Soso Tsiskarishvili: “The introduction of the Georgian Army in Tskhinvali was aimed at causing Russian aggression”
December 9, 2010
Experts think, the government of Georgia had inadequate expectations and hoped that the USA and NATO would assist them in the war with Russia.
The 2008 Russian-Georgian armed conflict is still a very urgent topic for the world media. Several scandalous pieces of information were published on the website WikiLeaks which was immediately grabbed by journalists and reporters of various leading publications. American and European analysts criticize the incorrect politics of Georgia with regard to the separatist regions in 2005-2008.
The secret documents published by WikiLeaks demonstrate that before the armed conflict started in August of 2008, European and American leaders were concerned by the aggressive politics of Georgia with regard with South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
The German newspaper “Spiegel” wrote that the Georgian-Russian armed conflict could be prevented if Georgia had not tried to escalate the conflict. Based on the scandalous information on WikiLeaks, the publication wrote that the United States tried to start negotiations between the government of Georgia and the separatist government of Abkhazia. President Saakashvili had received several warnings about the negative impacts of the upcoming war with Russia. Washington's envoy to the Caucasus, Matthew Bryza led negotiations for the peaceful regulation of conflicts with the separatist regions. We can also say that the USA gave him a special task. Shortly before the August armed conflict, Bryza initially met the separatist leaders of Abkhazia in Sokhumi and then the Minister of Internal Affairs Vano Merabishvili. “Merabishvili didn't like the US diplomat's proposals. He said Georgia would permanently lose Abkhazia in the ensuing negotiations. According to the US protocol of the meeting, Merabishvili did not speak of war on this occasion, but the dispatch leaves no doubt that the Georgians were on the verge of launching into a military conflict,” wrote the German publication.
By uncovering the various pieces of information via the WikiLeaks cables, it allowed Georgian experts to draw new conclusions. In his interview with the Human Rights Center, Political Scientist Soso Tsiskarishvili said that “the published materials are real. Otherwise, it could cause a harsh reaction by the government.” Tsiskarisvili added that the uncovering of the secret letters demonstrated the mistakes of the Georgian government in 2008.
“Unpredicted and incorrect politics, unreal evaluation of [ones] own resources,” Soso Tsiskarishvili evaluated the launch of the military attack on South Ossetia by Tbilisi and recalled the statements of the government before the war. “They announced several times on TV that with the support of the USA and NATO, Georgia had such a strong army that they could defeat even the Russian army.”
Tsiskarishvili agreed with the opinions of the foreign journalists- that the government of Georgia had exaggerated and had erroneous expectations of the USA and NATO when they considered using force as a means to resolve the of ethnic-conflicts on South Ossetia. In addition, Tsiskarishvili thinks that the main reason of the attack on Tskhinvali was a wish to provoke Russian aggression. “Georgian villages were targeted by open fire but it is not as strong as in the past. Besides, those villages were still under control of the Georgian government and the president could send the Georgian army there and protect the local population. Entrance of the Georgian army in Tskhinvali was a demonstrative step to provoke Russian aggression. The government had the wrong expectation that the US would help them in the war with Russia.”
Gogi Khutsishvili said this mistake was the result of the tendency of making incorrect decisions within the government. He said the government, invariably makes strategic decisions in a closed room, in a narrow circle. And, it is very likely that Russian spies might be present within this narrow circle.
WikiLeaks also discusses presence of Russian spies in the close circle of the President of Georgia. The website published the letter of Frantisek Gongora, former head of general HQ of the Polish Armed Forces. The Polish General was concerned by the aggressive politics of Georgia with regard to the conflict regions. “[Saakashvili] made a wrong decision by launching an attack on South Ossetia and it supported only Russia; so, they think Russian spies manipulated Saakashvili (maybe in his encirclement too) in order to start military operations in Georgia for further destabilization of the government,”, said the secret letter from the US Embassy in Poland, which relied on the analysis of Frantisek Gongora.
