russia

"Russia has invaded a sovereign neighboring state and threatens a democratic government elected by its people. Such an action is unacceptable in the 21st century" George Bush

Says who. Says the man who began the 21st century with unprovoked invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, and who threatens to engineer a third invasion before the first decade of the century is over. Says the man at whose hands over a million have died and as many at least have been forced from their homes. Says the unelected President and Commander-in-Chief of the strongest military force the planet has ever known. Says the self-appointed ruler of the world... Read on

I have been accused of relying on sources which are funded by the CIA - in particular, the reports by the Institute of War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) which is funded by the National Endowment for Democracy and United States Institute for Peace (among about another 30 funding organisations). So the following was my justification for reading their reports, and even believing some parts of them. The particular article in question was How the Georgian War Began.

The internet has been bubbling for 10 days now with experts on the Caucasus, Ossetia, Abkhazia, Georgia, and the big bad Russian bear. Everyone understands what's going on. No-one agrees with anyone else. Firm, decisive analyses from 'experts' (and a few experts) tell us precisely who did what, when, for which reason, and what we can expect to see next. Until you read the next analysis - which tells you exactly the opposite.

An Ossetian who was in South Ossetia during the Georgian assault tells her story.

By Larisa Sotieva in Vladikavkaz

High in the sky I saw five steel-coloured planes. As I was studying them, they formed a line like geese and plunged towards the ground. From their bellies they dropped bombs like eggs. Their insane whistle shook the mountain gorge and the ground shook like an earthquake. Having dropped their eggs, the planes flew on in the direction of Tskhinvali.

It was the morning of August 8 and I was next to the road to the northern village of Java in South Ossetia, having spent most of the night in the forest sheltering from bombardment by the Georgian army.

The night before had been the culmination of all our worst nightmares for many years.

The escalators in Moscow are long, and in the rush hour, people stand on both sides - so even if you want to walk, you can't. You can say 'excuse me' to the person in front, and even with difficulty squeeze past them, if you can tolerate the grumbling (and the squeeze). But then you only have to repeat the same performance with the person next in line, and then the person after that, and then with tens of people after that. The end result may be that you reach the top or bottom a few seconds earlier than you would have done, but you have made a lot of enemies.