Russia Bombs Gori, Georgia

The Russians take an offensive move, in more ways than one.

GORI, Georgia — Russian air attacks over northern Georgia intensified on Saturday morning, striking two apartment buildings in the city of Gori and clogging roads out of the area with fleeing refugees.

Russian authorities said their forces had retaken the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali, from Georgian control during the morning hours. They reported that 15 Russian peacekeepers and 1,500 civilians have been killed in the conflict.

The war was allegedly was started by the Georgians, who the Russians say were ethnically cleansing the ethnic Russians from South Ossetia, the disputed region. (South Ossetians wants independence from Georgia.) But the attack on Gori is more than standing up for one's tribe; it's punishment, and not just for the South Ossetia issue. It's not as if Georgia could go toe-to-toe with Russia.

NATO is calling for a cease-fire.

(Thanks to Ed Morrisey, who waits for certain people to criticize Russia for 'air-raiding villages and killing civilians.' )

UPDATE: Are the Ukrainians helping Georgia? I wouldn't doubt it. They hate their former masters as much as the Georgians do. (Recent reason for hate: many suspect that Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko was poisoned by Russia's FSB; he survived but his face bears the marks of some illness/ingestion.)

Holy crap.

UPDATE: Joshua Trevino:

The real question for Georgia, then, is not whether is will win or lose — it has already lost — but how bad its loss will be. The worst case scenario is a Russian occupation and annexation. Fortunately for the Georgians, that’s also the least likely.

Trevino places the blame mostly on the Georgian president. But the Russians aren't exactly faultless.

Russia has baited the hot-tempered Georgian leader with trade and travel embargoes as well as saber-rattling. Georgia has had to tolerate a few thousand Russian troops on its soil -- only Moscow recognizes the self-declared independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. And in April, Russia downed a Georgian drone over Abkhaz -- that is, Georgian -- air space. Russia in recent years has also granted citizenship to the separatists.

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Russia and Georgia Go To War

Comments

[Mikhail]

Please stop genocide of Ocetian nation!

Starting 1989 nationalistic fascist Georgian government tries to annihilate and expel Ocetian nation from its territory. As the result of Georgian warfare against small nations, tens thousands of Ocetian, Abhasian, Armenian and Russian people died since 1991. The scale of genocide is concealed by Georgian mass media. Brutality of Georgian fascists and freaksville torture of the local population overrode the torture of fascists during the Second World War.

Georgian mass media stir up the sickness of Georgian nation – they believe they are only people deserving life on Georgian territory, they are exclusive, elitist; other nations should move out or be killed.

At the moment the tragedy is happening – Georgians systematically shooting dead the Ocetian people in their own houses or burying under the falling homes.

Georgian fascists destroyed Ocetian settlements and town Tskhinvally – they lay even with the ground.
The number of victims buried by Georgian fire under the ruins cannot be calculated – it is amounted to thousands.
Georgians destroyed all hospitals. Medics cannot work under the fire of Georgians. People saved in underground stores do not have food, water, electricity, gas for 3 days – they cannot go out because of Georgian fire and cannot move out of town because Georgians are trying to take hold with tanks and armored vehicles of the only road from the town to tunnel controlled by Russians.

At that Georgian president insincerely is saying that he tries to make constitutional order and peace, and suggesting lefthandedly to cease fire. All his actions are aimed towards USA and NATO (he even speaks with his nation in English so that you understand him).

USA has strategic interest in region – pipeline going through Georgia. So official government of USA will never realize that Georgian president is criminal politician betrayed its nation (in fact people in Georgia do not want war), instead government of USA will support him (several hours ago a train with NATO armored machines came to Georgia).

The next victim of Georgian fascists will be Abhasian nation.

People in USA and Europe please force your politicians to stop Georgians.

[ErikZ]

What about the other 12 countries that were previously USSR? I would think they would be hyper-sensitive to any kind of Russian aggression.

I really don't want to see the US getting involved in this.