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The West Condemns Russia, Rules Out Military Intervention
Fighting in South Ossetia is the obvious highlight of Western media today. The key topic is the probability of interference of the United States and its NATO allies. Russia is generally accused of disproportional response.
The Telegraph emphasized hardening of international opinion against Russia, which had been accused of disproportional response to Georgia’s assault on South Ossetia past Friday. "We have made it clear to the Russians that if the disproportionate and dangerous escalation on the Russian side continues, that this will have a significant long-term impact on US-Russian relations," The Telegraph quoted as saying Jim Jeffrey, President Bush’s deputy national security advisor.
At the same time, the U.S. diplomats acknowledged that Washington doesn’t have many options and the possibility of military intervention on behalf of Georgia is completely ruled out. "We need Russia's co-operation over Iran and derailing that over a localised conflict in Georgia makes no sense. We just have to hope that diplomacy prevails. The next necessary step is for Russia to respond positively to Georgia's ceasefire declaration," Jeffrey said.
Unlike Prime Minister Putin, who cut short his Olympic visit and flew to a field hospital in South Ossetia’s neighboring North Ossetia, President Bush was in Beijing yesterday watching the Olympics, The Telegraph specified.
Comments of Thomas de Waal of The Observer are also of great interest. Saakashvili is called “a famously volatile risk-taker,” who attempted to win the U.S. support for its desire to regain control over South Ossetia and Abkhazia far back in 2004. But then Secretary of State Colin Powell told him to act with restraint.
George Bush and John McCain visited Georgia, praised Saakashvili and were rewarded with the Order of St George. “But Bush, at least in public, is now bound to be cautious, calling for a ceasefire,” the Observer reported.
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