Talk:Russo-Georgian War/Archive 20

1991–1992 South Ossetia War; (Georgian-Ossetian conflict)
	Part of the Georgian Civil War
	; Location of South Ossetia within Georgia
Date	January 5, 1991 - June 24, 1992
Location	South Ossetia, North Georgia
Result	Division of the region into Georgian- and Ossetian-controlled parts;
Territorial; changes	South Ossetia becomes a de facto independent republic, but internationally recognised as part of Georgia
Belligerents
South Ossetian Separatists ; North Ossetian Volunteers ; Russian Forces	The National Guard of Georgia
Casualties and losses
2000	600

This is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page.

Archive 15

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Media reaction

Looking forward to your comments about this section. In addition, I propose moving "Cyberattacks" and "Censorship of the media by Georgia" to the page "Information war during the 2008 South Ossetian war" USchick (talk) 03:39, 28 January 2009 (UTC)

Deares USchick, censorship is not part of the Information War. In order to have a war, you need two opposing groups. When a country is censoring war materials, that simply means that the government knows it is lying and has to hide the facts. Notice how there was no censorship in Russia. By Information War, most people understand that as Russian Hackers and Government vs. US and Georgian Hackers and Government going at it, or by certainly Western Media Outlets blasting Russia's Response, and Russian Media firing Western Journalists working for Russian Media or in Russia. Information War is a new concept, and therefore deserves its own article, but censorship is just plain old news, and shows to the reader which side is lying. (By firing a journalist, you are cutting off his salary, but not his rights to publish his views.) 68.164.117.190 (talk) 03:49, 28 January 2009 (UTC)

"Disinformation campaign during the 2008 South Ossetian war" page redirects to the page "Information war during the 2008 South Ossetian war". Most war articles have a separate article about media response, which is missing in this case. If moving the two sections is not a good idea, maybe they can be combined into a single Media Reaction category where things like censorship and other communication issues can be addressed. What do you think? USchick (talk) 05:16, 28 January 2009 (UTC)

Information War continued long after the firing stopped. Information war is still going on today, and still flares up here and there. I've been sort of covering the information war, and it's a war on its own. I think that Old School Media tactics, such as censorship, should be left in this article, and New School Media tactics, such as cyber-war, should be in a new article. If in doubt, you can place the information in both places, as I realize that there's going to be some overlap. The other idea is merging it in this article, but the thing is that we don't want this article to be too long. 68.165.233.75 (talk) 08:21, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

Russian casualties

Why does someone keep changing the Russian casualty figure from 48 to 71? The up-to-date figure is 48 killed, 157 wounded, 2 missing, isn't it? Source: [1], [2]. Does someone contest these figures? Offliner (talk) 14:32, 29 January 2009 (UTC)

Take a look at the history of this and other South Ossetia related articles: There is a continuous stream of vandalism & unsourced edits directed at the casualties figures in the infobox, not only the Russian ones. This has been going on for quite a while now, but the pace has picked up in the last couple of days. --Xeeron (talk) 15:44, 29 January 2009 (UTC)

the page needs additional protection, I think.FeelSunny (talk) 10:09, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

Since some of the edits were done by logged in accounts, semi-protection would not help. The only thing we can do is diligently monitor changes in the infobox. Fortunately, the pace seems to have reduced, I didn't see any case in the last 2-3 days. --Xeeron (talk) 16:33, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

The infobox also says: "South Ossetia: 300 killed, 41 captured (Georgian estimate)^[1]" - but I cannot find any mention of Ossetian casualties in the source given. I guess this sentence should therefore be removed? Offliner (talk) 16:42, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

The only figure about Ossetian military casualties I'm aware of is this: "... However, these figures do not include losses to Ossetian forces and various volunteers (probably, up 150 died)." ^[2] Are there any other numbers available? Offliner (talk) 17:03, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

I don't know which figures that have been inserted lately, but it seems like there are different figures in various sources. The Moscow Times just said the latest figures were 74 Russian servicemen killed, Georgian authorities have said 169 Georgian soldiers and police officers and 69 civilians were killed and that Russian authorities have confirmed the death of 162 civilians in South Ossetia [3]. Närking (talk) 17:34, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

Remove the wrong citation & tag with unsourced. If you have lots of time on your hand, you can go through the history to check whether there was initially a different, correct source, or whether the number 300 is the result of vandalism. Of course, a new source with correct figures would be best. --Xeeron (talk) 17:45, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

Shortening "pre-war clashes"

I think the pre-war clashes section could be shortened somewhat. How about replacing the whole section with a short summary such as "In early August, clashes and shelling on the South Ossetian conflict zone resulted in the deaths of x Ossetians, y Georgians and z Russians. Both sides blamed each other of starting the the violence." Then maybe a mention of the JCC talks, Ossetian speculation that Georgians are about to attack, and Defense Brief speculations on how many troops the Georgians had concentrated on the border. Argumentation for this shortening: it is not so important what exactly happened in the clashes, on which day how many people died and how. Important, in regard to the war itself, is only that such clashes happened, not the details. Besides, the pre-war clashes are covered in detail in another article, Timeline of the 2008 South Ossetia war. Offliner (talk) 19:36, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

Not to sure about this one. Summarizing the pre-war clashes in total takes away from the aspect of escalation. At least something like "with violent clashes leading to deaths happening almost daily" should be added to convey the fact that the region was far from peaceful in the first week of august.

Popov's and Medoyev's statements should be kept and moved to the subsection above. And finally, now only allegations against Georgia are present, so the sections needs to be balanced in terms of POV. --Xeeron (talk) 21:30, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

Yeah, the summary is still far from perfect. I still definitely think that the old version was far too detailed. We don't count the deaths of individual soldiers during the main war, so we probably shouldn't do that here either. But maybe I took away a bit too much. It seems silly that the shooting of an unmanned spy plane receives more space than the pre-war clashes which cost lives. Or maybe the spy plane incident should go as well? Offliner (talk) 21:57, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

Do we really need Popov's statement, since it's just a reiteration of the Russian claim made earlier? Offliner (talk) 01:54, 3 February 2009 (UTC)

Photographs

Is there are reason why we have so few photographs in the article? I think we could use some more. Offliner (talk) 12:54, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

Added some. Offliner (talk) 15:47, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

Good work on making the article prettier. Just, what is that "KP.RU" about? We should use photos without advertisement (or whatever that is). --Xeeron (talk) 16:53, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

Rape?

As much as I tried to find the word rape in the references provided with regard to Russian/Ossetian actions, I failed. Where did you find the accusations of raping people by Ossetians? (Igny (talk) 19:33, 20 January 2009 (UTC))

It is in the new HRW world report I added (in the part on Russia), currently the second ref in the section:

"Russian forces in Georgia failed to protect civilians in areas under their effective control and prevented Georgian authorities from policing these areas, creating a security vacuum. Ossetian militias and armed criminal gangs looted and burned homes and killed, raped, beat, and threatened civilians in these areas." --Xeeron (talk) 20:24, 20 January 2009 (UTC)

Can't say he who "fails to protect" you becomes a "rapist". Can't say either the source you provided confirms Ossetians and not "criminal gangs" raped anyone. However, you may well think that "all those freaking Russian bastards and their friends are rapists". Noone can deny your right of doing so.

It's like, say, "American soldiers and criminal gangs looted, killed civilians, raped, organised drug trade and kidnappings after the Saddam removal". Speaks nothing. Complete buffoonery instead of a report.

What did HRW, have to save on paint for printing the report, to not make two comprehencive messages, one about Ossetian militia, and one for "criminal gangs"? Ask yourself, what were the reasons behind this?

PS. Just to make sure you understand what you say when you accuse Ossetians like you did in the text of the article: Ossetians and Georgians actually had common faith, huge share of interethnic marriages. Ordinary people live together in peace, here, in Moscow, in South Ossetia, in Georgia. Some Ossetians even fought for Georgia and vice versa in this war. Georgian army killed many ethnic Georgians during Tskhinvali offencive, and you may see it in the list of names of victims. Basing on a source that does not explicitly accuses Ossetian militias in raping anyone, you should not make any assumptions and accuse them either, that's what I think. FeelSunny (talk) 21:11, 20 January 2009 (UTC)

Please read up on the meaning of the word "and". This article might be of help. When the report says "A and B did X", then "A did X" as well as "B did X" are reported as true. --Xeeron (talk) 22:55, 20 January 2009 (UTC)

But the report said A and B did X, Y, and Z. It is not clear who did what. It is similar to saying armies A and B took cities X and Y. Which army took which city? Did both take both? In any case, such an implicit association between Ossetian military and criminal gangs sounds like biased POV to me. (Igny (talk) 02:50, 21 January 2009 (UTC))

Take a look at the page I linked above or at this excerpt:

Truth table

The truth table of p AND q (also written as p ∧ q or p & q in logic, p && q in many programming languages, or p $\cdot$ q in electronics):


p	q	∧
T	T	T
T	F	F
F	T	F
F	F	F

Venn diagram

The Venn diagram of "A and B" (the red area is true)

(end of excerpt)

According to the source, both did it. --Xeeron (talk) 16:12, 21 January 2009 (UTC)

So you are saying that Armies A and B took cities X and Y means that both armies participated in taking both cities? How about I and my wife vacuumed the house and washed the dishes before guests arrived? How about I and my son ate a steak and formula milk at dinner? (Igny (talk) 18:30, 21 January 2009 (UTC))

Yes. If you want to express that only one army participated per city, you should say Army A took city X and Army B took city B. --Xeeron (talk) 20:18, 21 January 2009 (UTC)

Have you ever heard anyone saying something like Armies A or B took cities X and Y? (Igny (talk) 00:55, 23 January 2009 (UTC))

Xeeron, this is playing words once again from your side:) When someone tells "American soldiers and criminal gangs looted, killed civilians, raped, organised drug trade and kidnappings after the Saddam removal" he may only claim that Averican soldiers killed civilians, but that gangs organized drug trade, for example. The way you decode this phrase is only up to presuppositions you have concerning American soldiers and criminal cangs. That's why a sentence like this in a serious reporty is just a buffoonery. See Igny's previous post and feel free to consult a WB source on Formal Logic/Sentential Logic/Formal Semantics. Pay attention to the example with "Dogs bark" and that you must say "both dogs bark" (if there are two dogs) or "every dog barks" (if there are multiple dogs) to explain all dogs in the set bark.FeelSunny (talk) 08:55, 21 January 2009 (UTC)

What you quote is not in the link you gave. Also, read my response to Igny above. --Xeeron (talk) 16:12, 21 January 2009 (UTC)

Oh, Xeeron, you're going to like it:) Formal logics was half invented by Russians, and is now studied in MIT by many bright minds. So... Imagine you're one of them, and...

follow this link. It has the same examples explained in a more simple language and more extensively. Most humans would be able to get through this language. If you can not, please use the document search for the phrase "every dog barks" and just read further.

Not convinced yet? I really like working with you, for I work part-time as a university teacher:))

Give some rest to your mind and just try to imagine another example, like - a prison director makes a tour for visitors. He shows them 20 cells in a prison block and says, "People in these cells are guilty of murder, rapes, thiefts, and bribery". Does it mean that every person in the cells is guilty of bribery? Does it mean that every person in a cell is guilty of murder?

Another example. A boy is standing at the window. Mother asks him, "What is going there on the street right now"? A boy replies, "There are lots of people, they are walking in pairs and alone, and move towards the subway station and back". Does the boy mean every person on the street is "right now" walking to the subway station? Or every one is walking alone?

Another example: A boy - the cute one from the previous example - replies (to the same question), "There are Russians and their bears, they wear ushankas, drink vodka, dance gopak and balet, play balalaikas, eat raw meat and shoot Kalashnikov rifles". Q: How stupid should the mother be to ask him then, "Do bears actually wear ushankas, shoot Kalashnikovs, drink vodka and dance ballet?" What would you answer to such a mother?

Still not convinced? I think I'll have to unveil the secret.

(intrigued?:)

The "Ossetian militias and armed criminal gangs" is a set of people/ groups of people (a "set" is identical to the A and B "things" from the gorgeous picture you provided). Let's call "Ossetian militias and armed criminal gangs" a "OMAACG" set. This "Big One" set perfectly includes another sets: 1) people that raped, 2) people that looted, 3) people that murdered etc. That is clearly stated in the source. Formal logics would read as: (people that raped) and (people that looted) and (people that murdered) are included into (Ossetian militias and armed criminal gangs).

However, this very "OMAACG" set includes another two sets (guess which ones?): the "Ossetian militias" set and the "armed criminal gangs" set. Let's call them "OM" and "ACG" sets (names here, surprisingly, are based on abbreviations).

So what do we see next? Actually, nothing. The source tells us nothing about which of the sets designated by numbers (these are 1), 2), 3) sets - for different types of criminals) are included into which set of armed people ("OM" and "ACG").

Well, actually, what I quoted was there in the first and is there the second link, just don't use the force, Luke:))

Ok, now imagine you understood the first and the second book, Xeeron.

