*This page will be updated as the situation unfolds.

NEWS

11 August

Georgia Retreats, Pleads for Truce - Peter Finn, Washington Post

The Georgian army, suffering massive casualties in the face of overwhelming Russian firepower, retreated from the breakaway region of South Ossetia on Sunday. Georgian leaders' recent expressions of defiance turned increasingly into pleas for a cease-fire and Western support in the face of a military debacle. Russia ignored calls for a truce and continued to bomb targets deep in Georgia, with little apparent opposition, drawing new condemnation from the United States and other Western countries. President Bush spoke of his "grave concern about the disproportionate response," and the White House warned of serious setbacks in relations with Russia if the onslaught against a close US ally did not end. Russian airstrikes Sunday evening hit the international airport and a military factory in the capital, Tbilisi, as well as Georgian-held positions in Abkhazia, another breakaway region on the Black Sea. Russian warships were reported to be blockading a Georgian Black Sea port and to have sunk a Georgian gunboat.

Russians Push Past Separatist Area - New York Times

Russia expanded its attacks on Georgia on Sunday, moving tanks and troops through the separatist enclave of South Ossetia and advancing toward the city of Gori in central Georgia, in its first direct assault on a Georgian city with ground forces during three days of heavy fighting, Georgian officials said. The maneuver - along with bombing of the Georgian capital, Tbilisi - seemed to suggest that Russia’s aims in the conflict had gone beyond securing the pro-Russian enclaves of South Ossetia and Abkhazia to weakening the armed forces of Georgia, a former Soviet republic and an ally of the United States whose Western leanings have long irritated the Kremlin. Russia’s moves, which came after Georgia offered a cease-fire and said it had pulled its troops out of South Ossetia, caused widespread international alarm and anger and set the stage for an intense diplomatic confrontation with the United States.

Russia Intensifies Attack on Georgia - Kelly Hearn, Washington Times

Russian planes, troops and artillery units pounded the Georgian city of Gori in a "massive" attack, Georgian officials said Monday as the three-day war over an ethnic enclave in Georgia appeared to escalate. "There was massive bombing of Gori all evening and now we are getting reports of an imminent attack by Russian tanks," said ministry official Shota Utiashvili, who was quoted early Monday in a report by Agence France-Presse. Gori is in Georgia, south of the border with South Ossetia, the disputed region that prompted the bloody conflict. Georgia on Sunday said it was withdrawing troops from the embattled region of South Ossetia as part of a cease-fire proposal meant to stop an expanding war with Russia. But Moscow dismissed the gesture by Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, as Russian jets, troops and tanks continued a relentless assault on targets across Georgia.

Georgia Retreats, Russia Presses On - Stack and Daragahi, Los Angeles Times

Russia dismissed signs of a Georgian military retreat and rejected calls for a cease-fire Sunday, pursuing a raging conflict with the former Soviet republic. The international community scrambled to bring an end to the expanding conflict, which broke out late last week after Georgian troops apparently attempted to retake the pro-Russian breakaway republic of South Ossetia in a battle that left hundreds dead and Georgia, a strategic partner of the West, vulnerable. On Sunday, Russia unleashed airstrikes and artillery barrages on Georgian positions in South Ossetia as well as near Abkhazia, another breakaway republic, and in cities of the staunchly pro-U.S. nation, hitting sites in the capital, Tbilisi, and the garrison town of Gori. Russia also began what appeared to be a naval offensive along Georgia's Black Sea coast. Early today, Russian planes bombed a military base and radar installation near Tbilisi, Georgia's Interior Ministry told Reuters news service. Despite having taken control of Tskhinvali, capital of South Ossetia, and facing widespread calls for peace, Russia showed little sign of easing its drive to punish Georgia and humiliate President Mikheil Saakashvili, 40, who is despised by Moscow's leadership.

Russia Expands Georgia Blitz, Deploys Ships - Associated Press

Russia and Georgia clashed on land and at sea Sunday despite a Georgian cease-fire offer and claim of withdrawal from the separatist province of South Ossetia, officials from both countries said. Georgian officials said Russian planes bombed the Georgian capital's outskirts and Russian tanks moved from South Ossetia into Georgian territory, heading toward a strategic city before being turned back. Russian jets hit communications facilities just west of Tbilisi early Monday and also targeted the Black Sea port of Poti, said Georgia's Interior Ministry spokesman, Shota Utiashvili. He said that Russian raids inflicted no casualties. A Russian general said Georgian forces directed heavy fire at positions around Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, early Monday even though Georgia had claimed to be withdrawing from the shattered city and called for a cease-fire.

Russian Clout Prevails in S. Ossetia - Christian Science Monitor

Georgia appeared Sunday to have lost its bid to retake a breakaway territory in a brutal war that may lead to deep changes in the troubled Caucasus and pose serious obstacles to securing lasting rapprochement between a resurgent Russia and the West. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili appealed for international mediation after Russia claimed full military control of South Ossetia's capital, which it invaded Friday after Georgia launched an assault on the rebel statelet. Moscow, which says the assault killed 2,000 civilians and displaced 34,000, says it is fulfilling its peacekeeping mandate under 1992 accords that ended Georgia's civil war. But some analysts, including a former US diplomat, believe that Russia's true strategic goal may involve redrawing the map in its old Soviet spheres of influence.

Seething at West - Kramer and Barry, New York Times

In retreat, the Georgian soldiers were so tired they could not keep from stumbling. Their arms were loaded with rucksacks and ammunition boxes; they had dark circles under their eyes. Officers ran up and down the line, barking for them to go faster. All along the road was grief. Old men pushed wheelbarrows loaded with bags or led cows by tethers. They drove tractors and rickety Ladas packed with suitcases and televisions. As a column of soldiers passed through Gori, a black-robed priest came out of his church and made the sign of the cross again and again. One soldier, his face a mask of exhaustion, cradled a Kalashnikov. “We killed as many of them as we could,” he said. “But where are our friends?”

Bush, Cheney Critical of Russia - Abramowitz and Lynch, Washington Post

The White House stepped up its criticism of Russia for escalating the conflict in Georgia, with President Bush warning Monday that Russia's "disproportionate response" is unacceptable and Vice President Cheney adding that the crisis threatens long-term relations between Moscow and Washington. The US ambassador to the United Nations suggested Sunday that Russia is seeking "regime change" in Georgia, after Russia's foreign minister reportedly told Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday that Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili "must go." The high-level public statements from the Bush administration underscored the depth of its concerns about Russia's offensive against a US ally. Georgia sustained more attacks Monday despite its withdrawal of troops from South Ossetia, the region that has been in dispute.

US, Allies Keep Up Pressure - Hamburger and Hayasaki, Los Angeles Times

The United States and its allies scrambled Sunday to respond to Russia's attack on Georgia, including asking Moscow whether it intended to overthrow democratically elected President Mikheil Saakashvili. The activity highlighted international concerns about how far Russia would go and whether its ultimate goal was to seize the Georgian capital of Tbilisi and restore domination over a former part of the Soviet Union. But the answer to those questions remained elusive. President Bush, in Beijing for the Olympics, continued his own high-level diplomacy and spoke with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who holds the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union and shares Bush's general view of the situation in Georgia's separatist republic of South Ossetia.

10 August

Georgian Troops Retreat, Civilians Flee - Tony Halpin, The Times

Georgian troops were retreating under shellfire here today as the Russian military continued to press forward and take full control of South Ossetia. Clouds of smoke rose up as artillery fire exploded in fields less than half a mile from the bridge marking South Ossetia’s border with Georgia. A group of Georgian soldiers hastily abandoned their truck after its wheels were shot out by a sniper and crossed the border on foot. At a base next to the bridge, Russian peacekeepers appeared confident that they would soon be joined by comrades from the regular army advancing through South Ossetia from the north.

Fears of Russian Advance into Georgia Grow - Daily Telegraph

A full-scale evacuation of the Georgian city of has Gori started as fears rose that Russia would soon advance its troops across the border from the breakaway republic of South Ossetia into the main body of Georgia itself. Any such incursion would be a dangerous escalation of a conflict that has already reportedly claimed thousands of lives and displaced thousands more. Russia, which said it moved into South Ossetia last week to protect pro-Russians there from "genocide" commited by Georgians, has now been accused of "ethnic cleansing" itself. Russia regained total control of Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, and Georgia offered a unilateral ceasefire as it withdrew all its troops. International opinion hardened against Russia, which has been roundly accused of a "disproportionate reaction" to Georgia's move into South Ossetia last week.

Georgia Orders Cease-Fire - Emma Stickgold, Voice of America

Georgia says it has ordered its troops in the breakaway region of South Ossetia to cease fire, after withdrawing its troops from South Ossetia's capital. There was no direct response from Russia to Georgia's offer to negotiate an end to three days of fierce fighting in the region. Russian officials say they now control most of Tkhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, as the conflict between Russia and Georgia widened. The fighting spread to Abkhazia, Georgia's other breakaway region, and Georgian officials said Russian planes bombed a military airfield outside the Georgian capital. Abkhazia announced it had mobilized troops, and called up reservists Sunday to reassert control over the one part of the province that remains under Georgian control. Russia sent naval vessels to Georgia's Black Sea coast. Ukrainian officials warned that they may bar Russian warships taken from the key Russian naval base in the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol from returning.

Russia Expands Georgia Blitz, Deploys Ships - Associated Press

Russia expanded its bombing blitz to the Georgian capital, deployed ships off the coast and, a Georgian official said, sent tanks from the separatist region of South Ossetia into Georgian territory, heading toward a border city before being turned back Sunday. Russia also claimed its forces sank a Georgian missile boat that was trying to attack Russian ships in the Black Sea, news agencies reported. US-allied Georgia called a unilateral cease-fire - "We are not crazy," said President Mikhail Saakashvili - and claimed its troops were retreating Sunday from the disputed province of South Ossetia in the face of Russia's far superior firepower. Russia said the soldiers were "not withdrawing but regrouping" and refused to recognize a truce. The Russian Defense Ministry refused to comment to The Associated Press on the reports of the sinking and Georgian officials could not immediately be reached. If confirmed, it could mark a serious escalation of the fighting that has raged between Russia and Georgia over South Ossetia.

