Originally posted by Mainer

I thought by now with a week for news organization to get their stuff together there would be a lot more in-depth backgrounders and the like. Strangely there is not.



[edit on 17-8-2008 by Mainer]

A United Nations aid convoy, entering the Georgian town of Gori, says the buildings there do not appear to be badly damaged.

Pledging to Leave Georgia, Russia Instead Tightens Grip

Even as Russia pledged to begin withdrawing its forces from neighboring Georgia on Monday, American officials said the Russian military had been moving launchers for short-range ballistic missiles into South Ossetia, a step that appeared intended to tighten its hold on the breakaway territory. The Russian military deployed several SS-21 missile launchers and supply vehicles to South Ossetia on Friday, according to American officials familiar with intelligence reports. From the new launching positions north of Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian capital, the missiles can reach much of Georgia, including Tbilisi, the capital.

Timeline of Events in the Russians Invasion & Occupation of Georgia


The information below is accurate to the best of our knowledge, but is subject to verification.



1 August

A pickup truck carrying six Georgian police officers is blown up by separatists.

· At 08:00, a pickup truck carrying six Georgian police officers is hit by two remote-control explosive devices on the Eredvi-Kheiti bypass road linking Georgia proper with the Didi Liakhvi Gorge, a Georgian enclave north of the breakaway region’s capital Tskhinvali. Five of the six Georgian policemen are severely wounded.

· The Government of Georgia decides not to retaliate in order not to escalate the situation.



2 August

Six civilians and one Georgian policeman are injured by gunfire coming from South Ossetian territory controlled by Russian peacekeepers.

· Six civilians and one Georgian policeman are injured by gunfire coming from South Ossetian territory controlled by Russian peacekeepers, following the shelling of Georgian villages in the South Ossetian conflict zone overnight.

· The Georgian-controlled villages of Zemo Nikozi, Kvemo Nikozi, Nuli, Avnevi, Eredvi, and Ergneti come under intense fire from the South Ossetian separatists with large-caliber mortars.

· Georgian law enforcers initially shoot back in self-defense, but are soon ordered to cease fire in order not to escalate the situation.

Is Condoleeza Rice stupid?

Has the US Secretary of State got her cassette stuck? For a week now she has been reiterating the same phrase “Russian forces must leave Georgia now” and for a week now the world has been informed of Georgian war crimes against Russians in Ossetia. The war crimes happened, the Russians call the shots now, Ms. Rice. Like it or lump it.