Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Ceasefire (the Russian version.)


Russian tanks photographed in Gori this morning. But not 'invading' apparently.

One of the prices of war is an awfully large amount of bullshit.

Yesterday, Russia and Georgia reached a tentative ceasefire in their conflict over the breakaway province of South Ossetia. The pro-Russian bloggers (like charmingly misguided journalist Neil Clarke) celebrated:

"This is a crushing defeat not only for Georgia... ...but for the entire Russophobic movement. The British scribblers who wrote of Russia's invasion of Georgia... ...have got an incredible amount of egg on their face.There was no 'Russian invasion of Georgia'"

Mancunian-in-Mexico The Exile even demanded tribute for his 'accurate' assessment of the conflict:

"On Monday most of the world's media were reporting that Russian troops were flooding out of South Ossetia and into Georgia proper. They claimed that the cities of Gori and Senaki were occupied and went on to make the risible claim that the whole of Georgia had been cut in two... ...There was only one slight problem with that thesis: it was pure bollocks, as readers of this blog knew at the time. Put bluntly, your friendly Exile got the story right, and most of the media just got it wrong. Is my work worth a donation? ...is a fiver too much to ask?"

The only problem - this morning, the Russian's give both our erstwhile bloggers the middle finger, doing exactly what Neil and The Exile promised they wouldn't. The Russians continued their advance into Georgian territory. About 50 Russian tanks rolled through the city of Gori today - one Russian soldier proudly boasting to an Associated Press reporter: "Come with us! We're going to Tbilisi!" [That's the Georgian capital - Editorial Bear]

So, Exile - I'm afraid you'll have to wait a while on that five quid from me. Your 'right' version of the story appears to be getting more and more 'wrong' by the minute.

2 comments:

The Chemist said...

Your assessment is spot on. What, I wonder, will the pro-Russians say when the Russian flag is flying above the Georgian capitol?

Ken said...

I think that you really should go and read my latest posting...