MediaCritic

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 since USSR passports were no longer valid, Ossetians had the choice between getting a Georgian and a Russian passport, and the vast majority (over 90%) opted for the Russian one - which was a rather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):

(Tskhinvali early 8th)
(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.

MediaCritic

4. Motives

one may ask himself - why in hell would Georgia want to perform such an attack when it is sure there will be an immediate Russian response - who Georgia certainly cannot hope to win against, no matter its military budget.

however, if one thinks a bit, the answer is really not difficult, and there are tons of hints that all indicate the same. Saakashvili's central goal is not to win - it is to drive as many Ossetians out of South Ossetia as possible (and kill a lot in the process). the nighttime first-strike usage of area-attack Grad systems against Tskhinvali, the quick withdrawal of Georgian troops once Russia entered the conflict, the almost instant Saakashvili request for ceasefire after their attack, are about as clear indications of that as it gets. there are only about 70000 or so Ossetians actually left in South Ossetia after the repressions of the '91 war led to massive refuge streams into North Ossetia. with 30000 of them having fled the same direction already now, more sure to follow if the fighting continues, and the capital in ruins, Saakashvili can be fairly certain that South Ossetia as an ethnic province will simply cease to exist - thus solving all Georgian problems with it. its just plain and simple ethnic cleansing. there would simply be no point for Russia to defend a foreign territory where nobody even lives anymore.

while it is quite obvious that is the main objective of the Georgians here, there are more. if the above approach proves successful with Ossetia, there is no reason for Georgia not to do it a second time with the other wannabe-independent province, Abchasia. furthermore, the whole conflict serves as a good measuring stick for the Pentagon planners behind Saakashvili for the ability of the Russian military to respond to such events. it also clearly quite weakens Russia politically, and creates it a bad international image - especially with the extremely biased western reporting (see below). Saakashvili's almost comically overblown PR efforts are a clear indication of that - his speeches are almost all in English (even on Georgian TV), he constantly has the EU flag behind him (although Georgia has no relation to the EU), and he produces lots of unverifiable or just plain ridiculous statements - some samples:

"Russia has been bombing Georgia specifically targeting civilian population, and we have scores of wounded and dead among civilian population all around the country, and these are exclusively civilians"

"Russian troops are fighting against Georgian self-defense (sic) troops.. this is the worst nightmare one can encounter"

"They have been preparing and studying world opinion, how the world would react, and now they have just moved in, this is unheard of, absolutely outrageous"
(right.. they've been carefully studying world opinion in order to move in at the worst possible time)

"Russian president Putin has often told me this all is unacceptable for him, not only my close relations with the US and the West, but the political system Georgia has opted for - democracy and freedom" (carbon copy of the famous American question "why do they hate our freedom and democracy")

"We are attacked because we wanted to be free, because we wanted to build genuine democracy" (right.. destroying a city and killing lots of civilians had absolutely nothing to do with it)

"look at the timing: Olympic games, people dont care about politics, American elections, you know, most of the statesmen are gone for the holidays, and its ideal time to attack this small country.. i think it is a very well-planned provocation" (when i heard this I almost fell off my chair.. i think he forgot to add "by me")

"at 24am Russian APCs started to cross into Georgian territory, and there we had to act, there we had to fire back the artillery" (firing Grads on the centre of Tskhinvali to stop (mythical) Russian APCs crossing Georgian border 50km away.. yeah right..)

"this small nation is right now fighting for its survival, but we are also fighting for world peace and future world order" (this is so ridiculous that it needs no comment)

sources:
CNN interview
Reuters:

another potential goal of his may be to counter his recent drop in inner-Georgian popularity and the weak results and poll falsification accusations for the 2008 election, which is not so different from the old US strategy of inciting external conflicts to distract from deficiencies in inner politics.

so...all in all nothing really surprising here except perhaps the fact that the lunatic Saakashvili actually attacked a city and killed almost 2000 people on the opening day of the Olympic games - a fact unprecedented in history. if that was really authorized by his Pentagon bosses (and, well, given his very close ties to the US it must have be) then... man... they still live in the age of napalm and dropping nukes on Hiroshima.


5. Western news coverage

and now lets look at the way the western press and TV reported the issue... really an interesting study in indirect lying and propaganda techniques. first of all, the initial highly destructive, cruel, and underhanded Georgian attack on Tskhinvali was practically not reported in the US, or only as a minor footnote. their first messages about the war:

CNN: "Georgia under attack: Russian tanks invade". first CNN commentator about the war: Mikhail Saakashvili. he complains in English (with the EU flag in background - Georgia isnt even a EU member (!)) about being a poor victim of Russian aggression - while in the background they show the Georgian Grad systems firing at Tskhinvali (!!). they quote the number of people killed in Tskhinvali - but only once and in what a great way: "South Ossetia: 1600 killed in fighting" during the Saakashvili please-help-us speech. implied picture for the viewer: Russians killed them all. in the whole hour of the report, there is zero information from the Russian side, and zero information from the Ossetian side. just the Georgian "information" - with Saakashvili appearing 3 times.

