23:58
U.S. President George W. Bush reiterated on August 14 that Georgia’s territorial integrity should be respected and ceasefire agreement respected.
Bush made the statement in a lobby of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) headquarters after having been briefed on situation in Georgia. Michael V. Hayden, CIA director, was standing right beside him.
President Bush said that CIA was analyzing situation on the ground, as well as “different possibilities that could develop in the region.”
“We will be working this issue throughout the coming weeks and people here in the Agency have been incredibly helpful,” he added.
Earlier on August 14, Robert Gates, the U.S. Secretary of Defense, held a joint press conference with Vice Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. James Cartwright on the situation in Georgia.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Gates: No Prospect for Use of Military Force
- Gates: Russia wanted to punish Georgia;
- Standard package of humanitarian aid ongoing;
- Gen. Cartwright: Russia “generally complying” with ceasefire.
“I do not see any prospect for use of military force by the United States in this situation,” U.S. Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, said at a special news conference about situation in Georgia on August 14.
The press conference was held jointly with Vice Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. James Cartwright.
U.S. cargo aircraft C-17 with humanitarian supplies started to arrive in Tbilisi and Washington said it would also use its naval forces to deliver humanitarian and medical supplies.
“This is a humanitarian relief mission and that is our focus at this point,” Gates said.
“The United States government will then turn to the questions both of economic reconstruction and also what to do to help the Georgian security forces looking to the longer term future… Right now the only people we will have on the ground are those that are required to deliver humanitarian mission.”
Gen. Cartwright said that the U.S. military was doing a “standard package of humanitarian aid,” involving identifying where the help is needed, what kind of help is needed; is it medical, is it communications rebuilding etc.Two shipments of humanitarian supplies with worth of USD 2 million, have been delivered to Georgia so far, the U.S. Air Force said.
Secretary Gates said that Russia's attack on Georgia was not just about South Ossetia or Abkhazia.
He said he thought that Russia wanted “to punish Georgia for daring to try to integrate with the west.”
“If Russia does not step back from its aggressive posture and actions in Georgia, the U.S.-Russian relationship could be adversely affected for years to come,” he warned.
When asked what he thought Russia’s intentions were, Gates responded: “My view is that Russians – and I would say – principally PM Putin is interested in reasserting not only Russia’s superpower status, but in reasserting Russia’s traditional sphere of influence. I think that there is an effort to try redress what they regard as many of the concessions they feel were forced upon them in 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union.”
He also said that since 2004, every August there had been an exchange of fire between the Georgian and South Ossetian forces. “This year it escalated very quickly and it seemed to me that Russians were prepared to take advantage of an opportunity and did so very aggressively,” Gates said. “They [Russians] clearly had a great advantage and having superior air power and lot of force.”
Gen. Cartwright said that the Russian forces were currently “generally complying” with the ceasefire commitment.
“Generally the [Russian] forces are starting to move out of the city, particularly Gori; starting to consolidate their positions and get themselves into the position where they can start to back away towards the border,” Gen. Cartwright said. “Air activities in and around of that region has slowed down dramatically over last 24 hours; there has been no air activity.”
Town of Gori remained under the Russian forces’ control at the time of writing this report. The Georgian security forces and the police were outside the town waiting for the Russians to hand over the town.
People Fleeing Conflict Areas Angry over being ‘Left Unprotected’
20:15
A group of villagers from the areas in and around the South Ossetian conflict zone, who have fled the region, were gathered outside the Parliament on Wednesday evening.
A Georgian-language website presa.ge posted a video showing several dozen of displaced persons on the Tbilisi’s main thoroughfare complaining angrily about, what they called, the Georgian authorities failure to protect them and expressing desperate disappointment with the west and in particular with the Unites States.
One woman in the footage shouts angrily: “We pinned our hopes on America; did not we? Our soldiers were in Iraq; where is America now, where is it?”
Another woman says: “They are holding concerts. Is it time for concerts now? People are dieing.”
She was making a reference to a mass gathering in Tbilisi on August 12, when tens of thousands of people were gathered outside the Parliament in, what President Saakashvili said, was show of unity amid Russia’s aggression. Senior governmental members were delivering patriotic speeches at the rally vowing not to surrender and fight to the end, while singers were performing patriotic songs.
The video also shows another man speaking with the patrol police officer complaining: “Why did they [the authorities] leave us alone? Why did the troops pulled out? Why did they leave the villages and people there unprotected?”
“They are strong,” a police officer replies, apparently referring to the Russian troops.
“Oh really?” the man continued, “then why starting all these things at all? Did it have any sense? Why so many people die for?”
Vice-Mayor of Tbilisi Mamuka Akhvlediani came at the scene later trying to calm angry displaced people by vowing to provide them with shelter. But people who surrounded him responded even more angrily telling him shelter was not as important for them as the need “to save those still remaining” in the villages now controlled by the Russian forces and the South Ossetian militias.
“Why did not you give us arms, we could have at least defended ourselves,” a woman was shouting at Akhvlediani. “We were left unprotected there.”
Akhvlediani then again tried to allay them by saying that he was only in charge of taking care of them and finding a shelter for them.
Officials say over 23,000 displaced persons have been registered as of August 13. Most of them found shelter in public schools and kindergartens and hundreds of tents are being installed by the authorities in the outskirt of Tbilisi.
