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Do you approve of Saakashvili's decision to react to the incidents in Tskhinvali region in August 2008?

Monday, October 19
“I think this was the only way out. The Russians would not stop staging provocations until the Georgian side shot in their direction. This kind of outcome was inevitable.”
Gega, lawyer, 25

“We should have shown more patience. When you shell Tskhinvali you know that you are fighting Russia, not the Ossetians. It was clear that Georgia would not defeat Russia in war.”
Tina, teacher, 37

“I was shocked when I heard the news on the morning Georgians entered Tskhinvali. I don’t agree with the people who say that Georgians are to blame for this war. This conflict has a long history and Russia is the one who initiated it. We should discuss things in much deeper detail and not what is seen on the surface only.”
Niko, sociologist, 41

“I cannot definitely tell whether the August decision was right or not, but I can tell you that as a result of it the Russian Federation has been called an aggressor throughout the world.”
Giorgi, economist, 28

“I do not approve, because as soon as it happened the war started. The Russians were just waiting for this. If we had not staged the first large scale attack on our side, maybe the Russians would not have attacked either. If they had started it it would now be clear to everyone that Russia started the war and not Georgia.”
Nanuli, housewife, 56

“I am very surprised when people say it was a mistake for us to open fire. I just wonder which independent state would have accepted such violations as Georgia has endured over the years. Which European states would be silent and take no action if there were foreign occupiers on their territory and part of their country was occupied. Which European state would sit back and watch occupiers giving their passports to nationals of other states so that they could call them ‘citizens’ and claim they were protecting them from an aggressor? Not one of them! So, when they give us advice about what we should have done, just think about their countries and then judge. We are an independent sovereign state and we will never allow an enemy to come here and do what it wants. We will happily fire the first shot if it is for our country - Georgia!”
Irina, student, 20

“Definitely I approve of this decision because the existence of our country was under threat. I was personally in the conflict zone last year and know what was happening, so I strongly believe that if there had been no action from our side we would have had more victims, soldiers as well as civilians.”
Zura, musician, 26