Tracking the Russians in South Ossetia

From Russia there is only one way to get in and out of South Ossetia. The Transcaucasian Highway, or Transkam, runs from Vladikavkaz, the capital of the semi-autonomous republic of North Ossetia to the 3.5 km-long Roki Tunnel, which opens into South Ossetia. All the men and material that Russia is now using to fight Georgia came along this road.

I went up the Transkam on Wednesday to determine if the Russian army was pulling any men or machines out of the fight that Russian President Dmitri Medvedev said was over. Driving up the winding road through a half dozen tunnels blasted into the cliff face, with the Terek River rushing down the gorge in a gray stream, I passed a troop convoy of 19 trucks heading south, holding around 20 soldiers apiece. Later I passed a second, smaller convoy of a half-dozen trucks carrying more soldiers headed in the same direction. A third convoy of around a dozen fuel trucks accompanied by armed soldiers riding atop armored personnel carriers (APCs) ground its way up to the 9,840-ft.-high Roki Tunnel, raising clouds of dust that completely obscured the road and surrounding mountains. In the valley below, next to the braided river, two swaths of flatland had been turned into rear operating depots.

When I asked my driver to stop, he opened the hood to feign engine trouble in order to camouflage my efforts to take photos of the oncoming convoys crossing a bridge in the fading light. Coming to a halt about 15 km. from the heavily monitored border crossing into South Ossetia. near the village of Nar and a memorial honoring the 19th century Ossetian poet Konstantin Khetagati, a megaphone below echoed across the valley, announcing that it was illegal to stop along this section of the highway. After being detained twice in the last three days by Russia’s federal security service, my driver and I were both anxious to head down the valley back to Vladikavkaz. As a helicopter gunship flew low overhead — its rocket pod racks empty — I headed back to North Ossetia having seen evidence that Russia was re-supplying and re-enforcing its soldiers now fighting in South Ossetia and Georgia.

I had gone through the Roki Tunnel the day before with Russian troops, when the Kremlin had finally agreed to allow Western journalists accompany them to see Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia. The road into the city was covered in smoke. Every fifth house seemed to be on fire. Every fourth house was gutted, burned out by fires during the last week of fighting. With no roofs, the windows of the houses looked like empty, sky-blue eyes. People had left lunch sitting on the table in their arbor-covered courtyard — like they had left in a hurry. There was a dead and bloated cow lying fatly on its side in the middle of the road, baking in the sun. The Russian armored personnel carrier we rode in almost hit it.

The Russian army was not visible on the road but was definitely in control of the villages. In one, about 20 km. beyond the border, the village soccer field had been turned into a vehicle park. Old, white and blue buses used to pick up refugees were parked there around a massive bust of Vladimir Lenin. Soldiers in dark green fatigues and big, bright green round helmets lay in the sun eating lunch.

The low-slung, treaded APCs rolled up through the heavy dust. The Russian APC is like a tank without a turret. Twelve journalists and photographers climbed into a space made for eight. Even though we were doing this for our safety, the special forces soldiers sitting up top opened the hatches — it helped to keep us from sweating to death in the dark, but didn’t help with potential snipers.

After grinding along at high speed for 45 minutes with incredible noise, a soldier tapped me on the shoulder and told me to look. I put my head out slowly and the road was a disaster — houses on fire, windows broken, every gate ajar in a country where tidiness is valued. Smashed Russian-made cars lay on their sides in ditches, windows shot out — sometimes one big bullet hole, sometimes dozens. A large traffic jam had formed and was nearly obscured by the smoke of burning houses and the combined diesel exhaust of troop trucks, transport trucks for Hurricane rockets, tanks, self-propelled guns, radar-guided anti-aircraft guns and APCs heading south into the city.

The smoke of the burning city and Russian army was mixed with the exhaust of dozens and dozens of shot-up cars and three-wheel motorcycles carrying irregulars who had joined the fighting on Moscow’s side. These were men between the ages of 15 and 45 and they could be picked out because they mostly wore the camouflage trousers and blouse of Russian army along with white running shoes or plastic sandals. In the heat, some had forgone the blouse altogether and wore the blue and white striped undershirt of the Russian army. Others were in what they were wearing when they started fight: track suits, jeans, t-shirts. Many walked along the side of the road, swinging their AK-47s over their shoulder by the barrel. A handful could be seen riding down the road on three-wheeled motorcycles or even tractors, carrying refrigerators, air conditioning units and roto-tillers in the back. The spoils of war.

