Dateline: BUCHAREST

President Dmitry Medvedev announced yesterday, August 17, that Russia is to begin pullout of its troops today. The announcement came at a press briefing following a meeting with French President Sarkozy. As the self-imposed deadline approached, reports of continuing looting and abuse kept pooring in from Georgia. There have been complaints from aid agencies and the EU that aid delivery is being obstructed by Russian forces.

As the Russian intervention seems to be finally coming to an end, the international community is considering the appropriate framework for dealing the post-conflict reconstruction and stabilization efforts. The EU has announced last Wednesday, after the European Council ministerial meeting, that it is willing to deploy personnel on the ground in Georgia. French FM Kouchner has confirmed that several EU countries have expressed their will to provide support for EU Mission. This is a shift in EU policy, as the 27 had previously been reluctant to provide on-the-ground assistance in Georgia. The idea of a EU border monitoring mission had been floated around, but it never quite got off the ground.

While the nature of the EU mission is still fuzzy, it probably won’t be a full-fledged peace-keeping mission. Whatever personnel the EU deploys in Georgia, they probably will be unarmed. What seems most likely is a lighter, less controversial monitoring mission similar to that of the OSCE. The exact mandate of the mission may range from ceasefire monitoring to training police. Given the track record of the EU toward Georgia, any such mission will be radically different from the one deployed in Kosovo, where it had the upshot of consolidating the structures of the separatist region and ultimately facilitating its independence.

Now that the Russian-Georgian conflict is nearing its end, it is time to start taking a step back and ponder the true dimensions of the conflict, its causes and long term consequences. But to do that, we should first escape the simplistic approach to the conflict that was prevalent all over Western media.

The view that Russia was the aggressor, the bad guy in this conflict, was the main take of Western news sources. Reports of indiscriminate violence and acts of aggression committed by the Russian troops triggered a similar approach by this blog.

Now it’s time to balance this view. First, we provided you with a number of articles taken from the Russian press, and showing how the conflict was viewed frm Moscow. Next on the list  this article from eXiled, republished from The Nation. The article takes a far more critical view of Saakashvili’s regime then has been the norm in Western media [with regard to the recent conflict], and points to some critical tensions that lie at the hear of the Russo-Georgian conflict:

• Does Georgia fit the paradigm of a small democratic nation, given Misha’s authoritarian tendences?
• How does West choose its side, when confronted with the self-determination / national sovereignty dichotomy?
• How much is America willing to risk in order to secure Georgia?

All this from a leftist American perspective. Regardless of whether you agree with the argument, the article is worth reading.

With analysis and commentary abounding throughout all major media sources in the West, it is easy to lose track of the Russian perspective of the conflict. Below are several recent articles that appeared in major Russian media sources, showing how the war in Georgia is seen from Moscow.

Russians see United States behind Military Actions

[US Open Source Center, August 12]

Following US official statements critical of Russia’s disproportionate actions in Georgia and the US airlift of Georgian troops and equipment home from Iraq, Russian officials rebuked the United States for fanning the flames of conflict in the Caucasus. Some Russian officials also suggested that the US Administration was using Georgia for domestic electoral purposes. Media observers went further than official statements, alleging that Georgia was a pawn in a larger US plan to undermine Russia.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin expressed surprise at the “scale of cynicism” on the part of the United States, which in criticizing Russia and transporting Georgian troops from Iraq to Georgia was “passing off white as black and black as white.” He accused US diplomats of maintaining a “Cold War mentality” and viewing Saakashvili as they had Nicaragua’s Somoza: “An SOB, but our SOB” (Channel One, 11 August).

Other officials placed the blame on the United States for both inciting the conflict and impeding its end.

Deputy Chief of the General Staff Anatoliy Nogovitsyn opined: “Everything speaks to the lack of desire of official Tbilisi and Washington to settle the conflict. Otherwise why did US military planes transport 800 (as published) Georgian servicemen with military hardware from Iraq to Georgia?” (Izvestiya, 12 August). Continue Reading »

[Provided data is operational and may be subject to verification. Information comes from the Government of Georgia.]

Timeline by 13th of August 22:00

21:20 Russian troops begane pooling back towards north from the Tbilisi – Poti highway in Gori district. They still stay in town Gori
21:10 First cargo plane organized by American Military landed in Tbilisi International Airport.
21:00 Reports of eyewitness continue to come to police stations about atrocities and crimes committed by South Ossetian separatist forces.
20:12 Population of villages Breti and Aradeti, Kareli district is leaving their villages and moving towards Tbilisi. Ossetian separatists are robbing these villages.Reported by: Naili Gachechiladze
18:00 Russian soldiers have robbed drivers of the Turkish travel company, taking their buses.

