Yep. It was quite a scare.
The boys from the 45th Georgia Regiment were ready to fight.
Posted on 03/14/2010 8:09:08 AM PDT by darkside321
Panic was sparked in Georgia after a TV station broadcast news that Russian tanks had invaded the capital and the country's president was dead.
The Imedi network report, which brought back memories of the 2008 war between Russia and Georgia, was false.
But mobile phone networks were overwhelmed with calls and many people rushed onto the streets.
Imedi said the aim had been to show how events might unfold if the president were killed. It later apologised.
The head of the holding company which owns Imedi TV, George Arveladze, said he was sorry for the distress that the TV report had caused.
'Disgusting'
For a brief moment on Saturday evening many Georgians thought history was repeating itself, the BBC's Tom Esslemont in Tbilisi says. It is only 18 months since Russian tanks came within 45km (28 miles) of the Georgian capital, our correspondent adds.
In its news report, pro-government Imedi TV showed archive footage of the war and imagined how opposition figures might seize power after an assassination of the country's President, Mikheil Saakashvili.
Although the broadcast was introduced as a simulation of possible events, the warning was lost on many Georgians, our correspondent says.
One local news agency reported that emergency services had received an unusually high volume of calls in the ensuing minutes.
And once calm returned, the report was seen by some as a poorly disguised swipe at the Georgian opposition politicians who recently travelled to Moscow to meet Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Mr Arveladze told Reuters that the aim was to show "the real threat" of how events might unfold.
That did not stop dozens of journalists and angry Georgians who gathered outside the Imedi TV studios to protest.
One opposition politician who was there labelled the report "disgusting".
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
This just in from Grover’s Mill...
Yep. It was quite a scare.
The boys from the 45th Georgia Regiment were ready to fight.
Newsflash: Los Angeles was just hit buy a nuclear warhead.
At the moment we have reports of several incoming russian ICBMS. It´s not clear yet which US cities will be hit.
Please stay tuned we are back after a short comerical break...
If there would be panic on the streets????
I hope several heads will have to roll because of this in georgia.
Too bad the South did not kick the North’s arse.... We would have been spared from Liberalism....
If they went to a commercial break in the middle of a ‘nuke strike’, then it gives the game away- it’s an Orson Welles Special.
I don’t think that even the 3” Whitworth rifles will do much against a T-90, but it might be amusing for a very short time, to set off the reactive armor boxes with round shot. :-)
"Don't worry, Son. Once we get the fire control problems figgered out, we'll flatten 'em T-90's like palmetto bugs with these here 13 inchers."
Nothing like keeping a population living in fear, eh???
Flu stories
Runaway Toyota’s.
Rationing water
Rationing food
Rationing healthcare
Sound familiar?
Yep, exactly. Russians are coming! This Georgian thing is too tough in my opinion. I bet they have a number of people with heart attacks and half of their military deserted by now.
If I were a better Photoshopper, I’d put a sepia toned Yosemite Sam in that shot.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.