The army was only nominally in control of the mayhem. Officers were continually getting out of their trucks into the street to scream at looters and irregulars to make way for army convoys. At one point we were told the traffic jam was due to a three km. convoy of bread and water. It turned out a troop transport had parked too near a tank and had created a bottleneck. Many of the drivers had camouflage bulletproof vests slung over their windows — a further testament to the incomplete victory the Russians had won here. Georgian snipers still made the night dangerous.

Finally reaching a neighborhood east of the South Ossetian foreign ministry building, the APCs stopped and we got out and saw the remains of a fierce battle for an intersection. Two tanks lay mangled and burned black in the middle of the T-intersection. The white concrete columns of a recital hall were bent and cracked in half and a turret from a third tank had been blasted into the front of a Soviet-era office building. The fire that had destroyed the tanks was so hot that the main machine gun on one had melted. The steel wheels of the tank had melted into shining pools of fresh steel — shining in the sun. A shell crater in the street was filled with debris — a saw blade, trash, a South Ossetian license plate — and as I photographed it, I noticed an unexploded tank shell almost under my feet.

Old women and men — some injured, all in shock — wandered the streets. Some carried cloth shopping bags even though not a single store was open, let alone one that had not been riddled with small arms fire. A human foot, severed at the ankle, lay about 50 feet from the two tanks.

Next we went to the Old Jewish Quarter of Tskhinkali. Whereas three and five story houses had been standing in the previous neighborhood, here all of the old one and two-story houses had collapsed — burnt out or knocked down by rockets. Walking up the dirt road through the charred homes was Madina Dzhoyeva, 45, wearing a red blouse and long skirt, accompanied by her husband and their dog. They were examining the damage to their neighborhood.

“We went down into a bunker. Everything was already burning. Grad rockets began coming down in great numbers. It killed lots of people. There was blood everywhere,” she said. Walking down the lane, she pointed out a shallow crater covered by wooden planks fallen from a wall. “You wouldn’t believe that this is a spot where a person was almost killed,” she said. A neighbor and her daughter, a woman of about 24, had fallen there during the attack. “Now I don’t know where or how they are,” she said.

“The fire was so bad people weren’t even left with a handkerchief,” she said. Reaching her house, she looked up at the burnt-out shell. Flaking off a chip of paint on the mailbox, she began to cry. “We just finished this house. Where will we live now?” she said.

In another area of the neighborhood, a man walked through the rubble in plastic flip-flops and an unzipped track jacket. A Kalashnikov hung over his shoulder. As Russian special forces guards looked on, he said his name was Mamukha Zenashvili. “I am Georgian,” he said. In intense fighting between Georgian forces and combined Russian and South Ossetian forces, this man had stayed. When asked if he had fought against the Georgians he simply said, “I defended my family. My wife was pregnant.” She had safely had the baby, he said, in Vladikavkaz on Monday. “It’s a girl, but I don’t know her name,” he said. “I haven’t seen her yet.”

• Find this article at:
• http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1832771,00.html

We had no choice
Leaders in the Caucasus must stop flexing military muscle and develop the grounds for lasting peace

o Mikhail Gorbachev

The past week’s events in South Ossetia are bound to shock and pain anyone. Already, thousands of people have died, tens of thousands have been turned into refugees, and towns and villages lie in ruins. Nothing can justify this loss of life and destruction. It is a warning to all.

The roots of this tragedy lie in the decision of Georgia’s separatist leaders in 1991 to abolish South Ossetian autonomy. Each time successive Georgian leaders tried to impose their will by force – both in South Ossetia and in Abkhazia, where the issues of autonomy are similar – it only made the situation worse.

Nevertheless, it was still possible to find a political solution. Clearly, the only way to solve the South Ossetian problem on that basis is through peaceful means. The Georgian leadership flouted this key principle.

What happened on the night of August 7 is beyond comprehension. The Georgian military attacked the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali with multiple rocket launchers designed to devastate large areas. Russia had to respond. To accuse it of aggression against “small, defenceless Georgia” is not just hypocritical but shows a lack of humanity.

The Georgian leadership could do this only with the perceived support and encouragement of a much more powerful force. Georgian armed forces were trained by hundreds of US instructors, and its sophisticated military equipment was bought in a number of countries. This, coupled with the promise of Nato membership, emboldened Georgian leaders.

Now that the military assault has been routed, both the Georgian government and its supporters should rethink their position. When the problems of South Ossetia and Abkhazia first flared up, I proposed that they be settled through a federation that would grant broad autonomy to the two republics. This idea was dismissed, particularly by the Georgians. Attitudes gradually shifted, but after last week it will be much more difficult to strike a deal even on such a basis.