Georgia Says Russia Opens Second Front - Financial Times

Georgia said Russian troops were storming a Georgian-controlled gorge in a second breakaway region, opening a second front in a conflict that threatens to engulf the region in all-out war. Georgia said armed clashes had broken out as Russian troops entered the Georgian-controlled Kodori gorge in the pro-Moscow enclave of Abkhazia. The pro-Moscow Abkhaz president, Sergei Bagapsh, said Abkhazia had sent about a thousand troops as well as warplanes to the Kodori gorge to drive out Georgian troops, opening a second front in a conflict that has marked the worst fighting in the region in 20 years. Georgia’s interior ministry said earlier Sunday it had withdrawn its troops from South Ossetia to take new positions on the border after “massive Russian air attacks” and three days of intense fighting in response to what Russia said were Georgian efforts to take control of the pro-Moscow enclave. Russia confirmed that Georgian troops have started pulling out of the regional capital, Tskhinvali.

Georgian Forces Pull Out of South Ossetia Capital - Voice of America

Georgia says it has withdrawn its troops from the capital of the breakaway province of South Ossetia, where Georgian forces have been fighting Russian troops for control. The announcement came Sunday as some 10,000 Russian troops were landing in South Ossetia in preparation for a morning attack. Russia's Interfax news agency says the Russian navy has deployed warships to the Black Sea coast to prevent arms and other military supplies from reaching Georgia. Earlier Sunday, a senior Georgian official said Russian warplanes bombed a military airfield outside Georgia's capital, Tbilisi.

Georgian Troops Pull Out of S. Ossetian Capital - Associated Press

A Georgian minister says Georgian troops have pulled out of Tskhinvali - the capital of the breakaway province of South Ossetia - under massive Russian shelling. Georgia's Reintegration Minister Temur Yakobashvili says the troops left Tskhinvali on Sunday to change their location. Yakobashvili says Georgian troops remained in South Ossetia.

Georgia Withdraws as Russia Builds Firepower - Agence France-Presse

Georgia withdrew from the separatist region of South Ossetia on Sunday after new clashes with Russian forces as Moscow amassed its military firepower to overwhelm its neighbour. "We have left practically all of South Ossetia as an expression of goodwill and our willingness to stop military confrontation," Georgian National Security Council Secretary Alexander Lomaia told AFP. Officials in South Ossetia, the separatist region at the heart of the fighting, said artillery fire was exchanged overnight and Georgia claimed Russian jets had bombed a military airfield near the Georgian capital Tbilisi. Georgia also said Russia had brought 10,000 extra troops into South Ossetia and was assembling armoured vehicles close to the border. Reports said Russia was imposing a naval blocade after moving warships into range.

Georgia Pulls Troops from S. Ossetia - United Press International

Georgia said Sunday it has pulled its troops from the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali in the face of a massive Russian counter-attack. The troops, which were ordered into the breakaway region of South Ossetia Friday by Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, were returning to positions they held before Thursday, CNN reported. Other reports, however, said wasn't clear if Georgia troops were exiting just Tskhinvali or South Ossetia entirely. Georgian Reintegration Minister Temur Yakobashvili said troops left Tskhinvali but were remaining in other areas of South Ossetia, Radio Free Europe said. About 200 Georgian soldiers have died in South Ossetia, while 37 Georgian civilians have died so far in Russian counter-attacks, military officials told CNN. Separatists and Russian officials claimed 1,500 South Ossetians had died in the violence.

US, Russian Ambassadors Spar at UN over Georgia - Associated Press

US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad exchanged sharp remarks with the Russian ambassador on Sunday, accusing Moscow of resisting attempts to make peace with Georgia after days of fighting have left hundreds of civilians dead. Khalilzad pointedly asked Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin in the UN Security Council session whether Russia's aim was to "change the leadership in Georgia" - a charge Churkin did not directly address but seemed to deny. Churkin also accused the UN secretary-general's office of taking Georgia's side. A spokesman for Ban Ki-moon denied the claim; Ban's office had said late Saturday night he was "alarmed by the escalation of hostilities in Georgia." Much of the session, which began Sunday morning with private talks and a public session, became a tense standoff between major powers Russia and the US.

US Assails Russian 'Escalation' Of Crisis - Karen DeYoung, Washington Post

The Bush administration yesterday decried Russia's use of strategic bombers and ballistic missiles in Georgia as a "dangerous escalation" of the hostilities there, but said it will not immediately send an envoy to help mediate the crisis. "It's hard for us to understand what the Russian plan is," said a senior US official, who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity. "People can argue back and forth over who shot first," but the Russian response is "far disproportionate to whatever threat" it may have perceived in the separatist Georgian region of South Ossetia. With residents of the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, in a "panic" amid fears that the city will be bombed, the US Embassy there has been placed on "authorized departure" status, meaning that dependents can leave at US expense, the official said in a conference call. The Bush administration is also arranging to transport as many as 2,000 Georgian troops back home from Iraq. Georgian forces make up the third-largest contingent in the multinational force in Iraq, after the United States and Britain.

Georgia and Russia Nearing All-Out War - Anne Barnard, New York Times

The conflict between Russia and the former Soviet republic of Georgia moved toward full-scale war on Saturday, as Russia sent warships to land ground troops in the disputed territory of Abkhazia and broadened its bombing campaign across Georgia. The fighting, which sharply escalated when Georgian forces tried to retake the capital of South Ossetia, a pro-Russian region that won de facto autonomy from Georgia in the early 1990s, appeared to be developing into the worst clashes between Russia and a foreign military since the invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. As Russia moved more forces into the region and continued aerial bombing, it appeared determined to occupy both South Ossetia and Abkhazia, both Moscow-backed breakaway regions where Russia had issued passports to most residents and declared them Russian citizens. Georgia’s president, Mikheil Saakashvili, said Russia’s ambitions were even more extensive.

Georgia/Russia: Closer to Full-blown War - Stack and Spiegel, Los Angeles Times

Russia plowed closer to all-out war with Georgia on Saturday, sending warplanes to bomb deep inside the neighboring country and preparing to move more troops into the fray over a pro-Moscow separatist republic. Moscow brushed aside calls from the Georgian government for a cease-fire, insisting that the troops' mission was to restore calm to the breakaway republic, South Ossetia. "We are enforcing peace," said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who reported that the death toll was 1,500 and climbing. That figure could not be confirmed. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, meanwhile, declared a state of war, and Georgia's parliament voted to impose martial law.

Russia Broadens S. Ossetia Conflict - Kelly Hearn, Washington Times

Russia and Georgia appeared headed to a wider war Saturday, with Russia targeting military and civilian sites outside the conflict zone in the breakaway region of South Ossetia and rejecting an offer of a cease-fire from the government of Georgia. The military action, which began Thursday when Georgian troops tried to retake control of South Ossetia, has left hundreds dead and sent hundreds of others fleeing from the area. Georgian officials reported some 210 people dead and 400 wounded. Russian officials, who blamed Georgia for inflicting heavy causalities against Russian citizens in the breakaway South Ossetia enclave, put the death toll at 1,500.

Russia-Georgia War Intensifies - Peter Finn, Washington Post

Russian strategic bombers and jet fighter planes pounded targets in many parts of Georgia on Saturday, hitting apartment buildings and economic installations, as well as military targets in an escalating war that is killing more and more civilians and confounding international efforts to secure a cease-fire. Russia continued to pour troops and tanks into South Ossetia, the breakaway region of Georgia that triggered the conflict, to confront Georgian forces that are attempting to reclaim the region. Both sides claimed control of Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, where sporadic gunfire and shelling continued Saturday.

Georgia Conflict: Screams of the Injured - Adrian Blomfield, Daily Telegraph

The ground shook and a series of explosions rippled through the air. From the middle of a housing estate in the Georgian town of Gori a huge fireball rose into the sky, twisting and mushrooming as if in slow motion. Choking dust swirled above the debris, darkening the sky. A brief silence followed and then the screaming started. For two days, Georgia has been convulsed by a Russian air and ground assault in a conflict that has escalated rapidly from a localised war against separatist rebels in South Ossetia into a full-scale military confrontation. But this was the first time that Russian bombs had struck a residential area.

Hundreds Die as Georgia War Escalates - Mark Franchetti, The Times

The war over South Ossetia, the breakaway region of Georgia, appeared to be widening last night. Vladimir Putin, the Russian prime minister, flew into the area from the Beijing Olympics as his forces seemed to be gaining the upper hand. After another day of fighting in the rebellious province - and Russian air force attacks that killed civilians in Georgia itself - there were reports of fighting in Abkhazia, Georgia’s other separatist region. Abkhazian leaders said they had launched air and artillery strikes on government forces with Russian air support. In South Ossetia itself, separatist leaders claimed 1,500 had been killed, including many civilians, in the initial Georgian assault on Friday. They said tens of thousands had been displaced. Moscow claimed to have pushed Georgian troops from Tskhinvali, the region’s heavily damaged capital.

Inside the Battle Zone - The Independent

In the streets of Gori, where Stalin was born, the people were still in a state of shock yesterday after an attack by jets from Russia, the country he once ruled. Smoke was pouring from three apartment blocks devastated by a missile strike that appeared to have missed its target, a nearby military training ground, and nobody knew how many people had been killed or injured. Nobody - except, it seems, Georgia's President Mikheil Saakashvili - could have expected that Russia would let a Georgian assault on South Ossetia go by without a response. It was no surprise that as soon as Georgian forces moved into the troublesome enclave on Friday, Russia responded forcefully. But Moscow's decision to hit back within Georgia itself took Georgians unawares, and Gori, the nearest Georgian city to the de facto border with South Ossetia, bore the brunt.

