Quote (ferdia @ Jun 2 2022 09:31am)
^chopstickz777 you state: Georgia shot at Russia first, provoking a military reaction, after being prodded to do so by NATO. Is this a metaphorical statement or a literal statement. i.e. did Georgian forces attack/shoot at Russian forces. is this your position?
what precise action "shot at Russia" are you referring to here ? To my mind Russia did not want Georgia in Nato (a sentiment I can understand) thus i dont understand, what i would call a pretext, re: shot at Nato. further: shooting at Russia (literally) would never be at the behest of Nato, noting Nato did not have their back (since they were not in Nato). I am seeking honest and open debate here.
The Georgians were acting aggressively towards South Ossetia and preparing a military operation with NATO backing.
From what I remember they had bombed both civilians as well as Russian peacekeepers with artillery, causing dozens of casualties amongst Russian forces *before* Russia attacked.
It was only after this happened that Russia decided to act. The situation was quite similar to Ukraine - the Georgians wanted to come in and wipe out South Ossetia like how Ukraine wanted to wipe out Donbass.
In both cases, Russia moved before any hostile offensive operations could take place against the local populace. In the case of Georgia the Georgians had already killed a few dozen Russian peacekeepers, giving them justification for the war.