Georgia-Russia Clash Still Under Investigation

Staff / Truthdig Aug 5, 2009 It's been a year since last summer's military showdown between Russia and neighboring Georgia, but even though the Georgian president (and many Western media outlets) pointed to "Russian aggression" as the cause of the conflict, an international investigation team looking to get to the bottom of the matter is still working away at finding the answers. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Protesters Push for Georgian President to Step Down

Staff / Truthdig Apr 11, 2009 During last summer's war, Mikhail Saakashvili was beseeching the international community to help his country fend off "Russian aggression," but now the biggest problem of the Georgian president is rising from within his nation's own borders. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Rice: Russia on the Wrong Track

Staff / Truthdig Sep 18, 2008 Although she acknowledged that Georgia fired the first shots in August's bloody conflict with Russia, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday laid most of the blame for that showdown on Russia. During a strident speech, she also gave several other examples of how she believed Russia's leaders were taking their nation down a dangerous road. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

With ‘Allies’ Like NATO, Georgia Better Not Annoy Russia

William Pfaff / Truthdig Sep 17, 2008 Thanks to Russia's incursion into a belligerent Georgia in mid-August, a country in possession of Washington's assurance that it soon would be given a "membership action plan" for joining NATO now hasn't a hope of membership in the alliance. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Putin: Russia ‘Not Against Anybody’

Staff / Truthdig Sep 13, 2008 At a meeting in Moscow on Thursday with a group of international Russia experts, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin gave an extensive explanation of his country's point of view vis-à-vis the recent clash between Russia and Georgia. He made it clear that he believes the conflict was seriously, and even deliberately, misrepresented by the Western media. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Russia to Georgia: OK, We’ll Leave. But …

Staff / Truthdig Sep 3, 2008 Russia announced Wednesday its willingness to withdraw its remaining troops from Georgia if, and only if, some conditions were met: one, bring international peacekeepers in to replace Russian soldiers and, two, Georgia must sign nonaggression pacts with South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Russia Calls NATO’s Bluff

William Pfaff / Truthdig Sep 3, 2008 NATO has now been broken because it was used by the United States and the European NATO members as a tool for expanding Western power into the Russian "near abroad," and after that, to make an inexplicably rash and dangerous effort to break into and split off portions of the Russian empire as it existed in the 19th century -- long before the Soviet Union existed. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Russia Backs Ossetia, Abkhazia Independence

Staff / Truthdig Aug 27, 2008 Russia has formally recognized the independence of the two separatist Georgian states, prompting jeers abroad and cheers in the regions in question Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili rather theatrically compared the declaration to the conduct of Hitler and Stalin. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Russia Remains in Georgia Port

Staff / Truthdig Aug 23, 2008 Russian officials beg to differ with Western critics who claim that Russia's ongoing presence in the Georgian port town of Poti violates the terms of the cease-fire agreement between the neighboring nations, insisting that the remaining Russian forces are of the peacekeeping, not the combative, variety. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Who Is Responsible for U.S. Russia Policy?

William Pfaff / Truthdig Aug 22, 2008 Why has the U.S. maintained an aggressive stance toward Russia long after the demise of the Soviet Union? And how on earth does that strike anyone in Washington as a productive strategy for America, not to mention the rest of the West? Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )

Gorbachev: ‘Russia Did Not Want This Crisis’

Staff / Truthdig Aug 20, 2008 Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has weighed in again about the recent bloody battles between Russia and Georgia, this time insisting in a New York Times Op-Ed piece that Russia was "dragged into the fray by the recklessness of the Georgian president, Mikheil Saakashvili" and "did not need a little victorious war." Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Blowback From Bear-Baiting

By Patrick J. Buchanan Aug 17, 2008 For reasons too numerous to fit into a short summary, Pat Buchanan isn't someone whose writings we'd routinely pick up on this site. However, in this case his essay about the Georgia-Russia conflict, er, bears repeating here, if only to illustrate how not all conservatives see the recent clash in Eastern Europe the way the Bush administration does. Dig deeper ( 4 Min. Read )