Russia Strikes a Blow at its Fears of NATO - Mark Franchetti, The Times

Tensions over South Ossetia and Abkhazia - two tiny Russian-backed separatist regions in Georgia that have enjoyed de facto independence since soon after the break-up of the Soviet Union - have been rising for months. Western intelligence experts had long been warning that war was likely. One key is the recognition earlier this year by Nato and European Union countries of Kosovan independence from Serbia. Russia opposed this; Serbia has long been its client state. However, it tried to turn the defeat to its advantage by pushing the argument that, if Kosovans could be independent, so too could the Abkhazians and Ossetians. This was a significant development in Russia’s reaction to what it regards as steady western encirclement.

Russian General Wounded in Georgia - Reuters

The commander of the Russian troops sent to help separatists in Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia was wounded in an exchange of fire with Georgian forces on Saturday, Russian state television reported. Lt. General Anatoly Khrulyov was wounded when a column of armoured vehicles of his 58th army came under fire by Georgian forces outside the rebel capital of Tskhinvali, Vesti-24 channel said in a report early on Sunday.

Britain and US Try to Broker Peace - Tony Allen-Mills, The Times

Britian joined a diplomatic mission to Georgia last night to try to broker peace talks and call for a ceasefire. America also launched diplomatic initiatives to end the war in South Ossetia but US officials privately indicated that the West had been surprised by Russia’s aggression and had few options for intervention. David Miliband, the foreign secretary, described the fighting as “dangerously destabilising”. He added his voice to calls for a cessation of violence and urged both sides to hold peace talks. A combined European Union, American and NATO mission was being sent to Georgia last night with Sir Brian Fall, Britain’s representative for the south Caucasus, as part of the team. Matthew Bryza, deputy assistant secretary of state, has also been dispatched as America’s special envoy but officials acknowledge that its options are limited.

Desperation and Bravado - Peter Finn, Washington Post

On a street in this central Georgian city Saturday, an Orthodox priest standing by the side of the road splashed holy water on the cars that careened past. Nearby, another priest led a small group of people carrying crosses and praying. Everywhere in the frontline city in the two-day-old war between Russia and Georgia, there was a sense of desperation. And bravado. The streets, largely empty of civilians, were full of Georgian military reservists idling in the shadows of shuttered shops as they waited to move out and join the fight against Russian forces that have bombed the city twice in as many days. Among them were latter-day Rambos in bandannas and middle-age men with potbellies and red faces. And there were some who looked like kids, their hair long, their faces marked by acne and their weapons uneasy in their grip.

Shattered by Strife, Families Try to Rebuild - Siegel and Barry, New York Times

Since Thursday, dozens of residents of South Ossetia have died and hundreds have been wounded in fierce clashes between Russian and Georgian forces. On Saturday the scattered families of Tskhinvali began to reconstruct themselves in a halting fashion. Russian registration and aid stations were scattered along the highway that connects Tskhinvali with Vladikavkaz, on the Russian side of the border. Soviet-era minibuses loaded with shaken refugees traveled up and down the road. Russian authorities reported that 34,000 refugees crossed the border into Russia over the past week - a striking number considering that the population of South Ossetia, which includes ethnic Georgians, is estimated to be around 72,000. People who live in Tskhinvali know what it is like to be trapped by ethnic violence. The divisions run so deep that ethnic Georgians and Ossetians have separate gas and electric grids.

Georgia Acts to Cool Investor Fears - Shuster and Baldwin, Reuters

Georgia, whose credit ratings were cut on Friday after military clashes with Russia, was praised on Saturday by foreign investors, who contrasted its efforts to reassure them over the crisis with those of Russia. Western bankers said that since fighting began in the breakway province of South Ossetia on Thursday, they had received phone calls and emails from Georgian leaders including Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze. They said Russia had made no similar effort, despite a plunge in its stock market on Friday which took the index of its most liquid exchange close to 21-month lows. The rouble also fell on foreign exchange markets. Gurgenidze even held a private conference call with two major western banks at 1645 Moscow time (1245 GMT) on Friday, as towns in South Ossetia were under heavy fire from Georgian artillery.

9 August

Russian Troops Enter Georgia - Emma Stickgold, Voice of America

Russian troops entered Georgia's breakaway province South Ossetia as violence broke out between Georgian troops and Russia-backed separatists, putting the region on the brink of an all-out war. Leaders had been scheduled to begin a round of negotiations, but instead, an overnight attack led by Georgian troops altered those plans. Georgian leaders say they launched their attack in response to Russian forces entering the region. Violent clashes are not uncommon in Georgia's breakaway province, South Ossetia, since it won de-facto independence in a war ending in 1992. But the latest round of explosions and gunfire that broke out in the region was the worst outbreak of hostilities in well over a decade. Georgian forces launched an attack with the Georgian government declaring that it intended to "restore constitutional order" in the breakaway region. South Ossetian officials say at least 15 civilians were killed and more than 20 were injured in the fighting. In addition, Russian Defense officials say 10 Russian peacekeepers were killed in the battles.

Russian Air, Ground Forces Strike Georgia - Peter Finn, Washington Post

Russia launched airstrikes Friday deep inside Georgia and mobilized columns of tanks after Georgian forces embarked on a major offensive to reassert control over South Ossetia, a separatist province. Political leaders on both sides said that war had begun. The United States, an ally of Georgia, and other governments appealed for a cease-fire. Georgian army units quickly seized Tskhinvali, capital of the mountainous province, Georgian officials said. But large numbers of Russian tanks appeared to be moving against them there. Russian television showed what was described as a Georgian armored vehicle burning on the city's streets. Local officials reported large numbers of civilians killed. Russian officials said that more than 10 of their troops had died.

Russian Troops Enter Rebel Enclave - Schwirtz and Barnard, New York Times

Russia conducted airstrikes on Georgian targets on Friday evening, escalating the conflict in a separatist area of Georgia that is shaping into a test of the power and military reach of an emboldened Kremlin. Earlier in the day, Russian troops and armored vehicles had rolled into South Ossetia, supporting the breakaway region in its bitter conflict with Georgia. The United States and other Western nations, joined by NATO, condemned the violence and demanded a cease-fire. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice went a step further, calling on Russia to withdraw its forces. But the Russian soldiers remained, and Georgian officials reported at least one airstrike, on the Black Sea port of Poti, late on Friday night. Russian military units - including tank, artillery and reconnaissance - arrived in Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, on Saturday to help Russian peacekeepers there, in response to overnight shelling by Georgian forces, state television in Russia reported, citing the Ministry of Defense. Ground assault aircraft were also mobilized, the Ministry said.

Russia Turns Might on Georgia - O’Flynn and Fletcher, The Times

Russia and Georgia were on the brink of war last night after Moscow responded to a Georgian offensive in the breakaway republic of South Ossetia by sending tanks, troops and war-planes across the border. More than a thousand civilians were reported to have been killed and large parts of Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia, were reduced to ruins as a conflict with potentially global repercussions erupted after months of rising tension. Georgia announced last night that it was withdrawing half of its 2,000 troops from Iraq as it ordered an all-out military mobilisation. The country is the West’s strongest ally in the region, one of the staunchest supporters of America’s War on Terror and a vital conduit for Western oil and gas supplies from Central Asia.

Russia Enters into 'War' in S. Ossetia - Adrian Blomfield, Daily Telegraph

Columns of Russian tanks plunged the two neighbours into war as they filed into South Ossetia, marking the Kremlin's first military assault on foreign soil since the Soviet Union's Afghanistan intevention, which ended in 1989. Russian tanks rolled towards the capital of South Ossetia and fighters bombed Georgian air bases after Georgia launched attacks on rebels in the breakaway region. South Ossetia won de-facto independence in a war which ended in 1992 but has been a source of tension ever since, along with Abkhazia, another separatist region. Russian peacekeepers have suffered 12 dead and 150 wounded, the peacekeeping forces were quoted as saying by Russian news agencies.

Russia Moves Closer to War with Georgia - Megan Stack, Los Angeles Times

Russian tanks rumbled into the breakaway Georgian republic of South Ossetia today, and volunteer Russian fighters made their way over the border, pushing Moscow closer to a full-blown war against US-backed Georgia over the mountainous sliver of land. The Russian incursion came after Georgia launched a large-scale, predawn military operation meant to seize control over the rebel region, whose de facto autonomy and ties to Russia have long been an irritant to Georgian leaders. Backed by warplanes, Georgian waged a hard battle throughout the day for control of the republic's capital, Tskhinvali.

Russia, Georgia Do Battle - Jane Armstrong, Globe and Mail

Russia and Georgia, once united under a single Soviet banner but now sworn enemies, were on the brink of all-out war as Russian troops and tanks surrounded the capital city of the Georgian breakaway republic of South Ossetia after a day and night of bloody clashes. Russia ordered its troops into the rebel southern republic a day after Georgian forces were sent in to seize the region, which declared independence after a 1992 civil war. Fighting reportedly raged into the night with Georgia's Interior Ministry saying early Saturday that warplanes attacked three Georgian military bases and key facilities for shipping oil to the West.

Russian Forces Battle Georgians - BBC News

Russian forces are locked in fierce clashes with Georgia inside its breakaway South Ossetia region, reports say, amid fears of all-out war. Moscow sent armoured units across the border after Georgia moved against Russian-backed separatists. Russia says 12 of its soldiers are dead, and separatists estimate that 1,400 civilians have died. Georgia accuses Russia of waging war, and says it has suffered heavy losses in bombing raids, which Russia denies. Russian tanks have reportedly reached the northern suburbs of the regional capital, Tskhinvali, and there were conflicting claims about who was in control of the city.

