Special Olympics Georgia

by Michael Webster: Investigative journalist August 16, 2008 12:01 PM PDT

LA Times reported that Russia and its allied forces destroyed a key railway bridge connecting the capital of war-weary Georgia to the Black Sea coast, and to blow the Georgian Coast Guard and other vessels, cutting and all lanes of east-west in the small country, the Georgian Foreign Ministry announced. The move came one day after the Georgian president signed a French proposal for a cease-fire support during a visit by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Russian soldiers occupying the central Georgian city of Gori has also pushed forward 14 miles to the capital, Tbilisi, setting up positions on the country's main east-west road 25 miles from the capital. Adjacent agricultural fields were burned, apparently by Russian soldiers.

Global Research, said Michel Chossudovsky during the night of August 7, coinciding with the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has ordered all-out military attack on Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia.

The aerial bombardments and ground attacks were largely directed against civilian targets including residential areas, hospitals and universities. The provincial capital Tskhinvali was destroyed. The attacks killed some 1,500 civilians dead, according to both Russian and Western sources. "Aerial bombardment and artillery left the provincial capital without water, food, electricity and gas. Civils Horrified crawled out of the basements into the streets as fighting eased, looking for supplies. "(AP, August 9, 2008). According to reports, some 34,000 people from South Ossetia fled to Russia. (Deseret Morning News in Salt Lake City, August 10, 2008)

The importance and timing of this military operation must be carefully analyzed. It has profound implications.

Georgia is an outpost of U.S. and NATO forces in the immediate border of the Russian Federation and near the scene of the Middle East Central Asian war. South Ossetia is also at the crossroads of strategic oil and gas pipeline.

Encouraged Georgia to NATO attack according to Russian envoy to NATO Dmitry Rogozin. He sent an official note to representatives of all member countries in Brussels in the framework of military action by Georgia against South Ossetia. He asked them not to support Mikhail Saakashvili.

Russia has already begun consultations with the ambassadors of NATO countries with military representatives of NATO. Rogozin said. "We will caution them against continuing to further support of Saakashvili."

Rogozin says Georgian aggression against South Ossetia is obvious. "This is an undisguised aggression accompanied by a mass propaganda war," he said.

Rogozin has linked Friday's attack for the support given to Saakashvili at the recent NATO summit in Bucharest. At the meeting, Rogozin said, he "was mentioned Georgia has prospects in NATO."

South Ossetian close to the humanitarian disaster of Russia Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he hoped Western Georgia partners take note of what happened in South Ossetia and draw conclusions.

"This confirms our numerous warnings addressed to the international community need to pay attention to massive arms purchasing by Georgia during several years. Now we see how these arms and Georgian special forces who had been trained by foreign specialists in the United States and are used, "he said.

They also accused the Georgian authorities ignorin.