With Russia and Georgia apparently agreeing to a ceasefire, a reporter looks back at the lingering images from the bloody conflict.
Georgia has pulled its embattled troops out of the disputed province of South Ossetia and agreed to a cease-fire, submitting to Russia's far superior firepower.
One of the more lingering images from the Georgia crisis may be footage of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's bodyguards throwing him to the ground and covering him with flak jackets as a Russian jet zoomed above. Witnessed by journalists from NEWSWEEK and other outlets on Monday morning in Gori, the incident signified the seeming powerlessness of Georgia in the face of Russian military might.
Saakashvili was in Gori, a city of about 35,000 people 45 miles from the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, to inspect ruined buildings, their facades scorched black, their windows blown out and their balconies shredded. In one of the burned-out cars on the street, a pregnant woman and her husband had been killed by a bomb two days before. He brought along French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, who told reporters that he had come to show the world "a strong picture" of what happened to a few blocks of a city in a sovereign country.
Saakashvili was angry. When asked how the war with Russia could be stopped, he snapped: "Ask our neighbors!" The next moment, the low roar of that jet caused a panic. One of Saakashvili's bodyguards, a stout man with a camouflage scarf around his head, screamed and pointed at the sky. "Khairy, Khairy!" he shouted. "The air! The air!"
Kouchner, who, unlike the Georgian president, was not wearing a flak jacket, was already in his car, leaving the street at top speed. When the jet was gone, the president was rushed to his car and driven away. Saakashvili's Hummer made such sharp turns that it seemed in danger of turning over.
Not all the locals were impressed by the president's visit. A block away, two middle-aged women were crying by their ruined house. "What is he here for?" they said of Saakashvili. "What is he worth now? Can he give us our houses back?"
News of the Russian Army's rapid advance Monday came by radio and text message: Russian tanks are in Poti, said the Georgian government; they drove through Zugdidi to the military base in Senaki, according to a reporter who saw tanks and spoke to Russian soldiers; they have taken Brotskheti, the third village past the former South Ossetian border on the way to Gori.
Russia and the West are interdependent. The USA attacked Iraq, and the oil price became twice greater in some time. The oil price became twice greater, and it is harder for Americans to pay for their houses that were bought by hypothec. What will happen if you don't let Russia pump its energy to the West? I think the oil price will become twice greater slowly. In such a way, the West can throw hundreds of Americans out of their houses.
An interesting suggestion from Steve Levine. The Russians have a big weakness. Bush, Obama and McCain should keep in mind Russia's Achilles Heel as they deal with Putin and Medvedev. Levine knows this area, having covered wars in Chechnya, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Nagorno-Karabakh, Tajikistan as well as the Soviet-Afghan war: http://oilandglory.com/2008/08/russias-achilles-heel.html
Georgia's president was an idiot to attack Russia. I read an article where he thought the timing of his attack was brilliant. How brilliant does he feel now? What happens when you poke the bear? You face the obvious consequence. I wonder if he has learned anything? # 1 rule in fighting, pick a fight you can win. I feel sorry for his people, his leadership is a disgrace.
MEDIA Just a year after buying The Wall Street Journal, the press rapscallion has revitalized the fusty paper.
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