The Aftermath: Mayhem, Marauders, and Cluster Bombs
The other day I addressed the looting and mayhem Ossetian militias on waging on Georgians. It is still difficult to assess the scope of this violence but Gori appears to be a center of activity. Russian troops, according to one report, have cordoned off the city, virtually locking out Georgian police. Unconfirmed eyewitnesses reports say “bands of South Ossetian armed men have been breaking down the gates of homes and stealing families’ cars” and there have been “break-ins in which the Ossetian men kidnap women in addition to taking the car.”
Most reports in the Western press report incidents along the lines of the following:
“It’s impossible to live like this, with this fear,” said one old Georgian man yesterday, nervously wheeling a wooden barrow stacked with his family’s meager belongings out through the Russian cordon that ringed Gori and towards the Georgian lines.
“What you have seen in the town is nothing, ..read more
