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Russia invades Georgia

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Kristina
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« on: August 08, 2008, 10:59:38 am »



Russia invades Georgia
Georgia's president said today that his country is under attack by Russian tanks and warplanes, and he accused Russia of targeting civilians as tensions over the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia appeared to boil over into full-blown conflict. The United States is calling for an immediate cease-fire.
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Kristina
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« Reply #1 on: August 08, 2008, 11:01:27 am »

Georgia 'under attack' as Russian tanks roll in
Story Highlights
Heavy fighting reported in breakaway Georgia region of South Ossetia

Russian tanks, troops moving towards Georgia, Russian TV shows

NEW: Georgia says it has shot down four Russian aircraft

NEW: Georgia claims it has control of separatist's main city; separatists deny claim
Next Article in World »


 Read  VIDEO MAP
     
TBLISI, Georgia (CNN) -- Georgia's president said Friday that his country is under attack by Russian tanks and warplanes, and he accused Russia of targeting civilians as tensions over the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia appeared to boil over into full-blown conflict.


 
Russia's Channel 1 shows heavy tanks purported to be on their way to South Ossetia.

 1 of 2  "All day today, they've been bombing Georgia from numerous warplanes and specifically targeting (the) civilian population, and we have scores of wounded and dead among (the) civilian population all around the country," President Mikhail Saakashvili told CNN in an exclusive interview.

"This is the worst nightmare one can encounter," he said.

Asked whether Georgia and Russia were now at war, he said, "My country is in self-defense against Russian aggression. Russian troops invaded Georgia."  Watch the interview with Saakashvili »

About 150 Russian armored vehicles have entered South Ossetia, Saakashvili said, and Georgian forces had shot down two Russian aircraft. Watch the Russian tanks moving into the area »

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meanwhile said Moscow had received reports that villages in South Ossetia were being ethnically cleansed, according to Reuters.com.

"We are receiving reports that a police of ethnic cleansing was being conducted in villages in South Ossetia, the number of refugees is climbing, the panic is growing, people are trying to save their lives," he was reported saying.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, quoted by the Russian news agency Interfax, said Russians had died because of Georgia's operations.

Russia "will not allow the deaths of our compatriots to go unpunished" and "those guilty will receive due punishment," he said. "My duty as Russian president is to safeguard the lives and dignity of Russian citizens, wherever they are. This is what is behind the logic of the steps we are undertaking now."

South Ossetia declared independence from Georgia in the early 1990s, but it was not internationally recognized. Many ethnic Ossetians feel close to Russia and have Russian passports and use its currency. iReport.com: Are you there, share your photos, videos

Russia's Defense Ministry said it sent "reinforcements" to South Ossetia to help the Russian peacekeepers already stationed there.

Earlier Friday, Russian military aircraft dropped two bombs on Georgian territory, a Georgian official said, causing no casualties. Georgian officials also report four Russian aircraft shot down.

The U.S., NATO and European Union have all called for an end to the fighting. U.S. President George Bush and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Friday discussed the conflict in Georgia, the White House confirmed.

In a letter addressed to his "fellow citizens" Friday, Saakashvili said he had mobilized tens of thousands of reserve officers and that the mobilization continued.

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"We must unite," Saakashvili wrote. "All of us, hundreds of thousands of Georgians here and abroad, should come together, unite, and fight to save Georgia. We are a freedom-loving people, and if our nation is united, no aggressor will be able to harm it."

Georgia declared a unilateral three-hour cease fire at 3 p.m. to enable civilians to escape from the conflict zone, which so far was focused inside South Ossetia but included aerial targets inside Georgia, Saakashvili said.

"Clearly they don't really have boundaries in their activities," said Georgian Foreign Minister Eka Tkeshelashvili, in an interview with CNN. She said Russian aircraft had bombed "several villages" in Georgia outside of the South Ossetian territory.

By early evning Friday, Georgian Cabinet minister said the country's forces have taken control of the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali. He spoke to Interfax news agency, which also quoted separtists denying the city was udner Georgian control.

Tkeshelashvili said Georgian authorities are still collecting information on casualties.

Georgia was appealing to the world for diplomatic intervention, she said, stressing that Georgia was not asking for military assistance.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said it was sending an envoy to the region immediately.

