Remembering the August 2008 War

A candlelight service in the center of Tskhinval, a speech by President Eduard Kokoity and the visit of Abkhazian President Sergei Bagapsh and other notable guests were among the highlights of this weekend's events to honor the victims of last August's brutal attack by Georgia. In a speech at the main square in Tskhinval--the center of the attack by Georgia that began on the night of August 7, 2008--President Kokoity told the crowd that President Saakashvili's goal was the "destruction and exile of the South Ossetian people." But, he continued, "South Ossetian fighters courageously thwarted Tbilisi's plans for blitzkrieg. Russian troops came to the rescue of South Ossetia and pushed the bloodthirsty enemy back." During a memorial service at Zar Road, the site of an attack by Georgian troops that killed more than 20 civilians -- Presidents Kokoity and Bagapsh called on the U.S. and its allies to stop rearming Georgia and instead to use their influence to encourage President Saakashvili to renounce violence against his neighbors.