Now a homework, if you please: can you split the sentence of the HRW report in question into clauses for us? Just like on the schemes from the second link I provided? I did the analysis above, can you, like, draw a picture?FeelSunny (talk) 20:15, 21 January 2009 (UTC)

What can I say, have the people in your examples discovered the mysteries of the word or that was invented to prevent such misunderstandings? --Xeeron (talk) 20:24, 21 January 2009 (UTC)

What you can say is: do you beleive after all the explanations from me and Igny that the only possible understanding of the source is both Ossetian militiamen comitted all the crimes from the list and armed gangs members commited all the crimes from the list?FeelSunny (talk) 21:13, 21 January 2009 (UTC)

Since I believe that HRW does not deliberately use wrong or unclear grammar nor that HRW is being careless with their wording, despite knowing how essential clear wording is in such reports, this is the way I understand the source. --Xeeron (talk) 00:31, 22 January 2009 (UTC)

Someone should send HRW an email and ask what they really meant. My own interpretation is that they don't really know which group did what. Offliner (talk) 07:09, 22 January 2009 (UTC)

I found this discussion rather funny (given who we discussed basic logic while being on the talk page of a war), but with FeelSunny's conduct, it is much less so now. The sentence currently in the article is "Armed criminal gangs and Ossetian militia have commited looting, arson attacks, rape and abductions ..." So all readers can decide for themself what exactly that "and" does mean. --Xeeron (talk) 14:34, 22 January 2009 (UTC)

So what we have now is: Xeeron admits that the wording is unclear, i.e. there are two (or multiple) possible ways of understanding the sentence. However, Xeeron claims this was not a deliberate misuse of language from the part of the HRW. He then chooses one interpretation (each of the sides is guilty of each of the crimes) as "the right" one.

Another three editors (me, Igny, Offliner) find that HRW used the unclear wording and it is not clear from the article which side did what. As a result, accusations of any of the sides in any of the crimes listed basing on this source are a unverifiable claim and as such must be deleted. Please comment if I am wrong.

What I think is that if Xeeron continues to insist that the HRW did not use the unclear wording intentionally in the report and if he beleives that the "real" meaning of the phrase was that each of the sides is guilty in each of the crimes, he should give any proof of that. Unless this is done Xeeron's thoughts are just his private thoughts which contradict multiple sources on formal logics and contradict consensus opinion of other editors.

I presume we should now remove the controversial data unilaterally inserted by Xeeron, then wait for him to present any source that may verify his claims.

Awaiting your comments.FeelSunny (talk) 12:18, 22 January 2009 (UTC)

Please stop spreading lies about what I said or did. Also, the logic pages I linked and even copy&pasted here exactly agree with my reading of the word "and", while disproving yours, so stop spreading the lie I contradicted them as well. --Xeeron (talk) 14:34, 22 January 2009 (UTC)

Xeeronul iratus ergo nefas. I'm so sorry to think you may be distressed by what I'm going to say... But... The colorful images you've presented us, oh Xeeron, are describing logical conjunction operator "AND" (this very thing - ∧) - but not a word "and", used in the source. Quite possibly your misunderstanding of this fact led you to this inability to understand multiple other sources and examples and this persistent delusion of yours.

I propose we vote then on the verifiability of the claim that basing on the source (the HRW report phrase discussed) SO militias are definitely guilty in rapes and all the other scrimes.FeelSunny (talk) 22:54, 22 January 2009 (UTC)

I would disagree to vote even though the quote shows the bias of HRW in the matter. What I propose was to point out that the findings are based on witnesses' accounts, which may be biased. HRW investigators merely conveyed the message by the angry Georgians who felt or indeed were victimized by the Ossetians. (Igny (talk) 01:11, 23 January 2009 (UTC))

What I see here, Igny, is yet another word play from another US-based non-profit organization, like Freedom Foundation or something like that, financed by some unknown US-based sources.FeelSunny (talk) 17:54, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Imagine an investigator/reporter asks an angry Georgian about the events and gets an answer, something like "those barbarian ossetians, those gangsters came here and did this and that..." What should the reporter report? (Igny (talk) 18:07, 26 January 2009 (UTC))

I just sent HRW an email asking what exactly they meant. If I don't get a reply I'd suggest we drop the whole confusing sentence, or replace it with something else. Offliner (talk) 18:20, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

I agree and I would not be against placing it on the pag if they give any clarification to the source in question.FeelSunny (talk) 21:40, 26 January 2009 (UTC)

Here is the answer I received to my email (I asked if the HRW has found evidence that Ossetian militia commited all of the things mentioned in the sentence, or if some of them were commited by criminal gangs only and not by Ossetians):

Dear Sir,

In our reporting on the Russia/Georgia conflict, wherever we could, Human Rights Watch identified the perpetrator, but distinguishing between different Ossetian militia and criminal gangs was not always possible in every case.

For additional information, please consult our most recent report on the abuses committed by all sides to the conflict, “Up In Flames: Humanitarian Law Violations and Civilian Victims in the Conflict Over South Ossetia,” which is available online at: http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2009/01/22/flames-0 Offliner (talk) 10:33, 27 January 2009 (UTC)

From their most recent report (link above): "Ossetian forces, often in the presence of Russian forces, conducted a campaign of deliberate violence against civilians, burning and looting their homes on a wide scale, and committing execution-style killings, rape, abductions, and countless beatings."

No "and", no "criminal gangs". This is as clear as you can get it. --Xeeron (talk) 15:36, 27 January 2009 (UTC)

Do I understand it right the HRW people just used the phrase composition like "American soldiers and criminal gangs raped" in the initial report intentionally, and not by mistake/ misunderstanding? I can beleive to a HRW editor that never came to Ossetia at all distinguishing between different Ossetian militia and criminal gangs was not always possible in every case - so he just decided to speak of them as if they were one?? Do we consider this source reliable?FeelSunny (talk) 01:55, 31 January 2009 (UTC)

I very much doubt that it was the HRW editor who was raped. The distinction had to be made by those women getting raped (and/or by other witnesses being around). --Xeeron (talk) 11:41, 31 January 2009 (UTC)

"I very much doubt that it was the HRW editor who was raped." - what do you mean? I said that an editor from the HRW just decided not to make too much effort when he wrote the report, and not bother making difference between two different groups. No matter what he heard from the HRW staff in the field, he just put the two groups actions in the initial report as if they were one. That is what is wrong about HRW. The report may be called either a mistake or an intentional lie. As far as they say that "distinguishing between different Ossetian militia and criminal gangs was not always possible in every case" - this (the report statement) well amounts to intentional lie. That is why I ask if we should trust the source without asking any questions. I mean really, people, Ossetian militia are quite official, they wear uniform and they have papers issued by Ossetian authorities. Taking them for "criminal gangs" is possible (especially when there is a war in the region, and civilians try to save themselves), but claiming them have committed something and not veryfying this information, when you're sitting somewhere in the US - that's just wrong. FeelSunny (talk) 08:37, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

"what do you mean?" - I mean that the women that were raped (or possible witnesses) are the ones who had to determine who raped them. As to your assertion that the sentence is a lie or untrue if it was not possible to distinguish in every case, that is wrong. As long as there is one case where it is known that the rapers where militias and one case were it is known that the rapers were criminal gangs, the whole sentence is correct (even if there are additional cases where both might be the offenders). --Xeeron (talk) 16:24, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

Sure it is the woman who determines who it was. Surely it's HRW editor who decides what to insert in the report. And we're discussing the report here. If the woman was not sure, but the report was, that is a mistake or a lie on the part of an editor.

As long as there is one case where it is known that the rapers where militias and one case were it is known that the rapers were criminal gangs, the whole sentence is correct (even if there are additional cases where both might be the offenders). I agree. But were there 2 cases like the ones you describe, that was known to the HRW, when they created the initial report? The editor absolutely does not claim that. That's why I say it looks like they accused militias of rape in the report without having sound proofs for that, just mixing them with criminals.FeelSunny (talk) 12:20, 5 February 2009 (UTC)

Distinguishing "was not always possible in every case", so it was possible is some or even most cases. --Xeeron (talk) 19:06, 5 February 2009 (UTC)

Actually, FeelSunny, I think this case is clear enough. The current sentence is an almost exact quote from HRW's latest publication. Yes, they are almost surely basing their claims on interviews of eyewitnesses and victims, and those persons may well be biased. But we have to live with that. In another section, we have the sentence: "the BBC has discovered evidence that Georgia may have committed war crimes during its attack and occupation of Tskhinvali, including possible deliberate targeting of civilians." Again, that evidence is mostly eyewitness accounts. Offliner (talk) 01:09, 7 February 2009 (UTC)

I do not mind using the sentence as it is. However, the way they use people's words is just wrong. They are biased, if their report is. It's not about witnesses, for witnesses do not write IHT reports.FeelSunny (talk) 11:56, 10 February 2009 (UTC)

Georgian Casualties

I remember there was a Russian estimate for Georgian casualties in the info. box and an Independent Estimate. Furthermore, any military historian will laugh and laugh and laugh at the killed to wounded ratios on Georgian casualties, (i.e. 1 to 10), which reminds me of a sniper, shooting at James Bond from a distance of 10 ft, aiming at his forehead and nailing bond in the shoe. I mean really? I think the article could only benefit from the inclusion, or rather re-introduction of those estimates. 68.165.233.75 (talk) 08:30, 2 February 2009 (UTC)

Why has this topic in the edit been largely ignored? 68.167.1.235 (talk) 07:45, 6 February 2009 (UTC)

Looks like everyone but Georgians just forgot the matter. I'll try to find some info on that.FeelSunny (talk) 08:37, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

I thought the russians lost 75. BTW, I somewhere read that Kokhoititis life guard was the only unit left of the seperate militia forces after the georgian rush in South Ossetia. Notice, that georgian special forces were allready heading towards the Roki tunnel after captured nearly all villages around the capitol when the regulars were still advacning against Tskhinvali. That means, georgian SF's meat ossetian resistence in every village and slaughtered them or, the ossetian militias left the region before the attack began, what I really doubtfull, because it was a surprise attack. So, anyone with informations about that topic ???? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.196.51.146 (talk) 19:49, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

The highest reported casualties for Russians were 85, not counting wounded. However highest reported casualties for Georgians were in the thousands. Furthermore the current Georgian army shrank from 40,000 to 2,000. So what happened to 38,000? Also, the only FORWARD unit left was Kokoituy's Guards, and that was also after the merger, i.e. units merged into it, usually when fighting units tend to merge. Also, The Ossetians had reserves, only Saakashvili & company were stupid enough to fail to deploy reserves, the Ossetians and Russians had plenty. Also, the Ossetians were ordered to retreat, to defend Tskhinvali, instead of defending the left flank leading to the Roki Tunnel. At least that's what I read in the military press at the time. No, I don't have the sources, at least cannot remember off the top of my head, which is why we're not putting that in the article, but I figured you might want to know. Also, FeelSunny, thank you for looking for that info, let me know when you find it. 68.167.1.235 (talk) 03:47, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

Casualty Box

Why is it that Russians are still considered to be the attacker in the Casualty Box. The US Ambassador to Russia called waht the Russians did a counter-attack, or in other words response to an attack, thus stating that Georgians attacked first. Furthermore a plethora of claims have been made, including one by Bush's Sec. of State, claiming that Putin provoked Saakashvili into attacking first. Nearly all of Independent Journalists, including Ames of the Nation, (whose paper got kicked out of Russia for reasons unrelated to this article) stated that Georgia attacked first. HRW reported that the first civillian casualties were caused by Georgia. Der Spiegel stated that Georgia attacked first. More and more people are starting to see that it was Georgia that invaded first. Why is then Russia, on Wikipedia, treated as the attacker? The columns should be switched, with Russia being the defender and Georgia being the attacker. It's a miracle that this hasn't been done already! 68.167.1.235 (talk) 21:10, 7 February 2009 (UTC)

BTW it's really an appaling POV example. To put it clear, all sources eventually came to conclusion Georgia was an attacker in this conflict.FeelSunny (talk) 01:51, 8 February 2009 (UTC)

I think, we should start rearranging the infobox.FeelSunny (talk) 08:01, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

I honestly didn't even know that the order of the columns had any meaning, that the left column would mean the attacker and the right the defender. But if that is the case, then they should almost definitely be switched. No one except Georgia itself disputes the fact that the Georgians attacked first and fired the first shots. Offliner (talk) 09:19, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

Switched. Offliner (talk) 09:24, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

Thank you! (I'm working hard these days and have too little time to edit)FeelSunny (talk) 15:37, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

Another question is why Russia comes before South Ossetia in the inforbox. What do you think, should it be like that? For Russia, AFAIK, intervened when both Georgia and South Ossetia started fighting.FeelSunny (talk) 15:39, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

Imo, the listing should either be alphabetic or in descending order of importance. --Xeeron (talk) 18:09, 10 February 2009 (UTC)

Why not in order of starting the military action?FeelSunny (talk) 21:35, 10 February 2009 (UTC)

Actually South Ossetia should be listed as first, Abkhazia second and Russia third, if military doctrine is to be followed. You have to list powers in order that they have entered the conflict, if such an order is unquestionable. Listing the most powerful countries first will often lead to debate as to who is the most powerful. In this case it's crystal clear, however the rules must be uniform. First the Georgians entered South Ossetia, then Kodori Valley, then launched an attak on the Russian Peacekeepin Base, thus it's Georgia v. South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Russia. 68.167.1.235 (talk) 02:54, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

If that is the rule in military topics, we should follow it. However, Russia entered the fighting before Abkhazia, therefore, according to your rule, it should be Abkhazia last. In any case, the infobox needs to be consistent: If you change something, change ALL entries, not just one, while leaving the others. --Xeeron (talk) 14:01, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

Another problem might possibly be determining whether Russia or South Ossetia entered first. If we count the pre-war clashes, it is clearly SO, but for the actual war, it is quite hard to estimate, given that both South Ossetian and Russian troops were defending the same city. --Xeeron (talk) 14:02, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

We are focusing on this article, not every article on Wikipedia. Yes, they should all be uniform, but we're not the only editors. For instance, in the 30 years war, France played the dominant role, but it is not displayed on top. Also, in order to attack the Russian Peacekeeping Base, Georgia must have crossed into South Ossetia, therefore South Ossetia should clearly be first. Also, Georgia entered Abkhazian Region (Kodori Valley) at the begining of the war, I believe prior to firing on the Russian Peacekeeping Base. 68.167.1.235 (talk) 04:05, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

The problem is that here, in the article, we give a very clear timeline: G attacks SO, then SO fights for it's capital, G attacks R PK base, A declares war, then R enters the war. The order of netering the war is quite clear: G, O, A, R. That's what I think must be the order they should be presented in the infobox.FeelSunny (talk) 11:32, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

The Georgians could fire onto the Russians without moving into the South Ossetian controlled area (South Ossetia is tiny after all and artillery does have a certain range). Similarly, Georgians were in the Kodori Gorge for the last couple of years, they did not move in there during the war. "Point of enterence into the war" just turns out to be a not so clever ordering mechanism (but as I said above, if all other articles use it, we still should use it as well to be consistent). --Xeeron (talk) 10:50, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

Georgia started war with SO with the first shell that fell on Tskhinvali. That was August 7, 23:45, according to the OSCE monitors. And that was an act of war, though not declared. So, SO also entered the war.