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer issued a statement Friday saying he was seriously concerned about the recent events in the region, and he called on all sides to end armed clashes and begin direct talks.  Watch more about NATO's attempts to help Georgia »

Carmen Romero, a NATO spokeswoman speaking to CNN from Brussels, reiterated Scheffer's statement. She said NATO was in regular contact with Georgia's president and was talking to the Russian side.

Britain and the United States also urged all sides to bring an immediate end to the violence. Acting U.S. State Department spokesman Gonzo Gallegos said: "We support Georgia's territorial integrity and call for an immediate cease-fire. We urge all parties ... to de-escalate and avoid conflict

An emergency session of the U.N. Security Council on Friday discussed the dramatic escalation of violence. The session ended Friday morning without a statement about the fighting.

Violence has been mounting in the region in recent days, with sporadic clashes between Georgian forces and South Ossetian separatists. Georgian troops launched new attacks in South Ossetia late Thursday after a top government official said a unilateral cease-fire offer was met with separatist artillery fire.

Alexander Lomaia, the secretary of Georgia's National Security Council, said Georgian troops were responding proportionately to separatist mortar and artillery attacks on two villages -- attacks he said followed the cease-fire and call for negotiations by Saakashvili.

Russia said a Georgian attack on a military barracks left a number of Russian peacekeepers dead.

"It's all very sad and alarming," Putin said earlier in the day. "And, of course, there will be a response."

"There are lots of volunteers being gathered in the region, and it's very hard to withhold them from taking part. A real war is going on," Putin said, according to his spokesman, Dmitry Peskov.

Russian peacekeepers are in South Ossetia under a 1992 agreement by Russian, Georgian, and South Ossetian authorities to maintain what has been a fragile peace. The mixed peacekeeping force also includes Georgian and South Ossetian troops.

Saakashvili said the Russian invasion of South Ossetia was pre-planned.


"These troops that are in Georgia now -- they didn't come unexpectedly," the president told CNN. "They had been amassing at the border for the last few months. They claimed they were staging exercises there and as soon as a suitable pretext was found, they moved in."

Georgia, located on the Black Sea coast between Russia and Turkey, has been split by Russian-backed separatist movements in South Ossetia and another region, Abkhazia.
-- Journalist Elene Gotsadze contributed to this report.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/08/08/georgia.ossetia/index.html
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Kristina
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« Reply #2 on: August 08, 2008, 11:01:58 am »



Georgian troops fire rockets at seperatist South Ossetian troops from an unnamed location not far from Tskhinvali.
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« Reply #3 on: August 08, 2008, 05:01:03 pm »

Wrong, Georgian aggressors attacked first with US special forces working with them.

More New World Order provocations !!!!!!!!!!!
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Kai Fonder
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« Reply #4 on: August 09, 2008, 09:50:06 pm »

U.S. official: Russia's attack on Georgia is 'disproportionate'

Story Highlights
Russia strikes signal a "dangerous escalation in the crisis," official says

Official: Russia is probably trying to kill Georgia's chances of joining NATO

U.S. has told Georgia that it has no chance of winning a war with Russia

European allies have said Russia has "crossed a line of unacceptable behavior."

Next Article in World »


 Read  VIDEO
From Elise Labott
CNN

     
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Russia's use of strategic bombers and ballistic missiles against Georgia's civilians outside of the South Ossetian conflict is "far disproportionate" to Georgia's alleged attack on Russian peacekeepers, a senior U.S. official said Saturday.



 
Russian military vehicles line the road to the South Ossetia area of Georgia.

 1 of 2  The official was not authorized to speak on the record due to the sensitive nature of the diplomacy.

Russia's use of its potent air weaponry signals a "severe" and "dangerous escalation in the crisis," the official said.

"For the life of me, I can't image that being a proportionate response to the charge that Georgia has attacked Russian peacekeepers," the official said. "It's hard for us to understand what Russia's plan is here."

The official said Russia is probably trying to destabilize Georgia politically to kill its chances of joining NATO.