Small nations of the Caucasus do have a history of living together. It has been demonstrated that a lasting peace is possible, that tolerance and cooperation can create conditions for normal life and development. Nothing is more important. The region’s political leaders need to realise this. Instead of flexing military muscle, they should devote their efforts to building the groundwork for durable peace.

Over the past few days, some western nations have taken positions, particularly in the UN security council, that have been far from balanced. As a result, the security council was not able to act effectively from the very start of this conflict. By declaring the Caucasus, a region that is thousands of miles from the American continent, a sphere of its “national interest”, the US made a serious blunder. Of course, peace in the Caucasus is in everyone’s interest. But it is simply common sense to recognise that Russia is rooted there by common geography and centuries of history. Russia is not seeking territorial expansion, but it has legitimate interests in this region.

The international community’s long-term aim could be to create a sub-regional system of security and cooperation that would make any provocation, and the very possibility of crises such as this one, impossible. Building this type of system would be challenging and could only be accomplished with the cooperation of the region’s countries themselves. Nations outside the region could perhaps help, too – but only if they take a fair and objective stance. A lesson from recent events is that geopolitical games are dangerous anywhere, not just in the Caucasus.

· Mikhail Gorbachev was the last president of the Soviet Union; he was awarded the Nobel peace prize in 1990
——————————————————————————–
Thank You
Mikhail Gorbachev

Hello,

I have tried to see what the USA has to gain by lying in such a dogmatic; dictatorial way!

Elections, Oil, Increased Military Budget, Miss the Cold War or just plain Stupidity!

* (Stupidity (also called fatuity) is the property a person, action or belief instantiates by virtue of having or being indicative of low intelligence or poor learning abilities. Stupidity is distinct from irrationality because stupidity denotes an incapability or unwillingness to properly consider the relevant information. It is frequently used as a pejorative, and consequently has a negative connotation.)

I now have no doubt that the so called major free press in America is one of the least free medias on earth. The major news sources print nothing but what they are told to print. Seems that the USA Government controls the media, at least the major sources. Take a look at these statements that come from Western Media……….
——————————————————————————
Time Magazine Prints:

Moscow’s ruthless attempt to suborn, subdue and subordinate this tiny, independent democracy is reminiscent of Stalin’s times. The assault on Georgia is similar to what Stalin’s Soviet Union did to Finland in 1939: in both cases, Moscow engaged in an arbitrary, brutal and irresponsible use of force to impose domination over a weaker, democratic neighbor. The question now is whether the global community can demonstrate to the Kremlin that there are costs for the blatant use of force on behalf of anachronistic imperialist goals.

Bush Ran His Mouth:

Washington’s response to the crisis in Georgia this morning, declaring “solidarity with the Georgian people” after a series of meetings with intelligence and national security advisers in which reports of continuing movements by Russian forces in the region raised fears that Moscow might still be pursuing military ambitions in the country. The sum effect of Bush’s statements was to turn what had been a cautious approach from Washington into an aggressive one, and it raised the possibility of a sharper confrontation with Moscow.

Bush raised the rhetorical temperature several degrees in his statement. “Russia’s ongoing action raised serious questions about its intentions in Georgia and the region,” Bush said in a Rose Garden announcement Wednesday. In a veiled threat of isolating Russia from the World Trade Organization, the G-8 and the NATO consultative relationship it has held for more than a decade, Bush said Russia was “putting its aspirations [of international integration] at risk.”

Rice threatens again:

The US secretary of state has warned Russia that it risks isolation abroad if does not observe a ceasefire with Georgia and withdraw its troops.

Washington is showing unwavering support for Georgia in its conflict with Russia, a BBC correspondent notes.

USA Plays Games:

The Black Sea patrol ship Ladny had been due to take part in NATO’s Operation Active Endeavour in August and September involving anti-terrorism exercises and practicing search and rescue operations at sea, Russia’s navy command said last month.

It had already arrived off the coast of Turkey to take part in the operation.

But the diplomat said that following the fighting in the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia, Washington had withheld its agreement for the Russian ship to join the mission, launched after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

Time and CNN express concern:

A Russian military convoy challenged a cease-fire agreement Wednesday and rolled through a strategically important city in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, which claimed fresh looting and bombing by the Russians and their allies.

“The United States stands with the democratically elected government of Georgia and insists that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia be respected,” Bush said sternly in Washington.

Bush and the Embarrassment of a Speech: He forgot that Georgia killed South Ossetians, In fact GWB forgot about everything but Evil Russia!

