Russia/Georgia Situation News & Updates, page 144

My personal update:

I have been gone for a while, and now that I am back I find that not much has been changed in the last 6 hours. In a quickly changing conflict like this it is awkward. Of course it is night now in Georgia, and the action has calmed down somewhat.

I have access to Russian television news, and a live satellite feed of CNN, BBC, Fox, MSNBC, and CBS at home (yes Putin doesn't sit near my custom sat dish and block the signals from the West like some of you may think). The news feeds are very very different between Russian channels and Western media - that would be an understatement. I have never seen this much propaganda used by both sides - it is almost frightening. There is simply no middle ground in the press. It's either pro-Russia, or pro-Georgia. What we see happening here is an information war on a larger scale than an actual war. Sort of like what happened when Israel intervened in Lebanon, but on a larger scale.

I admit that Russian news are full of their own propaganda and are totally biased. However at least they bring up some factual stuff, and have been monitoring the conditions in S. Ossetia longer than any Western source (back from July). By the way Russian news report everything coming from Georgian Info Ministry - but they rather make fun of the reports than treat them as definitively factual.

Western media appears to have a single voice today. A voice that mirrors the reports of the Georgian government and its American masters. Never before have I seen such a troubling phenomenon in the Western media. The story is told from one point of view - and so are the facts. Everything else is brushed off entirely, or mentioned as a side note. Almost no mention of how this started - when Georgia killed over a thousand innocent civilians in Tskhinvalli. THAT IS OVER ONE THOUSAND. LET ME REITTERATE THAT AGAIN - OVER 3% OF S. OSSETIAN POPULATION WAS KILLED IN ONE SINGLE DAY - BY GEORGIAN ARMY - BY SAAKASHVILLI.

But the Western media isn't concerned about that. When 14 students die in a school shooting its national headlines for a month. When a major American ally murders over 1,000 people who can't defend themselves - that's not news worthy.

No there is something else more newsworthy - Western media is shouting alarm - America's ally is being invaded from all sides. Tbilisi is a garrison under attack. The Russian bear is sitting in the Caucasus and pounding Georgia to the ground. Saakashvilli says Gori is occupied; he shouts that most of Georgia is taken by the enemy; he pleads for help; he yells that Russians will ethnically cleanse Georgians; he runs for cover from evil Russian jets out to get him; we will not surrender he then announces; he calls for cease fire. WATCH AMERICA - WATCH AND BELIEVE AND LEARN. CNN AND SKY NEWS CAN'T LIE - HOW CAN THEY - THEY ARE FREE AND NON BIASED. Headlines in the West scream INVASION. Georgia is falling.

Now let me just say one word - WHAT

WHAT is really going on? Where is the huge Russian invasion force? Wherever Saakashvilli says it is? Did Gori really fall, or did the Georgians just leave? Was Senaki even occupied, or did the Russians just destroy the air field and helicopters there? How many Russian troops and tanks are within Georgian non-disputed territory? Surely someone can film them?

We have people convinced that Georgia is falling and Russia is invading in full force. We have people spreading panic that Tbilisi is being surrounded and is ready to be stormed.

Deny the ignorance you say? You are being led by your nose by one man who can barely put a sentence of English together - Saakashvilli. He says Russians are in Gori? They must be. He says Tbilisi is about to be attacked? It must be. He says Georgian troops have ceased fire? They must have.

Embrace the ignorance I say.

Reality:

Where is the concrete proof that Russians are in Gori and heading towards Tbilisi? Where is the proof that there was a mass incursion by Russia, besides small scale operations in Senaki and Zugdidi? Where is the burning gun, or the burning tank turret in the case? Where? Up Saakashvilli's you-know-what?

Yes Russians intervened on Georgia's soil I admit - they shouldn't have. But an invasion? Preparation for storming of Tbilisi? Has everyone lost their mind? Does logic no longer prevail and everyone is putting on their helmets preparing for 10 kinds of hell to rain down on Tbilisi?

Perhaps we should stop hypothesizing that Russia is attacking - and ask ourselves why is the Western media raising alarm before proof - in a single voice? A voice that echoes Bush and Cheney?

The truth is - it appears that a massive anti-Russian coalition is forming in the West, assured that Georgia is lost without their help. No sight of Russian tanks yet - but lets be sure and get our hordes ready just in case. Politicians are ready for war - without any proof (as if that is the first time this has happened)

What if there is no mass Russian attack? What if Tbilisi is not in any danger? What if the Russians are only pursuing the Georgian troops to make sure an attack on Tskhinvalli is not renewed?

We are hearing the alarm from the media a day before the fire starts. And in this case the fire may start because of the alarm - not the other way around.

So please let us wait for further confirmation from the conflict zone - concrete confirmation from reporters. I admit my predictions were wrong the moment Russians entered Zagdidi and Senaki. I do not approve of their actions, and am a terrible speculator - a propagandist if you will. But so far I have stuck to factual news, or to rumors which I stated were unconfirmed. Much of the news I posted first turned out to be true. There are no facts pointing that Russians are readying a storm on Tbilisi or are planning an occupation of Georgia.

I am not saying this will not happen for sure. But what I am saying is that we are all jumping on a trampoline of rumors - a trampoline held up by Western news sources.