Georgia wants to join NATO, but Russia opposes the move, concerned that the alliance's eastward march will erode its influence. NATO rejected Georgia's membership bid in April despite strong lobbying from U.S. President Bush, though the alliance promised that Georgia could join at a later date.  Watch President Bush comment on conflict »

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Still, Georgia bears some of the blame for the fighting over South Ossetia, the official said. Recently, the United States has had "very blunt exchanges with" Georgia, telling its leaders that they have no chance of winning a war with Russia and that they should stick to a path of diplomacy.  Watch injured Georgian soldier being treated »

The official said European allies have told the United States that Russia has "crossed a line of unacceptable behavior" and should "expect international condemnation."

"I do sense an emerging unified view among our key allies," he said.

The United Sates, Britain and NATO on Friday called for a cease-fire. And on Saturday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy proposed an immediate cease-fire as part of a three-step plan to end fighting.

Sarkozy's proposal calls for the return of Russian and Georgian troops to their former positions and requires Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity be respected. A statement from Sarkozy's office did not provide further details on the plan.

The official also said the State Department has authorized only the voluntary departure of dependents of U.S. embassy employees from the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. The official said he did not know how many dependents would choose to leave.

Meanwhile, the U.N. Security Council held a private meeting on Georgia on Saturday, though it seemed unlikely that there would be any immediate agreement on a statement on the conflict.

The U.S., European Union and international security organizations on Friday called for an end to the fighting

Bush and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Friday discussed the conflict in Beijing, where they attended the opening of the Summer Olympics.


The EU and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe were sending envoys to Georgia to secure a cease-fire, but a senior U.S. State Department official said the United States would send only a representative after a cease-fire is in place.

The European Union said it was working with other parties "towards a ceasefire in order to prevent further escalation of this conflict." EU spokeswoman Christina Gallach told CNN: "We think it is not acceptable to see these scenes of bloodshed and destruction."
http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/08/09/georgia.reax/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
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Kai Fonder
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« Reply #5 on: August 09, 2008, 09:52:54 pm »

Russian warplanes target Georgia


Story Highlights
2,000 people have been killed in South Ossetia, Russian ambassador says

40 military killed and mounting civilian casualties, Georgia official says

Russian prime minister: Georgia's actions are "crime against their own people."

French President Nicolas Sarkozy proposes an immediate cease-fire

Next Article in World »


 Read  VIDEO  PHOTOS MAP EXPLAINER
     
TBLISI, Georgia (CNN) -- Dozens of Russian warplanes bombed civilian and military targets in the former republic of Georgia on Saturday, and a Russian ambassador said that as many as 2,000 people had been killed in in the capital of separatist Georgian province South Ossetia.



 
A burning appartment building, damaged by a Russian airstrike, in the northern Georgian town of Gori.

 1 of 2 more photos »  "The city of Tskhinvali no longer exists. There is nothing left. It was wiped out by the Georgian military," the Russian news agency Interfax said, quoting the Russian ambassador to Georgia, Vyacheslav Kovalenko.

Tskhinvali residents who survived the bombardment by hiding in basements and later fled the city estimated that hundreds of civilians had died. They said bodies were everywhere, according to The Associated Press.

CNN could not independently confirm any death tolls, which varied greatly depending on the source.

Alexander Lomaia, secretary of Georgia's National Security Council, said dozens of Georgian troops had lost their lives.  Watch Georgian minister describe fighting in South Ossetia »

"Our losses are mounting ... as many as 40 military servicemen killed and over 100 wounded," he said. "The losses are also mounting among civilian population in the cities."

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Lomaia said Georgian troops in Tskhinvali were engaged in fierce ground battles on Saturday with Russian troops, whom he said were engaged in a full-scale military operation.

The operation included tanks, armored vehicles, heavy artillery, soldiers and paratroopers, Lomaia said.

Military aircraft were crossing the Georgian border about every 15 minutes, he said, hitting civilian, economic and military targets. He said that at least 50 military jets were being used.  Watch images of crashed Georgian war plane »

"Frankly, we have not expected the Russian invaders to hit our residential buildings, to hit our peaceful cities, to hit our peaceful citizens," he said.

He said he couldn't confirm whether Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, had been hit.

"From the legal point of view, our actions are absolutely justified and legitimate," Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said in Vladikavkaz, the capital of the Russian region of North Ossetia. "Moreover, they are necessary."

He arrived in the region that borders South Ossetia on Saturday night.

