Today it was stark, beautiful and peaceful. Desperately poor people seek out an existence from the unproductive soil. A European Unit monitors the ceasefire between Georgians and Russians / South Ossetians.
In the heat of August 2008 it was scene of terror and bloodshed. The Red Army had reacted furiously against an attempt by the Georgians to assert their authority over South Ossetia. The result was a loss of territory and 30,000 additional Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) for Georgia.
Many of the IDPs are located in a prefab village about five miles from the line (whatever you do, don't call it a 'border') and travel back to South Ossetia to tend their gardens and assert their property rights. Tensions remain high. Hundreds of Russians are garrisoned a few miles away. They conducted manoeuvres recently near the line and we clearly see their tanks using binoculars.
'The Russian presence is a dagger aimed at the heart of Tbilisi' we were told today. Our journey to the line took about 45 minutes. We have been repeatedly told that there is no antagonism between the people of Georgia and the people of Russia. That is not the case between the Georgian President and Russia's Prime Minister Putin who loathe each other.
Afterwards we visited a monastery perched high on a mountain above Georgia's original capital.
One disturbing account I heard today was that yesterday a large number of IDPs were internally displaced when they were ejected onto the streets from their make shift homes in Tbilisi-allegedly by the Government. Some have been housed in the palace of the Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church.
More of that tomorrow.
The Georgians have survived as a nation despite the odds. They have been blessed I think in keeeping their own good laws, principles and national identity.
I can't but regret that Stalin enslaved them. National pride is a funny thing. The Georgians must realise their fathers where wrong and that absolutely NO worship of Stalin is in any way reasonable.
So they have survived the Soviet Union. But now Russia commands them. They will survive as they are but their politicians will only ever dissapoint them.
Posted by: Ad | February 24, 2011 at 01:30 AM