8/8/2009 2:12:01 PM Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, has reaffirmed his country's commitment to South Ossetian independence, saying that last year's conflict with Georgia redrew the map of the Caucasus for good.
In the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali, separatist leader Eduard Kokoity called for Georgia to recognize its independence, calling that a "politically correct decision.
Russian troops have set up checkpoints fortified with concrete barricades and encampments ringed with razor wire on Georgian territory beyond the breakaway provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, but Georgians say those troops have done nothing to prevent South Ossetian paramilitary fighters from embarking on a spree that left hundreds of homes gutted and an unknown number of unarmed villagers slain.
South Ossetia does not want to become part of Russia, the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, said today, following a series of contradictory statements from Eduard Kokoity, the South Ossetian leader.
The conflict started on his orders; at least Russia did not stand by and let its citizens and the south Ossetian people get murdered, unlike NATO did in Rwanda or Zimbabwe.
Byline: Arab News DESPITE officially recognizing the territorial integrity of Georgia since it became independent with the collapse of the old Soviet Union in 1991, Russia has supported Abkhazian and South Ossetian rebels seeking to break away from Georgian rule.
According to a Washington Post story Wednesday, "Despite Western governments' public statements of support for (Georgian President Mikheil) Saakashvili, some Western diplomats now privately say the Georgian leadership or military made a serious and possibly criminal mistake last week by launching a massive barrage against the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali, which inevitably led to major civilian deaths and casualties.