Putin's press secretary told Interfax that the premier was concerned about the flood of refugees arriving in Russia from South Ossetia. Russian officials said that more than 30,000 refugees have left South Ossetia and crossed into Russia over the past two days, Interfax reported.

"The actions of the Georgian authorities in South Ossetia are a crime, of course, primarily a crime against their own people," Putin said.

"This aggression led to numerous casualties, among civilians in particular, and virtually caused a real humanitarian catastrophe. And that is already a crime against the Ossetian people," he said.

"At the same time I would like to stress that Georgia has always been greatly respected in Russia and Georgians regarded as brotherly people," the premier said.

Russians struck several major targets Saturday, including the Black Sea port of Poti, an airport, a major pipeline and a military base and train station in Senaki in western Georgia, Lomaia said. Georgian officials said that a center housing civilians had also been hit. Eight Georgians died in the port town, Georgian officials said.

The Kodori Gorge in upper Abkhazia -- a second breakaway province in Georgia -- was also bombarded by at least 12 Russian jets, Lomaia said.

Georgia's public television station reported a second round of bombings in Abkhazia at just before 11:30 p.m.

Military bases at Vaziani and Marneuli also came under attack, the British Foreign Office said, and Russian aircraft bombed the Georgian town of Gori, about 35 miles northwest of Tbilisi, Georgian officials said.

An Associated Press reporter who visited Gori shortly after the Russian airstrikes Saturday saw several apartment buildings in ruins, some still on fire, and scores of dead bodies and bloodied civilians. The elderly, women and children were among the victims.

A Russian naval fleet was anchored in the Black Sea port of Ochamchire in Abkhazia province, Lomaia added.

"We have managed to down 10 Russian jets, and one of the pilots has been captured alive and is being treated in a military hospital," Lomaia said. "We have also destroyed up to 30 Russian tanks and heavy military [vehicles]."

The situation in South Ossetia escalated rapidly from Thursday night, when Georgia said it had launched an operation into the region after its unilateral cease-fire was met with artillery fire from separatists that killed 10 people, including peacekeepers and civilians. It accused Russia of backing the separatists.

Russian tanks began rolling into Georgia on Thursday night.

On Saturday, the Georgian parliament approved President Mikhail Saakashvili's request to impose a "state of war" for 15 days, officials said.

The order is not a formal declaration of war and stops short of declaring martial law, according to Georgian officials.

It gives Saakashvili powers he would not ordinarily have, such as issuing curfews, restricting the movement of people or limiting commercial activities, those officials said.

Saakashvili asked Western leaders to pressure Russia to agree to an immediate cease-fire.

"We are dealing with absolutely criminal and crazy acts of irresponsible and reckless decision makers, which is on the ground producing dramatic and tragic consequences," Saakashvili said Saturday afternoon.

U.S. President Bush, speaking from Beijing, China, called for an immediate halt to the violence, a stand-down by all troops and an end to the Russian bombings. He urged the sides to return to "the status quo of August the 6th."  Watch Bush express concerns over situation »

"The attacks are occurring in regions of Georgia far from the zone of conflict in South Ossetia. They mark a dangerous escalation in the crisis," Bush said in a statement while attending the Olympic Games, according to The Associated Press.

Bush spoke Saturday evening to Saakashvili and Russian President Medvedev, a White House spokesman said.

The war, Saakashvili said, "is not about South Ossetia. It has never been in the first place. It is about destroying a small democratic nation aspiring to live in peace, freedom and liberty."

"This unprovoked, long-time-ago-planned invasion and aggression must stop," he said.

It was unclear which side controlled Tskhinvali on Saturday. The Georgians said fighting raged, but the Russians said they had "liberated" the city.

"Battalion task forces have fully liberated Tskhinvali of Georgian armed forces and started pushing Georgian units out of the area of responsibility of the peacekeeping forces," General Vladimir Boldyrev, commander of the Russian Ground Forces, told Interfax.

Colonel-General Anatoly Nogovitsyn, a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, said that Georgians had shot down two Russian aircraft, contradicting Georgian claims.


Georgia, a pro-Western ally of the United States, is intent on asserting its authority over South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Both have strong Russian-backed separatist movements.

