had already been strained yet with a new leader in the kremlin there weren't resat. in diplomatic circles. i can still remember the moment when i stood up to meet him in my office. to the room with a shining smile. i told him i'd like to find a way to ease relations between our countries to improve them. take into consideration the distinct feelings that georgian and russian people have always had to watch each other. that he had the same feelings. that was our primary goal and that it could be achieved. that was the end of our discussion. i was on a visit to the white house as head of the presidential administration. the first

words that george w. bush my future colleague said to me and fact about him. he said. is a good guy. was the first thing i heard from him. but there were differences too while madrid it was only adjusting to his new role really had already built up the most. generous. forms including operates of the army within a day georgia to join nato there was just one technicality frozen conflicts. and in the summer. really made a decision to do. i believe that. any compromise in the agreement.

when we. will do anything to improve end to violence. so just to put our efforts together to look after our country. to stop while and what we do make over future better. let's forget all our negative experience in the bust and think about the future. milliner as mother washed out to trespass her four year old grandson an ethnic georgian she lived in south ossetia most of her life after several days of skirmishes on the border that night she went to bed with a light heart assured that the war was over. if i had run my

children would have been frightened david moore. no i said don't be afraid everything's going to be fine then i got undressed and lay down when i heard the shooting and loud bangs i quickly put on my clothes and ran into the cellar. but. last than five hours after appeal for peace the first children rockets heat melana street the grand toddler in her arms she sought refuge in her basement among people jars and pots of jam. my little grandson cried grandma the georgians will kill us. you know so i said i am george and do you think i'm going to kill you he replied no grandma you're not really georgian georgians kill people.

the timing of the attack caught the russian leadership of the guard present maybe it was a holiday while prime minister vladimir putin had traveled to china with their lympics. since his beginning arms have been put down during the olympic games but cheered the situation was completely the opposite. on the eve of the opening ceremony the georgian authorities. to their actions against south a city basically launched a military campaign with the use of heavy artillery and tanks. used people have been killed and wounded including russian peacekeepers. this is said and the arming and without this will be met with a response and. you. want to put in was giving

the russian response had already been mobilized following the skirmishes on the border maybe that if. it was brought to this residence on the outskirts of moscow where he would face the most challenging task president. nobody knew about the deaths of russian peacekeepers and the thousands of south aset streaming across the border into russia. but the heavy weight of military decisions always lies on the person that is empowered by the constitution to take them because. this is your decision and no one else's. we talked on the phone some time before these events that it was a kind of escalation. we didn't talk with mr putin that night. and he received reports from us actually it was upon receiving these reports that i made the

decision. i think it was the most difficult decision in my life and. i wouldn't wish the weight of this decision on any other leader of any other country in the world. in the meantime the barrage of rockets and continued. their residents had only two options hide in the basement or try to flee the town. family. decided to take their chances the father gathered his kids into an old florida but their mother had to stay behind to care for an elderly relative. all she would see of them again it was their choice to remains were found a few kilometers away from home to their car was shelled by a tank. this is where my son and his children died he was in the front seat. children of them. not.

those who stayed put sought refuge in basements however they also had to risk their lives by sneaking our food and water was running short and the bodies of those killed were piling up if locals use their rare loves and fighting to be graves. since proper funerals were out of the question most of the victims were laid to rest. the carpets rise in their own backyards the neighbors couldn't drive them to the cemetery because the fighting was still going on but neither could they leave the bodies out here it's a matter of honor for self-assertive you have to bury your dead. according to russian asked him as the war in south ossetia claimed several hundred civilian lives compared to the death tolls later seen in libya syria or even palestine it wasn't that high the question asked in south acedia was why did it have to go that far why didn't russia intervene earlier. while

made a bit of always insisted it was russia's duty to protect civilians in south a said here he also had to consider the larger geopolitical context. bush himself called me the next day. you should know that there was some of our troops on georgian territory. what do you mean so i said you should know that there's a large number of citizens on the territory of persia i understand here and i will do what i have to do and i'll tell you about it so that you know. by two thousand and eight georgia had received around three billion dollars in direct here assistance the atlantans of that funding was in display all over the region military uniforms army rations and class plans for the slogan made in the usa and this is how some of the city and scheme to view that made their toe tag put

over in the kremlin their assessment of american involvement was more level headed . russia should never be in conflict with the united states every american president understands that. there were some harsh words we know all about that but i think there was sound reasoning to. they realized it might lead to a very serious conflict which nobody needs. that realisation notwithstanding all the sides continued playing that part. through the georgian leadership adopted a new narrative russian aggression was choking the democratic advances. but. we have this small tiny democracy. we only really responded when hundred fifty russian tanks and a.p.c.'s started to move through