Heavy Fighting in South Ossetia - BBC News

Georgian forces and South Ossetian separatists have been exchanging heavy fire just hours after agreeing to a ceasefire and Russian-mediated talks. Russian media reports said Georgia had launched a tank-led attack on the separatist stronghold of Tskhinvali, and airstrikes on rebel positions. Georgia says it aims to finish "a criminal regime" and restore order. At least 15 people are reported dead. Moscow called on the world community to work "to avert massive bloodshed". At Russia's request, members of the UN Security Council are holding a rare emergency session to discuss a response to the escalating violence.

Russia, Georgia Clash - Weir and Rimple, Christian Science Monitor

The diplomats may still be talking of peace, but from the front line deep inside the pro-Moscow breakaway republic of South Ossetia, a long-feared war between Russia and NATO-leaning Georgia appears to be under way. At stake are Russia's already strained relations with the West, which backs Georgia, as well as Georgian President Mikhael Saakashvili's hopes of leading his country into the NATO alliance within the next year. An extended conflict might also hit global energy prices, if a crucial pipeline that carries Caspian oil and gas through Georgia to Western markets should be threatened. After weeks of escalating skirmishes along the frontier between Georgia and South Ossetia, Georgian forces launched a full-scale invasion on Friday. By nightfall, they claimed to have occupied the capital, Tskhinvali, and about 70 percent of the rebel republic's territory.

Russia, Georgia Seek Control of South Ossetia Capital - Reuters

Russian forces battled pro-Western Georgian troops in South Ossetia on Friday in an escalating conflict that threatens to engulf a key energy transit route to Western Europe. Both sides ignored pleas from world leaders for calm as Moscow and Tbilisi blamed each other for the fighting in South Ossetia which began after several days of skirmishes. Georgian forces shelled the capital of its breakaway region, which separatists said left 1,400 people dead.

Russia Says Has Control of S. Ossetian Capital - Reuters

Russia said it had driven Georgian forces from the capital of South Ossetia on Saturday as part of an operation to force Georgia to accept peace in its breakaway region. "Tactical groups have fully liberated Tskhinvali from the Georgian military and have started pushing Georgian units beyond the zone of peacekeepers responsibility," Tass quoted Ground Forces commander Vladimir Boldyrev as saying. Russian warplanes widened the offensive outside the immediate conflict zone to include strikes deep inside Georgia on the second day of fighting.

Georgia Reports New Air Attacks at Military Bases - Associated Press

Russia dispatched an armored column into the breakaway enclave of South Ossetia on Friday after Georgia, a staunch US ally, launched a surprise offensive to crush separatists. Witnesses said hundreds of civilians were killed. Fighting reportedly raged well into the night with Georgia's interior ministry saying early Saturday that warplanes attacked three Georgian military bases and key facilities for shipping oil to the West. The fighting, which devastated the capital of Tskhinvali, threatened to ignite a wider war between Georgia and Russia, and escalate tensions between Moscow and Washington.

South Ossetia: Russian Armor in, Refugees Out - Associated Press

Columns of Russian armor crawled up the deep passes of the Caucasus Mountains on Saturday toward the border with South Ossetia in a push to support Russian troops fighting in the Georgian separatist region. For hours, the columns of weapons and support vehicles kicked up squalls of dust in a stark display of Russia's determination to exert its will in what it considers its backyard. Military and other officials at the scene declined to be interviewed, and prevented foreigners from crossing the border. Meanwhile, a stream of refugees arrived in buses from the south, where heavy fighting broke out early Friday.

S. Ossetia Fighting Risks Wider War - Musa Sadulayev, Associated Press

Russia dispatched an armored column into the breakaway enclave of South Ossetia on Friday after Georgia, a staunch US ally, launched a surprise offensive to crush separatists. Witnesses said hundreds of civilians were killed. The fighting, which devastated the capital of Tskhinvali, threatened to ignite a wider war between Georgia and Russia, and escalate tensions between Moscow and Washington. Georgia said it was forced to launch the assault because of rebel attacks; the separatists alleged Georgia violated a cease-fire.

Georgia: In 'State of War' over South Ossetia - Reuters

Russia and small, US-allied Georgia headed toward a wider war Saturday as Russian tanks rumbled into the contested province of South Ossetia and Russian aircraft bombed a Georgian town, escalating a conflict that already has left hundreds dead. Georgia's Foreign Ministry said the country was "in a state of war" and accused Russia of beginning a "massive military aggression." The Georgian parliament approved a state of martial law, mobilizing reservists and ordering government authorities to work round-the-clock. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said that Moscow sent troops into South Ossetia to force Georgia into a cease-fire and prevent Georgia from retaking control of its breakaway region after it launched a major offensive there overnight Friday.

Medvedev: Georgia Must Pull Out of S. Ossetia - Sara Hashash, The Times

A pullout of Georgian troops from the conflict zone is the only solution to the South Ossetian crisis, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has told US President George W Bush. Bush earlier today had urged Moscow to halt the bombing immediately saying attacks by Russia outside the war zone of South Ossetia marked a "dangerous escalation" of the crisis. Meanwhile, Georgia’s president Mikail Saakashvili has called for an immediate ceasefire claiming that Russia had launched a full-scale military invasion on his country, widening its offensive to force back Georgian troops seeking control over South Ossetia. Georgia's parliament today approved a state of war across the ex-Soviet country, which Saakashvili decreed would be valid for 15 days.

Bush Calls For Halt in Conflict - Michael Abramowitz, Washington Post

President Bush intervened to try to halt the escalating violence in Georgia, calling on Russia to cease its bombing and insisting that all troops in the conflict stand down. After a day of statements and diplomacy from senior aides, Bush came before reporters Saturday night to urge a cease-fire in Georgia. "The attacks are occurring in regions of Georgia far from the zone of conflict in South Ossetia," he said. "They mark a dangerous escalation in the crisis. The violence is endangering regional peace. Civilian lives have been lost, and others are endangered."

Peace Bid as Ossetia Crisis Rages - BBC News

A delegation of European and US envoys is heading to Georgia as its conflict with Russia over the breakaway South Ossetia region deepens. The envoys hope to broker a truce after three days of fighting which are said to have killed or injured hundreds, and sent thousands fleeing. Russian jets have bombed several towns, including Gori in central Georgia. Russia says it wants Georgian forces to withdraw to the positions they held outside South Ossetia before Thursday. In the absence of independent verification, there are conflicting figures about the casualties suffered on both sides but the numbers appeared to rise sharply on Saturday.

EU, US Back Georgian Call for Truce in S.Ossetia - Reuters

Russia accused Georgia on Saturday of seeking bloody adventures by trying to retake its breakaway region of South Ossetia and defended its own military campaign to stop it. Pro-western Georgia earlier called for a ceasefire after Moscow's bombers widened an offensive to force Tbilisi's troops back out of the region in the Caucasus mountains. "Russia's actions in South Ossetia are totally legitimate," Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said, visiting an adjacent region of Russia to which thousands of refugees have fled.

Pentagon, US State Department Monitoring Georgian Situation - AFPS

The Defense Department is closely watching developments in South Ossetia, in the former Soviet republic of Georgia, a senior Pentagon spokesman said here today. News reports cite Russian tanks crossing the border into South Ossetia and of fighting between Georgian troops and rebels in and around Tskhinvali, South Ossetia’s capital city. “We’re monitoring it very closely,” spokesman Bryan Whitman said of the situation during a briefing with Pentagon reporters. Georgia declared its independence from the then-Soviet Union in 1991. However, many South Ossetia residents continued to profess Russian allegiance. Whitman said about 130 US military and civilian personnel are currently located near the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, helping train Georgian troops for an upcoming deployment to Iraq. All the Americans are accounted for, and none has been injured, Whitman said. The US State Department is the lead US agency regarding the situation in South Ossetia, Whitman said. The State Department is “in close contact with senior Russian and Georgian officials. We’re urging Moscow to press South Ossetia’s de facto leaders to stop firing,” Gonzalo R. Gallegos, acting deputy spokesman for the State Department, said yesterday during a Washington news conference.

UN Council Meets Again on S. Ossetia - Louis Charbonneau, Reuters

Russian and Georgian envoys hurled accusations at each other at the United Nations on Friday, as a divided Security Council struggled to agree on language calling for an end to the fighting in South Ossetia. Russia's UN ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, said Georgia was deliberately targeting Russian peacekeepers in the Georgian breakaway region of South Ossetia, where an escalation of fighting in recent hours has stoked fears of all-out war. "The situation is so catastrophic that the International Committee of the Red Cross has asked for a humanitarian corridor," Churkin told the UN Security Council at its second emergency meeting on the crisis in just over 12 hours. He said Georgians were guilty of "ethnic cleansing." In South Ossetia, the separatists' press service reported on its website that Russian armored vehicles had entered the northern edges of the region's capital.

Georgia, Russia Spar Over South Ossetia at OSCE - Associated Press

Russian and Georgian officials at a leading European security organization sparred Friday over who was to blame for the bloodshed in the breakaway Georgian province of South Ossetia. Georgia's ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Victor Dolidze, accused Russia of "clear, open, military aggression from one OSCE country to another - its neighbor, unfortunately." Vladimir Voronkov, Russia's top delegate to the Vienna-based body, denied any Russian military involvement, claiming that only 500 Russian peacekeepers were in the province. "There are two sides of conflict in this conflict: South Ossetia and Georgia," he said, adding that Moscow would like to "stop the bloodshed."