Inside South Ossetia, civilians have been without water, electricity and basic services for more than a day, said Maia Kardava, a Red Cross spokeswoman in Tbilisi. She said the Red Cross was unable to reach colleagues based in Tskhinvali because their phones had lost power and they were huddled in bomb shelters.
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CNN's Elise Labott and journalist Elene Gotsadze contributed to this report.

Copyright 2008 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/08/09/georgia.ossetia/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
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Kai Fonder
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« Reply #6 on: August 09, 2008, 09:54:35 pm »

Wrong, Georgian aggressors attacked first with US special forces working with them.

More New World Order provocations !!!!!!!!!!!

They'd have to be pretty stupid to attack Russia, which would simply absorb them back into their own territory again.
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Tom Hebert
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« Reply #7 on: August 10, 2008, 04:22:54 am »

It's a very complicated situation.  Let's hope there is a diplomatic solution in the near future.
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Volitzer
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« Reply #8 on: August 10, 2008, 01:35:05 pm »

Wrong, Georgian aggressors attacked first with US special forces working with them.

More New World Order provocations !!!!!!!!!!!

They'd have to be pretty stupid to attack Russia, which would simply absorb them back into their own territory again.

Cheney and the Neocons are looking for any excuse or Hegelian crisis to stay in office.

We can't seriously put it by these neocon guys can we ?
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Anassa
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« Reply #9 on: August 11, 2008, 06:13:45 pm »

Not all that complicated. There is a sector of georgia called South Ossetia, which wanted autonomy just like Kosovo did from the serbs - and they got it, supported by the US.
Most South Ossetians are Russians.
Georgia, which wants entry to NATO is buddies with Bush and they have a deal to bypass Russia with a gas pipeline through to Turkey.
Georgia claims sovereignty over South Ossetia and when everyone's back was turned towards the olympics, where Putin was, Georgia took the chance to move on South Ossetia and Russia moved in to stop them.
Now everyone is screaming that Russia are the baddies and South Ossetia  belongs to Georgia when in fact the Georgians were up for a little ethic cleansing on the side.
More double standards from the West. It was all right for Kosovo to break away from Serbia but not all right for the South Ossetians to breakaway from Georgia. All depends on who your friends are I guess.
And who gave the Georgians the weapons and trained them....I wonder...
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Tobias Niles
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« Reply #10 on: August 11, 2008, 06:55:44 pm »

Regardless of who was the aggressor, Russia is using the opportunity to drive deeper into Georgia and seize it's territory. They've also cut off their access to the Black Sea and killed thousands. They have responded disproportionately.

They are going to conquer all of Georgia and it will no longer exist as a republic.  They are the ones conquering this county and you don't think they're the bad guys..?
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« Reply #11 on: August 12, 2008, 02:00:58 am »

RUSSIA DRIVES DEEPER INTO GEORGIA


ZUGDIDI, Georgia — Russian tanks roared deep into Georgia on Monday, launching a new western front in the conflict, and Russian planes staged air raids that sent people screaming and fleeing for cover in some towns.

The escalating warfare brought sharp words from President Bush, who pressed Moscow to accept an immediate cease-fire and pull its troops out to avert a "dramatic and brutal escalation" of violence in the former Soviet republic.

Russian forces for the first time moved well outside the two restive, pro-Russian provinces claimed by Georgia that lie at the heart of the dispute. An Associated Press reporter saw Russian troops in control of government buildings in this town just miles from the frontier and Russian troops were reported in nearby Senaki.

Georgia's president said his country had been sliced in half with the capture of a critical highway crossroads near the central city of Gori, and Russian warplanes launched new air raids across the country.

The Russian Defense Ministry, through news agencies, denied it had captured Gori and also denied any intentions to advance on the Georgian capital of Tbilisi.

The western assault expanded the days-old war beyond the central breakaway region of South Ossetia, where a crackdown by Georgia last week drew a military response from Russia.

While most Georgian forces were still busy fighting there, Russian troops opened the western attack by invading from a second separatist province, Abkhazia, that occupies Georgia's coastal northwest arm.

Russian forces moved into Senaki, 20 miles inland from the Black Sea, and seized police stations in Zugdidi, just outside the southern fringe of Abkhazia. Abkhazian allies took control of the nearby village of Kurga, according to witnesses and Georgian officials.


