By Mikhail Gorbachev
ICH
12/08/08 “Washington Post”
MOSCOW — The past week’s events in South Ossetia are bound to shock and pain anyone. Already, thousands of people have died, tens of thousands have been turned into refugees, and towns and villages lie in ruins. Nothing can justify this loss of life and destruction. It is a warning to all.
The roots of this tragedy lie in the decision of Georgia’s separatist leaders in 1991 to abolish South Ossetian autonomy. This turned out to be a time bomb for Georgia’s territorial integrity. Each time successive Georgian leaders tried to impose their will by force — both in South Ossetia and in Abkhazia, where the issues of autonomy are similar — it only made the situation worse. New wounds aggravated old injuries.
Nevertheless, it was still possible to find a political solution. For some time, relative calm was maintained in South Ossetia. The peacekeeping force composed of Russians, Georgians and Ossetians fulfilled its mission, and ordinary Ossetians and Georgians, who live close to each other, found at least some common ground.
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see
The Reality Behind Western Propaganda Regarding War In Georgia
Mosaic News – 8/11/08: World News from the Middle East
Medvedev orders end to military operation + Roadmap for Georgian peace
The Caucasus —Washington Risks nuclear war by miscalculation
RNN: Who’s to blame for the Russian Georgian conflict?
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Georgian troops fire at refugees + burying their dead
Georgia’s aggression on South Ossetia is ethnic cleansing + Media briefing of Russia’s General Staff
From Stupid to Moronic to Evil By Paul Craig Roberts
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War in the Caucasus: Towards a Broader Russia-US Military Confrontation?
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