Citizens of Tbilisi are being asked by the government to shelter in the subway. Apparently Russian attacks are anticipated.
The evacuation of strategic points and main state structures has been launched.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs confirmed to InterpressNews the above mentioned information.
The evacuation of the vicinity of Avlabari district has begun as well. The civilians, living in Avlabari district are being taken away from the district. As is well-known, the residence of the President of Georgia is located in Avlabari.
The evacuation of the Ministry of Defense and the vicinity of it is being carried out. The civilians are called to seek shelter in Metro station.
The country of Georgia’s entire population is only 5 million people, less than the metro Atlanta area of the U.S. state of Georgia. Russia, the other combatant, has a population of 150 million.
Not much of a contest.
The reasoning for Georgia’s initiation of the current conflict may be based in Iraq, and in the fact that Georgia was coaxed into participation in the ill named Global War on Terror.
Georgia has about 2,000 troops in Iraq, making it the third-largest contributor to coalition forces after the U.S. and Britain.
It is aggressively lobbying to join NATO, a campaign that has infuriated a Kremlin loath to see its former vassal state slip further away from the former Soviet sphere of influence.
One analyst suggested Georgia’s unexpected assault may have been
rooted as much in a sense that its NATO bid was faltering as in
antagonism with Russia.Earlier this year, NATO quashed Georgia’s drive to get a so-called
road map for alliance membership amid alarm that President Mikhail
Saakashvili was backtracking on democracy with his violent suppression
last year of opposition rallies.Georgia got assurances that it could eventually join, but “this
pushed Georgia into a philosophy of self-reliance — the idea that
Georgia will be able to regain breakaway entities only by its own
means,” said Nicu Popescu of the European Council on Foreign Relations.
What do I know? I served alongside Georgian troops in Baghdad’s Green Zone in 2005 and 2006. Russia has been posturing. South Ossetia has broken away. Georgia is testing to see what the West will do. Another potential war for U.S. troops to engage in. As if two wasn’t enough. I’m pretty sure Iranians are watching the developing events with great interest, as are many others in the region.