“Labor Even Turns Monkeys Into Humans”
TSKHINVALI, Georgia (AP) - Russian troops and their allies forced Georgian men at gunpoint to clean the streets of South Ossetia’s bombed-out capital Saturday, avenging Georgia’s attack on the breakaway province a week ago.
Three teams of ethnic Georgian men in their 40s and 50s were seen hauling debris from the streets of Tskhinvali. When approached, one of them confirmed he was being forced to work.“Labor even turns monkeys into humans,” said a Russian officer, who along with armed Ossetians escorted one group of about two dozen Georgians through the streets of the capital.
The Russian officer threatened to arrest an Associated Press photographer if he took pictures, and would not give his name.
“They are cleaning up after themselves,” said Mikhail Mindzayev, South Ossetia’s interior minister.
Tskhinvali was at the nucleus of fighting that has pitted two former Soviet neighbors against each other and further strained Russia’s ties to the West.
Lyudmila Bitoyeva, a resident of Tskhinvali in her 40s, said her family hosted five Georgian workers who were forced to clean streets and pick up wreckage after the fighting subsided.After Russian and separatist forces drove Georgian troops out of the nearly deserted city, there was widespread looting of stores and homes. The houses of ethnic Georgians on the outskirts of Tskhinvali were burned.
Mindzayev described the situation in the city Saturday as “complicated and nervous.” He said there were many unexploded shells laying on the ground and he accused Georgian agents of shooting at people in the city, a claim that could not be independently confirmed.
Georgian forced laborers were not the only ones cleaning up the city; many returning refugees were sweeping up glass and debris from the fighting.
The city is in shambles and still has no electricity. To find clean water, residents drive or hitch rides to creeks several miles away, and they are struggling to find food.
Many complained about the late arrival of humanitarian aid. Some refugees have returned to find their homes destroyed, only to leave again.
Georgian troops pounded the city with rockets and bombs in a bid to retake control of separatist South Ossetia on Aug. 7, provoking a fierce response from the region’s Russian backers.
Russia sent in hundreds of tanks and ensuing street fighting gutted yet more of Tskhinvali. Some 80 percent of the city’s 30,000 residents fled, Mindzayev said.
Russia is now in charge of the province, Russian and Georgian leaders have signed a cease-fire deal, and Ossetian refugees are returning home. But local leaders and residents aren’t ready to forgive their Georgian attackers anytime soon.
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Where are all of the bodies?
August 16th, 2008 at 2:29 pm“Many complained about the late arrival of humanitarian aid.”
Russia should have volunteered to airlift humanitarian aid into South Ossetia, especially since it borders Georgia. As far as I know, the only aid rec’d so far has been from the U.S. which is thousands of miles away. Oh, I forgot: Russia spends all its aid money on submarines and the building of nuclear reactors in Iran.
August 16th, 2008 at 2:50 pmThat entire article treated South Ossetia as if it were a sovereign nation and we all know it’s not.
Does the AP & Co. fuck things up on purpose or is it accidental due to their leftist nature or a combination of both?
Asshats like Sen. Biden and his ilk screwing the pooch I can understand, it’s like Pat said, vanity in pursuit of political points.
GGRRRR
August 16th, 2008 at 3:41 pmHeck we payed the Iraqis to clean up Fallujah. Russia is headed for some big time hurt feelings at this pace.
August 16th, 2008 at 4:05 pmAP = abbreviation for appeaser.
August 16th, 2008 at 4:31 pmYup.
August 16th, 2008 at 4:36 pmIm embarrassed to share planet earth with the likes of Putin and his little sock puppet medvedev or however the hell you spell it.
communism, alive and well.
August 16th, 2008 at 7:53 pmSame thing the Germans made Jews do in Poland in 1939. Famous shots of Germans giving them brooms and shovels grinning from ear to ear. The German soldiers were grinning.
August 16th, 2008 at 11:09 pmIncidentally the title quote is almost verbatim a Nazi slogan
National Socialist doctrine is big in Russia right now
August 17th, 2008 at 12:02 amKelly’s Hereos:
That’s what I was thinking. This could easily happen in other European countries besides Georgia.
Here’s a little known fact about WWII: Norway thought it was safe from the Nazis because it had officially claimed neutrality like Sweden. Then Norwegians woke up one morning to a German blitzkrieg. They never in a million years thought they’d be invaded.
August 17th, 2008 at 2:53 amAs far as I know, the only aid rec’d so far has been from the U.S.
So far I know 2 french humanitarian planes flied to Georgia, one more is ready, Canada also sent a plane
August 17th, 2008 at 6:45 am