Red Cross Calls for Humanitarian Corridor in South Ossetia - VOA

The International Committee of the Red Cross is calling for the opening of a humanitarian corridor in South Ossetia to make it possible for medical personnel and ambulances to reach the wounded and sick. Aid agencies report food and other essential goods are in short supply. The International Committee of the Red Cross says it is very concerned about the humanitarian impact of the escalation of violence between Georgia and the breakaway region of South Ossetia. Georgia, which has launched an offensive against rebel strongholds, claims to have surrounded the capital Tskhinvali. Several civilians have reportedly been killed, including Russian peacekeepers based in that city. Red Cross spokeswoman, Anna Nelson, says it is too dangerous for aid workers to move around freely, so it is difficult to get an accurate picture of how many people have been killed and wounded.

NEWS ANALYSIS / COMMENTARY

11 August

Kremlin Capers - Wall Street Journal editorial

Grim news continued to flow from Georgia yesterday. The Georgians said Russia had bombed the civilian airport in Tbilisi, while Russian warships off the coast began an economic embargo. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin left the Beijing Olympics and flew to Russian North Ossetia, where he revealingly criticized "Georgia's aspiration to join NATO." Not least among the geopolitical realities coming to the surface at the moment is that of just who's top dog in the Kremlin. While it's widely thought Mr. Putin's power trumps that of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, an interesting wrinkle has emerged elsewhere in the new Russia that has modern-day Kremlinologists wondering whether the president might yet become more his own man.

Russia's Self-Aggrandisement - The Times editorial

“This reminds me all too much of other recent conflicts that have torn our continent apart, particularly in the Balkans,” said Bernard Kouchner, the French Foreign Minister, yesterday. He was speaking before Georgia reportedly ordered its forces to cease fire and offered to negotiate with Russia over the breakaway region of South Ossetia. But Mr Kouchner's words are an ominous portent for the conflict; and as the former chief UN administrator in Kosovo, he would recognise the signs. These are not only the dismaying images of civilians fleeing from a city under bombardment.They also include Russia's determination to pursue national aggrandisement at the expense of small nations. In 1993, when Boris Yeltsin urged the United Nations to consider Russia as the guarantor of peace and stability in the former Soviet republics, a senior American official asked what was wrong with a “Russian Monroe doctrine” recognising Moscow's lead role in regional affairs. The answer is that Russia evidently interprets its regional interests as allowing it to violate internationally recognised borders.

Untimely War aises Infinite Dangers - The Australian editorial

The weight of world opinion should lean as heavily as possible on Russia to force it to cease its vicious attacks on the neighbouring state of Georgia. Everything possible must be done to contain a war that is escalating dangerously and rapidly. In positioning warships to blockade Georgia, which has now withdrawn its troops from South Ossetia, Russia is playing a dangerous game of brinkmanship that has rekindled alarming memories of the Cold War. Russia's attitude brings the underlying geopolitical tension between Russia and the West - what could be termed the frozen Cold War - into sharp focus. The worst-case scenario is that Moscow may be using a local skirmish to cement its grip on its former satellites and to strengthen its hand against NATO. Only a halt to all aggression on both sides can give diplomatic efforts by the US, the EU and the Organisation of Security and Co-operation in Europe a chance to find a negotiated settlement to a long-simmering conflict that has little moral high ground on any side. Russia's use of strategic bombers and ballistic missiles, even outside the South Ossetian conflict zone, is out of all proportion to the reported shelling of Russian peacekeepers by Georgia, which killed 10 troops and wounded 30. Russia yesterday widened its attacks, bombing the Abkhazia rebel region in western Georgia where locals are also pressing for independence.

Russian Aggression - Washington Times editorial

There is instead a return to the policies of the Soviet Union and an attempt by Russia to regain its lost glory. Mr. Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin want to make Georgia an example to its neighbors: If Moscow is defied, there will be severe consequences. Russia has long been fanning the flames of the conflict that has recently erupted. Both South Ossetia and Abkhazia are part of Georgia's sovereign territory, even though they declared independence in the turmoil that resulted from the breakup of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. Yet Russia has been encouraging the breakaway provinces and has been provoking the Georgian government into a military conflict. This occurs because Moscow seeks to dominate the former territories of the Soviet Union, to halt Georgia's attempt to enter NATO and to weaken the prestige of the West.

Russia's Cold-war Mentality - Christian Science Monitor editorial

A new Iron Curtain is being drawn around Russia. It's not so impregnable or wide as the Soviet one. But Moscow's willingness to war with NATO-aspirant Georgia sends this clear message to the expanding West: Thus far, and no farther. Given Russia's strength, the West has few options. Neither the US nor any other NATO country will fight Russia over Georgia's two tiny separatist enclaves - South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Russia invaded South Ossetia Aug. 8 after Georgian troops tried to reassert influence there. Meanwhile, Russia's sending reinforcements to Abkhazia. Both territories have been protected by Russian peacekeepers since the early 1990s, when they broke from Georgia in bloody rebellions. The US is bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan. Who wants war with Russia over this? Neither does the West have much diplomatic or economic leverage with oil- and gas-rich Russia, whose autocratic regime has broad support from a population satisfied with stability. As Russia's swift and deadly military response in Georgia shows, the West has underestimated - indeed sometimes aggravated - Moscow's fears about growing Western influence eastward.

Perfect Brew for a Blowup - C.J. Chivers, New York Times

As the bloody military mismatch between Russia and Georgia unfolded over the past three days, even the main players were surprised by how quickly small border skirmishes slipped into a conflict that threatened the Georgian government and perhaps the country itself. Several American and Georgian officials said that unlike when Russia invaded Afghanistan in 1979, a move in which Soviet forces were massed before the attack, the nation had not appeared poised for an invasion last week. As late as Wednesday, they said, Russian diplomats had been pressing for negotiations between Georgia and South Ossetia, the breakaway region where the combat flared and then escalated into full-scale war. But while the immediate causes and the intensity of the Russian invasion had caught Georgia and the Western foreign policy establishment by surprise, there had been signs for years that Georgia and Russia had methodically, if quietly, prepared for conflict.

Roots of the Conflict - Anatol Lieven, The Times

Many factors are involved in the present conflict but the central one is straightforward: the majority of the Ossetes living south of the main Caucasus range in Georgia wish to unite with the Ossetes living to the north, in an autonomous republic of the Russian Federation; and the Georgians, regarding South Ossetia as both a legal and an historic part of their national territory, refuse to accept this. Twice in the past century, when the empire to the north weakened and Georgia declared its independence, the southern Ossetes revolted against Georgian rule. It happened in 1918-20, between the collapse of the Russian empire and the Soviet Union’s conquest of Georgia in 1921; and it happened again in our own time with the fall of the Soviet Union.

Putin Makes His Move - Robert Kagan, Washington Post

The details of who did what to precipitate Russia's war against Georgia are not very important. Do you recall the precise details of the Sudeten Crisis that led to Nazi Germany's invasion of Czechoslovakia? Of course not, because that morally ambiguous dispute is rightly remembered as a minor part of a much bigger drama. The events of the past week will be remembered that way, too. This war did not begin because of a miscalculation by Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. It is a war that Moscow has been attempting to provoke for some time. The man who once called the collapse of the Soviet Union "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the [20th] century" has reestablished a virtual czarist rule in Russia and is trying to restore the country to its once-dominant role in Eurasia and the world. Armed with wealth from oil and gas; holding a near-monopoly over the energy supply to Europe; with a million soldiers, thousands of nuclear warheads and the world's third-largest military budget, Vladimir Putin believes that now is the time to make his move.

Russia's Invasion of Georgia - Borut Grgic, Washington Times

Instability in Georgia is mounting. US interests there coincide almost exactly with those of the European Union. It is therefore all the more puzzling that the two have so far been working at cross-purposes to resolve the country's so-called frozen conflicts. Although bereft of major energy resources itself, the former Soviet republic of Georgia serves as a strategic corridor through which oil and gas pipelines bring the rich reserves of the Caspian Sea to European and world markets. Georgia also happens to be one of the world's fastest-reforming democracies, uniquely situated between Russia, Turkey and Iran. According to President Mikhail Saakashvili, who swept to power in Georgia's 2003 "Rose Revolution," the country's number one foreign-policy priority is membership in NATO. Georgia's prospects, however, are muddied by the conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. These de facto independent but internationally unrecognized statelets lie only miles from strategic energy routes.

When Frozen Wars Heat Up - James Robbins, National Review

The breakup of the Soviet Union left a number of loose ends, border issues located largely on the periphery of the old Soviet empire, unsettled disputes that the Russians refer to as frozen conflicts. The war that has broken out in Georgia is one of these, a festering political dispute in which the implications of the issues involved are far more important than the territory in question. In retrospect the conflict is not entirely surprising; the last few months have seen a number of violent incidents in the separatist enclaves of South Ossetia and Abkhazia — shellings, bombings, kidnappings, shootings, and so forth. The frozen war was clearly defrosting. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili’s attempt to take back South Ossetia by force was certainly ill-timed and unwise. Perhaps he thought the inexperienced Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who is nominally in charge of Russia’s defense policy, would be too indecisive to act. Or that the more capable Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who actually runs the country, would be too distracted by the opening ceremonies of the Olympics to take concerted action. Whatever Saakashvili was thinking, his offensive was a rash act, and the Russians demonstrated not only their willingness to intervene but their capability to drub the relatively small Georgian armed forces in a conventional fight. The lesson for Georgia is that they would not fare well against a full scale Russian invasion, though that does not appear to be Russia’s intention at this time.

Georgian Conflict Driven by Fear - Peter Wilson, The Australian

The European and US envoys who rushed to Georgia on the weekend to try to end the bloodshed were confronted by one of the deadliest situations in diplomacy - a David versus Goliath tangle in which everybody thinks they are David. The danger of this war comes from the fact that each protagonist is driven not by confidence in their own strength but by the opposite -- fear, insecurity and a belief that they are under threat from a relentless foe. The tiny breakaway region of South Ossetia, with just 70,000 people, and their fellow rebels in Abkhazia, another impoverished region of only 250,000, feel massively outgunned by Georgia's 4.4million people and their US-trained army. For their part, the Georgians feel intimidated by their giant neighbour, Russia, which has long propped up the breakaway regions and is now sending tanks, jets and troops on to Georgian soil. Moscow still views the world through the prism of the Cold War and is convinced it has to make a stand in Georgia against an overwhelmingly powerful and increasingly aggressive Western alliance that it fears is hemming in Russia and stirring up trouble among its neighbours from Serbia and Kosovo to Georgia and Ukraine.

