Georgian leaders into thinking that they could get away with a ‘blitzkrieg’ in South Ossetia. . . . Russia had to respond. To accuse it of aggression against ‘small, defenseless Georgia’ is not just hypocritical but shows a lack of humanity.”
President Bush has used Georgia to taunt Russia. Mr. Bush attempted to obtain NATO membership for Georgia. (Mr. Bush promised NATO membership to Georgia and Ukraine at the last alliance mmeting in Bucharest, Romania.) Fortunately, such NATO membership has been turned down to date. Mr. Bush has already caused the United States to be involved in two wars (Iraq and Afghanistan) and threatened to get the United States in a third war with Iran. Taunting Russia is very foolish, indeed. (Vice President Cheney stated that “Russian aggression must not go unanswered.”)
The misleading of the American people about the real reason for the conflict in Georgia caused a bump in the polls in favor of Senator McCain. Mr. McCain’s rhetoric against Russia was perceived to be proper only because the American people have been wrongly told that Russia is to blame for the conflict.
Photo Credits:
Georgian tanks (Irakli Gedenedze for Reuters)
Georgian artillary (Vano Shlamov for AFP)
TSKHINVALI, SOUTH OSSETIA: GEORGIAN TANKS MOVE ALONG A ROAD NEAR THE SOUTH OSSETIAN CAPITAL
GEORGIAN ARTILLARY TROOPS FIRE AT SOUTH OSSETIAN TROOPS FROM UNNAMED LOCATION
Tags: Georgia, Russia, South Ossetia
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August 24, 2008 at 11:13 pm |
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August 27, 2008 at 12:46 am |
Truth about war in Ossetia that is overlooked by BBC and CNN
At 7 p.m. on August 8, the day when Olympics started, worldwide community heard from CNN and BBC news that Russian tanks invaded Georgia and that Russia started war with Georgia.
That the war had begun 16 hours earlier by Georgian president Sukashvili’s order these media preferred to pass over in silence.
But you have the right to know truth. That’s how this really happened:
According to old tradition of Olympic Games’ eve everyone was looking for peace and quiet. On August 7, Georgian and South Ossetian officials agreed to observe a ceasefire and hold debates in attempt to solve their long-term conflict peacefully.
August 8, 00:06
Just hours later, six minutes past midnight on August 8, inhabitants of Ossetian capital Tskhinvali, peacefully sleeping in their beds, heard dreadful whizz of incoming rockets. The hell followed soon… Without any declaration Georgian forces launched massive shelling of Tskhinvali with all available means, including heavy artillery and multiple-launch rocket systems GRAD. In this massacre, in just several hours, the whole city was ruined: 2,000 human lives wasted and 85% of all buildings demolished. Georgian military expedition, called “Clean field”, yielded its first fruits…
August 8, 03:00
Georgian army occupied five Ossetian villages, burning them to ashes.
August 8, 03:30
Georgian tanks started attack on Tskhinvali. Ossetian militia stood up to the enemy but could not keep back 30-times outnumbering Georgian forces. Many basements where Ossetins tried to escape shelling were showered with grenades. At the very same time, Georgian “peacekeepers”, serving in South Ossetia, launched unexampled attack on their yesterday’s colleagues, Russian peacekeepers, managing to kill at least 10 of them.
August 8, 04:33
Russia called for UN Security Council meeting to put a stop to Georgian military aggression and seize fire. No decision was delivered at neither this nor several following meetings.
August 8, 09:00
Russian Prime Minister Putin informed President Bush that Georgia launched war against Ossetia. Mr. Bush answered that “nobody wanted this war”.
Ossetia was praying for help. It was already obvious that “clean field” meant nothing else but ethnical cleansing. In these circumstances, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced that Russia would defend Russian citizens who constitute 90% of South Ossetia population.
August 8, 16:00
Russian forces overstepped mountain pass and made their way toward perishing Ossetins. That was exactly the moment when CNN and BBC finally “noticed” the war and broadcasted their «Russians invaded Georgia» scenes. Sukashvili announced that Russia invaded Georgia and held back that he started this horrible bloodshed himself.
Before midnight, Russian and Ossetian forces kicked aggressors out of Ossetian capital. Survived citizens started to leave basements to escape the city. In the next couple days around 30,000 refugees fled to Russia.
Failed Georgian assault turned to informational blackout and devilish propaganda. It’s time when so much depends on your personal position! I believe that there will be journalists who can give objective picture of these events. I believe in people of peace who will regard an attempt of massive extermination of small nation as genocide (3% of South Ossetins and 0.3% of all Ossetins worldwide were killed in just one night on August 8; fascists have never achieved that efficiency in exterminating Jewish people even when Auschwitz and Treblinka were working at full capacity). I believe in a world community that will view Sukashvili’s inhuman orders as war crime and an outrage on humanity. I believe in you, thinking person, able to confront with facts, person who will not follow barefaced propaganda of politicized and deeply corrupt media, person able to recognize truth!