British Sky News: same picture. first report: footage of Grads firing, and a comment of "Georgian side states that 7 of its citizens have been wounded in Russian strikes". followed by footage of Russian T-90s rolling into Ossetia. 1500 people killed by Georgians? Tskhinvali in ruins? too unimportant to notice. instead they show a split picture of left: reservists drafted by Saakashvili standing around in civil clothes looking noob, and on the right modern Russian T-90 tanks in antiradar camouflage and BTRs rolling by. another great (not-so-)subtle way to brainwash people into believing crap.

BBC: same crap. first TV report: Russian warplanes are bombing Georgian town of Gori. term they use to call the Ossetians: "separatists". headline article on BBC website: "Russian tanks enter South Ossetia", with subheadline "Georgia is fighting with separatists backed by Russia".

Times: same crap. "Russia turns might of its war machine on rebel neighbour Georgia", "Georgia calls for ceasefire after Russian invasion".

Washington Post: even worse. Headline: "Stopping Russia: The U.S. and its allies must unite against Moscow's war on Georgia".

The Guardian: "Russian tanks roll into Georgia as cities burn".

source: compilations of western TV clips and news website articles:




Italian TV: almost the same. Italian 1st channel news: "during Olympiad opening ceremony everyone hoped for peace and stability, and suddenly Russia attacks Georgia". source: Julietto Quieza, Italian member of the European Parliament.

for a bit of a contrast, in Germany, the initial Georgian attack was reported, and the whole news picture is somewhat more balanced. the SPD (one of the parties in the currently ruling coalition) criticized Georgia, its minister for foreign affairs Gernot Erler calling it a violation of international rights by Georgia, and the Russian response understandable (source: n-tv.de). however, the predominant TV coverage is still from correspondents in Georgia showing the Georgian point of view (a la "help us poor victims of Russian aggression").

German/Austrian/Swiss newspapers are in general less propagandistic too and the serious ones like FAZ or Die Zeit give a more balanced view, reporting the attack on Tskhinvali and analyzing the facts, with conclusions similar to what i wrote above. an article in the Austrian Der Standard by politics professor and East Europe expert Gerhard Mangott at the Universität Innsbruck said that the military escalation is exclusively in Georgia's interest, with Russia having no other choice than to respond by striking Georgian military.

the Swiss Neue Zürcher Zeitung called Saakashvili a provocateur and described him as "having lost the sense for reality".

still, from my general impression observing the news reporting in the last 2 days: how f***ing low can those so-called Western "journalists" and media sink? their "information" is disinformation^2. so, please, DONT TRUST YOUR TV AND NEWSPAPERS. read independent sources and papers like German/Austrian/Swiss ones. if all those media can get as perverse as defending this underhanded, cruel, calculated attack and the following hypocritical whining, they really arent far from the level of Goebbels' Propagandaministerium which called invading Poland - using the mightiest military machine in the world at the time - "self-defense".

ludahai

Wow! All this effort for your first two posts and you made them before checking the rules of this forum, which you have broken.

Still, to comment. I don't care about any of this. South Ossetia is part of Georgia. It is an internal matter to Georgia. It is none of Russia's business. I love how Russia and China love to complain about others interfering in the internal affairs of others, but they don't have any qualms about doing it themselves.

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Ludahai -魯大海
The Truth about the Chinese KMT, Taiwan's ruling party
KMT Terror Poster

bhkad

Welcome!

Helluva first post!

And I haven't even read it yet!

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But, when all is said and done, Senator McCain has not spent decades aiding and abetting people who hate America. http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/sowell060508.php3

MediaCritic

I don't care. my main intention is simply to inform people.

it is not. over 90% of the Ossetian population are Russian citizens, by choice. they do not want to be part of Georgia, and they are ethnically not Georgians. Ossetia was never by choice part of Georgia except a brief period between 1918 and 1921. it is arguable whether in '91 after the collapse of the USSR Ossetians should or should not have been given the chance to get Russian passports, but that happened, and now that they have them, there are no other options for Russia except to protect them.

furthermore, it is even less of an internal Georgian issue since the US has been actively involved in Georgia, providing it military aid, and generally influencing its government. this war, seen from a step back, is somewhat of a test run by Pentagon planners, for reasons explicitly outlined in my first post.


that is a banal generalization. situations are different for each specific conflict.

Tashah

Moderator's Warning:

Be advised. The rules of this forum are enforced. If this is your attitude, any future such *BN* posts will be Infracted and the thread moved to the Archives Forum where all posting is disallowed. Please read the Rules and Guidelines for posting in the *Breaking News* forum. *BN* Sticky (Please read - *Breaking News* Rules and Guidelines)

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MediaCritic

this will remain my first and last thread on this forum.

Tashah

If that is your choice so be it, but you are very welcomed to stay and continue to participate. All we ask in return is that the rules of this forum be adhered to. btw... Welcome to Debate Politics.

independent_thinker2002

C'mon, you don't have to be like that.

Welcome to the forum.

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==]:{o

Mach

Keep posting.

Why do you care about being zinged for some odd forum rules. Keep posting but in the appropriate area or meeting whatever guidelines are required. I mean, if you have good information to pass along, keep it going.

-Mach

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Let teachers and priests and philosophers brood over questions of reality and illusion. I know this: if life is an illusion, then I am no less an illusion, and being thus, the illusion is real to me. I live, I burn with life, I love, I slay, and I am content.- Conan