|
2008-08-09 Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
|
|
World Leaders Call for End to Fighting in South Ossetia
|
World leaders, as well as international organizations, have called for an end to fighting in Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia.
| And what could work better than a good, solid call for an end to fighting? |
South Ossetia along with another Georgian region - Abkhazia - declared their independence from Georgia in the mid 1990s. Georgia's president Mikhail Saaakashvili has vowed to bring both regions back into the fold.
Tensions between Georgia and Russia have escalated over the years as Moscow increased economic, commercial and political ties with the two breakaway regions. Over the past few months, tensions increased significantly as Tbilisi and Moscow took a series of military measures in the region: Moscow sent warplanes over the two regions and increased its military buildup in the area. Tbilisi responded in kind and sent unmanned reconnaissance planes over the breakaway regions. "The sides of the conflict have been playing a kind of cat and mouse game for a couple of years now and they've always kind of pushed each other to the brink but then pulled back," said Sabine Freizer with the Brussels-based International Crisis Group. "Unfortunately, that's not what happened [in the past 24 hours] and what we've seen is a large scale military offensive throughout South Ossetia."
Freizer called on both sides to address the humanitarian situation in the area. That appeal was echoed by United Nations spokeswoman Michele Montas who described the conditions in South Ossetia as related by a worker for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. "A UNHCR staff member in that area has reported that many buildings and houses have been destroyed and that only military personnel are moving in the streets," said Montas. "Water is in short supply. Most transport has stopped and shops are running out of food."
Analysts, including Jason Lyall from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School for Public and International Affairs, say if the conflict escalates to a full-blown war between Georgia and Russia, Tbilisi has very little chance of winning. "Russia has about 100,000 troops in the region just because it's so heavily militarized from Chechnya and the other insurgencies that are going on next door," he said. "If this is a long war, Georgia will be in a considerable amount of trouble just because its forces are so much smaller: it only has about 27,000 soldiers and it would rely also on these militia groups that it is starting to reactivate as well. But in a long war Georgia would be in trouble." 
|
Posted by Fred 2008-08-09 00:00||
||
Front Page|| [11 views ]
Top
|
|
Posted by JosephMendiola 2008-08-09 01:16||
2008-08-09 01:16||
Front Page
Top
|
|
Posted by RIcky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) 2008-08-09 02:15||
2008-08-09 02:15||
Front Page
Top
|
|
21:49 trailing wife
21:22 swksvolFF
20:53 magpie
20:46 swksvolFF
20:43 swksvolFF
20:28 Secret Master
18:21 M. Murcek
18:20 M. Murcek
18:20 Rambler in Virginia
18:19 ed in texas
18:16 ed in texas
18:13 ed in texas
18:06 M. Murcek
18:00 JohnQC
17:51 JohnQC
17:49 M. Murcek
17:49 JohnQC
17:48 Ululating Platypus
17:44 Dale
17:30 Lord Garth
17:27 JohnQC
17:17 Deacon+Blues
17:14 M. Murcek
17:08 Besoeker
|