Continue Reading »

Earlier reports of Georgian police being allowed back into Gori are now being denied by our sources on the Ground. According to an eyewitness, police forces were told to leave the city, and Russian troops resumed control of Gori. Apparently, the same situation is happening in Poti.

These confusing reports paint a strange picture of the situation in Georgia. This may be due to flaws in the Russian chain of command, or to deliberate attempts to create confusion and generate a sense of volatility on the ground. Another possible reason for these contradictory reports  could be the operation, in parallel, of Russian regulars and so-called ‘volunteers’, or irregular militias.

The same developments are now being reported by Civil.ge

During a media interview a representative of Human Rights Watch said that “The figure of 2,000 people killed is very doubtful. Our findings so far do not in any way confirm the Russian statistics. On the contrary, they suggest the numbers are exaggerated.” She went on to suggest that this deliberate exaggeration on the part of the Russians may be in fact provoking revenge attacks on Georgian villagers in the breakaway republic of South Ossetia and in areas in and around Gori.

“The torching of houses in these villages is in some ways a result of the massive Russia propaganda machine which constantly repeats claims of genocide and exaggerates the scale of casualties,” she said. “That is then used to justify retribution.” (source UK Guardian)

Another representative of Human Rights Watch, Tanya Lokshina, detailed some of the reports they have compiled from their initial research into human rights watch abuses. “Human Rights Watch researchers also saw armed Ossetian militia members in camouflage fatigues taking household items – furniture, television sets, heaters, suitcases, carpets, and blankets – out of houses in the village of Nizhniy [Kvemo] Achabeti and loading them into their trucks.”

Explaining the looters’ actions, an Ossetian man told Human Rights Watch, “Of course, they are entitled to take things from Georgians now – because they lost their own property in Tskhinvali and other places.” (source Civil.ge)

On a lighter note Civil.ge is reporting that both Georgian and Russian military sources have said that Georgian police will be returning to Gori early on August 14th and that civilians who had fled Gori would be able to return shortly thereafter. (civil.ge) Russia still denies they were in Gori and therefore cannot say that they will be withdrawing but many media sources have confirmed Russian troops and armour in Gori today. These reports are consistent with reports I have received from civilians in Gori who saw Russian and Ossetian troops looting. Many fleeing residents from Gori were interviewed by major networks such as BBC, CNN, Aljazeera etc. and all reported similar stories from Gori and other Georgian villages in and near South Ossetia.

Georgian Public Defender, Sozar Subari, was also in Gori on August 13th and heard many eyewitness accounts of atrocities and looting and promised a thorough investigation. “We will study all these cases and table a relevant document”

[Photos: NY Times, D: B sources in Georgia]

[Georgians flee a Russian convoy approaching. Shot near Gori.]

[Georgian woman forced to leave her village near Gori. According to Human Rights Watch, preliminary investigations in South Ossetia reveal horrifying scenes of looting in deserted Georgian villages.]

Continue Reading »

My contact has safely returned from Gori after traveling there with the diplomatic envoy to investigate claims of looting and violence against civilians on the part of the Russian troops. He and other journalists were denied entry into the city by the Russians, however, the diplomats were let in for an hour or two. Here is his direct account. I apologize for the delay but I had a problem with the internet connection.

“9:15am. August 13.
Just came back from near-Gori. Russian troops are NOT now on their way to Tbilisi. I watched the military trucks do a u-turn on the highway and drive past us we were speading to Gori.

I saw droves of refugees coming toward Tbilisi on their feet. I received several firsthand refugee accounts of their houses being looted and set on fire. We came up to Gori in a Diplomatic car. Diplomats went in, but reporters weren’t allowed. Russians blocked us entry. I was there for a little less than 2 hours.

It is surreal to see blockposts of a foreign army on the highway I used to drive freely.

Had a bizzare episode with a Russian soldier. He jumped from a tank, came up to me, all smiles, asked me for cigarette and food. Totally caught me off guard. Gave him cig. and water.”

Other media sources have reported people fleeing from Gori, some of them on foot, along the main highway that was also the scene earlier of the Russian forces advancing towards Tbilisi. Without independent observers and/or journalists able to move into Gori it’s impossible to either completely confirm or deny accounts but I have heard from multiple sources of property being looted and of people hiding or fleeing from the Russian troops that entered Gori in clear violation of the “ceasefire.”

As President Saakashvili was denouncing Russia’s violation of the less than 24 hours old “ceasefire” and Russian troops and military hardware were heading towards Tbilisi along the main highway the Russian commander issued this statement:

“If he doesn’t understand the situation, we’ll have to go further,” said the commander, speaking on condition of anonymity. “He doesn’t seem to understand that the Russian Army is much stronger than the Georgian Army. His tanks remain in their places. His air force is dead. His navy is also. His army is demoralized.” (source NY Times)