First victims among Russian PK forces were reported an hour later. By that time Tskhinvali has long been shelled. Peacekeepers did not fight back (quite naturally, they did not have any artillery at their base, for they were a peacekeepers, not an invasion army).

By 8 AM Georgian tanks entered the city, firing into basements, where civilians sought shelter from the bombs. Fights on the streets with Ossetian defenders of the city started.

Then Russian President announced Russia will counter Georgian attack. According to different sources, Russian forces enter South Ossetia on August 8, but not earlier that 10 AM (Georgians claim a plane came and fired at them). That was an act of war, though not declared. After that Georgians started to cry for help all over the Western medias. That was way after their attack on Tskhginvali. The timeline is as follows: Georgia attacks city - Ossetian defenders fight with the offenders - Georgian artillery kills Russian peacekeepers - Empire strikes back:)

Anyway, the SO entered the war with the first Georgian attack on it's capital. And Russia entered the war later. That is why Russia should stand second, while SO - come first in the infobox.FeelSunny (talk) 14:14, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

Can you (or indeed anyone) proof that the first shell was aimed at Tshkinvali, but not the Russian base in Tshkinvali? In any case, I am glad you agree now that Abkhazia entered the war last. --Xeeron (talk) 14:49, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

Xeeron, your arguments sound too Jesuit these days. They contradict common sence. Of course, when you attack someone's territory with the weapon that may not under any means be used for precise strikes, you are starting a war. Salvo missiles and cluster bombs are not made for wiping off PK bases and not harming the city that lies around. PS. I never told anything about Abkhazia entering a war yet. I have not studied any documents about Abkhazia in this war yet. I am really happy I had no reason to dig into documents on Abkhazia, for there was no such cruel conflict as in SO. FeelSunny (talk) 16:14, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

You did not comment on Abkhazia entering the war yet? Maybe I have argued with the person who stole your accound and made this edit till now then. Tell that other person editing from your account that the timeline of entering the conflict has A last, not R. --Xeeron (talk) 00:19, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

Xeeron, it's not a matter of what the Georgians could do, it's a matter of what the Georgians did. They hit Ossetia, prior to hitting the Russian Peacekeeping Base. Thus South Ossetia should be first. As for Abkhazia, Georgians had troops in Kodori Valley, prior to Russian counter-attack, and when one tries to remove troops from an area, they must be in that area in the first place, I think that one is under sense, common sense. 68.167.1.103 (talk) 05:41, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

Xeeron, this was about article, and not my position. To put it clear: I think that Russia should come after SO in the infobox. I hope I do not need to explain what I mean any further. If you want to discuss it with me, I will read some documents on the matter, and then I'll be ready to discuss it. Right now I think you can discuss this matter with other editors, if you want.FeelSunny (talk) 07:56, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

Put the stuff in the infobox into whatever order you like (as long as it is consistent). In the end I do not care enough to continue this discussion. --Xeeron (talk) 11:48, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

Alexander Glukhov

It seems there is a Russian soldier (who defected or was captured by Georgians and brainwashed) who now lives in Georgia and has become another dispute between Georgia and the Russian Federation [4] [5]. Is this worth mentioning in this or another Russian/Georgian article? It is a remarkable story (I think). — Mariah-Yulia (talk) 19:05, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

Glukhov's case is covered in 2008-2009 Georgia–Russia crisis. Offliner (talk) 19:08, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

Thanks. I'll make a redirect to make the finding easier and in case it becomes a bigger issue.Mariah-Yulia (talk) 21:21, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

Yes, this does not has to do much with war in SO - half a year has passed since the war. The guy told journalists that if his unit was stationed not in Georgia, but near any other border, he would leave to any other place. Definitely not the case of choosing democracy, rather just another desertion b/c of some dumb officer/ senior sergeant.FeelSunny (talk) 23:25, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

Status of OSCE mission to Georgia

Does anyone understand what this means: [6].

"The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe extended on Thursday a mandate for its unarmed military observers in Georgia, the OSCE press service said."

However: "The mandate of the OSCE Mission to Georgia ended on 31 December 2008 and is not affected by today's decision," the organization said on its website."

What's going on? Offliner (talk) 11:12, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

There was more than 1 OSCE mission in Georgia. It seems the canceled one was the OSCE observer mission in place before the war, while the new one is the one put in place after the war. My guess is that the old one had some mission statements (e.g. return of refugees or restrictions on the number of foreign troops in SO/A) that Russia disliked, but we need more sources to establish that. --Xeeron (talk) 12:59, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

I'm not sure which side of the conflict did not want to extend the mandate. The reason is OSCE mission works in SO and A, and most OSCE members do not see them as independent. However, SO and A do not want the decision about a mission on their land to be made by Tbilisi. This is highly controversial topic.FeelSunny (talk) 23:42, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

This article's neutrality is "disputed" but only by Kober

For quite a while, the neutrality of this article wasn't disputed, and then in comes a single user, Kober, and places the "neutrality disputed" tag back into the article. So all it takes is a single user to dispute any article on Wikipedia? We've had pro-Georgian posters here, Xeeron, Narking, but none of them put up a "neutrality disputed" tag. Should we say somewhere in the article that it's disputed by merely one user? HistoricWarrior007 (talk) 05:55, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

Comment on content, not on the contributor. If you have anything more reasonable to say, you are welcome to join the discussion just above your flamboyantly displayed subsection. --Kober^Talk 06:01, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

Yes, I suggest to add level of the dispute to the tag say from 1 to 10. Make the level colored too. A flashing "Neutrality is disputed. Code Red" would be cool. (Igny (talk) 06:00, 15 February 2009 (UTC))

I am not personally attacking you. I'm just questioning the wisdom, in general, of merely one user, (not just you) to dispute any article, at his or her whim. That's all. The main question in my previous post is this "So all it takes is a single user to dispute any article on Wikipedia?" HistoricWarrior007 (talk) 06:09, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

In general yes, that was the point of this open project. Besides, some users are more equal than others. (Igny (talk) 06:12, 15 February 2009 (UTC))

Hmm, so this is Animal Farm? Not Wikipedia after all? Can I combine them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_Farm? —Preceding unsigned comment added by HistoricWarrior007 (talk • contribs) 06:28, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

Statistically speaking, even though only a handful of users regularly contribute to this particular article, every one of them has a group of followers. A single concern of a single user here would mean a significant portion of people outside the WP having a similar or even stronger concern. Since different groups represented differently online and in particular on WP, a representative of some groups may be more important than representatives of other groups. Hence there is an irremovable bias in articles, for only people who feel strongly about subject rush to edit articles on particular topics, and hence quite valid neutrality disputes.(Igny (talk) 06:37, 15 February 2009 (UTC))

So then putting up a neutrality dispute, and then making seven edits, without discussing most of them here, in a span of two hours, would be quite unprofessional, right? HistoricWarrior007 (talk) 06:43, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

Right. And neutrality of this article actually is not disputed. Though several sections around the article were discussed for POV at different times, the article as a whole was never (at least what I remember) discussed for general POV. Maybe the user could present his views on why the article is not neutral here, just to make this article disputed before placing the tag. Because placing the tag itself does not make the article disputed. I propose removing the tag, if the editor does not present any such comments.FeelSunny (talk) 11:00, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

Second FeelSunny's motion to remove tag. HistoricWarrior007 (talk) 23:39, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

This article had the POV tag for a very long time (check the history). Imho, effort is better directed towards making the article NPOV and better in general, than discussing whether or not it deserves the tag. --Xeeron (talk) 16:54, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

The problem is not the tag, it's the absence of explanations.FeelSunny (talk) 17:34, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

Pics

Some time ago I added some pictures, but now I feel we have a bit too many. The whole picture issue is of course very subjective, but I feel the current situation isn't esthetically pleasing. Maybe we could remove some pictures or arrange them in a more esthetically pleasing way, maybe grouping them together, for example in horizontal rows after each chapter (is this possible?) Offliner (talk) 18:00, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

Actually, vertical right-aligned strips look like the best solution to me. Offliner (talk) 22:08, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

I think the images are fine, especially the ones in the introduction. The only image I have a problem with is the 1993 US image of Georgian industries. Isn't there something more recent? Georgia went through radical militarization from 2002-2008, thus it would make the 1993 map outdated. If you want to include an image like that, find something more recent, like 2006. I guess until then, I can live with the map, but it is outdated. HistoricWarrior007 (talk) 23:46, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

Overall, I support HistoricWarrior007 on this. However, I think that though we usually avoid sandwitching text between images, the older version was more easy for understanding: every action of Georgia to the left, South Ossetia&Russia to the right, like they are presented in the infobox. And before all images were aligned to the right, I sure had no feeling we have too many of them. That's just my thoughts. FeelSunny (talk) 10:07, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

This article has pro-Georgian POV not pro-Russian POV

This war was simply about Georgia trying to take back South Ossetia as describe by Saakashvili himself on the first day of the war. That is what should be describe in this article and not conspiracy theories the Georgian government thought up after their adventure turned into a miserable failure. Pocopocopocopoco (talk) 18:02, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

Thing is, pro-Georgian editors are used to getting their way on Wikipedia. Thus it is frustrating for them to find an article where Russia is placed in a positive light, even though Russia's actions in this case deserve award, not blame. The Caucasian part of Russia was extremely volatile when Putin took power. Certain people wanted to keep tha Caucases volatile, in order to have a bargaining chip against Russia. Russia fought a second bloody war against Chechnya, to stabilize the Caucasian Region. One of the most stable regions, was North Ossetia. Georgia's attack on South Ossetia, would destabilize North Ossetia if the Russian government took no action, and would throw all of the efforts of stability backwards. Saakashvili knew this, he thought that the Kremlin would either not respond, in which case he could go ahead and claim South Ossetia and later Abkhazia with Russia too weak to aid them, or that Russia would overwhelmingly respond, in which case Saakashvili would claim thousands of civilian casualties and try to get NATO to intervene, and get another Kosovo-like situation. Also, the Russian Army was expected to suck, like they did in the First Chechen War. Nobody expected the Russian Army to be this good, and the Russian Army's ability to stop, to withdraw, and cause less then 300 civilian casualties. The Russian Army had to walk a fine line, and they did just that. The challenge before pro-Georgian editors now, is to spin the undisputed truth into propaganda. It's easy when it's disputed, but with undisputed truth, it's impossible, hence the frustration, despite this article lacking Russian POV. HistoricWarrior007 (talk) 23:57, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

I do know that some users here have hard time to understand what Wikipedia is for, but let me remind you that it is certainly not a political chatroom.--Kober^Talk 13:53, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

Fair enough. I think the above should be included into the background of the article. Particularly this: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B06E3D81231F931A2575AC0A9649C8B63 - it's NY Times actually admitting that "Chechen fighters are particularly present in the Pankisi Gorge, northeast of Georgia's capital, Tbilisi". I think that should be included in the background, lest people think I'm engaging in chatroom activities. And BTW Kober, this is English Wikipedia, so the correct way to say stuff is "understanding" rather then "to understand". Just basic English. HistoricWarrior007 (talk) 22:22, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

HistoricWarrior007, be consistent:) You don't say article has POV if the same day you say it is neutral in the previous section. Come on, we've created fairly neutral and unbiased page so far. And it's a result of work of both po-Georgian and pro-Russian editors. That's why I proposed removing the tags. FeelSunny (talk) 10:11, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