georgia and russia border that was exactly the moment. twenty three fifty pm when i gave the order to. the invaders their purpose to. go through all the shortest way or you know winning. as brutal as one can get. this thing is one minute. understanding of what's really happening on. a year later a european union report would establish unequivocally that it was georgia that launched the attack on south and that it was. personally to try to blur the international understanding of what was happening and telling lies with a straight face and claimed to fire the. truth tellers targeted by the military machine. but second feeley couldn't always keep the act up and one instance

he was caught on camera cowering behind his bodyguards. in another nervously chewing on his tire just seconds before a live interview. really was increasingly exhibiting signs of irrational behavior to the russian leadership he started to give all of the same impressions as libyan leader moammar gadhafi deed to western politicians and knowledge of touch rule or the army to kill his own civilians and yet despite all temptations an attempt to remove him from office was never made. this is where you might say who will difference. i think that it's in situations like this that a country is real and true intentions come to light. initially we had

no intentions of changing the regime in the country. spite of the fact that for very obvious reasons my colleagues and i will never shake mr saakashvili the way. i consider him a war criminal. my will of violence was already gaining momentum tensions between georgians and south the stadiums had been simmering for decades and the experience of being slaughtered in their own homes had traumatized each and every one. of their blood is poisoned i tell you it is today they're peaceful but tomorrow both slaughter us all. georgian villages in south a city am to dull most overnight with people living behind all their belongings litter is made their way in setting houses on fire clear of retaliation was so strong that some left behind their own elderly were discovered days later hungry

and disoriented by rescue workers. here it's hard have you got food. have you gotten bread. we give you a little. the august air here is usually filled with this sweet smell of ripening peaches. knew beforehand that this smell of decomposing human flesh is also suffocating with sweet according to georgian authorities one hundred seventy soldiers lives in that offensive days that bodies were rotting in the forest until the locals could get enough coffins to send them back to georgia. people built coffins for the georgians to no matter what happens with christians and the dead need to be buried in a traditional way. that everybody could be so gracious there is

a point in any conflict when fear transforms into hatred when everything to lose is lost when even older women lose compassion for men of their son's age. that is when violence becomes self-propelling when it reaches the point of no return when the mission creep still is being an option and becomes the aim. this denarius in very realistic and yet it wasn't acted upon.

i would rather ask questions for people in positions of power instead of speaking on their behalf and that's why you can find my show larry king now right here on r.t. question more. world . class. at the end of the street. with. all things up

misleader. just see them on and on. that. little mouse rainham in beverly. in his secret laboratory in the kirby was able to build the world's most sophisticated robots which will unfortunately doesn't give a darn about anything tim's mission to teach music creation why it should care about humans and we're going this is why you should care watch only on the dot com . mass seems broad gesture is bold proclamations make little saakashvili was definitely a poli titian of the new generation young eloquent and charismatic not just

speaking the same language but also saying things their western audience likes to hear. we are a free. freedom loving nation and. even when his narrative was falling apart having russia as it for oil was really strong this point banking on the audience is old prejudices and reinterpreting history to support his line. we are talking to both. lead the intrusion of these people and then. they went into afghanistan in seventy nine or czechoslovakia in sixty eight. and the media world where most wars are reported on from a safe distance it's no wonder that most western outlets sided with saakashvili who by the time had to live t.v. link set up in his own office. on the other hand public relations have never been

russia specialty in the days of the conflict many state institutions went into lockdown completely yielding the initiative to saakashvili. having been many events like this in our country for the past few decades. and if we're talking about the russian federation as an independent country. it was the first time in its history. the struggle for global public opinion was in many ways just a theater of war i see a turn where exaggerated emotions and tree keep the public's attention i cannot even imagine i mean seeing a twelve year old go through all of this it must be but that all timidly doesn't care about. the real suffering we can blame only one person george zimmerman i'm not going georgian people i'm playing georgian government and he has to resign and well that certainly wasn't the one. making the wars all about personalities putin

in this case is an american pastime ultimately it wasn't that saakashvili was liked so much most american politicians could barely pronounce his last name mikhail. billy president could be really present charge really but it conveniently demonize putin better fits old american syria types about russia and its leaders making it easy p.r. right for second but an excruciating army deal for his people. nellie whose husband and two children were killed while trying to flee the city couldn't speak for months. a few weeks after burying her family she found out that she was pregnant and unlikely mercy of fortune that pulled her out of their beasts of grief but even years later she couldn't bring herself to mention her dad children's names . things are very bad for me in this life but i'm alive.

