In this respect, both sides blame and incriminate each other whenever and wherever they find an opportunity to do so. Not satisfied with these efforts, they have also taken the matter to international courts as well.With the presentation of a report on the war to the public this week, both sides have once again found the opportunity to try to discredit the other and justify their actions over the war.
The much anticipated report in question was prepared by the Council of the European Union. It decided to look into the war on Dec. 2, 2008 and established an Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on the Conflict in Georgia (IIFFMCG). This was the first time in history that the EU had decided to intervene actively in a serious conflict. It was also the first time that after having brokered a cease-fire agreement the EU set up a fact-finding mission as a political and diplomatic follow-up to the conflict. In its difficult and challenging work and investigation, the mission has been assisted and advised by a senior advisory board made up of six eminent members. Furthermore, six military personnel, six legal experts, three historians and five political analysts, all distinguished and professional people, contributed to the formation of the report.
The mission was headed by Swiss diplomat and Caucasus expert Heidi Tagliavini. She and the experts spent about nine months investigating the origins, causes and course of the war and wrote a comprehensive and detailed report.
The report itself is moderate in size, consisting of 46 pages, but is supplemented by a 450-page addendum of historical, legal, humanitarian and political appraisals and analyses by the members of her group, as well as 600 pages of appendices consisting of documents and reports provided by the relevant parties.
In essence, the report concluded that Georgia started the war that was not justified by international law but also the war was provoked by Russian actions preceding the war, thereby ending the controversy as to who started the war. In fact the report states clearly in various paragraphs that Georgian forces started the war, such as:
Paragraph 2: “On the night of 7 to 8 August 2008, a sustained Georgian artillery attack struck the town of Tskhinvali.”
Paragraph 3: “The shelling of Tskhinvali by the Georgian armed forces during the night of 7 to 8 August 2008 marked the beginning of the large-scale armed conflict in Georgia, yet it was only the culminating point of a long period of increasing tensions, provocations and incidents. Indeed, the conflict has deep roots in the history of the region, in peoples' national traditions and aspirations as well as in age-old perceptions or rather misperceptions of each other, which were never mended and sometimes exploited.”
Paragraph 14: “Open hostilities began with a large-scale Georgian military operation against the town of Tskhinvali and the surrounding areas, launched in the night of 7 to 8 August 2008. Operations started with a massive Georgian artillery attack.”
Paragraph 19: “There is the question of whether the use of force by Georgia in South Ossetia, beginning with the shelling of Tskhinvali during the night of 7/8 August 2008, was justifiable under international law. It was not.”
From all these statements and other information, there is no doubt, at least in my mind, about who started the war: It was Georgia, but provoked by Russia. Given the content, conclusion and of course objectivity and quality of the report, I believe many people would think like me. I thank Tagliavini and her group.
Benzer Haberler 
