What do you think of the Tagliavini Commission's conclusions?
Monday, May 3
"I think the conclusions are rather vague. They assert that the Russian-Georgian war was begun by us as we were the ones who opened fire but what should we have done when the occupier's troops were deployed on our territory? There were Russian troops on OUR territory, not ours on theirs. So following this logic we can draw only a single conclusion: Russia is the aggressor and initiator of the war, and not us."
Zviadi, engineer, 35
"I state boldly that that the conclusions are undoubtedly false. On what grounds is it said that we started the conflict with Russia? Our history is visible testimony that we have always been defenders of our land and not aggressors at all. If we shot first, this doesn’t mean that we launched the war with the Russians; everyone will probably agree with me that we only wanted to protect our territory from the Russian tyrants and nothing more."
Nini, model, 23
"Well I should admit that I’m rather confused about the Tagliavini Commission's conclusions. On the one hand I don’t want to call my own country the instigator of the Russian-Georgian conflict but on the other I acept the Commission's deduction that as we opened fire first this means we began the war. Yes, the Russians had entered our territory but instead of shooting at them we might have held some negotiations, and to my mind this would have been a far better way out of this difficult situation."
Tornike, sportsman, 30
"I have the impression that her report has been somehow influenced, perhaps by Russia. The most important thing for the West and for international organisations should have been which country started the war in 2008. Based on the report we started that war, but this is not true I believe, and this report is unacceptable to me."
Giorgi, economist, 25
"In the present situation no reports have any meaning for Georgia. A lot of Georgians were killed in the war, we have refugees and we lost our territories. Those international organisations only give us verbal assistance, make written conclusions or reports, but we are alone and no report will return Abkhazia or South Ossetia to central Georgian governance."
Tamaz, builder, 34
"I think this report was correct, as it said that Russia had been putting continuing pressure on us. Maybe we started the war, but this was only a defensive step by Georgia."
Nino, manager, 31
"The Tagliavini Commission's conclusion absolutely reflects my personal attitude towards this issue. It strictly pointed out that the August War 2008 was started not by the Georgian people but President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili himself, which was the most important part of this conclusion."
Sopho, accountant, 22
Zviadi, engineer, 35
"I state boldly that that the conclusions are undoubtedly false. On what grounds is it said that we started the conflict with Russia? Our history is visible testimony that we have always been defenders of our land and not aggressors at all. If we shot first, this doesn’t mean that we launched the war with the Russians; everyone will probably agree with me that we only wanted to protect our territory from the Russian tyrants and nothing more."
Nini, model, 23
"Well I should admit that I’m rather confused about the Tagliavini Commission's conclusions. On the one hand I don’t want to call my own country the instigator of the Russian-Georgian conflict but on the other I acept the Commission's deduction that as we opened fire first this means we began the war. Yes, the Russians had entered our territory but instead of shooting at them we might have held some negotiations, and to my mind this would have been a far better way out of this difficult situation."
Tornike, sportsman, 30
"I have the impression that her report has been somehow influenced, perhaps by Russia. The most important thing for the West and for international organisations should have been which country started the war in 2008. Based on the report we started that war, but this is not true I believe, and this report is unacceptable to me."
Giorgi, economist, 25
"In the present situation no reports have any meaning for Georgia. A lot of Georgians were killed in the war, we have refugees and we lost our territories. Those international organisations only give us verbal assistance, make written conclusions or reports, but we are alone and no report will return Abkhazia or South Ossetia to central Georgian governance."
Tamaz, builder, 34
"I think this report was correct, as it said that Russia had been putting continuing pressure on us. Maybe we started the war, but this was only a defensive step by Georgia."
Nino, manager, 31
"The Tagliavini Commission's conclusion absolutely reflects my personal attitude towards this issue. It strictly pointed out that the August War 2008 was started not by the Georgian people but President of Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili himself, which was the most important part of this conclusion."
Sopho, accountant, 22