they just seem to have a lot in common both. became president. 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 in fact about him. he said. it was a good guy. it 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 a legacy as the most eminent leader george had ever known general funding helped facilitate vital reforms including operates of the army within a decade georgia hold to join nato there was just one technicality frozen conflicts

in its two breakaway provinces and in the summer of two thousand and eight really made a decision to do. i believe that peace is more important anything else. we're open to any compromise in the agreement. we. will do anything. together. our country. better. let's forget the whole negative experience in the past and think about the future.

milimeter us mugs a washed out a trespass her four year old grandson an ethnic georgian she lived in south a city 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'm 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 wanted to could go to their actions against south a city they basically launched a military campaign with the use of heavy artillery and tanks. used people have

been killed in the wounded including russian peacekeepers. this is said and there were arming and without doubt this will be met with a response and you. want to put in was giving that masses the russian response had already been mobilized following this garmisch is on the border that it if it is short it was brought to this residence on the outskirts of moscow where he would face the most challenging task to his presidency . nobody knew about the deaths of russian peacekeepers and the thousands of self-deception streaming across the border into russia. the heavy weight of military decisions always lies on the person that is empowered by the constitution to take from you can't escape that. this is your decision and no

one else's. we talked on the phone some time before these events but it was a kind of escalation one we didn't talk with mr putin that night. and he received reports from our army commanders actually it was upon receiving these reports that i made the decision. that 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 the family decided to take their chances the father gathered kids into an old florida but the mother had to stay behind to care for an elderly relative. all she would see of them again it was there a chore it remains that 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 their monsters. those who stayed put sought refuge in basements that every day also had to risk their lives by sneaking out food and water was running short and the bodies of those killed were piling up locals use their rare loves and fighting to the graves . since proper funerals were out of the question most of the victims were laid to rest wrapped in linen and carpets right 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. you have to bury your dead. according to russian

asked him as the war in south 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. why did it have to go that far why didn't russia intervene earlier . while made the bed if always insisted it was russia's duty to protect civilians in south a said here he also had to consider the larger geopolitical context. 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. 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. the attitudes of that funding was in display all over the region military uniforms army rations and. more this many in the u.s. say and this is how some of the city and scheme to view their 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 their. heads we know all about that but i think that was sound reasoning to. they realized it might lead to a very serious conflict which nobody needs. that realization notwithstanding all these sides continued playing. through the georgian leadership adopted

a new narrative russian aggression was. 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 as one. nation understanding what's really happening on. a year later a european union report would establish unequivocally that it was georgia. and that it was. there personally to try to blur the international understanding of

what was happening and telling lies with a straight face and playing to far 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. and other nervously chewing on his time 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 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 what you might say. i think that 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 they'll slaughter us all. georgian villages in

south a city attitude almost overnight with people living behind all their belongings litter is made their way in setting houses on fire here or retaliation was so strong that some love 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. have you gotten bread. we give you a little the august air here is usually filled with the 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 their 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 know much of what happens with christians when 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 him to very realistic and yet it was and acted upon.

told him a language of what i will only react to situation i have read the reports for. the new i will leave that to the state department to comment on your latter point. mr kerry because all your talk is. there. no more reason. when you made a direct question be prepared for a change when you when you should be ready for a. critical speech. down the freedom to. more news today violence is once again flared up. and these are the images her world has been seeing from the streets of canada. china operations are today.

sigrid laboratory to mccurry was able to build the world's most sophisticated robots which fortunately doesn't give a darn about anything turns mission to teach music creation why it should care about humans and. this is why you should care only. for the. science technology innovation all the least of elements from around russia we've got the future covered. mass scenes

broad gestures bold proclamations 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's old prejudices and reinterpreting history to support his line. we're talking to both. lead the intrusion of russia into a mixed picture then. they went into afghanistan in. the sixty's. in a 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 a live t.v. link set up in his own office. on the other hand public relations have never been russia's specialty in the days of the conflict many state institutions went into a lockdown completely yielding the initiative to saakashvili. haven't 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 low that rush tree keep the public's attention i cannot even imagine i mean seeing a twelve year old go through all of this it must mean but does it also mentally doesn't care about. the real suffering we can blame only one person george

zimmerman i'm not going george and people i'm going to church and government and he has to resign and that certainly will. make a war's all about personalities putin in this case is an american past time it's unlikely it wasn't that saakashvili was liked so much most american politicians could barely pronounce his last name we can. be really president could be really present charges could be really but they conveniently demonize putin better think it's old american syria types about russia and its leaders making it an easy p.r. ride 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 base 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 wasn't guts will. live for as long as god wants. while the georgian attack was ripped out the diplomatic war still raging barely a week after georgia launched its offensive the us president was the blame squarely on russia but even once 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. relations between russia and the united states were never particularly of war and more trusting trading barbs had long been the norm of communication the denmark and denial of the dems did catch most call of guard. well i must admit that i was hoping for a more objective analysis. that i never had any particular illusions. they swore that black was white with and russia was put trade is the aggressor. but you know it was only sometime later that they began to admit that although the russians were tough but they didn't attack first now of course after all these commissions including mr tally of in his commission everything confirms what happened in reality. but this diplomatic wrangling man nothing for those caught in between he won when the balance of side it more continued to stare

south in the face many now hard 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. were i did. what did you do to those georgia. oh my lord. why did they show you from behrendt. junction mothers to have their sons taken from them those center attack a sleeping cd on behalf of george and. christie 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 at almost five hundred discussion about. mechanised 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. was not to rebuild. but to rebuild the army so that it. tacking those 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 city. you have stressed many times that you consider this war to be the personal mistake of mr saakashvili that to russia doesn't blame it on the people of georgia. 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 much of the budget of the. 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 that 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. countries. really 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

the relations with the peoples of south a city in a positive bazemore would that region if occasion 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 reason everything depends on the decisions people make me and 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 good even though the taste of independence is still bittersweet landlocked 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 these brides welcoming land turns black with families making their way to the cemetery. you are my boy. my golden boy. son or i or i. it was a lose lose situation for everyone involved. georgians lost almost a third of their territory. south a second chance 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. appeal.

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the week's top stories on our team moscow urges washington to act like adults while president obama denounces russia for what he calls a cold war mentality following the granting of temporary asylum to edward snowden. syria's that battlefront is moving north radical jihadists kurdish villages into ashes and carry out a massive onslaught in an attempt to set up an al qaeda emirate there. also the guantanamo bay hunger strike enters its seventh month as the pentagon continues to spend taxpayers' money on the prison amid claims the u.s. still plans to shut down. gay rights activists in the west call for a boycott of next year's winter olympics in sochi slamming the new russian law against.