U.N. officials B. Lynn Pascoe and Edmond Mulet in New York, speaking at an emergency Security Council meeting asked for by Georgia, also confirmed that Russian troops have driven well beyond South Ossetia and Abkhazia, U.N. diplomats said on condition of anonymity because it was a closed session. They said Russian airborne troops were not meeting any resistance while taking control of Georgia's Senaki army base.

"A full military invasion of Georgia is going on," Georgian Ambassador Irakli Alasania told reporters later. "Now I think Security Council has to act."

France also circulated a draft resolution calling for the "cessation of hostilities, and the complete withdrawal of Russian and Georgian forces" to prior positions. The council is expected to take up the draft proposal Tuesday.

The Georgian president, Mikhail Saakashvili, told CNN late Monday that Russian forces were cleansing Abkhazia of ethnic Georgians.

"I directly accuse Russia of ethnic cleansing," he said. At the U.N. on Friday, each side accused the other of ethnic cleansing.

By late Monday, Russian news agencies, citing the Defense Ministry, said troops had left Senaki "after liquidating the danger," but did not give details.

Early Tuesday, Russia's Interfax news agency reported that separatist troops in Abkhazia started an operation to push Georgian forces out of the northern Kodori Gorge, the only area of Abkhazia still under Georgian control. Interfax reported that Abkhazia defense headquarters said the offensive began about 2 a.m.

The new Russia assault came despite a claim earlier in the day by a top Russian general that Russia had no plans to enter undisputed Georgian territory.

Saakashvili earlier told a national security meeting Russia had also taken central Gori, which its on Georgia's only east-west highway, cutting off the eastern half of the nation from the western Black Sea coast.

But the news agency Interfax cited a Russian Defense Ministry official as denying Gori was captured. Attempts to reach Gori residents by telephone late Monday did not go through.

Fighting also raged Monday around Tskhinvali, the capital of the separatist province of South Ossetia.

Even as Saakashvili signed a cease-fire pledge Monday with European mediators, Russia flexed its military muscle and appeared determined to subdue the small U.S. ally, which has been pressing for NATO membership.

"The bombs that are falling on us, they have an inscription on them: This is for NATO. This is for the U.S.," Saakashvili told CNN.

Russia's massive and multi-pronged offensive has drawn wide criticism from the West, but Russia has rejected calls for a cease-fire and said it was acted to protect its citizens. Most residents of the separatist regions have Russian passports.

In Zugdidi, an AP reporter saw five or six Russian soldiers posted outside an Interior Ministry building. Several tanks and other armored vehicles were moving through the town but the streets were nearly deserted. Shops, restaurants and banks were shut down.

In the city of Gori, an AP reporter heard artillery fire and Georgian soldiers warned locals to get out because Russian tanks were approaching. Hundreds of terrified residents fled toward Tbilisi, many trying to flag down passing cars.

An AP film crew saw Georgian tanks and military vehicles speeding along the road from Gori to Tbilisi. Firing began and people ran for cover. Cars could be seen in flames along the side of the road.

Both provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia have run their own affairs without international recognition since fighting to split from Georgia in the early 1990, and both have close ties with Moscow.

When Georgia began its offensive to regain control over South Ossetia, the Russian response was swift and overpowering _ thousands of troops and tanks poured in.

Georgia had pledged a cease-fire, but it rang hollow Monday. An AP reporter saw a small group of Georgian fighters open fire on a column of Russian and Ossetian military vehicles outside Tskhinvali, triggering a 30-minute battle. The Russians later said all the Georgians were killed.

Another AP reporter was in the village of Tkviavi, 7 1/2 miles south of Tskhinvali inside undisputed Georgian territory, when a bomb from a Russian warplane struck a house. The walls of neighboring buildings fell as screaming residents ran for cover. Eighteen people were wounded.

Hundreds of Georgian troops headed north Monday along the road toward Tskhinvali, pocked with tank regiments creeping up the highway into South Ossetia.

In a statement in the Rose Garden, Bush said there was an apparent attempt by Russia to unseat the pro-Western Saakashvili. He said further Russian action would conflict with Russian assurance its actions were meant to restore peace in the pro-Russian separatist areas.

Bush and other Western leaders have also complained that Russian warplanes _ buzzing over Georgia since Friday _ have bombed Georgian oil sites and factories far from the conflict zone.