Black Sea Watershed - Asmus and Holbrooke, Washington Post

In weeks and years past, each of us has argued on this page that Moscow was pursuing a policy of regime change toward Georgia and its pro-Western, democratically elected president, Mikheil Saakashvili. We predicted that, absent strong and unified Western diplomatic involvement, we were headed toward a war. Now, tragically, an escalation of violence in South Ossetia has culminated in a full-scale Russian invasion of Georgia. The West, and especially the United States, could have prevented this war. We have arrived at a watershed moment in the West's post-Cold War relations with Russia. Exactly what happened in South Ossetia last week is unclear. Each side will argue its own version. But we know, without doubt, that Georgia was responding to repeated provocative attacks by South Ossetian separatists controlled and funded by Moscow. This is a not a war Georgia wanted; it believed that it was slowly gaining ground in South Ossetia through a strategy of soft power.

Will Russia Get Away With It? - William Kristol, New York Times

In August 1924, the small nation of Georgia, occupied by Soviet Russia since 1921, rose up against Soviet rule. On Sept. 16, 1924, The Times of London reported on an appeal by the president of the Georgian Republic to the League of Nations. While “sympathetic reference to his country’s efforts was made” in the Assembly, the Times said, “it is realized that the League is incapable of rendering material aid, and that the moral influence which may be a powerful force with civilized countries is unlikely to make any impression upon Soviet Russia.” “Unlikely” was an understatement. Georgians did not enjoy freedom again until 1991. Today, the Vladimir Putins and Hu Jintaos and Mahmoud Ahmadinejads of the world - to say nothing of their junior counterparts in places like Sudan, Zimbabwe, Burma and North Korea - are no more likely than were Soviet leaders in 1924 to be swayed by “moral influence.” Dictators aren’t moved by the claims of justice unarmed; aggressors aren’t intimidated by diplomacy absent the credible threat of force; fanatics aren’t deterred by the disapproval of men of moderation or refinement.

A War for the West - Mikheil Saakashvili, Wall Street Journal

As I write, Russia is waging war on my country. On Friday, hundreds of Russian tanks crossed into Georgian territory, and Russian air force jets bombed Georgian airports, bases, ports and public markets. Many are dead, many more wounded. This invasion, which echoes Afghanistan in 1979 and the Prague Spring of 1968, threatens to undermine the stability of the international security system. Why this war? This is the question my people are asking. This war is not of Georgia's making, nor is it Georgia's choice. The Kremlin designed this war. Earlier this year, Russia tried to provoke Georgia by effectively annexing another of our separatist territories, Abkhazia. When we responded with restraint, Moscow brought the fight to South Ossetia. Ostensibly, this war is about an unresolved separatist conflict. Yet in reality, it is a war about the independence and the future of Georgia.

Do the Right Thing - Jonathan Foreman, National Review

Today America faces a big test. Will we stand up for Georgia? Or will we betray her in the way that the United States so often betrays its friends and allies abroad? A depressingly consistent aspect of American foreign policy since the Korean War has been to let down peoples who fight for us, trust us, or depend on us. Remember the Montagnards of Vietnam who fought so valiantly with our Green Berets during the Indochina conflict? Most of them ended up dead or in reeducation camps and it was decades before the survivors were even given visas to come to the USA. Osama bin Laden himself has pointed out to his followers that America is a fair-weather friend, and that when things get tough - Lebanon in 1982, Somalia in 1993 - American administrations can be counted on to cut and run.

Not All Russia's Fault - Charles King, Christian Science Monitor

Following a series of provocative attacks in its secessionist region of South Ossetia late last week, Georgia launched an all-out attempt to reestablish control in the tiny enclave. Russia then intervened by dropping bombs on Georgia to protect the South Ossetians, halt the growing tide of refugees flooding into southern Russia, and aid its own peacekeepers there. Now, the story goes, Russia has at last found a way of undermining Georgia's Western aspirations, nipping the country's budding democracy, and countering American influence across Eurasia. But this view of events is simplistic. American and European diplomats, who have rushed to the region to try to stop the conflict, would do well to consider the broader effects of this latest round of Caucasus bloodletting - and to seek perspectives on the conflict beyond the story of embattled democracy and cynical comparisons with the Prague Spring of 1968. Russia illegally attacked Georgia and imperiled a small and feeble neighbor. But by dispatching his own ill-prepared military to resolve a secessionist dispute by force, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has managed to lead his country down the path of a disastrous and ultimately self-defeating war.

10 August

Small Wars Have a Nasty Habit of Getting Bigger - The Times editorial

A small war in the Caucacus would not normally be a cause of growing international concern. The region is only too familiar with conflict and the West would at this stage be more involved in discussing humanitarian aid to the innocent victims of old tribal feuds. But the fact that George W Bush’s picture is widely displayed across Georgia while the face of Vladimir Putin is on equal show in the breakaway enclave of South Ossetia suggests this conflict is not just another minor ethnic squabble and that it may not stay local for too long. The danger in any war on the border of a great power is that others begin to meddle and before anyone can find Tskhinvali, the capital, on the map we have a full-blown crisis. History is full of seemingly minor events - Kosovo and the Falklands to name two recent examples - leading to international showdowns. It is no secret that the recently resurgent Russia has long resented Georgia’s breakaway from the Soviet Union and its blandishments to the West. Its latest bid to join NATO and the European Union is seen in Moscow as a calculated provocation.

Return of Cold War Diplomacy - Daily Telegraph editorial

Russia's ruthless attack on Georgia is a dramatic and depressing reminder of the willingness of the Soviet Union (and, before it, imperial Russia) to pursue its foreign policy across the borders of sovereign nations. It is true that Georgia - unlike, say Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968 - walked into a trap. What did it imagine would be Moscow's response to its own assault on Tskhinvali, the capital of the Russian-supported breakaway province of South Ossetia? Did the Georgian president, Mikhail Saakashvili, not realise that he was providing his enemy with an excuse not just to invade the rebel province but also to launch air strikes on central Georgia?

Lesson on US Need for Russia - Helene Cooper, New York Times

The image of President Bush smiling and chatting with Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin of Russia from the stands of the Beijing Olympics even as Russian aircraft were shelling Georgia outlines the reality of America’s Russia policy. While America considers Georgia its strongest ally in the bloc of former Soviet countries, Washington needs Russia too much on big issues like Iran to risk it all to defend Georgia. And State Department officials made it clear on Saturday that there was no chance the United States would intervene militarily. Mr. Bush did use tough language, demanding that Russia stop bombing. And Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice demanded that Russia “respect Georgia’s territorial integrity.”

Georgia's Risk-taker Over the Brink - Thomas de Waal, Guardian

The Caucasus is the kind of place where, when the guns start firing, it's hard to stop them. That is the brutal reality of South Ossetia, where a small conflict is beginning to spread exponentially. Leave aside the geopolitics for the moment and have pity for the people who will suffer most from this, the citizens - mostly ethnic Ossetians but also Georgians - who have already died in their hundreds. It is a tiny and vulnerable place, with no more than 75,000 inhabitants of both nationalities mixed up in a patchwork of villages and one sleepy provincial town in the foothills of the Caucasus. Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili seems to care less about these people than about asserting that they live in Georgian territory. Otherwise he would not on the night of 7-8 August have launched a massive artillery assault on the town of Tskhinvali, which has no purely military targets and whose residents, the Georgians say, lest we forget, are their own citizens. This is a blatant breach of international humanitarian law.

9 August

Stopping Russia - Washington Post editorial

The outbreak of fighting between Russia and the former Soviet republic of Georgia was sudden but not surprising. Conflict has been brewing between Moscow and its tiny, pro-Western neighbor for months. The flashpoints are two breakaway Georgian provinces, Abkhazia and South Ossetia -- the latter being the scene of the latest fighting. The skirmishing and shelling around Georgian villages that prompted Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili to launch an offensive against the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali, may or may not have been a deliberate Russian provocation, to which Russia's tank and air assault was the inevitable follow-up. Russian military probes, always denied b y Moscow, have been frequent in recent years. But certainly the deeper source of tension between the two countries is Russia's insistence on maintaining hegemony in the Caucasus. Georgia's democratically elected government has accepted US military and economic aid, supported the mission in Iraq and pursued NATO membership. Moscow will not tolerate such independence - even by a relatively poor country of just 4.6 million people.

Georgia on the Brink - The Times editorial

Yesterday morning Mikhail Saakhashvili, the Georgian President, gave warning that, if reports of Russian armour entering his country were true, it would mean war. They were true. Tanks were crossing the international border from Russia into the breakaway Georgian province of South Ossietia as Mr Saakashvili spoke. He also promised a brief ceasefire to allow the evacuation of wounded civilians. Such ceasefires may come and go. The war may remain officially undeclared. But Russia and its most fervently pro-Western neighbour are now locked in open military conflict.

