Kirsty Wark is still using the line that Saakashvili himself started the war. At the very least, we do not know who started the conflict on August 7/8, and for the BBC to assume that they do is unprofessional. There are various accounts of who started the conflict, most recently from Michael Totten in Georgia, who asserted in no unncertain terms that it was Russia who started the most recent conflict. Saakashvili himself denies starting it.
At this juncture it might be better to stop asking Saakashvili how or why he miscalculated. It might be better to ask who did start it.
This video from Fox is all rather strange. It’s very emotive, and it looks scripted and rehearsed. What do you think?
That fox video is really weird… the ending especially. It’s like they wanted a ‘Russia’s evil’ video but got something different?
and is Wark not very pro Russia in that video?
I agree about Wark. What we do know is that at the very latest, Russia was moving into Georgia in large numbers two hours after fighting began in Tskhinvali, and that that mobilisation happened in the middle of the night. Even by their official account, Russia reacted with either extraordinary rapidity, or more likely, clear preparation. Though I still it impossible to believe that July’s military operations on the border, which never ended as such, were merely coincidental.