Complete rubbish. those two regions had a monitored referendum in the 90's to be separate. He is a war criminal and deserves everything he is getting-he started this

From Der Spiegel: "But none of this was enough to deter Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili when he ordered his army to invade Tskhinvali, the capital of separatist South Ossetia, a region in the center of Georgia, on Thursday night. Skirmishes had been going on for weeks, and on Thursday evening Saakashvili had even announced a ceasefire. But then, at around midnight, Georgian forces attacked in an effort "to reestablish constitutional order," as a high-ranking Georgian general described it.

Within hours Georgian units, using rockets and fighter jets, had apparently demolished entire streets of Tskhinvali. The "president" of South Ossetia, Eduard Kokoity, a former freestyle wrestler, said on Friday evening that an estimated 1,400 people had died and characterized the Georgian invasion as ethnic cleansing."

Georgia started this conflict. Russia ended it. Did they act any differently than we would?

President Saakashvili is a lunatic and very dengerous person. His decision to increase the military budget of georgia rather than budgets of education, healthcare and other social programmes, served two aims: 1. to severely crush any kind of opposition from poor, dissatisfied and oppressed citizens within georgia and 2. to attack breakaway regions.

he became president in january 2004 and in august 2004 he started conflict in the south issetia region. many soldiers and civilians died, millions wasted with no result. russians did not cross the georgian border then.

it should have been a good lesson for saakashvili and georgian people to push only for peaceful resolution of the conflicts. but...

saakashvili survived misterious death/murder of prime minister Zurab Zhvania, terrorising and bitting of his own citizens, usurping of power, encouraging injustice and fear, etc.

russian invasion, as rediculuos as it might sound from me, a georgian (i love my country and it gives me a huge pain what is going on in my country because of stupid and reckless saakashvili), is a good opportunity to get rid of despotic saakashvili. I personally do not want Georgian Mugabe in my poor country to rule forever.

good buy saakashvili. hope to see you tried in the tribunal for the disaster you caused to georgia and its poor, depressed, weak, ill and devastated people.

Saakashvili is no more of a democrat than Medvedev or Putin. He just speaks better English. The idea of endlessly extending Nato is crazy and will one day land the West in a disaster (of its own making). Imagine where we would be now if Georgia were already in Nato! Nato should have been dissolved after the collapse of the Soviet Union and replaced with something that included Russia. China is the West's inevitable future enemy, and Russia would have been a natural ally in containing China, except Nato expansion and other stupid American and European paranoia about Russia have probably spoiled the chances of this forever.

Sakashvilli is a complete fool if he thinks he can get the west to support his treachery. The west now knows very clearly the line that Russia now presents. Like ALL Russians, wherever they may be, can expect the support of their country. To those wishing to attack Iran they should take note that there are many Russians living and working on projects in Iran. They might consider the outcome should any of them die in an 'adventure' of a bombing sort. Also like it or not Russia is intertwined with the west not only for oil but in the fight against terrorism. Lose that help and it will impact on the west in a big way. Now we all know where we stand and that includes the USA. I read Cameron is huffing and puffing, perhaps he will tell us if he would contemplate attacking Russia. I rather think the little general should confine his over puffed ego to more fives practice at Eton, where he is better suited.

Results of Georgian attack
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Our analysis in Russia - if we don't protect South Osetians - the entire Osetia will be another Chechnya, snowball for other ethnic regions in Russia. Who has advised and helped Saakashvili is obvious.

Putin is a despot in the making somewhere down the line the Russians will come to regret the choosing this man. Then it will be too late

Wrong, Mikheil Saakashvili has now been exposed as an idiotic buffoon.

Russia has been increasing the pressure on Georgia for years and eagerly awaiting an opportunity to overthrow the Saakashvili government. The sanctions on exports are just one aspect of this. In January 2006 Russia bombed the main gas supply pipeline into Georgia leaving the majority of the citizens surviving in harsh winter conditions with no electricity. This is just one example, there are many others, sadly these sorts of events aren't reported in the international media and as such no-one has any real idea of what goes on between Russia and Georgia. Russia is very good at twisting the facts to suit its own preferred interpretation (it is never at fault and never the aggressor) and with no free press in the country the propaganda machine is given free rein. One thing is for sure the Georgians may not be perfect, but the Russians aren't the peacemakers they like to make themselves out to be - why continue with sustained bombing raids as far into Georgia as Tbilisi when the Georgians had already called a ceasefire and the conflict is in South Ossetia? Now today we hear Russia is patting itself on the back for having "punished" Georgia before calling a ceasefire which just happens to coincide with Sarkozy's visit. Impecable timing - but also interesting to hear of self declared "peacekeepers" being responsible for punishing an entire country. If the Georgians want to get rid of the Saakashvili administration that's a matter for them not for Russia.

