MediaCritic
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as some of you probably know, there is currently a new miniwar going on since yesterday. and the reporting on it in most Western TV and newspapers is so horribly warped that i'm seriously angry by now. so i thought i'd write down some key facts again, both to give you a better picture of the situation and for my own reference, so that i can point people to it if i have to.
1. Ethnogeographic background
the region in question is South Ossetia:
its background is that it is a sub-territory of Georgia, however to about 80% inhabited by Ossetians who are ethnically a different nation with their own language and culture. Ossetia was more or less forcefully (as well as Abchasia) integrated into the Georgian SSR by the Bolsheviks/Stalin (btw for those who dont know: Stalin was himself a Georgian, his real name being Iosef Dzhugashvili), with a more or less random border being drawn through it dividing it in North and South Ossetia, North Ossetia having a lot more ethnic Russians (and being part of Russia), and South Ossetia almost 100% ethnic Ossetians. however, as usual, after the collapse of the USSR in the 90s all of those border republics started to want independence, and South Ossetia was no exception. This led to a conflict between Ossetia and Georgia already in 1991, as a result about 100,000 Ossetians fled into the Russian North Ossetia, about 20.000 Georgians to Georgia, there was a ceasefire forced on Georgia by Russia, and an OSCE peacekeeping force was deployed in South Ossetia (staffed by Russians since the UN said they had no troops to spare for it). since USSR passports were no longer valid, Ossetians had the choice between getting a Georgian and a Russian passport, and the vast majority (over 90%) opted for the Russian one - which was a rather obvious choice given that in Georgia they are rather looked down upon and discriminated. since then, the situation remained more or less in a suspended state (no war, but occasional small conflicts) until yesterday night.
2. Behind the scenes in Georgia
now, to understand the reasons for what happened next, it is a good idea to take a step back and look at the current Georgian leadership and what they did in the last years. the current Georgian president is Mikhail Saakashvili, who came to power in 2003 in an unbloody coup after the election of the previous president Eduard Shevardnadze was considered rigged and he stepped down after a couple weeks of demonstrations (the so-called "Rose Revolution"). from the outset his general position was highly nationalistic, pro-US, and anti-Ossetian/Russian. why? nationalism and ethnic distinctions were very popular in Georgia at the time - like in many other places in times of instability and economic troubles (just take Germany in the Weimarer Republic times - Hitler made it very far with rather similar slogans). some other noteworthy details of his career are that he received a scholarship from the US State Department, studied at the Columbia Law School and George Washington University, and worked at a NY law firm. he is believed to maintain close ties with the US goverment, and has met with Bush and Rice (who visited Tbilisi and expressed support for Saakashvili's course). during his government, Georgia has received massive support in weapons and military training from NATO members (USA, Turkey, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic), increasing its military budget from $30 mil in 2002 to over $1 billion in 2008 (now almost 10% of the GDP - for comparison the Russian military budget is just 2.5% of the GDP, source: Izvestia.ru). over 8 thousand Georgian officers were trained in the USA and Turkey. as a total NATO countries provided Georgia with 175 tanks, 126 armored vehicles, 4 warplanes, 12 attack helicopters and 8 ships (source: RIA Novosti). Georgia under Saakashvili is considered a strategically important ally of the US (quote Bush) and provides 2000 troops for the US war in Iraq - 3rd largest force there after the US and the UK. currently there are over 2000 US citizens in Georgia, mostly military advisors/personnel (source: Reuters). in the last 2 years though, Saakashvili's internal popularity has dwindled strongly, with accusations of corruption in his cabinet and authoritarian, hardcore moves against the (already almost non-existing) opposition (which in combination with his ultranationalist stance earned him the nickname of "Mini-Führer").
