The preliminary casualty reports coming out of Georgia by human rights groups such Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch indicate relatively few casualties and no massive atrocities from the Russian invasion.This could change.
Still we must raise the possibility cable news with its graphic content and the public relations strategies of the Georgian President Mikheil Saaskashvili, as well as the Russians, have grossly exaggerated the severity and scale of this war.
It is far from clear whether this was a brutal rape or a relatively careful punitive strike. Or a foggy mixture of something in between.
A grim propaganda war of videos alleging looting appears on YouTube. Some of the footage is BBC and CNN. Others is of unidentifiable origins, uploaded to YouTube by partisans of various stripes (be sure to check the emotional nationalistic comments posted with these videos). Here is one pro Russian YouTube upload claiming CNN used the wrong video to give a false impression Russian forces had occupied the Georgian city of Gori.
The propaganda war on YouTube appears aimed at youthful computer-savy viewers around the world.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch refrain from charging massive human rights abuses but point out Georgian civilians in occupied areas are vulnerable to abuse even after the current ceasefire.
Amnesty International has warned of continued dangers for Georgian civilians in Russian occupied areas and Human Rights Watch published a photo essay on looting and other trials of Georgian civilians.
The war may, indeed, be significant for its long term implications both in the region and on American politics. -- even though relatively minor in terms of human suffering. Time will tell.
"War, media, and politics"
We know that in the age of cable TV the presence of cameras can make even isolated violence appear as universal.
Conversely massive violence hidden from cameras and reporters makes it appear to have never occurred.
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