The Email From Genny Posted Earlier Also With Pictures

Written by Genny in the first person:

"I worked in South Ossetia for the past year and am downloading photos to show my colleagues in my new job, far away. It's sad to see what's happening, but is unfortunately inevitable.

There is a distinct ethnicity called Ossetian, which does have its own language. Like the rest of the region, there are pockets of people with very old roots, although the Soviet experience has served to blend the cultures.

Ossetia is split between Alanya (the north Ossetiya area in southern Russia) and South Ossetia, an area in northern Georgia. The population of South Ossetia are divided, and given the 18 years of tug-of-war they've experienced, caught in the middle between Russia and Georgia, they've lost much of their commonality, as the Russian-controlled Ossetians and Alanyans have been incorporated into Russia and the Georgian-controlled ones into Georgia.

The people are caught in the middle, with little economic opportunity. Not surprisingly, the conflict has been the largest employer in the area, with both sides employing the local population in the parallel governments, security forces, etc. There has been a peacekeeping presence, but the region has been divided, with checkpoints between villages, two effective governments (the Russian-appointed government sits/sat in Tskhinvali, and the South Ossetian/Georgian recognized government built its own capital not far away.)

In the words of a woman I worked with "we have four presidents: Putin, Sakaashvili and their two local cronies." That said, at the village level, the communities from both sides have continued to live together, dodging the checkpoints, attending funerals from the other side, and borrowing cars with the appropriate license plates for trips into the others' areas.For most of population, realistic to the politics, it boils down to which government will give them a better quality of life. Russia has been providing free/subsidized gas and electric and better pensions than the Georgian government. Both Russia and Georgia have been pouring trickles of money in to their strongholds, to further the wedge. Russia built a pipeline for gas across the mountains, and Georgia did the same. Schools, recreation centers and other investments have occurred.... with Georgia hosting a Bonnie-M concert last year in a new facility it built in the area.

The capital, Tskhinvali, is half an hour from Gori and 90 minutes from Tbilisi. Vladikavkaz, the Russian nearest city, is slightly farther away. There are perhaps 40,000 people who live in the area. South Ossetia is thought by most to be the stalking horse for the area of greater interest to both sides,
Abkhazia, on the coast.

For anyone interested in the history of the conflict, the International Crisis Group did a good report in June 2007, titled "Make Haste Slowly." (International Crisis Group - Georgia’s South Ossetia Conflict: Make Haste Slowl). The attachments include maps of the region; in keeping with the conflict there is a map according to the Georgian view, a map according to the Russian view and a few more points of view as well.Gori is under attack because of a large military base the Georgians recently completed there. Gori is a straight shot to Tskhinvali, (and was the birthplace of Stalin). Its residents were not thrilled when the military base was built. As history has proven, their fears were founded.Below are some photos from the Georgian villages and people of South Ossetia.May this end quickly, with limited causualties, so that those who live there can get on with their lives, suspended 18 years ago.