Reread my paragraph FeelSunny. I never said that the article had Georgian POV. I have said that the users, like Kober all of whose edits (commenting on edits here, not editor) just happen to lean Georgian, due to a miracle, crave that this article needs to have a pro-Georgian POV, but the article lacked that until Kober's edits were made. Furthermore, unlike Xeeron who actually discusses his edits, to an extent, Kober doesn't feel the need to do so and then acts surprised when his edits are reverted. HistoricWarrior007 (talk) 22:28, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

Civil war in lead

Ossetian war is not civil war as civil war is conducted for the political reasons the same war between Ossetins and Georgians, between two people. But it is war for independence.Gnomsovet (talk) 09:56, 17 February 2009 (UTC)

The lead was claiming the 1991–1992 South Ossetia War was a civil war. I have removed the mention to "civil war" as it misrepresents that conflict. Yes, Ossetian South Ossetians were fighting against Georgian South Ossetians, but by dubbing it a civil war, it omits the fact that the Ossetians were also fighting against Georgian Georgians (who were allied of course with the Georgian South Ossetians). Instead of trying to qualify things, it is best simply to state the facts as the 1991–1992 South Ossetia War, otherwise it gets messy and makes it harder for people to understand. If I saw "Civil war" and followed that link which says in the lead: "The 1991–1992 South Ossetian War was fought as part of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict from 1991 to 1992 between the Georgian government forces and ethnic Georgian militias on one side and the forces of South Ossetia and their allies on the other." I would be confused as hell. Simplify is the answer. --Russavia ^Dialogue 02:04, 3 February 2009 (UTC)

The Georgian-Ossetian conflict from 1991 to 1992 (First South Ossetia war) was a civil war: South Ossetia was a part of Georgia and (successfully) tried to secede. It is important to say so because that is not clear from the name alone. Also see my last post on the previous section on this topic. --Xeeron (talk) 10:50, 3 February 2009 (UTC)

So tell me Xeeron, was the Second Chechen War also a Civil War? 68.167.1.235 (talk) 04:26, 4 February 2009 (UTC)

I would have to read up on that to be sure, but from what I remember, it was a civil war. --Xeeron (talk) 12:44, 4 February 2009 (UTC)

Not exactly. A civil war is when fighting occurs all over, not primarily limited to one region that is seceding. No one called Kosovo a civil war, and you would have to call Kosovo a civil war as well. 68.167.1.235 (talk) 06:22, 5 February 2009 (UTC)

So the american civil war was not a civil war, because the fighting was "primarily limited to one region that is seceding"? No. And what Kosovo war are you talking about? The one where NATO planes hit Belgrade or the fight of Kosovo rebells before that? --Xeeron (talk) 10:42, 5 February 2009 (UTC)

So if my planes bomb your capital, that's Civil War? Also, in the American Civil War, the greatest and most important battle occurred in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, which was the turning point in a state that hasn't seceded. In addition another battle was Perryville, Kentucky, again in a state that hasn't seceded. The Emancipation Proclamation was issued as a result of the Battle of Antietam, which again occurred on Maryland, Union Soil, by most accounts. Get your facts straight. The difference between a Civil War, and a regional war, is that a Civil War extends to most of the country, whereas a regional war is limited to a specific region. A regional war is crucial to the region, such as Russian Total Victory here finally stabilizing the Caucasian Region. However this war was limited to Northernmost Georgia. Hence it's a regional war. If Puerto Rico decided to secede from the US, (it won't, but just for the sake of the argument,) and US sends in troops, would you call that a Civil War? 68.167.1.235 (talk) 07:44, 6 February 2009 (UTC)

Ok, if you want to ask me about some more wars, please facilitate a list so I wont have to go through them one by one. Btw, here is what the wiki article on civil wars says:

James Fearon, a scholar of civil wars at Stanford University, states that "a civil war is a violent conflict within a country fought by organized groups that aim to take power at the center or in a region, or to change government policies".

The Geneva Conventions do not specifically define the term 'civil war'. They do, however, describe the criteria for acts qualifying as "armed conflict not of an international character", which includes civil wars. Among the conditions listed are four requirements:^[3]^[4]

The party in revolt must be in possession of a part of the national territory.
The insurgent civil authority must exercise de facto authority over the population within the determinate portion of the national territory.
The insurgents must have some amount of recognition as a belligerent.
The legal Government is "obliged to have recourse to the regular military forces against insurgents organized as military."

So lets see:

Aiming to take power in a region? Check

In possesion of a part of national territory? Check

Exercising de facto authority? Check

Some amount of recognition? Check

Legal Government obliged to recourse to military forces? Check

This discussion finally over? Check (or so I hope ...) --Xeeron (talk) 19:15, 6 February 2009 (UTC)

Or so hopes the person whose argument contradict each other. Tell me Xeeron, how can a non de facto government be obliged to recourtse to the regular military forces, except in the case of countering an invasion, and since it is an invasion, it cannot be a Civil War. In the US Civil War, the South declared war on the North by attackin Fort Sumpter, thus justifying calling it a Civil War. In our case, the South Ossetians did not attack the Georgian Peacekeepers, or at least there is no clear proof of them doing so. I hold no grudge against the Georgians, the common people that is, who are stuck with a leader against their will, (see Martial Law Declared 2007), but I do think that this leadership should be shown in all of its "splendor". I don't see why you are trying to support him so vehemently, under the clever guise of "just wanting to get the truth out", I've yet to see your support for South Ossetia on controvercial points. And no one called the First or Second Chechen Wars a Civil War. 68.167.1.235 (talk) 21:03, 7 February 2009 (UTC)

Xeeron, with all due respect, you rule once again:))))

I just went by and saw this discussion, and before I get involved too much, I just want to say your position contradicts common sence. Nobody calls Chechen wars "civil", and nobody calls Georgia-Ossetian-Russian war that. One reason is there is no one "split" nation, which is a must for calling a war "civil".FeelSunny (talk) 02:00, 8 February 2009 (UTC)

Do you even have an idea which war we are talking about? If no, READING the section you are posting in would help. In case you did know, you are flat out wrong (check the first sentence: "civil war" is right there). --Xeeron (talk) 21:38, 8 February 2009 (UTC)

I did read your argue before posting, Xeeron. However, my dear it is you who does not have any idea of what civil war was there in Georgia in early 90ies. Go check Zviad Gamsakhurdia and zviadists if you do not know such basic things about Georgia. If you do not like to read much, here is a quote from your own source: In December 1991 the political civil war in Tbilisi began between opposition forces and the government of Zviad Gamsakhurdia, who was ousted. Shortly after pro-Gamsakhurdia forces (the so-called Zviadists) started an armed rebellion in Western Georgia and simultaneously the situation in Abkhazia worsened and war was expected. Now can you see what was the "civil war" you are talking about? I said, NOONE calls SO-Georgian conflict that. So next time before claiming me being "flat out wrong" first go read your own sources.FeelSunny (talk) 07:54, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

I have changed it back to 1991-1992 South Ossetia War, because to call it a civil war is to obfuscate and misrepresent the conflict. SO did not regard itself as a part of Georgia, but as a part of the Soviet Union - it's own parliament voted to stay within the Soviet Union - for all intents and purposes it regarded itself as independent of Georgia. Also, note the name of the article, 1991-1992 South Ossetia War, this would basically take into account points such as this, and to attempt to simplify it by calling it a civil war (without any evidence of such) in the lead misrepresents the long-running conflict in this region. --Russavia ^Dialogue 13:19, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

@FeelSunny, the source you also quoted from starts with: "The disintegration of the Soviet Union plunged the former Soviet Republic of Georgia into political chaos and civil war. One of the first areas of conflict was South Ossetia, an autonomous region within Georgia during the Soviet period and the scene of a bloody conflict in the period 1989-92."

@Russavia: South Ossetia was defacto and dejure part of Georgia, they fought to become independent, even the South Ossetians view it that way: "As the Chairman of the Supreme Council of South Ossetia (now president), Ludwig Chibirov, puts it: "...this is the second time in one generation that we have been the victims of genocide by the Georgians; in that way our demand for independence should be seen not as idealism but as pragmatism" (From conversation with Chibirov, July 1995)." --Xeeron (talk) 16:46, 9 February 2009 (UTC)

Xeeron, I'm not going to discuss it anymore. The matter is quite obvious. Please go read Georgian Civil War and just stop this useless disruptive edits. The Georgian Civil War is this very the conflict your source describes. 1991–1992 South Ossetia War is another event, and it was not a "civil war". That's why there are two different articles for these two events in Wikipedia. Creating some weird hybrides like "1991–1992 South Ossetia War|civil war" from your part is absolutely wrong. Leave the original name of the article be as it is. FeelSunny (talk) 14:09, 10 February 2009 (UTC)

You link to an article that says (in its very first sentence!) "The Georgian Civil War consisted of inter-ethnic and intranational conflicts in the regions of South Ossetia (1988-1992) and (...)" to prove that there was no civil war in South Ossetia. Your arguement makes no sense at all. --Xeeron (talk) 17:46, 10 February 2009 (UTC)

Xeeron, could you repeat your argumentation on why you think it is important to call it a civil war? I don't think I fully understood. At the moment, 1991-1992 South Ossetia war sounds like the most neutral option to me. People can read more on what it really was from the 1991–1992 South Ossetia War article itself. Offliner (talk) 17:58, 10 February 2009 (UTC)

Sure. Civil wars tend to be a lot nastier that "normal" wars between two nations, mostly due to the fact that the two sides battling live very close to each other, so simply going separate ways is not an option. Had the war been a "normal" one, it is likely that the South Ossetian victory in the 91 war would have resolved the issue for good. However, a substancial amount of Georgians remained in the territory claimed by SO as their state. There also exist Georgian refugies who previously lived in South Ossetia. Seeing how SO (anyone who lives there will have to excuse me) is basically an economically worthless piece of mountains, only because of the political pressure to "avenge" the refugies or "liberate" the Georgians living there would Georgia have done something as dumb as attacking SO (and by proxy, Russia). --Xeeron (talk) 18:19, 10 February 2009 (UTC)

Dear Xeeron, but this was a part of a period of a civil war, but the conflict did not make up to a whole civil war, can't you see? The Polish–Soviet War was a part of Russian revolution, but it was not a civil war or a revolution itself. And noone calls Polish–Soviet War a civil war, though prior to the conflict both sides were parts of the same state, just like in Georgia. Why do you continue this stupid argue?FeelSunny (talk) 21:40, 10 February 2009 (UTC)

Xeeron, what are we going to do with you? First off, if South Ossetia was "De Facto" part of Georgia, then there would have been no war in the 1990's. You don't need to send an army to reclaim an area that you "De Facto" control. Do you even know what "De Facto" means? The very fact that you have to fight to get it, means that you don't "De Facto" control it! Also Civil Wars aren't a lot "nastier" then normal wars. WWII was the "nastiest" war in the 20th century, and it wasn't a civil war. Also, if you would have read about "Misha the boxer" by Lokshina, you wouldn't be making silly claims about Georgians living in South Ossetia as refugees. Refugees live in trailers, they don't have permanent homes. Georgians living in South Ossetia have permanent homes, they don't fit the definition of refugees. Saakashvili's attack on South Ossetia resulted in more Georgian refugees then ever before. Your pro-Georgian bias is shining bright Xeeron. Also Saakashvili launched a direct attack on Russian Peacekeeping Base, even though he could have bypassed it. Clearly his reasons weren't motivated by "vengeance vs. Ossetians" alone. 68.167.1.235 (talk) 02:51, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

So far to support your views you have only presented one source that does not explicitly call 1991–1992 South Ossetia War a civil war. Unless you find reliable sources that clearly support your views, and clearly name this conflict a "civil war", please refrain from reverting other edits back to your own version. Stop edit warring.FeelSunny (talk) 08:35, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

"You wouldn't be making silly claims about Georgians living in South Ossetia as refugees" Guess what: I did not. I expect it is too much to ask that you read my post before replying to it. Also, FeelSunny, you live up to your reputation of linking articles without reading them. Prior to the Polish-Soviet war, Poland was a new state set up by the (western) victors of WW1. Prior to that, it was an area occupied by the central powers. Prior to THAT it was part of the Russian empire, which by 1919 had already ceased to exist. --Xeeron (talk) 16:14, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

But it was not a separate state when the Russian Revolution began. So, if we count birth of SO to be caused by Georgian civil war, we should count Poland as a country (re-)born by Russian Revolution. Which makes Russo-Polish war a part of Civil war/ Russian revolution, according to your logics. Not that I want to change anything in the article, just to explain what I mean.FeelSunny (talk) 00:12, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

I forgot, you wanted more sources: [7], [8], [9], [10]. From German photographs, over Marxist webpages, to the BBC, all call it civil war. I didn't even need to leave the first page of Google search results to find all these. --Xeeron (talk) 16:22, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

Ha! I know what you want to push in this article, Xeeron:)) I found this post in one of the forums, it's not yours, I'm sure, but it's logic fits your actions pretty well: "South Ossetia is NOT independent. Russia needs to stay out of the conflict. What happened in Georgia was a CIVIL war. This should have played out on its own. Russia is NOT a peacekeeper but instead is biased and should be removed from South Ossetia immediately. Putin is pissed off because of Georgias plans of joining NATO and dropping CIS like a bad habit. Putin wants to keep South Ossetia under his wing that way he can build his Natural Gas Pipeline through South Ossetia without Georgians permissian. Russia is a BULLY and needs to repect Georgias sovereignty. Putin is too occupied with becoming the new OPEC."

