Georgian troops late last week attacked the pro-Russian province, apparently in an attempt to retake control. South Ossetia has been largely autonomous since a violent break in the early 1990s.
For much of the last two years, Washington and Moscow have been engaged in an escalating war of words over U.S. plans to base a missile defense system in the Czech Republic and Poland. At the same time, the Russians have chafed as relations warmed between the U.S. and some of the former Soviet states.
Under Saakashvili, Georgia has repeatedly sent soldiers to both Iraq and Afghanistan. The 2,000 troops that were patrolling the Iraqi border with Iran are now being sent back to Georgia with U.S. help. The U.S. also has nearly 150 military trainers in Georgia to help modernize its armed forces.
In New York on Sunday, the United Nations Security Council entered its fourth day of emergency session. U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad condemned Russia for rejecting attempts to end the bloodshed and accused the Kremlin of trying to overthrow Saakashvili.
At one point, Khalilzad called Russia's aggression "a campaign of terror against the Georgian population."
This prompted a heated response from Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin: "This statement, Ambassador, is absolutely unacceptable, particularly from the lips of the permanent representative of a country whose actions we are aware of, including with regard to civilian populations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Serbia."
The Bush administration said Sunday that it would seek a resolution condemning Russia's military actions, but Russia holds a veto as one of the five permanent members of the Security Council. The council has been meeting since late Thursday, trying to come up with a cease-fire agreement, but so far talks have ended up in wrangling.
During Sunday's meeting, Khalilzad asked Churkin repeatedly, "Is your government's objective regime change in Georgia?"
Churkin responded, "Sometimes there are occasions when, and we know from history, there are different leaders who come to power either democratically or semi-democratically . . . and they become an obstacle."
Georgia's representative to the U.N., Irakli Alasania, said Churkin's response confirms to him that "what the Russian Federation is seeking through this military aggression and invasion is to change the democratically elected Georgian government."
When asked again, Churkin said: "I won't respond to that. I believe we've had enough polemics today."