The world's seven largest economic powers urged Russia to accept an immediate cease-fire agree to international mediation.

Putin criticized the United States for viewing Georgia as the victim instead of the aggressor, and for airlifting Georgian troops back home from Iraq on Sunday.

"Of course, Saddam Hussein ought to have been hanged for destroying several Shiite villages," Putin said in Moscow. "And the incumbent Georgian leaders who razed ten Ossetian villages at once, who ran elderly people and children with tanks, who burned civilian alive in their sheds _ these leaders must be taken under protection."

The U.S. military was informing Russia about the flights from Iraq to avoid mishaps, one military official said Monday on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the subject on the record.

A Defense Department spokesman said the U.S. expected to have all Georgian troops out of Iraq by day's end.

Pentagon officials said Monday that U.S. military was assessing the fighting every day to determine whether to pull the fewer than 100 remaining American trainers out of the country.

EU envoys were headed to Moscow to try to persuade Russia to accept a cease-fire. French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he will meet Tuesday in Moscow with President Dmitri Medvedev and then travel to Tbilisi for a meeting with Saakashvili.

Saakashvili voiced concern Russia's true goal was to undermine his pro-Western government. "It's all about the independence and democracy of Georgia," he said.

The Georgian president said Russia had sent 20,000 troops and 500 tanks into Georgia. He said Russian warplanes were bombing roads and bridges, destroying radar systems and targeting Tbilisi's civilian airport. One Russian bombing raid struck the Tbilisi airport area only a half-hour before EU envoys arrived, he said.

Another hit near key Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline, which carries Caspian crude to the West. No supply interruptions have been reported.

At least 9,000 Russian troops and 350 armored vehicles were in Abkhazia, according to a Russian military commander.

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said more than 2,000 people have been killed in South Ossetia since Friday, most of them Ossetians with Russian passports. The figures could not be independently confirmed, but refugees who fled Tskhinvali over the weekend said hundreds had been killed.

Many found shelter in the Russian province of North Ossetia.

"The Georgians burned all of our homes," said one elderly woman, as she sat on a bench under a tree with three other white-haired survivors. "The Georgians say it is their land. Where is our land, then?"

___

Associated Press writers Chris Torchia reported from Zugdidi, Georgia; Misha Dzhindzhikhashvili from Tbilisi, Georgia; David Nowak from Gori, Georgia; Douglas Birch from Vladikavkaz, Russia; Jim Heintz, Vladimir Isachenkov and Lynn Berry from Moscow; and Pauline Jelinek from Washington and John Heilprin from the U.N.
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Winter Soldier
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« Reply #12 on: August 12, 2008, 02:02:32 am »



Russian troops leave armored vehicles and trucks near the village of Khurcha in Georgia's breakaway province of Abkhazia, Sunday, Aug. 10, 2008, heading toward the border with Georgia. Russia warned Monday that its troops in Georgia's breakaway province of Abkhazia will cross into the Georgian-controlled territory if Georgian troops in the area refuse to disarm. Georgian Security Council chief Alexander Lomaia said Gen. Sergei Chaban in charge of Russian peacekeepers in Abkhazia conveyed the demand Monday through U.N. military observers in the area. (AP Photo/Vladimir Popov)
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Anassa
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« Reply #13 on: August 12, 2008, 03:58:21 am »

One of the first things Georgia did when it began its invasion of South Ossetia, other than killing 2,000 innocent people, was launch an unprovoked attack on a UN barracks manned by Russian peacekeepers and killing a whole bunch of them as well. Some might call that an act of war.
Disproportinate response by Russia? The whole nature of war is NOT to play fair, and if you declare war then you have to be prepared to face the consequences. Isn't that what we told Afghanistan and Iraq when the West invaded them after their act of war on the US... ie 911... even though most of those guys were Saudi Arabian....but that's another story.
That's not to say I don't feel sorry for innocent Georgians but I can't muster any sympathy for the person who brought this onslaught on them. Georgia signed up to South Ossetia autonomy and a week later invaded them. Was that fair?

Conclusion

1. The Georgians started it.

2. They lost.

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Tom Hebert
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« Reply #14 on: August 12, 2008, 05:58:15 am »

If only it was that cut and dried, but it's not.  Neither side is all right or all wrong.
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