Now I see your logic behind calling it a "civil war".

And, what I like most about you, Xeeron, is you have a wonderful persistency in your mistakes. Let's look at your "sources".

1) The BBC tells "Georgia accuses Russia of arming the South Ossetian authorities - who have been trying to break away since the civil war in the 1990s. Moscow denies the claim." Nothing about "civil war in Ossetia in 1991-1992". It's about Georgian civil war, you must have missed this. So + 0 points for providing nothing.

2) The "randbild.de-beta" (sounds reliable:)) tells of civil war in 1990(???)-1992. Don't you claim it's "1991-1992"? Anyway - the source is just a blog. Blog of a fotographer, having his contacts in huge letters on the 1st page: Timo Vogt, Fotograf, +49-5863-******, ***[at]randbild[punkt]de. Do you still consider blogs to be reliable sources?:)))) - 1 for providing a non-reliable source.

3) We're not going to discuss source that tells it's "defending Marxism", right? Why don't you just go and write an article about politics based on sources that underline they are "created to defend neonazism" or "neocons" then? I think reliable source should be at least not biased. Defending "-ism" is biased. So - 1 again for providing a source that is "created to defend Marxism".

4) Eurasia.net - wow. A really interesting source. Would it be their opinion, that would be almost enough to claim "some sources say SO war of 1991-1992 was actually a civil war". But, to my dissapointment, these are just words of another fotographer: "Jonathan Alpeyrie is a war photographer for Getty Images." I mean, I adore Getty, I'm even their client for the last two years, but I never knew they were a think tank, did you? A reliable server, but another fotographer that does not count. + 0 again.

Total: - 2 points.

Now back to the point. See what sources do not consider 1991-1992 SO war to be a civil war: Radio Free Europe [11], openDemocracy.net (featuring an article of the English professor of Caucasus studies) [12], The Guardian [13], and - finally, that's what your beloved BBC thinks of the war:

"In the twilight of the Soviet Union, as Georgian nationalist Zviad Gamsakhurdia came to prominence in Tbilisi, South Ossetia too flexed its separatist muscles. Soviet forces were sent to keep the peace in late 1989 following violent clashes between Georgians and Ossetians in the capital, Tskhinvali. Violence flared again as South Ossetia declared its intention to secede from Georgia in 1990 and, the following year, effective independence.

The collapse of the USSR and Georgian independence in 1991 did nothing to dampen South Ossetia's determination to consolidate the break with Tbilisi. Sporadic violence involving Georgian irregular forces and Ossetian fighters continued until the summer of 1992 when agreement on the deployment of Georgian, Ossetian and Russian peacekeepers was reached. Hundreds died in the fighting. [14]

Nothing about it being a civil war. Only about "effective independence" and "sporadic violence". Just a conflict of two very clearly named ethnoses. Ethnic war is not a civil war.

Plus, Ossetians did not consider themselves to be citizens of Georgia in 1990. Know why? Because according to the Soviet constitution, which was the supreme law on the territory, they, as an Autonomous republic inside Georgian SSR, in 1990 had the right to secede from Georgia, if the GSSR decides to withdraw from the USSR. Ossetians just did what the law granted them right to do. That's it about "one nation, one President" (see Gamsakhurdia).

So I named 4 sources, all reliable, all Western, all mainstream. All clearly describe war in 1991-1992and not the civil war.

To make it more clear, that is what 1991–1992 South Ossetia War article infobox (to the right) says.

Can't you see a part is not a whole? And that there is no such thing as 1991-1992 Civil War in South Ossetia? That everyone says it's a conflict of ethnic nature? The page never mentions "civil war" (but in a sentence about "part of"), and mentions "ethnic" and ethnicities (not nationality) more than 10 times on one screen of the text.

Xeeron, stop edit warring. Noone considers this to be a civil war in 1991-1992. There just was no "society" of Georgians and South Ossetians by 1991, that's it. And that was done by Gamsakhurdia with his frantic Georgian shauvinism [15] another one Western, reliable source. Not neocon enough for you, maybe. And not mentioning any "civil wars" in SO, of course.

Well, I think it's all clear now. So stop edit warring. —Preceding unsigned comment added by FeelSunny (talk • contribs) 21:33, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

Ok, I was going to let your first hypocritical "edit warring" comment slide, seeing how you and I did both the same thing. But mentioning it trice in one post? When I have not even touched the issue in the article since the last time you accused me? When the last person who reverted was you? You are really trying hard to drag this down to a personal level.

About your actual points: You contradict yourself. Saying it was described as "sporadic violence" first and then "All clearly describe war in 1991-1992" a few sentences later. So if it was part of the georgian civil war, but not a civil war, what was it, according to you? --Xeeron (talk) 22:20, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

Oh and since you didn't like my first batch of sources, here are some more: [16], [17], [18], [19], [20] Highlights here include the chicago tribune and Amnesty international. Feel free to give case by case reviews again (I still have some 125,960 google hits to chose from if you dislike these as well). --Xeeron (talk) 22:34, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

Xeeron, you really gotta learn to check the dates on the sources. You first sources dated in August, about the same time that all of these sources were reporting 2,000 civillian casualties. Were there 2,000 civillian casualties? Nope. Also, Civil War means just that, a country or a region fighting PRIMARILY amongst itself. In the above listed case, Georgia invaded South Ossetia, and backed the so-called "pro-Georgian" forces. Now if I throw in some mercenaries into region A, to create trouble, and then I invade region A, on behalf of country B, then guess what, it's not a civil war! Our job as Wikipedians is to inform the reader, not to say what Rupert Murdoch's thoughts on the matter are. Also, everyone, from Russia Today to CNN, Fox News, BBC, Sky News, to Al Jazeera reported 2,000 civillian casualties. Why is it that our info. box doesn't say that. I too could get what, 131,000 hits for that. It is because we get more information as time goes on. None of the sources you provide are expert about the Caucasian Region. And the number of hits quite frankly, doesn't matter. People trying to change past wars, in order to gain propaganda victories in the current wars is the very definition of Revisionism, and is, quite frankly frowned upon by the intellectual community. Yet it is exactly what you, Xeeron, are doing. Wikipedia is an Encyclopedia, not a Horse Race coverage of a plethora of media reports on subject X. Therefore, I must respectfully ask you to stop being a Revisionist, or we can take this matter to arbitration. But you don't get to redefine what a civil war is, nor to revise a war that was already written about a decade (or more) ago, just to fit your political needs. 68.167.1.235 (talk) 03:58, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

And August would be about 16 years after the war in question. Quite a difference between calling something "civil war" 16 years after it happens and reporting preliminary casualty figures days after a war starts. Oh and of course you are lying again, not "everyone" reported 2000 civilian casualties, and you very well know that. --Xeeron (talk) 10:58, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

By everyone I meant every major media source, and considering that I've listed only mass media sources, I think it was obvious what I said to anyone who wouldn't play stupid just to throw the term "liar" around. Alright, we are going to go to arbitration on this. Do me a favor and at least bother to look up what Revisionism is, because by your previous paragraph, (that's the one before this one) it seems like you don't understand it. A civil war occurred in Georgia, between Gamzakhurdia and Schevarnadze, and had little to do with South Ossetia and Abkhazia. What you are saying is the equivalent of claiming that Japan started the Russian Revolt of 1905. 68.167.1.103 (talk) 05:45, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

Xeeron, the funny thing is that, according to your logics, last war in South Ossetia was also a civil war b/w G, SO and A (+intervention of R).FeelSunny (talk) 07:51, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

Oh come one FeelSunny, don't you know that Georgia and Russia totally fought the Civil War between themselves? 68.167.1.103 (talk) 08:08, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

) Well, the topic is closed, so let's stop discussing this one.FeelSunny (talk) 18:52, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

I though about your note for a bit, but it had to go. How many news sources call it civil war and how many think it was not a civil war is hard to know and the note was total WP:OR. Instead I reworded the lead to describe the situation in more detail, while avoiding the word "civil war". --Xeeron (talk) 12:28, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Xeeron's & Kober's Edits

Xeeron, you cannot edit, just because the majority of Google's hits say so. If you want to undo an edit, argue it here. We've been over this so many damn times, with the title, with the casualty box, that quite frankly most editors have gotten it by now. HistoricWarrior007 (talk) 23:31, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Sigh. --Xeeron (talk) 23:41, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Xeeron, explain your reasons for editing, other then "it was so" or "Google says". If we listened to that logic, this article would still present Russia as the attacker, and be factually incorrect. If you want to be factually incorrect, post elsewhere. Else prove your point, because "sigh" doesn't really qualify. 68.166.131.192 (talk) 05:30, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

Ok, Xeeron and/or Kober, why do you want to call it Russia-Georgia War? Your current amounts to this "Google says so". That claim has been totally, utterly, and completely rebutted in the huge, over 100 pages of discussion we have had in the Title Search. I will not engage in edit warring you guys. I want to understand, do you have any substantial claims on the matter? Initially the Western Media, even Der Speigel, reported that Russia was the attacker, Georgia the defender, ergo the claim of "Russia-Georgia" conflict. Since quite a few people copy what mass media says, it amounted to a lot of Google Hits. Today we know that it was Russia who was attacked, and counter-attacked, even the US Ambassador to Russia said that Russia's action were a "counter-attack".

Google follows the majority, which can be wrong 49% of the time. Wikipedia follows factual evidence. With more evidence, we know that it was Georgia who initiated the conflict, not Russia. But now people think that this conflict is old news, so the amount of Google hits, is naturally less for Russia. I mean it's not that hard to figure out. And the more powerful the media, and US Media is a lot more powerful then Russian media, with Bush & Co. backing Saakashvili, the more Google Hits. This means that everything the US Media says is true. Like Iraq having WMDs. I just did two google searches: "Iraq has weapons of mass destruction" and "Iraq does not have weapons of mass destruction". Without quotes, it was 2.45 million hits for the first one, and 1.23 million for the second. With quotes it's 17,000 for the first one and 921 for the last one. Clearly according to Kober's and Xeeron's logic of Google Hits, Iraq has WMDs. Let's invade and see how well that turns out.

Now the reason it's called Georgia-Russia conflict, is that Georgia knew that attacking South Ossetia (you know the thing that started the whole conflict) would aggravate North Ossetia and pull Russia into the conflict. That's logic for you, but via your edits, I see that you prefer the Google Hits Logic Instead. I'll say it again: Google Hits fails to work on controversial issues! HistoricWarrior007 (talk) 06:25, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

Kober, stop it with the POV. Your recent edit stating that the map is alledged shows no facts. You cannot simply change captions at whim. Who says it's alledged? You? How about WP:Original Research? HistoricWarrior007 (talk) 06:35, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

The article had Russia-Georgia war for a long time now. Then 68.167.1.235 changed it without giving any reasons. After doing a google check I reverted giving a reason. You undid my revert, again not giving any reasons for the change. --Xeeron (talk) 12:27, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

Well Xeeron, now I have not only anulled your silly "Google said so" claim, but have also provided evidence to the contrary, i.e. Georgia attacked South Ossetia in the 1990's, drawing in North Ossetia and by extension Russia, and the current crisis is the result of the crisis in the 1990's, thus it should be changed to Georgia-Russia crisis. You have to give a vaild reason, not "Google said so", which is a wrong reason, see above. So now I trust we shouldn't have any problem placing it was Georgia-Russia War, correct? HistoricWarrior007 (talk) 23:38, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

Since there are no more objections, I'll make the edit. Also, simply calling it "August War" is unclear. Georgia, Ossetia, Abkhazia and Russia aren't the only countries with permission to go to war in August. I like the effort, but it's incorrect. Also, unless you are making a spelling edit, please discuss the edits here, there are too much edits going on and not enough discussion. HistoricWarrior007 (talk) 05:51, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

You can repeat your opinion about google as often as you want, it stays exactly that: Your opinion. We are not to invent names, but list those that are generally used. And up till now, I have not seen a better method than Google proposed to find out what is generally used. --Xeeron (talk) 16:48, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

Ok, I'll take this to Arbitration. Google was only intended for deciding the correct spelling, not for naming wars and/or conflicts.

