Ex-ambassador blames Georgia for war with Russia

Mr Ambassador, isn't diplomacy the art making sure you are not misunderstood? Shouldn't Bush share responsibility for mistakenly turning loose the Georgia attack? I think so.
George Bush will go down in history for having destroyed the power, prestige and the economy of the US.

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The Associated Press

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) -- Before this summer's Georgia-Russia war, President Mikhail Saakashvili was itching to do battle and authorities mistook messages from the United States as encouragement to use force, Georgia's former ambassador to Russia said Wednesday.
But Russia also takes a share of the blame because it was trying to inflame Saakashvili's itch, Erosi Kitsmarishvili says.
His statements at a news conference added new intensity to a growing debate about what and who bear the onus for staring the five-day war that saw Russia drive deep into Georgian territory, caused devastating damage to Georgia's military, and aggravated already troubled Russia-US relations.
Georgia launched a massive artillery barrage Aug. 7 on the capital of the separatist region of South Ossetia, which was backed by Moscow and patrolled by Russian peacekeeping forces. Russian forces poured into the region, drove Georgian forces out and went on to take control of substantial swaths of northern and western Georgia.
The war ended with Russian forces firmly in control of South Ossetia and another separatist region, Abkhazia. Moscow has recognized both regions as independent.
Georgian leaders have said they launched the Aug. 7 attack after separatists shelled Georgian villages and Russian forces invaded from the north. Russia denies that, saying it sent troops to protect civilians and Russian peacekeepers from the Georgian onslaught.
Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili, in Wednesday testimony to a parliamentary commission investigating the war, presented what he said were telephone recordings supporting the Georgian authorities -- one in which men said to be South Ossetian border guards say Russian forces had crossed the border the night before the barrage and another purporting to show the South Ossetian interior minister receiving an order to raze a village under Georgian control.
But according to Kistmarishvili, "Saakashvili wanted that war, he has been bracing for that during the last four years. And Russia was eager to exploit it, pushing him to that using all means."
In the early postwar period, Georgian public opinion was strongly behind Saakashvili and a large majority believed Georgia had reacted to Russian aggression in launching the attack on South Ossetia.
In recent weeks, opposition politicians have been increasingly critical of the president and the war, but Kitsmarishvili appears to be the most highly placed official of the prewar period to publicly challenge Saakashvili on the conflict.
The former diplomat said Georgian officials had hoped to regain South Ossetia within hours, and did not expect Moscow to intervene.
He said Georgian officials believed the United States backed the idea of sending Georgian troops to reclaim Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which have been de-facto independent and patrolled by Russian peacekeepers since the early 1990s.
Kitsmarishvili said Georgian officials told him President George W. Bush gave his blessing for such a use of force when he met the Georgian president in Washington in March.
"Saakashvili's entourage has tried to form an opinion that the U.S. administration would support the use of force," Kitsmarishvili said. "In reality, it was not like that."
Georgian officials also perceived a July 9-10 visit by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as encouragement for the plan, Kitsmarishvili said. He said people in Saakashvili's circle told him that Rice "gave the green light."
Rice has denied that Washington encouraged Georgia to use force on the provinces. The U.S. Embassy reiterated that line on Wednesday.
Kitsmarishvili made similar allegations to a Georgian parliamentary panel Tuesday, angering pro-government lawmakers who accused him of siding with Moscow and called for a criminal investigation against him. Some pro-government lawmakers accused him of lying in order to deflect attention from his alleged ineffectualness as ambassador.
Georgia recalled Kitsmarishvili from the Georgian Embassy on July 10, about a month before the war broke out. In the intervening weeks, he met in Georgia with an array of Western and Russian politicians and diplomats.
The countries have since severed diplomatic ties.
Associated Press Writer Misha Dzhindzhikhashvili contributed to this report.
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