Last August, Georgia's president Mikheil Saakashvili ordered his troop into the breakaway province of South Ossetia. Russia responded by sending its army to defend the South Ossetia and handled the Georgian army a humiliating defeat.
Since that disaster, the Georgian president has been under pressure as the Georgian economy has tanked and money from his Western backers dried up due to the credit crisis. As Russia closed all trade with Georgia, Saakashvili has been facing pressure to quit his presidency. For nearly a month, thousands of protesters have held daily street demonstrations in the capital demanding his resignation.
With the political crisis gripping the country, Saakashvili quickly blame Russia when a Georgian tank battalion apparently mutinied on Tuesday. Only problem for Saakashvili is that no one believes him. Russian authorities angrily deny any involvement in the alleged plot; opposition leaders in Georgia believe this is just a cover for Saakashvili to declare a state of emergency; international experts do no believe that any Georgian army battalion would revolt on Russian orders as they just fought a war less than a year ago; and even Western governments has been deafening in their silence.
When it comes to Georgia, the country reminds me of the old sad saying, “The more things change, the more it stays the same.”
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