War in the Caucasus - Wall Street Journal editorial

"War has started," Vladimir Putin said yesterday as Georgian and Russian forces fought over the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia. War is certainly what the two countries have seemed to want for some time, and the chances of avoiding a drawn-out conflict now are slim. It's unclear at this stage which side is more at fault for the current fighting. Georgia says it moved on the South Ossetian city of Tskhinvali yesterday after rebels there broke a cease-fire. But President Mikheil Saakashvili has long pledged to retake South Ossetia and another separatist area, Abkhazia, and may have underestimated Moscow's reaction. Within hours, Russian tanks crossed the border to bolster Russian "peacekeepers" who have been stirring up trouble in the two regions. Georgia says Russian airplanes bombed Tskhinvali, reversing some Georgian army gains there, as well as air fields in nonseparatist areas. The Georgian air force claims to have shot down at least five Russian planes. The biggest question now is whether Moscow will simply try to restore the previous status quo in South Ossetia - with Russia and the rebels controlling most of the territory - or go further and crush Georgia while deposing Mr. Saakashvili.

The Bear Lashes Out - New York Post editorial

Both attacks probably were timed to coincide with the Summer Olympics in Beijing, whose lavish opening ceremonies yesterday diverted the world's attention. Tempting though it might be to dismiss the dispute as a purely regional affair, the fighting has the potential for grave international repercussions. The Caucasus region is a significant conduit of oil taken from the Caspian Sea - and any disruption of the oil flow almost certainly would halt the welcome recent fall in crude prices. That, in turn, could reverse the recent drop in prices at the gas pumps. Indeed, the signs are ominous: Russia yesterday charged that Georgia is undertaking "ethnic cleansing" in South Ossetia - a claim that Moscow could well use as a justification for a wider invasion. Georgia, in turn, is appealing for help from Washington - which yesterday stressed its support for "Georgia's territorial integrity."

War Erupts in Georgia - The Economist

On its own, South Ossetia is unlikely to last long. It is a tiny territory run by Russia’s security forces and a small and nasty clique of local thugs who live off smuggling goods and pocketing Russian aid money. According to a Georgian television channel, some 70% of Tskhinvali had been taken by government forces by the end of Friday morning. It appears that Russia will get heavily involved - Russia's president, Dmitry Medvedev, says that he must protect Russian citizens there. The conflict could now quickly spiral into a war between Russian and Georgia, and engulf Abkhazia, a separatist region on the Black Sea coast in which Russia has much more strategic interest.

S. Ossetia Bitterness Turns to Conflict - Steven Eke, BBC News

As heavy clashes are reported in South Ossetia, Russia and Georgia have swapped increasingly angry accusations. Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili has called upon his country to "mobilise" in the face of "a very blunt Russian aggression". Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow had reports of "ethnic cleansing" in villages. Russian tanks have reportedly moved towards the capital of the region, which has been under heavy bombardment from Georgian forces. South Ossetia is a territory one-and-a-half times that of Luxembourg, with an estimated population of some 70,000 people. It is legally part of Georgia, since its self-proclaimed independence has been recognised by no other state, including Russia. Yet its people and their separatist leaders do not want to be part of the Georgian state, in any shape or form.

Georgia's Fait Accompli Failed - Matthew Clements, The Times

Georgia’s main aim in its offensive in South Ossetia appears to have been a swift advance on the separatist capital Tskhinvali to seize Ossetian territory and achieve a fait accompli before Russia is able to respond. The timing may have been chosen to coincide with Vladimir Putin’s visit to Beijing for the Olympic Opening Ceremony. Given Mr Putin’s significant role in Russian foreign policy, Georgia may have hoped that his absence would slow down any Russian response. In the fighting so far, Georgia has used its superiority in artillery and air power to drive the poorly equipped Ossetian forces from villages near Tskhinvali. This has allowed it to surround the city and, barring a short ceasefire so civilians can withdraw, continue its assault.

Georgia Power Play, and Big Gamble - Jim Heintz, Associated Press

Behind the hostilities in South Ossetia are two nations that have long been spoiling for a fight, with Russia eager to show it's boss in the region and US-backed Georgia determined to prove it can stand up to its huge neighbor. With Vladimir Putin in Beijing for the Olympic opening ceremony and the world's attention fixed on China, Georgia may have been betting it could pounce on an opportunity to quickly wrest control of its breakaway province. But the gamble may backfire: Washington hasn't endorsed Georgia's power play, and Moscow's counteroffensive has brought the two sides into a fight it will be hard for Georgia, a former Soviet state, to win. The conflict has great strategic importance because it pits one of Washington's staunchest allies in the war on terror against Russia, a re-emerging superpower with vast energy reserves that is showing growing eagerness to assert its will on the international stage.

Failed Gamble on Russia Not Fighting - O'Flynn and Fletcher, The Times

It looks, in retrospect, like a ruse that went badly wrong. After days of heavy skirmishing between Georgian troops and Russian-backed separatist militias in the breakaway republic of South Ossetia, Mikhail Saakashvili, the Georgian President, went on television on Thursday evening to announce that he had ordered an immediate unilateral ceasefire. Just hours later his troops began an all-out offensive with tanks and rockets to “restore constitutional order” to a region that won de facto independence in a vicious civil war that subsided in 1992. From that moment events began to spiral out of control.

Taunting the Bear - James Traub, New York Times

The hostilities between Russia and Georgia that erupted on Friday over the breakaway province of South Ossetia look, in retrospect, almost absurdly over-determined. For years, the Russians have claimed that Georgia’s president, Mikheil Saakashvili, has been preparing to retake the disputed regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and have warned that they would use force to block such a bid. Mr. Saakashvili, for his part, describes today’s Russia as a belligerent power ruthlessly pressing at its borders, implacably hostile to democratic neighbors like Georgia and Ukraine. He has thrown in his lot with the West, and has campaigned ardently for membership in NATO. Vladimir V. Putin, Russia’s former president and current prime minister, has said Russia could never accept a NATO presence in the Caucasus.

Why this Conflict Matters to the West - Richard Beeston, The Times

It would be a serious mistake for the international community to regard the dramatic escalation of violence in Georgia as just another flare-up in the Caucasus. The names of the flashpoints may be unfamiliar, the territory remote and the dispute parochial, but the battle under way will have important repercussions beyond the region. The outcome of the struggle will determine the course of Russia’s relations with its neighbours, will shape Dmitri Medvedev’s presidency, could alter the relationship between the Kremlin and the West and crucially could decide the fate of Caspian basin energy supplies. Quite what triggered the Georgian offensive, on the day that the world was supposed to gather in peace for the start of the Beijing Olympics, is not yet clear.

Raping Georgia - Ralph Peters, New York Post

As I write, Russian tanks grind into a brave and isolated democratic state. Assuming that the world's attention would focus on Beijing, Moscow stage-managed an elaborate act of aggression against Georgia. But the world has changed since Soviet tanks rolled unchallenged into Afghanistan at Christmastime 29 years ago. Global communications now spotlight aggression instantly. Yesterday, the world didn't watch the Olympic opening ceremonies (the Chinese must be furious at the Russians). Instead, we saw images of Soviet - sorry, I meant Russian - aircraft pounding Georgian territory as Russian armor rolled over the Caucasus Mountains. The Kremlin is determined to break Georgia's will - and keep the feisty republic out of NATO.

How Georgia Fell into its Enemies' Trap - Edward Lucas, The Times

When is a victory not a victory? When it dents your country's image, scares your allies and gets you into an unwinnable war with a hugely stronger opponent. That is the bleak outlook for Georgia this weekend, after what initially looked like a quick military win against the separatist regime in South Ossetia. Georgia's attack followed weeks of escalating provocations, including hours of heavy shelling by the Russian-backed breakaway province and signs of large-scale Russian reinforcement. Thanks to American military aid, Georgia's 18,000-strong armed forces are the best-trained and equipped fighting force in the Caucasus. But it is one thing for them to defeat the raggle-taggle militia of a tinpot place like South Ossetia (population 70,000). It is another for a country of less than five million people to take on Russia (population 142 million). Now the Kremlin is reacting strongly.

World's Rising Powers Strut Their Stuff - Anne Applebaum, Washington Post

For the best possible illustration of why Islamic terrorism may one day be considered the least of our problems, look no further than the BBC's split-screen coverage of Friday's Olympic Opening ceremonies. On one side, fireworks sparkled and thousands of exotically dressed Chinese dancers bent their bodies into the shape of doves, the cosmos and so on. On the other side, grey Russian tanks were shown rolling into South Ossetia, a rebel province of Georgia. The effect was striking: Two of the world's rising powers were strutting their stuff. The difference, of course, is that one event has been rehearsed for years, while the other, if not a total surprise, was not actually scheduled to take place this week. And that, too, is significant: The Chinese challenge to Western power has been a long time coming, and it is in a certain sense predictable. As a rule, the Chinese do not make sudden moves and do not try to provoke crises. Russia, by contrast, is an unpredictable power, which makes responding to Moscow more difficult. In fact, Russian politics have become so utterly opaque that it is not easy to say why this particular "frozen" conflict has escalated now. Russian sources said yesterday that Georgia had launched an invasion of South Ossetia, aiming to pacify the breakaway region. Georgia, meanwhile, said that its troops entered the South Ossetian "capital" in response to escalating attacks, which have been intensifying for a week -- and have been taking place for years, really -- as well as the Russian aerial bombardment of Georgian territory.

VIDEO NEWS / COMMENTARY

10 August

Associated Press News Update

9 August

Daily Telegraph News Update

Associated Press News Update

BLOGS

10 August

The Big Questions - Dave Schuler, Outside the Beltway

A quick scan of the foreign language news journals has failed to reveal any particular interest in intervening on behalf of the Georgians on the part of the Europeans and, while nearly everybody is calling for an end to the hostilities, things actually seem to be escalating. Finally, what does this mean for NATO? The very least thing I think we can expect from the events of the last few days is that NATO’s eastward expansion will have been halted for the foreseeable future. It’s hard for me to imagine the United States let alone France and Germany intervening militarily to defend Georgia from Russia with or without NATO membership.