———————————————————————————-
The Western press seems to have forgotten that Georgia was the one to attack a sleeping city in the night. The Western press seems to have forgotten all the facts except “Russia Invades Georgia!”

In Russia we get this for news.
———————————————————————————-
Kommersant says:

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov clarified yesterday the standing of Moscow in respect of the peace deal with Georgia. Russia heads for the international recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and insists on excluding Georgian military from peacekeeping forces in the conflict area. It looks like the West will have to bargain implementation of these terms. Moscow will not hold negotiations either with Mikheil Saakashvili or his people.

Kommersant says:

U.S. President George W. Bush threatened Russia with international isolation yesterday and announced the beginning of military intervention in the Russian-Georgian conflict. As part of its humanitarian operation in Georgia, the United States is sending military airplanes and ships to deliver aid to the victims of the war and to guard Georgian ports and airports. At the same time, an even more powerful military force, fresh from exercises of a naval blockade of Iran, are converging in the Persian Gulf.

RIA Novosti says:

The U.S. secretary of state has said Russia faces international isolation if it does not honor a ceasefire with Georgia.

“[There is a] very strong, growing sense that Russia is not behaving like the kind of international partner that it has said that it wants to be,” Condoleezza Rice told a news conference on Wednesday.

RIA Novosti says:

“I listened to George Bush’s statement … and was surprised … the facts he cited are untrue,” Lavrov said, echoing earlier denials by Russian officials that Russian troops were not advancing on Georgia’s capital Tbilisi.

RIA Novosti says:

Russian peacekeepers are removing equipment and weapons from an arms depot discovered near the Georgian town of Gori, close to the border with South Ossetia, a peacekeeping spokesman said on Wednesday.

“We have discovered an undefended Georgian army depot containing a significant amount of military hardware and weapons near the town of Gori. The military hardware is in full working order and combat ready,” the spokesman said.

Russiatoday says:

The total number of refugees from South Ossetia has topped 34,000. Convoys of refugees continue to stream into Russia’s southern regions, where they are being provided with food and shelter. And with the humanitarian corridor now open, aid is continuing to arrive.

Russiatoday printed:

“Saakashvili is responsible. Who are we? Are we animals or people? I have no house because of him. My daughter’s pregnant and I don’t know where she is. I have nothing. Saakashvili is responsible for this. We’re here because of him. And where are the georgian journalists to tell about this?” refugee Victoria Ivanadze said.
——————————————————————————-
Russia does not understand why the USA can not tell the truth and the truth is:

Saakashvili the glorified USA puppet, attacked a sleeping city of South Ossetians! He used Grad rocket launchers to bombard the Ossetians into submission and killed several thousand of them in a matter of hours. Now the USA ignores what Georgia did and plays a game of threating: Bush only talks about the USA unwavering support for a homicidal maniac and Russia better watch their P’s & Q’s.

The last shred of faith that I had in my Government has gone down the drain. My Grandma would have said: “Get your boots on, the cow piles are getting deep!”

Kyle & Svet

comments always welcome.

“We’re Glad Georgia Has Had to Withdraw Its Forces from Iraq”

http://www.kommersant.com/page.asp?id=1011127
The son of the Libyan leader talks to Kommersant about events in Georgia
Libya supported Russia in the UN Security Council in the conflict with Georgia
Thanks to the assistance of Oleg Mitvol, former deputy director the federal agency Rosprirodnadzor, Kommersant was able to ask the eldest son of Libyan leader Col. Muammar al-Gaddafi Saif-al-Islam Gaddafi, who told Mikhail Zygar why the Arab world is behind Russia.
Why has Libya decided to support Russia in the situation with Libya?

First, Libya has always supported Russia; there are excellent relations between us. We consider Russia a great country. Our prime minister spoke to Vladimir Putin about that during his last visit to Moscow. But that is not the only reason. All Arabs are mad at Georgia because it sent its troops to Iraq and took part in the occupation of that Arab land. Therefore, now people in all the Arab countries are glad that Georgia has had to withdraw its forces from Iraq. We understand that it wouldn’t have happened without Russia. If it weren’t for Russia, Georgian forces would still be in Iraq.

What happened in Georgia is a good signal. It means that America is no longer the only country in the world that can make the rules of the game. Now, not only America, but Russia, is a great power. Now there is balance in the world. Russia is being reborn, and we value that. It is very good for us, for all of the Middle East.

We understand, of course, that Georgia started the war first. The Georgian simply thought that the Americans would stand up for them, come and help them, fight along with them. And that is a signal to all countries that rely on America alone, thinking that closeness to the United States will allow them to do anything they want. It’s not so.