Only two words for those of you who believe any of the hypocrisy spouted by Russia and its ill informed supporters. Chechnya and Litvinenko.

Russians concerned about ethnic Ossetians? Please. They weren't so enamoured when the Chechnyans tried to break away. Russians concerned about the agressor being claimed to be the victim? They were pretty quick to play the victim when the trail of polonium ended up back in Moscow. And Russian Peacekeepers? Its as much of an oxymoron as American Intelligence.

Georgia isn't the most perfect democracy and they were misguided to try and take back the areas of South Ossetia not under their control (don't forget a third of the population in South Ossetia are ethnic Georgian) but don't fall for the Russian rhetoric.

And one more. Russian troops aren't in Tbilisi and Gori!The head of georgian armi himself told on TV(I saw It!!!) that it was a mistake!They thouth that russians were coming!BBBBUUUT!They also added there were no russian tanks and soldiers!There were georgian tanks!ahhahaha!They were scared ot their own army))))How funny!But to BBC and CNN He said :"Russians are occupying Tbilisi"What a lier!!!!!!He signed the document with the PM of France and Finland to stop shooting and our people call S. Ossetians.They say they are being bombed in the sellars without water!Also G soldiers didn't allow wounded to be taken to hospitals.Poor wounded people if theu could run to Russia being shooting by G snipers in the Cordon Valley!

You probably don't know that among georgian army an american journalist was found wounded.In our hospital he said that he was sent there for 2-3 hours during which they hoped to occupy South Ossetia and online tell the world that "democracy" by Saakashvili has come!by this action they wanted to provocate Russia to attack georgians ans save some ossetians who were lucky to survive!Then NATO opens its doors for a small poor country and attack Russia in media and with its army!Among georgian soldiers were also found afroamericans,people from Ukraine and other countries!Great game of Anglo-saxons and americans for oil and Russian occupation!!!

Russia is very active with their propaganda and provocative lies. Russia's wider agenda, however, is the restortion of the Soviet Union. Russia wants to get rid of Georgia's pro-western and democratically elected government. Russian government also threatned with 'serious consequences', the Baltic States and Poland, during this crisis. Russia's actions in Georgia -aggression against independent state - was condemed by the West, escpecially by the U.S. Mr George Bush made that very clear in his speech yesterday, while Europe was acting 'in diplomatic manner', as usual.

To Kylliki/Estonia
Just have one question to my estonian friend:

what do you think about 1600 ossetian civilians murdered in georgian artillery fire in Tschinval at night of 8th of august, when they slept in safety of their homes? Was not that horrific operation ordered by Saakashvilli? Have the ossetians been killed by the war criminals Or they are not enough pro-democratic to deserve their lives?

Dear Kylliki/Estonia. Are you sure that the US voice is the eternal truth? Are you sure a country is free while it only does what the US says to do? And this is a key difference between "the Baltic States and Poland" you mentioned and other European states (like Spain, France, Italy, Germany and Russia). And why do you confuse things The Soviet Union and new Russia?

From the moment Saakashvili became President, his key accomplishment was in engaging in hotheaded banter and empty bravado.

Here’s a simple example to explain my point:

A hotheaded school bully (Saakashvili) goes and hits a much smaller fellow pupil (South Ossetia). The bully’s actions are being watched by a much smarter kid (Vladimir Putin) who comes to the rescue of the smaller pupil who is being bullied.

The smart kid (Putin) puts the smartass bully (Saakashvilli) in his place and then the bulging bully starts crying out to the world complaining that he’s being hit, that he’s a democrat and all that sort of empty banter.

I almost feel sorry for Saakashvilli. It surely must hurt to have to sport a bloodied nose and to live with a bruised ego for the remaining days of his political life.

Georgia is a small country trying to be free from Russia. South Ossatia is a even smaller country trying to be free from Georgia. If Georgia doesn't allow South Ossetia to freedom, how can they ask freedom from Russia without contradicting?

