Georgia and Russia conflict??

Question

ok, everyone has been so concentrated on the olympics that no one is paying any attention to this and i'm burning to know what's going on. georgia sent a military launch to south ossetia because it wanted to claim back that land. but why? what makes that land so special and why after 16 long years? And Russia came and responded and said that it was because the georgians were killing russians and that part i understand. But what does that other place got to do with everything, the one that starts with A? and what's up with NATO? im just s confused right now. someone please, illuminate me!!

Answer 1

There's a fair bit of history here. South Ossetia is officially part of Georgia. Georgia apparently wanted to get it back in the fold. Georgia an ex-Soviet state, has had a lot of issues with Russia, and Russia used the situation as justification to invade Georgia, well past Ossetia's borders.

Georgia has been trying to join NATO for some time.  

Answer 2

South Ossetia is a part of Georgia still. In South Ossetia they voted to break away from Georgia to be with Russia. However, Georgia still owns them, you can say. Georgia made the stupid mistake of starting fire, and Russia made the stupid mistake of getting involved.  

Answer 3

okay, south ossetia and abkhazia are parts of georgia with lots of russian separatists, Russia has been acting as a peacekeeper in these regions for awhile now. its the same concept as kosovo being a separatist part of serbia with UN peacekeepers. possibly kosovo's independence sparked a desire in georgia to reclaim their land...its not too clear. the whole nation of georgia is smaller than the state of south carolina, so i would imagine they want to keep as much land as possible. also, Georgia has been trying to join NATO, and having the russians within thier borders may be part of the reason they havent yet been accepted, so by kicking out the russians, they would be more attractive candidate for the alliance.  

Answer 4

From what I've pieced together from the incomplete media reports of the west, witness allegations, and Russian media claims..

Some provocation toward Georgia, either by South Ossetian militias, Russian peacekeepers, some other source, or simply a fabricated excuse, caused the Georgian president to begin military shelling of the city of Tskhinvali. Eventually large parts of the city were destroyed. Georgians allege that Russians shelled the city as well, thus, its destruction was not solely their doing. Some say thousands dead; others, a few hundred, and mostly military at that. Allegations are made of Georgian slaughter of surviving civilians. Russian military enters, drives out Georgians; subsequently bombs, invades Georgia itself. More civilian deaths.

Allegations have been made of South Ossetian militias now conducting reprisal killings of Georgian civilians, with house burnings, looting, beheadings, torture, raping of women. Allegations have also been made of widespread murder of civilians in the Georgian town of Gori by the Russian military, or at least by proxy, through "irregular forces", or South Ossetian militias. And reports have been made by international human-rights organizations of the use of cluster bombs by Russian air forces into Georgian civilian populations.

Who knows? Little of it has been verified of yet, though refugees on all fronts are claiming inhumanities. Even if only some of this is true... this is a tragic failure of basic humanity by both sides. I think.... that Russia greatly over-responded by its invasion of Georgia. If they had to protect their peacekeepers in South Ossetia, fine. But this?

But I don't know that the Georgian government was so blameless in this either.

Answer 5

The International Community recognizes South Ossetia as being part of Georgia. However, everyone understands that the people of South Ossetia are Russians and want no part of Georgia and their crazy President.

Russia has had Peacekeepers, for some years now, on the border between South Ossetia and Georgia.

All was well, until about nine days ago, when the President of Georgia, probably in collusion with his friend George Bush, ordered the Georgian Army to attack South Ossetia and they killed a whole bunch of Russians.  Naturally. Russia retaliated in force and demolished the Georgian Army and the President of Georgia is crying on the shoulders of

Condoleeza Rice.

Answer 6

You aren't any more confused than the people involved in this stupid conflict.  NATO has done nothing because Georgia isn't part of NATO....not yet anyway.  Wait and see all of these small states join NATO within the next month or so.  Poland must join NATO because it has been threatened by a Russian loud mouth general.  Remember there is an important oil and gas pipe line that goes through Georgia. The Russians want to protect their source of income. The Russians have gone too far in Georgia but no one will do anything about it, not from a military point of of view.  The USA and other European countries may try to hurt Russia monetarily.  Russia will eventually pull out their troops (when they feel that they are good and ready) and Georgia will be asked to join NATO.  The USA can't dp very much in this situation because we are low on cash and our troops are deployed elsewhere.  You can't get tough without a military to support your statements.  Incidentally, the way I heard it the Georgians started this war by shelling Ossetia in the middle of the night. True?  I don't know.

A mess isn't it?