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How the conflict unfolded
Benedict Moore-Bridger, Evening Standard12.08.08
Thursday August 7
Georgia begins military operation to retake South Ossetia, which has had de facto independence since 1992. Tension has been simmering for several years, with independence campaigners wanting to use Russian backing to break away completely from Georgia.
Friday August 8
Russian government sends tanks to the region, claiming it must protect Russians living in province. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili accuses Russia of declaring war. Georgian authorities report bombing raids which Russia denies.
Saturday August 9
Georgian interior ministry claims Russia has carried out air strikes on three military bases and oil shipping facilities. Britain echoes international calls for a ceasefire as Gordon Brown holds talks with French president Nicolas Sarkozy and asks both sides to show "the greatest restraint".
Sunday August 10
Foreign Office urges all Britons to leave Georgia and advises against non-essential travel to the region. Russian navy sends ships to blockade Georgia's Black Sea coast to disrupt weapons supplies. Georgian interior ministry claims Russia has bombed military airport and plane construction plant on the outskirts of Georgian capital Tbilisi. Russia's deputy foreign minister Grigory Karasin says more than 2,000 people have been killed in South Ossetia since Friday.
Monday August 11
Russian forces push beyond South Ossetia amid accusations Russia is attempting to "conquer" Georgia. George Bush warns Moscow not to proceed with a "dramatic and brutal escalation". Russia claims it has sunk a Georgian ship trying to attack its vessels in the Black Sea and launches air strikes on Tbilisi. Russian general Sergei Chaban demands that Georgian troops near the breakaway province of Abkhazia disarm.
Reader views (2)
This time line should have started a week earlier. South Ossetian separatists were sending artillery fire into Georgia (ala Hamas in Gaza firing rockets into Israel). Georgia responded with artillery fire. After several days of this Saakashvili announced a joint ceasefire which South Ossetian promptly broke. After this provocation, Georgian sent in it's army, after all both break away regions are still legally part of Georgia. Other than Russia, no other nation recognizes South Ossetia or Abkhazia as independent countries. Some wise and well informed people have theorized that the Russians had prompted the South Ossetians into aggression knowing what the response from Georgia would be. Doesn't it seem unusual that Russia had a very large force ready to go at a moments notice? Giving Russian passports to Georgian citizens is the same tactic Hitler used in giving German passports to Czech citizens of German descent in 1937. It was just a ploy to legitimize protecting a "minority" that wasn't in jeopardy in the first place. When will we start learning from history instead of failing to learn history in the first place?
- Keith Shaw, Southern California
Some history of the area needs to be presented if my comment is to be understood.
The South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast was established in 1922 by the U.S.S.R.
and remained a part of the U.S.S.R. inside Georgia until it failed. The new Georgian government declared their government as illegal and took away the freedoms the Ossetians had lived under since 1922. The Ossetians refused to accept the loss of their local government and have been in rebellion until the present. Over 90 percent of the Ossetians are duel citizens of both Georgia and Russia. One way of understanding their local government would be to compare an American Indian Nation and the US Government.
When the army of Georgia decided to attack and kill every Ossetian the Russian’s moved in to stop it . They had already killed 1,400 Ossetians .
This is where we find the situation today. When the Serbs attempted to wipe out the Arimeans in Kosvo, America did exactly the same thing to stop them and we bombed Serbia.
You can think for yourselves as to whether or not Bush is in order with his comments to Russia.
The people of Kosvo were not American citizens yet we felt a moral duty to protect them. If 1,400 American Citizens had been murdered just south of our boarder what to you think we would have done?
You decide?
- Allen Charles, Panama City,Fl USA