Expert Soso Tsiskarishvili shares the idea about the presence of Russian spies within the encirclement of the President of Georgia. “It is proved by the fact that the president was provided with unreal and inadequate information. Saakashvili knew that the Russian army had entered South Ossetia but he was sure that Russia could not start a military operation against Georgia.” Tsiskarishvili added that Saakashvili decided to launch an attack on Tskhinvali based on similar unreliable information.
see the article of the “Spiegel”
http://www.humanrights.ge/index.php?a=main&pid=12628&lang=eng
Sopo Getsadze
The 2008 Russian-Georgian armed conflict is still a very urgent topic for the world media. Several scandalous pieces of information were published on the website WikiLeaks which was immediately grabbed by journalists and reporters of various leading publications. American and European analysts criticize the incorrect politics of Georgia with regard to the separatist regions in 2005-2008.
The secret documents published by WikiLeaks demonstrate that before the armed conflict started in August of 2008, European and American leaders were concerned by the aggressive politics of Georgia with regard with South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
The German newspaper “Spiegel” wrote that the Georgian-Russian armed conflict could be prevented if Georgia had not tried to escalate the conflict. Based on the scandalous information on WikiLeaks, the publication wrote that the United States tried to start negotiations between the government of Georgia and the separatist government of Abkhazia. President Saakashvili had received several warnings about the negative impacts of the upcoming war with Russia. Washington's envoy to the Caucasus, Matthew Bryza led negotiations for the peaceful regulation of conflicts with the separatist regions. We can also say that the USA gave him a special task. Shortly before the August armed conflict, Bryza initially met the separatist leaders of Abkhazia in Sokhumi and then the Minister of Internal Affairs Vano Merabishvili. “Merabishvili didn't like the US diplomat's proposals. He said Georgia would permanently lose Abkhazia in the ensuing negotiations. According to the US protocol of the meeting, Merabishvili did not speak of war on this occasion, but the dispatch leaves no doubt that the Georgians were on the verge of launching into a military conflict,” wrote the German publication.
By uncovering the various pieces of information via the WikiLeaks cables, it allowed Georgian experts to draw new conclusions. In his interview with the Human Rights Center, Political Scientist Soso Tsiskarishvili said that “the published materials are real. Otherwise, it could cause a harsh reaction by the government.” Tsiskarisvili added that the uncovering of the secret letters demonstrated the mistakes of the Georgian government in 2008.
“Unpredicted and incorrect politics, unreal evaluation of [ones] own resources,” Soso Tsiskarishvili evaluated the launch of the military attack on South Ossetia by Tbilisi and recalled the statements of the government before the war. “They announced several times on TV that with the support of the USA and NATO, Georgia had such a strong army that they could defeat even the Russian army.”
Tsiskarishvili agreed with the opinions of the foreign journalists- that the government of Georgia had exaggerated and had erroneous expectations of the USA and NATO when they considered using force as a means to resolve the of ethnic-conflicts on South Ossetia. In addition, Tsiskarishvili thinks that the main reason of the attack on Tskhinvali was a wish to provoke Russian aggression. “Georgian villages were targeted by open fire but it is not as strong as in the past. Besides, those villages were still under control of the Georgian government and the president could send the Georgian army there and protect the local population. Entrance of the Georgian army in Tskhinvali was a demonstrative step to provoke Russian aggression. The government had the wrong expectation that the US would help them in the war with Russia.”
Gogi Khutsishvili said this mistake was the result of the tendency of making incorrect decisions within the government. He said the government, invariably makes strategic decisions in a closed room, in a narrow circle. And, it is very likely that Russian spies might be present within this narrow circle.
WikiLeaks also discusses presence of Russian spies in the close circle of the President of Georgia. The website published the letter of Frantisek Gongora, former head of general HQ of the Polish Armed Forces. The Polish General was concerned by the aggressive politics of Georgia with regard to the conflict regions. “[Saakashvili] made a wrong decision by launching an attack on South Ossetia and it supported only Russia; so, they think Russian spies manipulated Saakashvili (maybe in his encirclement too) in order to start military operations in Georgia for further destabilization of the government,”, said the secret letter from the US Embassy in Poland, which relied on the analysis of Frantisek Gongora.
Expert Soso Tsiskarishvili shares the idea about the presence of Russian spies within the encirclement of the President of Georgia. “It is proved by the fact that the president was provided with unreal and inadequate information. Saakashvili knew that the Russian army had entered South Ossetia but he was sure that Russia could not start a military operation against Georgia.” Tsiskarishvili added that Saakashvili decided to launch an attack on Tskhinvali based on similar unreliable information.
see the article of the “Spiegel”
http://www.humanrights.ge/index.php?a=main&pid=12628&lang=eng
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