Wars & Rumors of Wars

The White House is warning Russia to halt its attacks on Georgia or risk "significant" and enduring damage to its relationship with the United States. Russia expanded its bombing blitz Sunday against neighboring U.S.-allied Georgia. Georgian troops pulled out of the capital of the contested province of South Ossetia under heavy Russian shelling. The U.S. has called on Russia to stop its military offensive. Jim Jeffrey, President Bush's deputy national security adviser, says the U.S. has made it clear that "If the disproportionate and dangerous escalation on the Russian side continues, that this will have a significant long-term impact on U.S.-Russian relations." Tskhinvali, the capital of the separatist Georgian province South Ossetia, lay in smoldering ruins Sunday after three days of fighting between Georgian troops and Russian forces. Russia's deputy foreign minister said at least 2,000 people, mostly South Ossetians who claim Russian citizenship, have been killed in Tskhinvali. The fighting had spread well beyond South Ossetia, with Russian airstrikes on Georgian cities and with thousands of Russian troops in the breakaway province of Abkhazia. Russia is attacking Georgia to achieve "regime change" and crush Georgia's pro-Western democracy, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said today. Saakashvili had to run for cover today during a visit to the town of Gori, where scores of people were killed in a Russian attack Saturday.

Three days after the former Soviet republic of Georgia launched a military assault aimed at reclaiming the breakaway province of South Ossetia, a bellicose Russia is defending the artillery and bombing campaign it began against Georgia in response. In defying pleas from the West for a cease-fire, Russia isn't just protecting its interests in South Ossetia, where most of the 70,000 residents are ethnic Russians and carry Russian passports. Moscow's aggressive response to Georgia's assault — not only driving Georgian troops out of South Ossetia but also bombing the Georgian capital of Tblisi — suggests Russia could be using the conflict to test how far the United States and Europe will go to defend Georgia. The former Soviet republic has won allies in the West by moving toward a democratic government; its troops have been trained by Americans. Even as Russia told the United Nations on Sunday that it was ready to make peace with Georgia, Russia expanded its bombing to Tbilisi and claimed it sank a Georgian missile boat that was trying to attack Russian ships in the Black Sea, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.

Russia ordered a halt to military action in Georgia on Tuesday, after five days of air and land attacks sent Georgia's army into headlong retreat and left towns and military bases destroyed. Georgian officials insisted that Russia has continued the bombings despite the pledge, but Russia denied that.