Posted on 08/18/2008 5:09:48 AM PDT by maquiladora
Tbilisi, Georgia - Russian troops had re-opened from the Georgian capital of Tbilisi to Russian-occupied Gori on Monday in what was perhaps the first sign of a promised Russian withdrawal.
A Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa reporter saw diplomatic and civilian traffic being waved through a Russian military checkpoint along the East-West highway about 40 kilometers from the capital Tbilisi.
Vehicles of returning refugees were being searched by Russian troops, the dpa journalist said.
The border city of Gori, which lies 10 kilometers into Georgia proper along the only approach to the breakaway region of South Ossetia, has been under Russian control since Wednesday.
Russia's military on Monday confirmed the start of the pullout of Russian forces from Georgia, in a statement following on earlier media reports.
Deputy chief of general staff Anatoly Nogovizyn announced at a press conference the start of the withdrawal.
'Russia has honourably thwarted Georgia's aggression against South Ossetia and, on the orders of the supreme commander, is today ending this mission,' he said.
They try to lure Georgian forces towards Gori... I smell a trap.
Perhaps you should have brought a map with you. Gori is not in South Ossetia.
Have you called the Pentagon?
Why are they still there? I thought they were going to withdraw. Allowing traffic through is not the same as withdrawing.
I hope they have enough smarts to figure that out. ;)
The Russians have blinked.
They blinked, but they have not moved their butts
And that’s a good thing.
Because they haven’t taken Tbilisi, which imports more munitions to rearm every day.
Which is to say, Russia faces a greater bleeding if it chooses to escalate later...which multiplies by each day that Georgia can further import weapons.
I think what is happening is the reports on the scene are seeing active combat patrols. The patrols pull back to the base area & the reports say, “the Russians are pulling out”. The next day the Russians throw another recon force out toward another Georgian town & the same reports say, “Oh no, the Russians are advancing!”
The reality is that the Russians say that they are leaving, but they haven’t made any actual moves to remove their forces.
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