Kober, Saakashvili was educated in the US, and his coup was financed by the US, and he recieved monetary support from the US, once the Rose Revolution took place. Therefore he is US backed, no need to delete that. Furthermore, only in Georgia, are the events still "a matter of controversy" due to Georgia's media censorship, in the rest of the World it's crystal clear. No more POV edits please. HistoricWarrior007 (talk) 22:38, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

Also, Roki tunnel was attacked by Georgia, and part of that was in Russia. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/sep/01/georgia.russia?gusrc=rss&feed=worldnews "Human Rights Watch said it had received a letter from the Georgian defence ministry acknowledging the use of M85 cluster bombs near the Roki tunnel that connects South Ossetia with Russia." Thus fighting took place in the Roki tunnel area. And part of Roki tunnel is in Russia. No Original Research here. And yet went ahead and edited anyway, without discussing. HistoricWarrior007 (talk) 22:38, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

There was no fighting on Russian territory. Not only is there no such source, but you can bet that any attack on Russian territory would have been published by the Russian media and used as a justification by the Russian government, making the absence even more telling. Putting something like (partially Russia) in the infobox is misleading readers into thinking fighting took part in Russia. You also reverted to a wrong capitalization of Georgia proper. --Xeeron (talk) 23:07, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

The Georgians probably tried to destroy the South Ossetian side tunnel entrance. But I really doubt any fighting took place on the Russian side of the border. Offliner (talk) 23:16, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

Ok let's follow basic logic here. Georgia bombarded the Roki Tunnel entrance on the South Ossetian side, no one really denies this. Russia's media was screaming about that bombardment during August. One of these shells could have hit the Roki Tunnel, and caused this to collapse. The result would be, that civillians on the Russian side of the tunnel would end up hurt. But I guess it's too specific for the introduction. As for capitalization, thank you for the correction, nobody's perfect. HistoricWarrior007 (talk) 01:24, 17 February 2009 (UTC)

68.167.1.235

Can you please get an account? It is pretty confusing seeing you edit from a different IP (from the same provider) all the time: [21], [22],[23],[24],[25],[26],[27],[28]. --Xeeron (talk) 12:31, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

This user may just have a dynamic IP. Nothing's wrong about it. FeelSunny (talk) 13:58, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

Anonymus edits are not forbidden on WP. Nonetheless, it would help others to keep track of whom we are debating with if he/she opened an account. --Xeeron (talk) 16:43, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

Umm, comment on edit, not the editor? FeelSunny (talk) 17:36, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

Sure. I am not commenting on the editor at all. Simply asking him/her to consider getting an account. --Xeeron (talk) 23:01, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

T-62 ha ha ha

That nonsense T-62 in Rissian Army only in storage. Russian Army uses only T-72 T-80 T-90. Even, the first modification T-72 leaves with armses. Georgia, Abkhazia, Ossetia T-62 has in service. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Gnomsovet (talk • contribs) 10:56, 17 February 2009 (UTC)

Map of areas under Georgian control in SO

Was inserted in a completely wrong way:

1) The name does not mention it's a georgian view of the areas they control. I seriously doubt it was not done intentionally.

2) The source gives two maps: one by georgia, one by international (russians, ossetians, georgians) peacekeeping force. The latter is not used and is not even mentioned. That amounts to a clear POV. I would propose rather insert international map than the one made by one side of a conflict. However, I do not mind inserting both images in the article.

These are the main reasons I deleted the present image. The way it is, it just hinders adequate understanding of the conflict by the reader.FeelSunny (talk) 02:21, 8 February 2009 (UTC)

Read the map, it clearly states that it is "Tbilisi's". Also, rather bring in that other map than deleting the only detailed map of South Ossetia in the article. It is very helpful for the reader, the only thing it might hinder is a certain POV. --Xeeron (talk) 18:04, 10 February 2009 (UTC)

So it was you who inserted this BS map in the beginning? I do not have enough time to waste to correct other users mistakes/ lies, I just point them out. The image as it is contradicts the source and is biased. The image includes the text comments too, and they tell of nothing of "Georgian version"FeelSunny (talk) 21:29, 10 February 2009 (UTC)

If you want to know who inserted it first, check the history, however my capability of to read written words after clicking on an image are quite unrelated from the question of who inserted it. How about you stop taking guesses on it and instead bring that other map you mentioned? --Xeeron (talk) 14:07, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

I will.FeelSunny (talk) 16:08, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

Not longer needed, I found the map and put it into the article. --Xeeron (talk) 12:29, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Thank you! I just do what I can during the time I can spare on editing WP. FeelSunny (talk) 08:14, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

Losses

There exist two figures for the casualty box regarding Russian casualties. The fist one is 71 killed, 356 wounded, and 5 captured. You can find this figure at the website of Moscow defense brief. Look for "the august war between Russia and Georgia". Another figure would be 71 dead, 341 wounded, and 6 captured. However, the other figure is 48 killed, 157 wounded, and 6 captured. Since the figure was suddenly lowered, I believe the last one to be strongly inaccurate. However, Offliner keeps telling me that community consensus puts the figure at 48 dead. Can someone tell me if this is true?

There has been a slow on-and-off revert war about those casualty figures for ages. It all comes down to which source you trust more. --Xeeron (talk) 10:53, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

possible reasons why the firures were lowered are 1) some Ossetian paramilitaries wear Russian uniform (with no coat of arms, just the uniform itself) and were counted as Russian losses, or 2) The first number included dead servicemen of the three-sides peacekeeping force, which were, naturally, not the part of the Russian force that entered Ossetia in august, and were then moved to Peacekeepers losses. I did not search for sources, but considering what a mess was there in early August after the Georgian attack, I think both variants are quite possible.FeelSunny (talk) 11:37, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

One thing is for sure: the 48 number is the latest number coming directly from the mouth of Russian authorities [29]. After that, there is only one Moscow Times article published which still said that 71 is the number, however, I strongly believe they just mistakenly quoted the old number. They didn't attribute it to anyone specifically either. Offliner (talk) 17:34, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

The Moscow Times actually said that there were 74 Russian servicemen killed. Additionally they said that Georgian authorities have confirmed that 169 Georgian soldiers and police officers and 69 civilians were killed and that Russian authorities have confirmed the death of 162 civilians in South Ossetia. Unfortunately the article isn't available for non-subscribers anymore [30]. Närking (talk) 18:58, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

Offliner has been the least biased person working on this article. He is correct when he said that the Russian Authorities quoted the number to be at 48. It is once again very interesting to see Xeeron and Narking arguing for Russian casualties to be greater, but not a word on Georgian casualties, with the ridiculous dead to wounded ratio that makes it, quite frankly laughable. 68.167.1.103 (talk) 05:15, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

Stop spreading lies about me. --Xeeron (talk) 11:02, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

Ok, I think we should all calm down. Xeeron, I beg your pardon if I ever offended you and ask you to continue discussion in a normal way. I also will always try to discuss any matter in a calm and sound way.FeelSunny (talk) 12:05, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

I was responding to 68.167.1.103's claim. No need to apologize unless that is you as well. In any case, I don't want to have part in this discussion. The "casualty number revert war" has annoyed me since I started editing here, but I don't see the point of getting into it. Different sources say different numbers and (to me at least) telling whether the number is 74 or 71 is not interesting enough to investigate them all. So I have left this discussion to others. --Xeeron (talk) 12:29, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

No, me and 68.167.1.103 are different users. I was not responding to your critics of him or his critics of yours. I just want to propose a little peacefire in this article.FeelSunny (talk) 15:25, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

Good idea. And let us not waste time on IP:s that's just here to make personal attacks. Närking (talk) 18:56, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

Compromise solution: let's just mention both numbers, and leave it to the poor reader to decide what is correct and what is not. Offliner (talk) 16:00, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

Could of course do so. But are you sure there are no list of the Russian soldiers that were killed during the war? One would think that such a list should have been produced by now. Maybe the Union of the Committees of Soldiers' Mothers of Russia has such a list? Närking (talk) 18:56, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

Xeeron, the IP is not spreading lies about you. The IP makes a valid point. You completely ignore when Georgian military casualties should have been higher then posted, in this very discussion, while instantly jumping on it when the Russian casualties are higher then reported, all the while pretending to act unbiased. There is a pattern of you constantly making edits tipping the article in favor of Georgia, I mean you even managed to find a Russian Column moving in the damn mountains somehow Russian POV. Or a burned tank. While the images you posted, some of them had Georgian actors, posing as "casualties" from a blatantly biased source.

As for Narking the Unbiased, who had this to say: "If you didn't know it Carl Bildt isn't just foreign minister of Sweden but also Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. It explains why he went to Tbilisi during the war. So whether you like his opinions or not they are surely relevant here. Narking (talk) 06:52, 23 August 2008 (UTC)"

That's from the Archive #11, of this svery article. So Narking believes Bilt's opinions were relevant here, so what did Bilt say: http://georgiandaily.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5571&Itemid=65

"The justification given by Russia is that it is protecting Russian nationals, but the obligation to protect people - irrespective of their nationality - lies with the state in which those individuals are located. No state has a right to intervene militarily in the territory of another state simply because there are individuals there with a passport issued by that state or who are nationals of that state."

but then Bilt continued:

"...And we have reason to remember how Hitler used this very doctrine little more than half a century ago to undermine and attack substantial parts of central Europe."

Yup, here we have Bilt comparing Russia's actions in the current struggle to that of Nazi Germany, and Narking saying that Bilt's opinions are relevant. When Narking was proven dead wrong, did he apologize? Nope.

So there you have it Ladies and Gents, Narking and Xeeron the two pro-Georgian Editos who call themselves "unbiased", with one trying to include Georgian actors while calling a pro-Russian South Ossetian parade POV, and Narking who wants to compare this action of Russia to Hitler, or at least to promote someone doing so. How very "unbiased" of you two. HistoricWarrior007 (talk) 22:22, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

And another statement from Narking the "Unbiased" - near the end of Archive #10: "It's obvious that Putin is behind this war. He went to Vladikavkaz to push the army to attack Georgia. Rumours say that some Russian military didn't want to attack so Putin himself had to go there and push them. Narking (talk) 07:29, 20 August 2008 (UTC)"

Any source of these rumors? Nope. —Preceding unsigned comment added by HistoricWarrior007 (talk • contribs) 22:28, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

I think the point of wikipedia is to tell all opinions about a subject so a WP:NPOV will arise, there are clearly some pro-Russian editors working on the article, to keep it WP:NPOV it needs editors like Narking and Xeeron to (and of course the pro-Russian editors to!).
P.S. I don't like Putin and love Yulia Tymoshenko! — Mariah-Yulia (talk) 22:31, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

Quite obviously HistoricWarrior007 is spreading his lies (As always, he claims I did this or that, with 0 proof - because I did neither of that) to drag this down to a personal level. If anyone apart from him is seriously interested, I'll reply in more length, but till then I wont waste my time. --Xeeron (talk) 12:55, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

I will only answer HistoricWarrior007 and the IP (might be the same editor) once since I'm not going to waste my time on editors who obviously are only here to make personal attacks and with no other serious editing history elsewhere. Of course it's clear for most people when reading your statements above who is the POV-pusher here. First of all, to tell about Bildt's statement doesn't mean one has to agree with that statement. It's relevant because of the person who said it. Secondly, if you are interested, the rumours that you quote above I heard while in Tbilisi during the war from a Russian with contacts within the Russian army. I didn't try to put it in the article since there was no reference to any printed source. That's how serious editors work. And now, Na dobranich! Närking (talk) 22:54, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

Why did Reenem just move the 48 casualty figure below into "notes"? The whole idea was to treat both numbers equivalently, so they really do belong in the same place also. Offliner (talk) 22:48, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

Narking - where am I showing the so-called pro-Russia bias? Also, you were the main person arguing for Bilt's comments to be included, and when Bilt was proven factually incorrect, i.e. unlike Nazi Germany Russia didn't takeover and annex Georgia, you went ahead without apologizing, to continue with your propaganda, and attacks against me. Care to show facts? Also, the "rumors" about the war were so damn numerous, that's its hard to believe their credibility. And you are right, serious editors don't post rumors in discussion pages as their opinions, so again Narking, why did you do so? HistoricWarrior007 (talk) 23:43, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

Ok we need to get back on track stop making accusations of who is biased or not this is madness I dont think its the place for that. Georgia's casualties are not sourced and the link given by the source for Russian casualties don't match (and if you have conflicting casualties you should average them it would be .......the logical thing to do.)--XChile (talk) 21:31, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

Thank You

Poco Quatro. Just as I was about to undo the "neutrality dispute" title, I found it was removed. It's like you're a mind reader. HistoricWarrior007 (talk) 02:00, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

POV

This is getting out of hand. Currently we do have the following pictures/maps in the article:

File:2008 South Ossetia war en.svg - Takes a (mildly) pro Russian POV by asserting Russia only entered SO after Georgia
File:Caucasus-ethnic en.svg - neutral
File:Operation Clear Field.jpg - Inserted at the wrong place with a wrong caption, clear pro Russian POV
File:Georgian rocket launchers.jpg - Caption makes this pro Russian POV as well
File:Ryzhenkova Solidarnost 2.jpg - Another pro Russian POV
File:"Convoy' heading to Tskhinvali.jpg - Mildy pro Russian or neutral
File:Zemo nikosi tanks.jpg - Neutral
File:Georgian-war-pics.jpg - Pro Georgian
File:Caucasus breakaway regions 2008.svg - Neutral
File:'On the outskirts of Tshkinvali'.jpg - Pro Russian
File:University of Tskhinvali after the war.jpg - Pro Russian
File:Dfnsindust-georgia.jpg - Neutral
File:A rally in Tskhinvali after the war.jpg - Pro Russian

Notice something? There is just one pro Georgian picture/map left (two counting the one FeelSunny is currently trying to remove), compared to ~7 pro Russian (South Ossetian) ones.