My response:
Well, we know that both Hitler and Stalin were massmurderers. How come, you wish to punish georgians because Stalin was a georgian, but at the same time you are shaking hands with germans.Russia has never condemned the crimes against humanity committed by Soviet communist regime. This is a ridiculous explanation, is that what your Kremlin-controlled press is telling you?! I have heard rather different views:

Essential reading:
Yelena Tregubova: Why I fled Putin's Russia. And why the West must appease him no longer

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/yelena-tregubova-why-i-fled-putins-russia-and-why-the-west-must-appease-him-no-longer-451724.html

Yelena Tregubova: The principles of the Gulag are still with us

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/yelena-tregubova-the-principles-of-the-gulag-are-still-with-us-885192.html

Nothing will justify Russia's cowardly actions in Georgia.

@Kylliki

Why do you condemn Russia's attack to Georgia, but you don't condemn Georgia's attack on South Ossetia? Politicians are corrupted liars (probably with very few exceptions); they just sit behind their desk and from there they make wars and terrible crimes. The ordinary people are the ones that suffer, specially the poor.

Many innocent people in South Ossetia and Georgia are dying. Politicians in both sides just care about their own interests, if people want to suffer less they have to join together and protect themselves.

Overthrow the tyrants!

Saakashvili's pledge to recapture South Ossetia and Abkhazia was pointless boasting. Since Georgian forces 'ethnically cleansed' Ossetian and Abkhazian civilians in the 1992-4 civil war - and did the same again recently - it wasn't idealistic either - just nationalistic. Russian forces in Abkhazia and South Ossetia ended that war in 1994 and largely kept the peace there until recently.

There isn't a lot to choose between Putin and Saakashvili and i'm all for a ceasefire and a Russian withdrawal from Georgia proper (i.e excepting Abkhazia and S. Ossetia) to stop both sides killing civilians, but according to the Georgian National Security Council Saakashvili's ceasefire proposal includes a demand for Russian withdrawal from South Ossetia. He knows the Russians will never agree to that. If he really wants peace he'll make a ceasefire offer of returning to the status quo that held from 1994 till the outbreak of the current war.

Interesting article but I think there is the greater likelihood that Mikheil Saakashvili was far more aware of what he was doing than people are giving him credit for. It is implausible that he was anything less than fully aware of the build up of overwhelming Russian combat forces on his boarder and that Putin was fully intending an invasion with a contrived justification. Russia was infiltrating Geogian for years provinces and laying the ground work for causality. Seeing this, Saakashvili executed his only option and preempted the inevitable for a very good reason. If Putin had been able to unleash the Blitz he was obviously very well prepared for (far too well prepared for in fact), chances are that it would have been over and done with long before the world was able to react and there would have been no one able to challenge the claims of widespread genocide that supposedly prompted intervention. I think it is now clearly obvious that Putin fully intended to invade Georgia and that Mikheil Saakashvili forced Putin's hand prematurely in the only available gambit with a chance to save Georgia boundaries. Saakashvili needed to bring world attention to what was going on and prolong the initial stages of the invasion by mobilizing, striking first, and then executing an organized withdrawal in the face of overwhelming odds. I would be willing to bet that he had credible confirmation (from U.S. intelligence sources) that Putin had given the go to execute a plan of conquest and Georgia only beat his timeline by a day or two. Ponder this: by preempting Russia, Saakashvili had a chance to target and degrade some of the already embedded, Kremlin sponsored separatist assets, send the ethnically Russian non-indiginous civilian population running with little immediate chance of returning to ruined communities. Odd that the local Ossetian population has been growing with an inordinate number of Russian "immigrants" over several years and the local political positions are dominated by Russians backed by political thuggery. Bet you can guess what was going on. I think all other options would have resulted in a short term gain but long term loss but the option Saakashvili took was a gamble with a reasonable chance of retaining Georgia's legitimate boundaries. However, only time will tell and it is very hard for us to have a full comprehension of all the factors feeding into Saakashvili's decision to force the issue.

Mr Saakashvili is a reckless idiot who was never mended by our equally reckless President, Mr. Bush. It was apparent since quite while that he was on confrontation path with Russia; however, he was never told to change his ways by Mr. Bush, NATO or any other European country. Instead, he was actually encouraged on that path. Poor Georgians will now have to pay for this idiot’s very irresponsible actions.

I'm glad the Russians saved the people of South Ossia and Abrzakia... The fool of Tblisis was a Bush's stool. Thnaks Russia!!!

There is no doubt, that Russia was planning occupation of Georgian Territories. Under the pretext of fixing railway for humanitarian purposes they Russia set a ground for swift transport of their Army and they amassed tanks even before war started. Russia was waiting for this war to happen and disinformed its own population. Georgia is not crazy to start war with Russia, Russia is punishing GEorgia for wanting to be NATO member, free country. Russian government should be sued in Tribunal for astrocities and neofascism.