life with them it was in god's will. live for as long as god wants. the georgian attack. the diplomatic war. raging barely a week after georgia launched its offensive. the blame squarely on russia even one criticizing saakashvili for his actions. stand with the people of georgia. and their democratically elected government with its actions in recent days russia has damaged his credibility and its relations with the nations of the free world. bullying and intimidation are not acceptable ways to conduct foreign policy in the twenty first century. between russia and the united states were never . more trusting trading barbs had long been normal communication.

well i must admit that i was hoping for a more objective analysis. i never had any particular illusions. and russia was put trade as the aggressor but. it was only sometime later that they began to admit. though the russians were tough. day didn't attack first now of course after all these commissions including mr telly of venus commission everything confirms what happened in reality. but this diplomatic wrangling meant nothing for those caught in between iran when the balance of sided war continued to stare south in the face many now have to exude the partially decomposed bodies of their loved ones washed them trust them find coffins and

finally give them a proper burial one of the most brutal experiences a mother can suffer. a bit vague. what did you do to those georgians. oh my boy i. just why did they show you from bare tanks. georgian mothers to had their sons taken from them those sent to attack a sleeping cd on behalf of georgian democracy returning home in pieces in the name of its territorial integrity. yet even that didn't seem enough for president saakashvili to reconsider his

tactics. almost five hundred discussion about. americans to stop ongoing violence and deterring russian invasion as well as about. massive assistance programs for georgia from the united states in order to start immediately build a massive was not to rebuild cds and villages but to rebuild the army so that if. cities and villages again this is how this. funding brain top rated in moscow. response came in last in two weeks in late august russia recognize the independence of south a set here and. you have stressed many times that you consider this war to be the personal mistake of

mr saakashvili the to russia doesn't blame it on the people of georgia. but why don't you have the same attitude toward the recognition of the independence obviously your decision influences the people of georgia as a whole and it will probably diesel in many years to come. as otherwise we wouldn't be able to ensure the interests of our citizens or the national interests of the russian federation. just imagine that we would have to go in different directions after what happened. and his companions would start recovering their military power by the way they started receiving help of this kind right away. for many years. held on to the hope that the georgian government would be able to preserve this territory within its own borders. unfortunately though and this is the crime but really committed he

committed against the future of his people and against future generations of his people. he actually drove the final nail into what had been his very own country with his own hands he buried those hopes. five years on that decision still weighs heavily on the relationship between the. the country's. only remains president he's no longer seen as the young bold reformer he once was rather the opposite is true. his political opponents who control parliament have taken steps to normalize relations with moscow but it's far from a real reference from all. over mr saakashvili has almost all of the political scene now and if the new georgian leadership is able to rebuild relations with the peoples of south a city in a positive basel would that reunification of his georgia ever be possible and if saw would russia recognize the territorial integrity of georgia. but the

media in this world has a vision everything depends on the decisions people make me and on the political will there is to the world everything depends on the will of the people that occupy these territories and on the will of georgians and their elected leaders. in the middle east that. it's up to the will of the peoples of. animal within that we want them to live in peace which the one usually it's their form to choose what form it takes. we will not influence these processes when you win but we will of course defend the national interests of russia. you know while has healed that's who and even though the taste of independence is still bitter sweet land long between georgia and russia south a city still struggling to find its feet as an independent nation unemployment is high and opportunities for growth

a scarce trading with georgia could have offered the solution but few are ready to discuss it just here. every august this bride welcoming land turns black with families making their way to the cemetery. you are my boy. my golden boy. or i or i. it was a lose lose situation for everyone involved. georgians lost almost a third of their territory. south to say gained political independence but failed to secure economic self-sufficiency and russians denied themselves an opportunity to normalize ties with its longtime neighbor an ally. and that is not to mention the unspeakable that people in all three countries have to go

through all because of one of the mad telegenic leader of great promise but couldn't find a better way to fulfill his historic mission. through an act of war. choose your language kelly. she was the cutest consents to. choose the opinions that you think are

a cool. choose the stories that impact your life choose to access to often. there's a media lead us so we believe that maybe. by the same motion security for your party is involved in questions that no one is asking with the guests that you deserve answers from it's all on politicking only on our team.

kurds in syria call the world powers for protection as the united nations probes reports of hundreds of kurdish civilians massacred by al qaida linked rebel forces . meanwhile the cia warns the collapse of the assad government could make syria al qaida haven posing an even greater threat to u.s. national security. and no tete a tetes moscow lashes out of washington for not wanting to build relations on an equal footing following president obama's decision to cancel a summit with why there wouldn't.