http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=0CB21F6D1A79573DGeorgian & Russian conflict video timeline of recent events. Videos are in order of date, and time of release. I thought some of you might be interested in having some kind of (in order) timeline of this conflict.
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The roots of this conflict lay in the collapse of a super power. Almost two decades ago in the dying days of the Soviet Union, south Ossetia fought for independence from the then Soviet Republic of Georgia. By 1992 that conflict was over. But south Ossetia's final status was never decided. It remained within Georgia's internationally recognized boarders, but outside the control of the central government in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. As time went on, it developed closer and closer ties with Georgia's giant northern neighbor, Russia. In 2003, Georgia's so called rose revolution brought big political change. Mikhail Saakashvili, that became the counties new President launched an ambitious reform program. He wants to move Georgia westwards. He set the target of joining the European union and NATO. He declared that all of Georgian territory, including the separatist regions of south Ossetia and Abkhazia must be brought back under Governments control. Georgia sought to regain control by political means. But at the same time, with American assistance, it was reforming and building up its military. Georgia has had 2,000 troops in Iraq as part of the U.S. lead coalition. So this conflict pits Russia against the close ally of its old cold war rival, the United States. All this in a region which is a major transit rout for energy supplies from east to west. The fighting puts them, and the stability of the wider region, at risk. -- James Rogers, BBC News
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