Meanwhile, UN Resident Coordinator in Georgia, Robert Watkins, said on August 14 that the UN agencies and other humanitarian organizations had no access to the conflict zones, particularly South Ossetia. He called on all sides to establish a humanitarian corridor, as agreed in the ceasefire plan.
A group of villagers from the areas in and around the South Ossetian conflict zone, who have fled the region, were gathered outside the Parliament on Wednesday evening.
A Georgian-language website presa.ge posted a video showing several dozen of displaced persons on the Tbilisi’s main thoroughfare complaining angrily about, what they called, the Georgian authorities failure to protect them and expressing desperate disappointment with the west and in particular with the Unites States.
One woman in the footage shouts angrily: “We pinned our hopes on America; did not we? Our soldiers were in Iraq; where is America now, where is it?”
Another woman says: “They are holding concerts. Is it time for concerts now? People are dieing.”
She was making a reference to a mass gathering in Tbilisi on August 12, when tens of thousands of people were gathered outside the Parliament in, what President Saakashvili said, was show of unity amid Russia’s aggression. Senior governmental members were delivering patriotic speeches at the rally vowing not to surrender and fight to the end, while singers were performing patriotic songs.
The video also shows another man speaking with the patrol police officer complaining: “Why did they [the authorities] leave us alone? Why did the troops pulled out? Why did they leave the villages and people there unprotected?”
“They are strong,” a police officer replies, apparently referring to the Russian troops.
“Oh really?” the man continued, “then why starting all these things at all? Did it have any sense? Why so many people die for?”
Vice-Mayor of Tbilisi Mamuka Akhvlediani came at the scene later trying to calm angry displaced people by vowing to provide them with shelter. But people who surrounded him responded even more angrily telling him shelter was not as important for them as the need “to save those still remaining” in the villages now controlled by the Russian forces and the South Ossetian militias.
“Why did not you give us arms, we could have at least defended ourselves,” a woman was shouting at Akhvlediani. “We were left unprotected there.”
Akhvlediani then again tried to allay them by saying that he was only in charge of taking care of them and finding a shelter for them.
Officials say over 23,000 displaced persons have been registered as of August 13. Most of them found shelter in public schools and kindergartens and hundreds of tents are being installed by the authorities in the outskirt of Tbilisi.
Meanwhile, UN Resident Coordinator in Georgia, Robert Watkins, said on August 14 that the UN agencies and other humanitarian organizations had no access to the conflict zones, particularly South Ossetia. He called on all sides to establish a humanitarian corridor, as agreed in the ceasefire plan.
Turkish PM Visits Tbilisi after Talks in Moscow
17:43
Turkish PM, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said after talks with Saakashvili that Georgia's territorial integrity “must be preserved.”
Turkish PM arrived in Tbilisi after holding talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
President Saakashvili said at a joint news conference after the talks that Georgia was grateful for Turkey’s support and also said that Turkey would provide assistance rehabilitation of Gori, a town which came under series of Russia’s air strikes that killed dozens of civilian population.
Turkish PM, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, said after talks with Saakashvili that Georgia's territorial integrity “must be preserved.”
Turkish PM arrived in Tbilisi after holding talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.
President Saakashvili said at a joint news conference after the talks that Georgia was grateful for Turkey’s support and also said that Turkey would provide assistance rehabilitation of Gori, a town which came under series of Russia’s air strikes that killed dozens of civilian population.
OSCE Envoy: Situation Still ‘Fragile’
17:07
OSCE needs 100 monitors on the ground “to swiftly respond to the crisis,” the Finnish diplomat said.
The situation in and around the South Ossetia conflict area remains “fragile” and up to 100 additional OSCE monitors are needed on the ground, Heikki Talvitie, the OSCE Chairman-in-Office special envoy, told an OSCE Permanent Council special session in Vienna on August 14.
“The proposed number of monitors would allow the OSCE to react to the situation as it unfolds,” he said. “The OSCE must be in a position to swiftly respond to the crisis.”
He said that the OSCE's presence on the ground could help establish and maintain a humanitarian corridor for international relief efforts, as well as monitor the ceasefire and disengagement of forces agreed by the sides on August 12.
Currently the OSCE Mission to Georgia has 200 staff, including eight unarmed military monitoring officers, who were in charge of monitoring of, and reporting on the ceasefire in the South Ossetian conflict zone.
Consent of all 56 OSCE-member states, including of Russia, is required to take a decision on increasing of number of monitors.
OSCE needs 100 monitors on the ground “to swiftly respond to the crisis,” the Finnish diplomat said.
The situation in and around the South Ossetia conflict area remains “fragile” and up to 100 additional OSCE monitors are needed on the ground, Heikki Talvitie, the OSCE Chairman-in-Office special envoy, told an OSCE Permanent Council special session in Vienna on August 14.
“The proposed number of monitors would allow the OSCE to react to the situation as it unfolds,” he said. “The OSCE must be in a position to swiftly respond to the crisis.”
He said that the OSCE's presence on the ground could help establish and maintain a humanitarian corridor for international relief efforts, as well as monitor the ceasefire and disengagement of forces agreed by the sides on August 12.
Currently the OSCE Mission to Georgia has 200 staff, including eight unarmed military monitoring officers, who were in charge of monitoring of, and reporting on the ceasefire in the South Ossetian conflict zone.
Consent of all 56 OSCE-member states, including of Russia, is required to take a decision on increasing of number of monitors.
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