About the results of August 2008 War

After Georgia's recent change of government, it has become popular to investigate some events of importance for the country. The most dramatic of which has been to revisit the August War with Russia that resulted in lost territories and Russia’s subsequent military presence in those regions. Many analysts, politicians and media have had versions about the events that were promoted by the UNM and its leader, President Saakashvili. They are suspicious that some facts have not been investigated properly and certain details need to be looked into more thoroughly.

The leader of the new Georgian Dream administration, PM Bidzina Ivanishvili, has accused Saakashvili and his team in failed attempts to avoid military confrontation several times. In fact he accuses Saakashvili and his team of being trapped into provocation. He also blamed Mikheil Saakashvili for initiating military activities as it is stated in the Tagliavini report. Of course Ivanishvili explained several times that the war was started by the Russians. However, the Georgians got trapped into provocation. The former government, now in the opposition, continues its subversive policy accusing Ivanishvili for possessing pro Russian sentiments.

However, many analysts think that a repeated investigation into the issue should take place, because the investigation commission that was formed by the previous authorities could not be unbiased, as they were under the pressure and influence of the UNM.

Today, with a freshly elected new government, it will be more appropriate and easier to form an impartial commission consisting of analysts, experts and specialists from different branches such as the military, human rights protectors, conflict resolution and so on, who will be able to dig deeper into the variety of facts and evidence in an effort to gain a better picture of the previous days leading up to the short war. The fact that Russia was getting ready for confrontation with Georgia is stated by the Russian leadership itself. But how and why Georgia got trapped needs to be addressed properly. Who gave the order to the Georgian armed forces to restore constitutional order in the separatist-controlled territory are among questions that need to be answered. This is not an easy job because obviously the people and parties involved could be trying to put blame on others. There is yet another obstacle as well. The new Georgian administration wants to regulate relations with Russia, so directly or indirectly, this position will be influencing the results of the investigation.