Power Vacuum in Gori
When Russian army was advancing, Georgian troops, police, and city officials ran in disarray, leaving military equipment, cities, and citizens behind. (watch the Times Online video)
It is very difficult to understand exactly what is happening in Gori but it is clear that it is bad and getting worse.
The BBC is there and, looking at their reports (also this link) it seems clear that the civil authorities have fled and that people are being murdered and robbed. My suspicion is that, apart from the usual criminal elements who take advantage of power vacuums, it is probably Ossetians seeking revenge.
On the Russian side, Interfax reports:
"Deputy chief of the headquarters of the peacekeeping force Maj. Gen. Borisov today travelled to Gori especially to discuss questions of Georgian troop withdrawal with the local administration and law enforcers. Unfortunately, he did not discover any local leaders in the city".
It also quotes Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov saying that "Russian peacekeepers in the Georgian-Ossetian conflict zone have been ordered to apply wartime laws to looters" but also reports "Lavrov said he had talked to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice who told him that looters had appeared in Gori and its environs, illegal groupings were robbing Gori and Russian forces were doing nothing to stop them."
Is Rice saying that Washington wants the Russian Armed Forces to take control of Gori and restore order? Surely not: just a few hours ago Washington was complaining that Moscow had occupied Gori.
There's a power vacuum in Gori and a nightmare for its citizens.
It is for Tbilisi, not Moscow, to restore order there. Gori is in Georgia. Where are Gori's "local administration and law enforcers"?
The very latest news is that Russian forces will hand over to Georgian police tomorrow. Let us hope that that happens. But it will be a terrible night for the residents of Gori.
Patrick Armstrong received a PhD from Kings College, University of London, England in 1976 and retired in 2008 after 30 years as an analyst for the Canadian government. He was Political Counsellor for the Canadian Embassy in Moscow from 1993 to 1996. He has been a frequent speaker at the Wilton Park conferences in the UK.
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