This is not restricted to pictures: I am not inherently pro-Georgian and I prefer to have the article neutral, but with most ardent pro-Georgian editors left and pro-Russian ones still present, I need to devote more and more of my time to countering POV edits, so I have less and less to actually improve the article. --Xeeron (talk) 14:27, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

3 - This should be given a better caption. 5 and 10 - Killed Georgian soldiers and a destroyed Georgian tank. If anything, they are pro-Georgian, since they show how ruthlessly the Russians killed Georgians. 6 - Also more like pro-Georgia, since it shows the Russian army attacking with a huge force. 11 - Perhaps, but we don't really know who destroyed the university, might also be neither's fault. 13 - Maybe so.

In my opinion, we should just tweak the captions a bit to make them more neutral, and maybe add another pro-Georgian pic (whatever that means.) Offliner (talk) 15:06, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

We can discuss individual cases (e.g. I think 11 depicting civilian SO buildings destroyed is pro Russian/SO), but this is only an example for the broader picture. Take 3: This was inserted at the wrong place (pre-war clashes, that is the first week of august right before the war), with an unclear caption in bad English. That is somewhat pro-russian POV, since it suggests that this was Georgia's beforehand plan used in the actual war.

I moved the picture up to the correct place (background, since it is a 2006 plan) and inserted a more descriptive description in proper English. A day later I come back to find the picture at the old location with the caption "Georgian military 2008 plan of operation in South Ossetia" (One editor moved, another changed the caption). That is, even worse than before in terms of POV and factually wrong. So not only did someone push their POV into the article, in doing so they also made the article worse of from an editorial point - now being wrong. It sucks having to waste time on this again and again. --Xeeron (talk) 16:00, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

Wikipedia:Requests for page protection is a bit crude way to prevent that... — Mariah-Yulia (talk) 22:48, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

Agree with Xeeron here. Some usefull pictures are to be found at [31]. One remaining and important result of the war is the ethnic cleansing of Georgians from South Ossetia, so why not show Georgian refugees from there? Närking (talk) 22:20, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

1 pic of a SO refugee and 1 pic from a Georgian refugee in the article to keep things balanced? — Mariah-Yulia (talk) 22:41, 11 February 2009 (UTC)

To put it short:

1) Photos can not be biased or be POV.

2) If you think article features too much photos that are illustrating Russian POV, that only means Russian version of events has enough proofs. It's not a reason to delete proofs.

3) If you think you can add some illustrations of Georgian position - you are absolutely welcome to add them. Please do not make a series of picture of one and the same Georgian house, though. Pay attention there are no series of pictures of destroyed tskhinvali.FeelSunny (talk) 15:53, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

I did miss people in the photos (machines can't feel pain or anger and thus are nor personally affected by war) so I put some people-pictures in. Personally I can't see the difference in the (pain) photo's of refugees from both sides. Let's not make the war look like a field trip, people where hurt, war is awful, let's not hide that! — Mariah-Yulia (talk) 23:29, 12 February 2009 (UTC)

First off, Russia did enter South Ossetia after Georgia's attack, (minus the Peacekeepers). Those are facts, that only Georgia is disputing, and keep in mind that according to a recent Georgian poll, 22% of Georgians think they won the war. So how in the World is saying the truth Russian POV? Operation Clear Field was not made up by the Russians. It furthermore denotes the damn near exact attacks that Georgians made against South Ossetia. It's not POV if it's true. It may be inserted in the wrong place, but that alone, does not make the image, or the caption, POV. Furthermore the image is inserted in the background section, which seems to be the most proper place to put it and that's where military maps, in military articles, go. Furthermore, Georgian Rocket Launchers, are Georgian Rocket Launchers, there's nothing wrong with calling a Georgian Rocket Launcher, a Georgian Rocket Launcher. It's like you claiming that me calling you Xeeron is POV. It's ridiculous! The caption can be shortened to "Georgian Rocket Launchers that shelled Tskhinvali" and it would still not be POV. Also, how in the World is a burned tank POV? Then again, you're the person claiming that a convoy heading between the mountains can be mildly POV. And your pro-Georgia caption, isn't even that pro-Georgia. Aside from "STOP RUSSIA" all I see is something one can see Downtown of any major "has been" city. Stop trying to see bias everywhere. "On the Outskirts of Tskhinvali" - how is that POV? What makes it POV? You yelling "LOOK AT ME! POV!" doesn't make it POV. University of Tskhinvali shows the damage done by Georgian Grads. Again, truth isn't POV. As for the rally, once again, truth isn't POV. South Ossetians want to be with North Ossetia, which is part of Russia, ergo Russian flags, in one of the MANY demonstrations that took place. You think that a column in the mountains, moving towards Tkshinvali, a fact that has happened, can be even remotely described as Russian POV, and yet you have the gall to claim that you're not pro-Georgian? Wow, just wow.

Also Narking, I recall having a debate with you earlier about, what was it, when a Swede came out with a book about the war saying that Russia was the agressor, and I stated that the book will be disproven in six months, and I was right? Remember that? Well about the Georgian refugees, you may want to re-read Lokshina about a Georgian Boxer named Misha, who lives in South Ossetia and isn't clensed. South Ossetians are smart, they know that ethnic clensing of Georgians can get them equated to Kosovars and thus forever ban their union with Russia, so I am going to call bullshit on your claim about ethnic clensing of Georgians in South Ossetia, just as I called bullshit on that book. Georgians, although much fewer in number, live in South Ossetia today, under no protection from the Russian Army. On the other hand, in Kosovo Serbs are clamoring for protection against NATO. But please, embarass yourself as you did with the book, show me proof of ethnic clensing, you, o person who said that Russia was clearly the agressor.

Mariah-Yulia - I don't think that this particular war was as devastating as the 1991-1992 war, even remotely so. The Russians got the situation under control rather quickly, and it was Georgian troops who got hit, after they hit South Ossetian civillians. However when we show a picture of Georgian troops, Xeeron calls that Russian POV. 68.167.1.103 (talk) 05:39, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

Mariah-Yulia, I agree, we should add pictures of people from both sides. Not too many though - to not make this page a show of pain.FeelSunny (talk) 08:03, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

Several winners of the World Press Photo Awards have very very good photos. Unfortunately, I guess non will be available without copyright: [32],[33],[34],[35] --Xeeron (talk) 11:00, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

I am quite sure I have seen the last one somewhere on Wiki, most probably with a free license. You may try to find copyleft version at the articles about SO. One of the first three had a large controvercy around it as being staged (with a man holding a head of a dead one on his hands). AFAIK, the dead body changes position on two different photos. Can read the analysis of the pictures here [36].FeelSunny (talk) 12:27, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

The photo you ~~liked~~ linked too was (afaik) not among the world photo award ones. I am pretty sure they checked all those they awarded. --Xeeron (talk) 12:54, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

Xeeron, have some faith in good will and common sence. By no means I "like" any one of them photos.FeelSunny (talk) 17:42, 16 February 2009 (UTC)

I think the current pictures is how it should be, about just as much SO and Georgian pictures (and I'm sure a Georgian funeral looked the same). I just hope that when I came back here in 3 months (Georgia & Russia are not my particular fields of interest) they still will be there... Special thanks to FeelSunny for the denationalisation of the refugee pictures. — Mariah-Yulia (talk) 18:34, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

:)FeelSunny (talk) 00:02, 15 February 2009 (UTC)

Now Xeeron, you actually aren't allowed to advertise the talent of Georgian actors. Here is a Youtube Expose, of Mr. Grzedzinski. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veswv0y_rJY&ytsession=AZlpXC5UZcoVbRSmiW1_cg0ht_--MQP0jLRgmYFhp_wyoG9i_8B5LnxUDcaypSsMjB6cAcllz1qNBFLy74Zi_sONAKdpb3Dwfu5mVeiklG5n43Rq-pw2Z7lA37f3H_9OgXHpUEtXarj_1ovuJRAfF1USFGFsZJvWQoWsMxWlTTO2WC6u-eyWn78-kktrQf9u8SXBi0oYzVRbQVAfmFUxVghRicR0WjMzavGNhv0umxXWvxjNuIUUVYiw1_Oz0EPlndbPSGYCy3CRuSwn5qp6JV_YCk5J2aSm

Pro-Georgian editors tried to flag that expose as unappropriate, but anyone who wants to know the truth can log in and check it out, it takes 2 minutes to register on Youtube, and the video's only like 1-2 mins long. I'm not averse to putting up photos, but they must be credible, and have actual people, not paid actors. Considering Poland's suggestion to partion Russia, I doubt that mr. Grzedsinski can be considered credible, by any stretch of the imagination. HistoricWarrior007 (talk) 22:07, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

Welcome back to editing here HistoricWarrior007, I certainly can't say I missed your baseless personal attacks on me. --Xeeron (talk) 12:47, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Critiquing your edits, while showing facts that contradict your edits, are now classified as baseless historical attacks? You cited Mr. Grzedsinski of Poland as a great photographer, and I provided links and reasons, (see youtube link above, as for reasons - Poland wanted to partition Russia,) so telling the reader those facts, is a baseless attack on you Xeeron? Really?

"These are great photos!"

"Some are fake, here's the evidence!"

"Stop baselessly attacking me!"

Really Xeeron? Can you provide more examples of "baseless attacks" on you? HistoricWarrior007 (talk) 23:39, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Maps

Some pretty cool maps are around, unfortunately all in spanish. --Xeeron (talk) 13:00, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

Spanish maps

Great maps I'll work on translating them and cleaning them up. Do you think it would be useful as a animated .Gif?--XChile (talk) 21:36, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

I have no experience with editing maps or animated .Gifs, so I am not really sure how it would work out. I guess either would do. --Xeeron (talk) 13:08, 20 February 2009 (UTC)

Russian back South Ossetia and Abkhazia vs US backed rose revolution

At an RFC initiated at 2007 Georgian Demonstrations the recommendation was that to maintain neutrality in these articles, Russian backed should be used to describe South Ossetia and Abkhazia if US backed is used to describe the Rose Revolution. Describing the Rose Revolution as US backed is already done by plenty of neutral or pro-Georgian sources. For example:

National Interest online, a US publication, pro-Georgian, in an article written by Anna Dolidze who is anti-Saakashvili but pro-Rose Revolution:

Inside Track: Georgia's Path to Authoritarianism

The situation in Georgia today is far from the promise of the U.S.-backed Rose Revolution

Reuters online, based in London

Georgia kills two Russian officers in disputed clash

Relations between Moscow and the former Soviet republic have been tense ever since Saakashvili came to power in a U.S.-backed "Rose Revolution" in early 2004.

Reuters again reprinted by Defencenews.com

France Cool On Georgian NATO Membership

Relations between Russia and the former Soviet republic have been tense since Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili came to power in a U.S.-backed “Rose Revolution” in 2004.

The Guardian based in Britain.

The mythology of people power

The glamour of street protests should not blind us to the reality of US-backed coups in the former USSR

The formulaic repetition of a third "people power" revolution in the former Soviet Union in just over one year - after the similar events in Georgia in November 2003 and in Ukraine last Christmas - means that the post-Soviet space now resembles Central America in the 1970s and 1980s, when a series of US-backed coups consolidated that country's control over the western hemisphere.

To maintain neutrality we either use both or we use neither and this goes for all articles. Pocopocopocopoco (talk) 20:25, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

Your arguments don't hold any water and the fragmentary use of references is not convincing at all. First, I can give you myriads of sources which relate more of the general Western support to the Rose Revolution rather than the US involvement in the change of government in Georgia. Second, as far as I remember the US has never intervented militarily to support any of the Georgian factions while Russia mounted an all-out military invasion to defend its satellite regimes in SO and Abkhazia. Try to note a difference, ok? Don't take it offence but the juxtaposition and equation of the US support to Georgia and Russian support to the separatists in Abkhazia and SO is rather silly. --Kober^Talk 20:58, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

Btw, the "recommendation" from 2007 you are referring to was given long before the August 2008 war. I hope you have been following the world news closely enough to know that the degree of Russian support to Abkhazia and SO has much increased and has become more apparent. --Kober^Talk 21:03, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

We are currently referring to South Ossetia and Abkhazia as being Russian backed in lead of the article since 1991-1992 and this is POV and doesn't reflect the complex manner in which Russia has related to South Ossetia, Georgia, and Abkhazia. Pocopocopocopoco (talk) 21:25, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

I inserted "supported by the west". If needed, I'll find some sources on the exact nature of that support, but I think it goes without question that the west did help Saarkashvili's government. This is the background section about the years 2003-2008 Kober. Mentioning western support here is far from equating the west with Russia with regard to the actual war. --Xeeron (talk) 21:46, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

Konashenko pulls a green compass out of his shirt pocket and opens it. It's a U.S. military model. "This is a little trophy -- a gift from one of my soldiers," he says. "Everything that the Georgians left behind, I mean everything, was American. All the guns, grenades, uniforms, boots, food rations -- they just left it all. Our boys stuffed themselves on the food," he adds slyly. "It was tasty." The booty, according to Konashenko, also included 65 intact tanks outfitted with the latest NATO and American (as well as Israeli) technology. That Was No Small War in Georgia -- It Was the Beginning of the End of the American Empire by Mark Ames, AlterNet. Pocopocopocopoco (talk) 22:33, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

Ames was covering the war for The Nation. He has no pro-Russian or pro-Georgian bias, and quite frankly has the best description of the war of any western journalist. That no one was able to contradict his claims, and that editors of certain papers refused to debate Ames on the issue, also lends credibility to Ames' report. Here's a good expose Ames' articles on the war: http://exiledonline.com/freddy-gets-fingered-how-i-busted-the-washington-posts-op-ed-page-editor/HistoricWarrior007 (talk) 01:46, 20 February 2009 (UTC)

Here's Ames v. NY Times: http://exiledonline.com/how-to-screw-up-a-war-story-the-new-york-times-at-work/HistoricWarrior007 (talk) 01:47, 20 February 2009 (UTC)

Do not misquote the sources

In the article: "Georgia claims that it was responding to Russian troop movements. This claim has not gained support among Georgia's allies."
In the source right after that: "The NATO experts did not question the Georgian claim that the Russians had provoked them by sending their troops through the Roki Tunnel."

