Posted on 08/20/2008 5:30:26 PM PDT by Dawnsblood
Russia’s invasion of Georgia has unleashed a refugee crisis all over the country and especially in its capital. Every school here in Tbilisi is jammed with civilians who fled aerial bombardment and shootings by the Russian military—or massacres, looting, and arson by irregular Cossack paramilitary units swarming across the border. Russia has seized and effectively annexed two breakaway Georgian provinces, South Ossetia and Abkhazia. It has also invaded the region of Gori, which unlike them had been under Georgia’s control. Gori is in the center of the country, just an hour’s drive from Tbilisi; 90 percent of its citizens have fled, and the tiny remainder live amid a violent mayhem overseen by Russian occupation forces that, despite Moscow’s claims to the contrary, are not yet withdrawing.
On Monday, I visited one of the schools transformed into refugee housing in the center of Tbilisi and spoke to four women—Lia, Nana, Diana, and Maya—who had fled with their children from a cluster of small villages just outside the city of Gori. “We left the cattle,” Lia said. “We left the house. We left everything and came on foot because to stay there was impossible.” Diana’s account: “They are burning the houses. From most of the houses they are taking everything. They are stealing everything, even such things as toothbrushes and toilets. They are taking the toilets. Imagine. They are taking broken refrigerators.” And Nana: “We are so heartbroken. I don’t know what to say or even think. Our whole lives we were working to save something, and one day we lost everything. Now I have to start everything from the very beginning.”
Seven families were living cheek by jowl inside a single classroom, sleeping on makeshift beds made of desks pushed together. Small children played with donated toys; at times, their infant siblings cried. Everyone looked haggard and beaten down, but food was available and the smell wasn’t bad. They could wash, and the air conditioning worked.
“There was a bomb in the garden and all the apples on the trees fell down,” Lia remembered. “The wall fell down. All the windows were destroyed. And now there is nothing left because of the fire.”
“Did you actually see any Russians,” I said, “or did you leave before they got there?”
“They came and asked us for wine, but first we had to drink it ourselves to show that it was not poisoned. Then they drank the wine themselves. And then they said to leave this place as soon as possible; otherwise they would kill us. The Russians were looking for anyone who had soldiers in their home. If anyone had a Georgian soldier at home they burned the houses immediately.”
Her husband had remained behind and arrived in Tbilisi shortly before I did. “He was trying to keep the house and the fields,” she explained. “Afterward, he wanted to leave, but he was circled by soldiers. It was impossible. He was in the orchards hiding from the Russians in case they lit the house. He was walking and met the Russian soldiers and he made up his mind that he couldn’t stay any more. The Russian soldiers called him and asked where he was going, if he was going to the American side.”
“The Russians said this to him?” I said.
“My husband said he was going to see his family,” she said. “And the Russians said again, ‘Are you going to the American side?’”
“So the Russians view you as the American side, even though there are no Americans here.”
“Yes,” she said. “Because our way is for democracy.”
Senator John McCain may have overstated things a bit when, shortly after the war started, he said, “We are all Georgians now.” But apparently even rank-and-file Russian soldiers view the Georgians and Americans as allies. Likewise, these simple Georgian country women seem to understand who their friends and enemies are. “I am very thankful to the West,” Maya said as her eyes welled up with tears. “They support us so much. We thought we were alone. I am so thankful for the support we have from the United States and from the West. The support is very important for us.” She tried hard to maintain her dignity and not cry in front of me, a foreign reporter in fresh clothes and carrying an expensive camera. “The West saved the capital. They were moving to Tbilisi. There was one night that was very dangerous. The Russian tanks were very close to the capital. I don’t know what happened, but they moved the tanks back.” And my translator, whose husband works for Georgia’s ministry of foreign affairs, made a similar guess that the West helped save the capital. “The night they came close to Tbilisi,” she said, “Bush and McCain made their strongest speeches yet. The Russians seemed to back down. Bush and McCain have been very good for us.”
Likewise, the women seemed to understand what Russian imperialism has always been about—and not just during the Soviet era. “Why do you think the Russians are doing this in your village?” I said.
“They want our territories,” Nana said. “Some of them are Ossetians, too, not only Russians, and not only soldiers. Some are there just to steal things, from Ossetia and Chechnya.”
Russia doesn’t want to annex Gori permanently, in all likelihood. But it does want, as it always has, a buffer zone between itself and its enemies. It was George F. Kennan, America’s ambassador to the Soviet Union, who said, “Russia can have at its borders only enemies or vassals.” Now, Georgia has been all but dismembered. The opening phase of this crisis may soon come to a close, but it is shaping up to be merely the first chapter in a potentially long and dangerous era. “We will never forget this,” Lia said. “Never. Ever.”
One question: When is someone going to arrange some Bear safari’s in Georgia?
The president of Estonia is home but had this to say today -
If not mistaken the LAW was our answer to the RPG.
I believe the roads run along side the rivers which are in gorges. At least that is what I saw in the videos from the region. Also appears that way on the map. The main thing about that is the tanks would have to enter in a single line with mountain walls on either side of the road/river. The worse place for tanks if they are fighting ground troops.
