Sep 30, 2009 2:25 PM

Report: Georgia Triggered War; Russia Ain't Clean, Either

TBILISI, Georgia — Over the past year, Georgia and Russia have been trading accusations over who shot first in the August 2008 war. Now a 1,000-page report commissioned by the European Union lays the blame on Georgia for the artillery attack that touched off the war. But it doesn’t let Russia off the hook either: […]

TBILISI, Georgia -- Over the past year, Georgia and Russia have been trading accusations over who shot first in the August 2008 war.

Now a 1,000-page report commissioned by the European Union lays the blame on Georgia for the artillery attack that touched off the war. But it doesn't let Russia off the hook either: The Russians, the report states, turned a blind eye to atrocities by South Ossetian irregulars, and deliberately stoked tensions in the run-up to war.

"In the Mission's view, it was Georgia which triggered the war when it attacked Tskhinvali with heavy artillery on the night of 7 to 8 August 2008," the report states. "None of the explanations given by the Georgian authorities in order to provide some form of legal justification for the attack lend it a valid explanation. In particular, there was no massive Russian military invasion under way."

But a massive Russian invasion did in fact follow -- and with surprising speed. Russian troops pushed well outside the boundaries of the disputed enclave of South Ossetia; opened a second front in Abkhazia; and were followed by militias who conducted a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Georgians in South Ossetia.

Not surprisingly, the Kremlin spin machine is going into overdrive on this one -- they don't let the facts get in the way of a good story. But if you read the fine print, you'll note that the report dismisses allegations of "genocide" -- a term that was thrown around rather loosely by Russian politicians and press -- and faults Russia for handing out Russian Federation passports to Abkhaz and South Ossetians before the war, among many other things.

The report was awaited with some trepidation here in Georgia, especially after the German magazine Der Spiegel ran a story suggesting it would be an indictment of Georgia. But it's not a document that is going to change facts on the ground.

[PHOTO: Wikimedia]

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