In general, I should say that it’s very silly when the Georgian president complains about the Russian invasion. How can you talk about occupation, when you are occupiers yourself? The Georgians along with the Americans occupy Iraq! And now they are trying to portray themselves as fighters for freedom and democracy.

Is that the position only of the Libyan leadership, or have you discussed it with your partners in other Arab countries?

Well, it is Libya’s opinion, of course. But believe me, all Arabs are glad Georgia has withdrawn its troops from Iraq. We simply decided to come forward first because Libya is a member of the UN Security Council and our voice will have weight.

Does Libya plan to introduce a resolution on Georgia in the Security Council, or just to support Russian initiatives?

We will support a Russian resolution. Our ambassador will be briefed and will consult with the Russian representative in the UN Security Council.

Do you think that joint Russian and Libyan actions in the Security Council will be successful?

We will support Russia in any case. We understand that Georgia was the first aggressor. And Russian peacekeepers were forced to respond. Russia should have the right to defend its citizens.

Libya has exerted a lot of effort recently to restore relations with the U.S. and Europe. Aren’t you risking damaging those relations now with strong statements?

No. Not at all. We have good relations with the West and with Russia. But Libya chose Russia as its strategic partner. Of course, Russia is our strategic partner, and we cannot compare it with any other country for closeness. That’s obvious.

Relations between Russia and Libya became so close after Vladimir Putin’s last visit to Tripoli. All at once, huge contracts were concluded on Russian Railways and Gazprom work in Libya. What was the reason for such closeness?

Not at all. Libya’s affinity for Russia has a long past. Libya has great affinity and respect for the Russian people. That’s the truth. Our cooperation has gone on for 40 years. That is the whole reason, and nothing more.

Libya was a pariah state. Now many are calling for Russia’s isolation. Do you think it is a real threat for Russia?

No, I don’t think so. The whole world needs Russian gas, Russian oil. It is not expedient for Europe to let relations with Russia worsen. And then we, the Libyans, will do everything possible to work in Russia and invest in its economy. Because Russia is a great country.

Is the idea of creating a natural gas OPEC still realistic?

We discussed that idea with Russia and said that we are ready to join that club. But the support of the other gas producing countries is needed still.

In the last few days, the Middle Eastern press has been writing that five American and British aircraft carriers suddenly appeared in the Persian Gulf. Do you think the U.S. can strike at Iran in the present situation?

No, I don’t think that will happen. Because Iran is not Georgia. And prices for oil are very high and the consequences of such an attack would be very serious.

The last question concerns your personal future. There have been rumors recently that you may replace your father soon as leader of Libya. Can you confirm or deny that?

It is true that many are trying to find the answer to that question now, especially in Libya. But you will be the first I answer. I will have to say a lot about it soon, but I have decided to leave politics. Instead, I will devote all my attention to the development of civil society and business in Libya, philanthropy. I decided to take a few steps back.
Interview by Mikhail Zygar

Abkhazia’s Foreign Ministry says its principal condition of beginning talks with Georgia is Tbilisi’s recognition of Abkhazian independence. It also says that recent sessions of the UN Security Council have illustrated the absence of any possible security guarantees from the international community in case of military aggression against it. The Abkhazian Foreign Ministry statement said: “Georgia’s actions, supported by disinformation by leading American and British media, once more confirm that Georgia was, and still is, considering the use of force in resolving the Georgia-Abkhazia conflict.

“Abkhazia considers it essential to keep a substantial contingent of Russian peacekeepers present on its territory, as only Russia can guarantee the preservation of the Abkhazian people and stability in the whole region.

“In particular the UN Security Council and the OSCE have proved helpless and incompetent in urgent conflict prevention.”

Currently, Abkhazia is a de facto independent state not recognised by any country. It proclaimed independence from Tbilisi in the 90s which resulted in a year-long war.

Abkhazia’s officials believe the independence of Kosovo earlier this year have set a precedent, and along with the outcome of the conflict in South Ossetia, it will be enough to provide a basis for a long-awaited resolution of the country’s status. (Link)

Speaking on South Ossetia’s events earlier this week, the Russian prime minister accused the West of double standards.

“They [the U.S.] of course had to hang Saddam Hussein for destroying several Shiite villages,” Vladimir Putin said.

“But the current Georgian rulers, who in one hour simply wiped ten Ossetian villages from the face of the earth, who used tanks to knock down children and the elderly, and who burnt civilians alive – they (Georgian leaders) are players who of course have to be protected.”