Come on, not only does the source not back up the claim, it is squarly contradicting the claim it is supposed to support. --Xeeron (talk) 21:35, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

I would say that the "this claim has not gained support" is at least partially correct. First, I don't recall reading any statements from Bush or other allies of Georgia who would have clearly said they supported the claim. Second, the phrase "did not question" in the Spiegel article does not, in my opinion, mean that NATO experts supported the claim, just that they did not say it was false either. The conclusion in my opinion is, that the claim has not received international support. Offliner (talk) 21:43, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

Some other quotes from the articles:

The West Begins to Doubt Georgian Leader

Some Western intelligence reports have undermined Tbilisi's version of events

Even Washington is beginning to suspect that Saakashvili, a friend and ally, could in fact be a gambler -- someone who triggered the bloody five-day war and then told the West bold-faced lies.

I could just copy every third sentence here, all of which say, paraphrasing, that his claim has not gained support among Georgia's allies. You just found one single sentence from the two articles which does not directly say that, but it does not refute the claim either. (Igny (talk) 22:29, 18 February 2009 (UTC))

I arge to Offliner and Igny on this. This is now a common knowledge, basically, since Rohrabacher/ Hillary questioning Pentagon officials it became obvious the West wants to have nothing in common with the war and Saakashvili's claims. After that, hundreds of Western sources/ politicians "questioned" the arguments Saakashvili used as an justifications for his attack.FeelSunny (talk) 22:41, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

I have a problem with the compromise version that is currently there. It says "this claim has not gained universal support in the west." The wording seems to imply, that the claim has gained some support, but not universal. However, I am unaware of even a single case where the claim would have gained support. Therefore, the current wording seems a bit wrong. Offliner (talk) 06:53, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

How about

Georgia claims that it was responding to Russian troop movements. Even though Georgia provided some circumstantial evidence in support of the claim (ref to nytimes), Tbilisi's version of the events has been put into doubt (ref to spiegel).

In any case I suggest to move these both statements from the lead down the article as speculative. We can move it back to the lead again if more evidence emerges in support of the claim. (Igny (talk) 17:57, 19 February 2009 (UTC))

Agree.FeelSunny (talk) 20:57, 20 February 2009 (UTC)

Just to check, are you calling "Georgia claims ..." speculative, or the sentences after that or all? --Xeeron (talk) 22:52, 20 February 2009 (UTC)

Well the article contains a lot of information of different levels of credibility. In my opinion, only the most important statements belong to the lead, sentences which will be amiss if you try to remove them. These statements are of questionable credibility, and not most important in the article and they are covered in detail down there. And I disagree with Poco who removed the older statement about "debates and controversy", that statement was relatively important and I liked it. (Igny (talk) 23:02, 20 February 2009 (UTC))

I also want to clarify is that it is not questionable that Georgia claims something, but it is questionable what Georgia claims. Imagine the lead full of statements "Russia claimed that... and "Georgia claimed this". There is plenty of space in the article for these statements, but I do not think that lead is appropriate fo this. (Igny (talk) 00:02, 21 February 2009 (UTC))

It just does not sound too good. "Georgia claims that it was responding..." followed by "Russia responded by..." For consistency, it should be followed by "Russia claimed that it responded..." but that immediately raises the red flag as dubious. (Igny (talk) 00:14, 21 February 2009 (UTC))

How about: "Georgia claims that it started the attack after Russian troops moved through the Roki tunnel, however Russia claims that it moved the troops only in response to the Georgian attack." --Xeeron (talk) 12:57, 22 February 2009 (UTC)

This variant does not reflect that only Georgia disputes Russia's version of events. The timing of the events, the timing of public declarations of the officials of both sides, as reported by many sources, showed that it was Russia who responded, not just claimed that it responded. Most attempts to put the blame on Russia were speculative at best. Only sometime later Georgia tried to justify its actions by the questionable intelligence reports, and most experts did not buy that. (Igny (talk) 18:39, 22 February 2009 (UTC))

Removal of Saakashvili unfreezing the conflicts

The unfreezing of the conflicts was removed from the background section. There are plenty of sources that say that Saakashvili vowed to unfreeze the conflicts

Saakashvili has vowed to restore Georgia’s territorial integrity and unfreeze conflicts with breakaway regions. Following popular uprising, Tbilisi managed to gain control over renegade Autonomous Republic of Ajara and ousted strongman Aslan Abashidze in May 2004.

International Crisis Group Conflict history: Georgia Pocopocopocopoco (talk) 01:42, 20 February 2009 (UTC)

The section does say "Restoring South Ossetia and Abkhazia (a region with a similar movement) to Georgian control has been a goal of Saakashvili since he came to power" - which I think is basically the same thing you are referring to. I've long been a bit unhappy with how the article mentions Saakashvili's goal of bringing the regions back to Georgian control only in passing. A stronger wording or sparing the matter at least another sentence would be in order, since this was a major aspect of the man, perhaps the most important goal in his political career, and directly one of the reasons why the war started. Offliner (talk) 10:31, 20 February 2009 (UTC)

A previous version of the background that I had written had the following points all sourced:

- - - One of the main reasons Sheverdnadze was ousted was due to not taking back Adjara, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia.
    - The conflict remained frozen until Saakashvili came to power (currently there)
    - Saakashvili had radicals in his party that pushed retaking South Ossetia and Abkhazia
    - Georgian military spending ramped up to a pace unmatched by any country even south korea
    - After the 2007 Georgian demonstrations Saakashvili created a timetable as to when these territories would be regained by Georgia.

These items above were removed peicemeal by a couple of users claiming POV. Pocopocopocopoco (talk) 03:14, 21 February 2009 (UTC)

I agree with both Pocopocopocopoco's actions and Offliner's words. But I think we absolutely must adhere to the source wording with such sensible matters. So - please put the phrase back, but the in words used in the source. Best wishes,FeelSunny (talk) 20:53, 20 February 2009 (UTC)

Regarding Russia-Georgia POV in the Intro

"The 2008 South Ossetia War, also known as the Russia-Georgia conflict, was an armed conflict between Georgia on the one side, and Russia together with separatists in South Ossetia and Abkhazia on the other. It occurred in August 2008, and involved land, air and sea warfare."

The job of Wikipedia is to avoid POV wherever possible. Russia-Georgia conflict means that the Russians initiated the conflict, and the Georgians responded. That is factually incorrect. The two main arguments for keeping it that way, is that "Google says so" and "well it's been there for a long time". First off, a few months isn't a long time. Secondly Google does not make it the truth. Google also reports that there are WMDs in Iraq and that there were 2,000 civilian casualties in South Ossetia. The Google test should be limited to spelling and uncontrovercial names. It should not be used to promote one bias over another. Otherwise, whatever the mass media says will be true, because it will always accumulate the biggest amount of hits on Google. However as Wikipedians we must be neutral. Hence, I made the following change, that is completely NPOV:

"The 2008 South Ossetia War, also known as the Caucasian conflict, was an armed conflict between Georgia on the one side, and Russia together with separatists in South Ossetia and Abkhazia on the other. It occurred in August 2008, and involved land, air and sea warfare."

It clearly shows that the conflict was limited to the Caucasian area in terms of fighting, and was primarily a battle in the Big Game for the area. Since this is an NPOV edit, I made it asap. Please disscuss it here if you don't think it's NPOV, prior to making the edit. HistoricWarrior007 (talk) 23:38, 22 February 2009 (UTC)

I think the whole "also known as..." line should be removed from the lead. We have the "naming" section for exactly the same purpose (for listing other names for the conflict.) Offliner (talk) 23:59, 22 February 2009 (UTC)

I pointed that out a while ago, as Redundant, but Xeeron didn't really care to counter-argue and I didn't want to edit-war. HistoricWarrior007 (talk) 00:23, 23 February 2009 (UTC)

Explusion of ethnic Georgians from South Ossetia and Kodori Gorge

As per my edit summary, this was discussed at some length in the talk archives and there was no consensus to add this. No consensus means that it doesn't get added. Pocopocopocopoco (talk) 22:48, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

This has been in the article for several weeks now and is backed up by a multitude of sources, including statements by South Ossetian officials. If you want to contest this, please bring better reasons than pointing towards an old discussion (where, btw, you'll find no such reasons as well, only plenty of personal accusations and comparisons with kosovo, etc, which derailed the discussion there). --Xeeron (talk) 23:50, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

Sneaking it back in when there was serious disagreements from many editors as to having it there in the first place is tendentious. I'm not directing this at anyone in particular as I haven't bothered to check who snuck it back in. Secondly, the wording is not accurate as the Georgians fled and weren't allowed re-entry. This is not quite the same as expulsion. Thirdly, it is inappropriate for the results section of an article as the result section outlines who won and territorial changes otherwise the results section gets big and bloated like it is right now. Pocopocopocopoco (talk) 00:03, 20 February 2009 (UTC)

If this is all about wording, I have no problem using "ethnic cleansing" [37][38][39] instead of "explusion". Or, in the words of Eduard Kokoity, the georgian enclaves have been "liquidated".[40][41] Or, quoting a Russian Major-General: "Now Ossetians are running around and killing poor Georgians in their enclaves". [42] I guess ethnic cleansing is the most common formulation.

And the results part is not only used to declare winners and territorial changes. Check Bosnian War, War in Abkhazia (1992–1993) or indeed 2008 South Ossetia war (we list Ab&SO being partially recognised as an result). --Xeeron (talk) 14:32, 20 February 2009 (UTC)

In War in Abkhazia (1992–1993) it was added without consensus. Pocopocopocopoco (talk) 03:47, 21 February 2009 (UTC)

I strongly object to the term "ethnic cleansing." That term has another meaning: clearing an area of members of an ethnicity by killing them. Here, this was obviously not the case. To make it clear what it means, why not just use "forced expulsion," or maybe just "expulsion," since that's what it was, and these are more accurate terms without risk of misunderstanding. Offliner (talk) 19:54, 21 February 2009 (UTC)

Clearing an area by killing would be genocide, but I don't really care whether we use "ethnic cleansing" or "explusion", either will do. --Xeeron (talk) 12:53, 22 February 2009 (UTC)

To Offliner: "ethnic cleansing - the expulsion, imprisonment, or killing of an ethnic minority by a dominant majority in order to achieve ethnic homogeneity". Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. --Kober^Talk 18:45, 22 February 2009 (UTC)

From dictionary.com: expulsion - "the act of driving out". There was a story by Lokshina clearly explaining how what happened in South Ossetia was not explusion. Some of the Georgians left due to fear of South Ossetian militias, but they weren't expelled by South Ossetia militias, South Ossetian militias didn't commit the "act of driving out". Also, if you know of Georgian POWs in South Ossetia, please let me know, they can appeal to the European Court of Human Rights. That is of course if they are innocent. No ethnic clensing occurred in the Southern States of the US between the end of Reconstruction and the Civil Rights movement. Does ethnic clensing sound catchy? Yes. Is that what happened? No. HistoricWarrior007 (talk) 23:28, 22 February 2009 (UTC)

Also, there was the Georgian Army in Kodori Valley. You cannot call it a human rights violation, if it applied against the army and doesn't include WMDs and/or biological and/or chemical weapons. HistoricWarrior007 (talk) 23:30, 22 February 2009 (UTC)

You don't have to sit behind the steering wheel of a bus to be "driving out" someone. If given the option to flee and live or stay and be killed (or stay and have no house or stay and be raped, etc), you are forced to leave. --Xeeron (talk) 15:51, 23 February 2009 (UTC)

Actually the way ethnic cleansing is viewed is that you actually have to be driven out, not just have the fear of being driven out. If your fear forces you to leave, I am not responsible for you leaving, nor did I drive you out. HistoricWarrior007 (talk) 18:21, 23 February 2009 (UTC)

^ http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=19384
^ http://www.mdb.cast.ru/mdb/3-2008/item3/article1/
^ Final Record of the Diplomatic Conference of Geneva of 1949, (Volume II-B, p. 121)
^ See also the International Committee of the Red Cross commentary on Third 1949 Geneva Convention, Article III, Section "A. Cases of armed conflict" for the ICRC's reading of the definition and a listing of proposed alternate wording

[1] ttp://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=19384

[2] ttp://www.mdb.cast.ru/mdb/3-2008/item3/article1/

[3] Final Record of the Diplomatic Conference of Geneva of 1949, (Volume II-B, p. 121)

[4] See also the International Committee of the Red Cross commentary on Third 1949 Geneva Convention, Article III, Section "A. Cases of armed conflict" for the ICRC's reading of the definition and a listing of proposed alternate wording

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]