There are some T80 and T90 with reactive armor according to some reports. Top of the line Russian hardware. We saw a lot of images of that stuff when they first rolled into Georgia. Since then they have dispersed into the countryside and camouflaged. No need for them anyway now, there are few Georgian tank forces and only a few fortified positions remaining.
2 NJ children reunited with dad in Georgia
By GEOFF MULVIHILL – 7 minutes ago
MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. (AP) — Two little girls from New Jersey have been reunited with their father after being trapped by violence in the Republic of Georgia for two weeks.
They arrived at the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi (tuh-BLEE'-see) after a six-hour ride with French Ambassador Eric Fournier. They were greeted with McDonald's Happy Meals and cake.
And my translator, whose husband works for Georgia’s ministry of foreign affairs, made a similar guess that the West helped save the capital. “The night they came close to Tbilisi,” she said, “Bush and McCain made their strongest speeches yet. The Russians seemed to back down. Bush and McCain have been very good for us.”
Two points on this one. 1) I'm very grateful that both Bush and McCain have been strong in their public speech. It doesn't make as much difference as strong action, but it does make a difference.
2) IMO it was useful in backing up the extremely inspirational action of the five Presidents, but it was the five Presidents who saved the day.
A small but very revealing item in the article: From most of the houses they are taking everything. They are stealing everything, even such things as toothbrushes and toilets. They are taking the toilets. Imagine. They are taking broken refrigerators.”
Oh boy, what that tells us about life in Russia even in 2008! They have to steal toothbrushes. Toilets. BROKEN appliances. I thought Russia had made great strides--apparently it was only KGB and mafiya thugs (same thing) who profited. Russia remains a broken down crap hole.
Because, my son was adopted from a Georgian orphanage after being airlifted from Georgia during the last war. When the Americans and Russians came to the orphanage to get the remaining kids who were alive, they found Russian soldiers had passed through and left them food, blankets, and even their own coats.
So either Russia has REALLY lost a great deal of honor, or this group is not really an example of Russian soldiers.
Thanks, MarMema, I will try to keep that in mind when clashing with Vlad's FR trolls.
Also, I've been thinking about how horrible I felt when Clinton/Clark were committing their atrocities against Serbia, but there was nothing much I could do about it except speak out harshly on FR. I often wondered how many Serbs hated me and mine because of Clinton/Clark. I will try to keep that in mind, but it's hard to remember when the trolls come here and post such BS from Russians.
I hope you are correct in this because it would be extremely significant if Russian soldiers were actually ABLE to DECLINE to go. It would almost have to be a very large number of them to be able to get away with that. If so, it's still possible this may be resolved within Russia. I hope so.
I would think this unlikely except that they did have to recruit pensioners to fly their planes and the people on the ground certainly seem much more like a psychotic mob than a disciplined army.
The Russians are not using first rate equipment or forces in Georgia, except for some Spetsnaz units.
Good. Easier to pick off.
Bump. . .
These are probably *real* Cossacks, the Zaporizhzhya from *beyond the rapids*, that is, of the River Dnieper, who also frequently raided into Poland and into Ottoman Turkey, particularly during the Sixteenth Century, including raids on Istanbul and taking Kiev from Polish control.
See also the Wiki entrey for the town in the Ukraine settled by those old boys Zaporizhia/Aleksandrovsk. Or dust off an old copy of Mykola Gogol's novel Taras Bulba.
During Napoleon's Invasion of Russia, Cossacks were the Russian soldiers most feared by the French troops. Napoleon reportedly stated Cossacks are the best light troops among all that exist. If I had them in my army, I would go through all the world with them."
Per the Wikipedia entry: The name entered the English language via French Cosaque, which was a translation from the Polish, which was derived from the Ukrainian Kozak (In Russian, Kazak).
It is originally a Turkic word, qazaq, which means "adventurer" or "free man".
BTW: they've traditionally been used as mercenary border guards, as during the Caucasus War, both by Russians, and during the Khanate of Kazan. I wonder if they'd like a gig along our southern border....
Not a great many. Remember that it was the Serbs who helped save hundreds of American pilots and airmen from the Nazis during WWII, that Nicola Tesla was a Serbian-American, and there was a group of around a hundred Americans of Serbian descent, mostly from around the Biloxi, Mississippi area, who fought on the Serbian side.
The Serbs with whom I've crossed paths have been intelligent enough to know that it was corrupt American globalists they should direct their ire towards, not the American people. And quite a few have family members in the US, probably more of a percentage than Polish-Americans.
I also recommend that long term, if the Georgians have a 'long term that is, practice of turning Georgia into a nation of riflemen along the lines of the Swiss Schutzenfest
Every Georgian home should also have a rifle and a quantity of ammunition as a matter of law.
In very short order Georgia, while it could be invaded, would never be conquered.
L
Kontraktniki: That’s just perfect! Cossack contract ‘peacekeepers.’ My premise becomes more plausible by the month.
They might not be 100% defeated, but I’m not sure how long many Georgians would be willing to live like hunted bandits in the South Caucuses, while their main road, railroad and pipeline are severed and under Russian control. Geography just doesn’t work in the Georgians’ favor here. In no time, most Georgians (like most people, for example, the Lithuanian resistors of the late 40s and early 50s) would give up and accept domination in heated homes over freezing to death in a “forest brotherhood.”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.