Georgia failed Pankisi operation

It seems to be a really heavy burden for Georgia to get rid of the terrorists hiding in Pankisi Gorge. Georgian mass media have already informed that the large-scale scouring operation held in the settlement of Khalatsani in Pankisi Gorge of Georgia last week failed because of non-coordination between the Georgian military and security structures

It seems to be a really heavy burden for Georgia to get rid of the terrorists hiding in Pankisi Gorge. Georgian mass media have already informed that the large-scale scouring operation held in the settlement of Khalatsani in Pankisi Gorge of Georgia last week failed because of non-coordination between the Georgian military and security structures. For example, Georgia’s Tribuna informs that the special operation had supposed that Khalatsani should be encircled early in the morning, which by the way was successfully done by the troops from the Defense Ministry and Ministry of National Security. However, as the newspaper informs, about 150 Georgian policemen were late: they came to the site when all suspects had already left the place with weaponry. The article says: “150 fat policemen failed to cover a 12 kilometer night route, they left the bulk of their ammunition right on the way and servicemen picked them up next day.” According to some source of the newspaper,  for that operation, the Ministry for Internal Affairs detached policemen who persecuted prostitutes.  

Georgia certainly rejects these facts and blames Moscow for the failure. But wasn’t that the Georgian military structures that declared they would be able to cope with the terrorists independently? And rejected any help from the USA and Russia at that. What are the results Georgia has achieved?  Where are the terrorists who have turned Pankisi Gorge into a piratical Tortuga where the life goes in according with its own  bandit laws. Where are they? The Georgian government evidently prefers debates to actual doings. Head of the Georgian Interior Ministry press-service Paata Gomelauri told Interfax, the information about failure of the operation was false and an obvious provocation. He says, a great amount of ammunition and weaponry have been withdrawn during the operation in Khalatsani. Earlier it had been reported that 12 Chechens had been detained during the operation. But the people were released in two days as they turned out to be ordinary refugees.

Georgia is good in pretending that necessary important activities are being realized. Yesterday’s PACE resolution has made Georgia even stronger, or more insolent, whatever you like. Yesterday, September 25, the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly passed a resolution saying that PACE thinks Russia has no rights to hold a preventive operation against Georgian terrorists for the sake of self-defense. It is mentioned in the text of the resolution that “the article 41 of the Charter of the United Nations, the UN Security Council resolution #1269 of 1999 on international terrorism and the UN Security Council resolution #1368 of 2001 prohibits the Russian Federation or any other state to use military force on the Georgian territory.”

Russia’s media inform, head of the Russian delegation in PACE, Dmitry Rogozin called the document a pro-terrorist resolution. He added that “majority of the European parliament are psychologically ready to surrender even before a war is declared.” He thinks that Georgia is the state actively sponsoring terrorism. He blamed people developing the resolution for their incompetence and proved the words by the fact that “the 51 article of the Charter of the United Nations allows self-defense if a state is suffering aggression.”

The European parliamentarians let the Georgian leadership push themselves around even despite the fact that the other day OSCE observers had come across those terrorists for whose protection they yesterday voted. It obviously lacks logic.

The OSCE observers were detained on the Georgian territory, one kilometer to the south of Russia’s border, on September 20. The observers saw 12 wonderfully armed people and several foxholes there. They were released the same day and got back to the base. Soon after the incident, the OSCE mission stopped working in Georgia.

Dmitry Litvinovich
PRAVDA.Ru