3. Recent events
now, what happened in the last days? on August 4th-7th, there were minor skirmishes on the Ossetian-Georgian border as a lot of times before, with a total of about 15 casualties on the 7th. around 20h on the 7th of August (the day before the opening of the Olympiad btw), Saakashvili appeared on Georgian TV and offered “an immediate ceasefire and an immediate beginning of talks” with South Ossetia. He repeated an offer of autonomy within Georgia, saying that he was willing to make Russia the guarantor of any agreement (source: Times Online and RIA Novosti). However, only a short time after, around 23h, lots of Georgian forces were moved into position around Tskhinvali (South Ossetian capital). Russian peacekeepers became aware of it and requested explanation from Georgia repeatedly, but were told that the troops are being drawn off (source: peacekeeper commander-in-chief Murat Kulahmetov). about midnight of the 8th, massive Georgian artillery and ground-to-ground Grad missile fire started targeting Tskhinvali, supported by some attacks from Georgian assault planes. almost all buildings in the city centre were damaged, with a large number of almost exclusively civilian victims (the total count from the 8th is around 1500 dead in Tskhinvali - RIAN), but also 12 casualties and around 50 wounded among Russian peacekeepers (their camp was directly targeted by tank fire - it was shown on Russian TV how it now looks). the casualties had to be expected/desired by the Georgians, as the Grad (Russian for "hail") system is basically meant for a complete destruction of unarmored area targets such as infantry positions, buildings, or groups of light vehicles, and results in total slaughter when fired on a city (it fires up to 40 100-152 mm unguided missiles in very close succession which detonate in an area of like 1km^2 up to 20km away):
the city itself was almost destroyed, with buildings such as the university and the city hospital burning, and by now around 30,000 more inhabitants have fled towards the Russian border (source: numerous Russian and Ukrainian TV and news reports):
YouTube - ????? ?????? ? ???? (Tskhinvali early 8th)
YouTube - ?????? ???? ????? ? ????? ??????. ??????? ? ????? ??????? (news from late 8th)
around 3am on the 8th, Georgia launched a tank attack on Tskhinvali supported by infantry. they were met by Ossetian forces (which are however far weaker). at 4:30am, Russia called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council. around 10 am, the emergency meeting of the SC did not result in any resolution on the conflict. around noon on the 8th, Russia responded with warplanes being deployed into Ossetian airspace and the 58th army tank divisions moving towards Tskhinvali as well. around evening of the 8th, Georgian forces retreated from Tshkinvali, however hid themselves in the hilly forest areas around the city and continue firing at it occasionally.
1. Ethnogeographic background
the region in question is South Ossetia:
its background is that it is a sub-territory of Georgia, however to about 80% inhabited by Ossetians who are ethnically a different nation with their own language and culture. Ossetia was more or less forcefully (as well as Abchasia) integrated into the Georgian SSR by the Bolsheviks/Stalin (btw for those who dont know: Stalin was himself a Georgian, his real name being Iosef Dzhugashvili), with a more or less random border being drawn through it dividing it in North and South Ossetia, North Ossetia having a lot more ethnic Russians (and being part of Russia), and South Ossetia almost 100% ethnic Ossetians. however, as usual, after the collapse of the USSR in the 90s all of those border republics started to want independence, and South Ossetia was no exception. This led to a conflict between Ossetia and Georgia already in 1991, as a result about 100,000 Ossetians fled into the Russian North Ossetia, about 20.000 Georgians to Georgia, there was a ceasefire forced on Georgia by Russia, and an OSCE peacekeeping force was deployed in South Ossetia (staffed by Russians since the UN said they had no troops to spare for it). since USSR passports were no longer valid, Ossetians had the choice between getting a Georgian and a Russian passport, and the vast majority (over 90%) opted for the Russian one - which was a rather obvious choice given that in Georgia they are rather looked down upon and discriminated. since then, the situation remained more or less in a suspended state (no war, but occasional small conflicts) until yesterday night.