Georgia: Played? - Douglas Muir, A Fistful of Euros

Well, the South Ossetia conflict is going pretty badly for Georgia. The Russians appear to have cleared Tsikhinvali, and they’ve moved over six! hundred! armored vehicles into theater. Russian bombers have struck at a number of military targets inside Georgia, and the Russian Navy is maneuvering off the Georgian coast. It’s increasingly clear that the Russians were very ready for this conflict. In fact it’s looking like the Georgians did exactly what Moscow wanted. Was Georgia played? We’ll probably never know, but a couple of thoughts come to mind.

Russia Lands Troops By Sea - Galrahn, Information Dissemination

The New York Times is reporting the Russian naval force dispatched from the Black Sea Base in the Ukraine will be landing Russian troops in Ochamchire, a port city in the disputed territory of Abkhazia. On July 31st, it was reported that Russia had completed a major railroad to Ochamchire, so it would appear this will be a major Russian logistics base.

9 August

Answering the Inevitable Question - Tom Barnett, Thomas PM Barnett

A lot of people have trouble with my placing Russia inside the Core, much like with China. Its one-party political system, even with the embrace of markets and economic connectivity with the outside world, makes it suspect. Plus there's been all the attempts, some subtle and others not so subtle, to recreate spheres of influence: failing throughout east central Europe, losing out to Western interventions in the Balkans, losing out completely in the Baltics, engaging in a lot of bloody mischief in the Caucasus over the years (to include overt support to the two breakaway regions in Georgia), the long-term fight to prevent Chechen independence, and the softer-power push in Central Asia. Basically, the Russians have been going back in time, retracing their imperial growth to the point that they're back to fighting over the bits and pieces Tsars once conquered many decades ago. In sum total, none of this has raised much of a response from the West, because Russia's given up region after region and it's been only recently that the West's integration efforts have gotten inside Russia's tsarist "knickers," so to speak (Ukraine, Georgia considering NATO membership). NATO, being cognizant of where efforts to integrate Russia were stalling, wisely passed on membership for Georgia recently, knowing that the attempt really pissed off Moscow. You have to suspect that Russia's strong response to Georgia's bold effort to subdue South Ossetia militarily is designed to signal something profound to the West on this overall score.

Georgia Bulldogs, Not Paper Tigers - Galrahn, Information Dissemination

Given the fog of war, the American press is doing a fairly decent job sorting out the nonsense and reporting the action in Georgia. The only problem they face is the constantly conflicting reports that make it difficult to truly evaluate what is legitimate. This is not easily done, the expected loser here is Georgia, so reporters are hanging out with the expected winner Russia. Both states are controlling information and are consistently reporting both accurate and inaccurate information. This is a real challenge for US media, indeed we read foreign language press and often the reporting is much worse.

Who’s Winning in Georgia? - Richard Fernandez, The Belmont Club

Readers will have noted that a number of Georgian brigades are permanently based at Gori, which has recently been bombed by Russian attack aircraft, but it is unclear how heavy the raids have been. There are Internet reports that the Ukraine (which has ex-Soviet weapons) has been a steady supplier of hardware to Georgia, and that BAE was scheduled to deliver modern anti-tank missiles to Georgia in the 4th Quarter of 2008, but it’s unclear how reliable these stories are. It’s hard to tell from open sources what the situation on the ground is.

The 1930s Echo in Georgia - Westhawk, Westhawk

It remains to be seen what the exact dimensions of the fighting are and how this crisis will unfold in the days ahead. I have found it interesting how much this affair seems to be lifted directly from the 1930s. Russian President Medvedev has promised to “protect the life and dignity of Russian citizens wherever they are. We will not allow their deaths to go unpunished.” Here Mr. Medvedev is plagiarizing Adolph Hitler’s promises in 1938 to ethnic Germans in Czechoslovakia, and elsewhere in Europe. Meanwhile, Russian paramilitary “volunteers” stream into Georgia (Spain, 1937) while rumors of villages ethnically cleansed spill out (Europe, the whole 20th century). What does this crisis mean for US security interests? Georgia has strived mightily to be a good ally to the US Georgia has made large deployments of its soldiers to both Iraq and Afghanistan, and has not hesitated (unlike other European allies) to send its soldiers into the most dangerous conditions. For these efforts, Georgia hoped to receive a security commitment from at least the US, and hopefully from NATO. Will Georgia’s hopes in this regard be fulfilled? Or will the Bush administration now find a way to quietly back away from this uncomfortable situation? And if the US finds a way to wriggle away from Georgia, what would that mean for US credibility? Or its willingness to involve itself with other vulnerable countries on either Russia’s or China’s peripheries?

Georgia And Russia Collide In S. Ossetia - Warren Wilkins, Threats Watch

Georgia’s status as a US ally further complicates matters. Approximately 130 American military trainers are presently stationed in the country, and upwards of 1000 Marines and soldiers had billeted at the Vaziani military base in July to train Georgian troops. Meanwhile, a contingent from Georgia is currently serving alongside allied forces in Iraq. Given the stakes, the United States has called for a moratorium on all armed hostilities. In a statement issued by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the US urged “an immediate ceasefire to the armed conflict in Georgia’s region of South Ossetia” and for Russia “to cease attacks on Georgia by aircraft and missiles.” Georgia’s ambassador to the United States, Vasil Sikharulidze echoed Rice’s plea to Russia. “We are asking our friends, and the United States among them,” the Sikharulidze said, “to somehow to try to mediate and try to persuade Russia to stop this military aggression and invasion of Georgia.” Such calls may fall on deaf ears. Awash in oil revenues and eager to resume a prominent position on the world stage, Russia has demonstrated a strong inclination in recent years to readmit former Soviet states like Georgia into its sphere of influence.

The Explosive Caucasus - Michael Totten, Middle East Journal

The whole area is a big mess. Chechnya, of course, is the most notorious part of the Caucasus region, but all these countries are dysfunctionally wrapped up in each others’ business. Azerbaijan has its own “South Ossetia.” The region known as Nagorno-Karabakh is a self-proclaimed independent republic carved out of the middle of Azerbaijan by the Armenian military and ethnically-cleansed of Azeris. No country on earth recognizes the sovereignty or legitimacy of Nagorno-Karabakh except for Armenia.

Russia's 'Full Scale Invasion' - Noah Shachtman, Danger Room

"Russia has launched a full scale military invasion," Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said today in Tbilisi, Georgia's capital. Saakashvili is planning to withdraw Georgia's entire 2,000-men contingent from Iraq within three days to help repel the Russians, even as Saakashvili calls for "an immediate ceasefire" in a conflict that Russian officials claim has killed 2,000 and left 30,000 homeless.

Russia Invades Georgia - Herschel Smith, The Captain's Journal

Good grief. Say what you will about American self-protection by imperial presence across the globe, but she has never forced anything upon a population except its own will. Russia is still communist, and communism imposes the will of the government regardless of the will of the people. It’s evil to the core, lest we forget the lessons taught to us by 60+ years of watching Russian brutality, or the lessons taught to us by our great leader Ronald Reagan.

Russia Invades South Ossetia - James Joyner, Outside the Beltway

This is still a holdover from the breakup of the Soviet Union. South Ossetia declared its independence from Georgia in the early 1990s and has de facto sovereignty over large parts of its territory. While neither Georgia nor the international community recognizes the secession as legitimate, Russia has been sympathetic. Tensions came to a head with Kosovo’s declaration of independence and the push to offer Georgia a membership action plan and eventual inclusion into NATO. Russia immediately began throwing its weight around in both South Ossetia and another breakaway province, Abkhazia. It appears that Russia is now making its play.

Trouble in the Caucasus - Richard Fernandez, The Belmont Club

In a move which has put it squarely on a collision course with Putin’s Russia, Georgian troops continuing their campaign against South Ossetian separatists are reported by the BBC to be nearing Tskhinvali. Russia had called for an emergency meeting of the Security Council in New York a few hours before midnight Thursday, EST. Reuters reported the Security Council decided to take no action on a Russian request to call on Georgia to halt military operations against the “Republic of South Ossetia” which has not been diplomatically recognized by the either the UN, EU, or members of NATO. In the fighting that has ensued two Russian combat aircraft are reported down, Georgia has mobilized its reserves and Vladimir Putin has ominously said that “war has started”. Georgia has appealed for help in repelling what it now calls an invasion from Russia.

South Ossetia: Alea Jacta Est - Douglas Muir, A Fistful of Euros

That’s Latin for “throw the dice high”, and that’s what it looks like Georgian leader Saakashvili has done. I’m no longer the Fistful’s Man In the Caucasus - I left in March, after the violence in Armenia. Doug Merrill is now the go-to guy: he’s in Tbilisi, very close to the action. But he’s asleep right now, and it looks like some of our readers are still awake, so FWIW here’s an impression from a distance. Half-informed, amateur war analysis follows...

“Get out of Georgia” - Gordon Chang, Contentions

President Bush and Prime Minister Putin are, at this moment, in Beijing for the Olympics. So it should be easy for our leader to tell the Russian, in public as well as in private, to get out of Georgia. And this as well: the United States is prepared to cut off diplomatic relations, end trade, and use military force to protect this young democracy.

BACKGROUND / QUICKLOOKS

Timeline: Key Events in Russian-Georgian Relations - Associated Press
Day-by-Day: South Ossetia Crisis - BBC News
How Russian and Georgian Forces Stack Up - Reuters
In Pictures: Ossetia Crisis Deepens - BBC News
In Pictures: Russian Bombardment of Georgia - New York Times
Factbox: International Reaction to South Ossetia Conflict - Reuters
Georgia - Library of Congress Country Study
Russia - Library of Congress Country Study
Georgia - CIA World Factbook
Russia - CIA World Factbook
Georgia - US State Department Background Note
Russia - US State Department Background Note
Georgia - BBC Country Page
Russia - BBC Country Page
South Ossetia - New York Times background and related news
South Ossetia - BBC background

DISCUSS

Small Wars Council - Discussion and study / background links