Dzhava, Georgia — Russia sent an armored column into the breakaway enclave of South Ossetia after Georgia, a staunch U.S. ally, launched an offensive to crush separatists. Georgia reported early today that warplanes attacked three of its bases and some key oil facilities.
Witnesses said hundreds of civilians have died in the fighting, which threatened to ignite a wider war between Georgia and Russia and escalate tensions between Moscow and Washington.
Georgia said it was forced to launch the assault because of rebel attacks; the separatists alleged Georgia violated a cease-fire.
The South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali was reportedly devastated. Ossetia spokeswoman Irina Gagloyeva said the city came under prolonged fire during the night "but it was suppressed" by the armed forces, the Interfax news agency quoted her as saying today.
"I saw bodies lying on the streets, around ruined buildings, in cars," said Lyudmila Ostayeva, 50, who had fled with her family to Dzhava, a village near the border with Russia. "It's impossible to count them now. There is hardly a single building left undamaged."
The fighting broke out as much of the world's attention was focused on the start of the Olympic Games and many leaders, including Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Bush, were in Beijing.
The timing suggested Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili may have been counting on surprise to fulfill his longtime pledge to wrest back control of South Ossetia - a key to his hold on power. The rebels seek to unite with North Ossetia, which is part of Russia.
Saakashvili said the timing was not coincidental, but accused Russia of being the aggressor. "Most decision makers have gone for the holidays," he told CNN. "Brilliant moment to attack a small country."
Seeking to prevent an all-out war, diplomats issued statements calling on both sides to halt the fighting. The U.N. Security Council held two tense emergency sessions 12 hours apart with both sides using the forum to launch accusations. As the meeting recessed, officials promised a third council session today.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Russia to halt aircraft and missile attacks and withdraw combat forces from Georgian territory. Rice said in a statement the United States wants Russia to respect Georgian sovereignty and agree to international mediation.
The White House said President Bush discussed the situation with Putin while both leaders were in Beijing for the start of the Olympics.
"The United States calls for an immediate cease-fire to the armed conflict in Georgia's region of South Ossetia," Rice said in a statement. "We call on Russia to cease attacks on Georgia by aircraft and missiles, respect Georgia's territorial integrity and withdraw its ground combat forces from Georgian soil."
Rice said she and other senior U.S. officials had been in touch with "the parties" to the conflict but did not identify to whom they had spoken. In Moscow, Russia's foreign ministry said Rice had talked to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Lavrov told her that Georgia must be persuaded to withdraw its forces from South Ossetia, it said.
Georgia has about 2,000 troops in Iraq, making it the third-largest contributor to coalition forces after the U.S. and Britain. But Saakashvili told CNN the troops would be called home today.
Comments
bearded_gnome 4 years, 9 months ago
"The United States calls for an immediate cease-fire to the armed conflict in Georgia's region of South Ossetia," Rice said in a statement. "We call onRussia to cease attacks on Georgia by aircraft and missiles, respect Georgia's territorial integrity and withdraw its ground combat forces from Georgiansoil."and, the russian foreign minister said that Georgia must withdraw its troops from south Ossetia. south ossetia has been recognized internationally as georgian territory. I think this all adds up to: the russians chose to attack under the cover of the olympics. the tyranical rule in russia requires a ginned-up external threat to justify its military, and its deprivation of liberties. those of you who think our freedoms are under attack by the bush administration just need to go and get new foil hats. if you're not an illegal combatant saboteur/spy (in the old fashioned, centuries-old definition) then you've not lost a bit of freedom, and the bush administration has foiled over two dozen terrorist plots aimed at the u.s. and u.s. citizens. MKH (elsewhere) and tweeky-topeekiehere try to imply that this warfare is somehow timed or in concert with some great dark forces at work in our own government. to believe that:you must believe that they can control "the enquirer;"or that prettyboy Johnny Edwards did this on purpose to get caught now.you have to believe that Putin is that much in league with the bush administration. to counter that, just research russia's reaction to our missile defense plans. and, you have to think that somehow the media is being controlled to that degree. this latter is really comedy. if the bush administration could control the media that way, you think bush's approval rating would be near 30%? you think the media would be falling all over itself to do anything to show Obama in a positive light as the Second Coming? you think the media would've had a field day with the so-called outing of a nonsecret cia analist; she was "outed" by a nonbush admin official, and yet the media that is so finely tuned and controled still often puts out the completely false idea that the whitehouse had something to do with that. and don't give me Scooter Libby; he was convicted by a moveon.org jury of obstruction of a crime he *didn't commit. this wacko conspiracy (what mkh is known for) is really quite a joke if you think about it. come to think of it, I was surprised MKH didn't post here, after all he's said about multicentury multicontinent conspiracy that selects the leaders of nations. *no, this problem has been brewing for years, and the olympics were convenient opportunity for russia to settle an old score while propping up Putin.
geekin_topekan 4 years, 9 months ago
Wasn't there a clause in a recently signed document that stated that in a time of national crisis that the president will remain in office indefinately?I believe that was posted on this site not long ago.Ordinarily I would dismiss the claim but...don't know.Why is the media downplaying this conflict and it is taking back seat to a candidates infidelity scandal?
Kenga 4 years, 9 months ago
Gee! Red cross against white background - its a column of Georgian vehicles, not Russian.
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