2. Behind the scenes in Georgia
now, to understand the reasons for what happened next, it is a good idea to take a step back and look at the current Georgian leadership and what they did in the last years. the current Georgian president is Mikhail Saakashvili, who came to power in 2003 in an unbloody coup after the election of the previous president Eduard Shevardnadze was considered rigged and he stepped down after a couple weeks of demonstrations (the so-called "Rose Revolution"). from the outset his general position was highly nationalistic, pro-US, and anti-Ossetian/Russian. why? nationalism and ethnic distinctions were very popular in Georgia at the time - like in many other places in times of instability and economic troubles (just take Germany in the Weimarer Republic times - Hitler made it very far with rather similar slogans). some other noteworthy details of his career are that he received a scholarship from the US State Department, studied at the Columbia Law School and George Washington University, and worked at a NY law firm. he is believed to maintain close ties with the US goverment, and has met with Bush and Rice (who visited Tbilisi and expressed support for Saakashvili's course). during his government, Georgia has received massive support in weapons and military training from NATO members (USA, Turkey, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic), increasing its military budget from $30 mil in 2002 to over $1 billion in 2008 (now almost 10% of the GDP - for comparison the Russian military budget is just 2.5% of the GDP, source: Izvestia.ru). over 8 thousand Georgian officers were trained in the USA and Turkey. as a total NATO countries provided Georgia with 175 tanks, 126 armored vehicles, 4 warplanes, 12 attack helicopters and 8 ships (source: RIA Novosti). Georgia under Saakashvili is considered a strategically important ally of the US (quote Bush) and provides 2000 troops for the US war in Iraq - 3rd largest force there after the US and the UK. currently there are over 2000 US citizens in Georgia, mostly military advisors/personnel (source: Reuters). in the last 2 years though, Saakashvili's internal popularity has dwindled strongly, with accusations of corruption in his cabinet and authoritarian, hardcore moves against the (already almost non-existing) opposition (which in combination with his ultranationalist stance earned him the nickname of "Mini-Führer").
3. Recent events
now, what happened in the last days? on August 4th-7th, there were minor skirmishes on the Ossetian-Georgian border as a lot of times before, with a total of about 15 casualties on the 7th. around 20h on the 7th of August (the day before the opening of the Olympiad btw), Saakashvili appeared on Georgian TV and offered “an immediate ceasefire and an immediate beginning of talks” with South Ossetia. He repeated an offer of autonomy within Georgia, saying that he was willing to make Russia the guarantor of any agreement (source: Times Online and RIA Novosti). However, only a short time after, around 23h, lots of Georgian forces were moved into position around Tskhinvali (South Ossetian capital). Russian peacekeepers became aware of it and requested explanation from Georgia repeatedly, but were told that the troops are being drawn off (source: peacekeeper commander-in-chief Murat Kulahmetov). about midnight of the 8th, massive Georgian artillery and ground-to-ground Grad missile fire started targeting Tskhinvali, supported by some attacks from Georgian assault planes. almost all buildings in the city centre were damaged, with a large number of almost exclusively civilian victims (the total count from the 8th is around 1500 dead in Tskhinvali - RIAN), but also 12 casualties and around 50 wounded among Russian peacekeepers (their camp was directly targeted by tank fire - it was shown on Russian TV how it now looks). the casualties had to be expected/desired by the Georgians, as the Grad (Russian for "hail") system is basically meant for a complete destruction of unarmored area targets such as infantry positions, buildings, or groups of light vehicles, and results in total slaughter when fired on a city (it fires up to 40 100-152 mm unguided missiles in very close succession which detonate in an area of like 1km^2 up to 20km away):
the city itself was almost destroyed, with buildings such as the university and the city hospital burning, and by now around 30,000 more inhabitants have fled towards the Russian border (source: numerous Russian and Ukrainian TV and news reports):
YouTube - ????? ?????? ? ???? (Tskhinvali early 8th)
YouTube - ?????? ???? ????? ? ????? ??????. ??????? ? ????? ??????? (news from late 8th)
around 3am on the 8th, Georgia launched a tank attack on Tskhinvali supported by infantry. they were met by Ossetian forces (which are however far weaker). at 4:30am, Russia called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council. around 10 am, the emergency meeting of the SC did not result in any resolution on the conflict. around noon on the 8th, Russia responded with warplanes being deployed into Ossetian airspace and the 58th army tank divisions moving towards Tskhinvali as well. around evening of the 8th, Georgian forces retreated from Tshkinvali, however hid themselves in the hilly forest areas around the city and continue firing at it occasionally.
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