"We Have Lived Without Them, We Can Live Without Them"

From an early age, children in Abkhazia are instilled with patriotic fervour for their "independent republic".

In a classroom at School Number Two in the capital, Suhkumi, there is a memorial to those who died fighting during the war, as there is in most schools there.

"They defended our homeland and we should remember them," an 11-year-old schoolgirl said, pointing to black-and-white portraits of the fighters who she described as heroes. "They gave their lives for us and for peace in our country."

More from my piece on youth in Abkhazia for the Al Jazeera website here - including an audience with Abkhazia's number one rapper.

Sukhumi Drive-By

The authorities in Abkhazia flexed their military muscles at the recent, Soviet-style 'independence day' parade in Sukhumi. Their tanks were accompanied by planes, helicopters and various other pieces of military hardware, in what seemed to be a direct post-war message to the Georgian government. The mood was almost ecstatic in the city that afternoon (and rather intoxicated later on in the evening). People were partying extra hard after Abkhazia's recent recognition by Russia - although the only other country to follow Moscow's lead so far has been Nicaragua, and this place still looks set to remain somewhat isolated.

The southern Gali region of Abkhazia seemed to be packed with Russian armoured vehicles which had apparently been pulled back from Georgian-controlled territory after the war. Russian checkpoints also seemed to have been significantly fortified. Some of the ethnic Georgians who live in Gali told us they were worried about rumours suggesting that thousands of Russians could be resettled in abandoned houses there, which would inevitably increase tensions.

Unknown Soldiers

Some notes from the aftermath of the war here - from my column in The Moscow Times.

On a remote country road, a short drive into the hills above the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, is a scrubby patch of land where bodies wait to be claimed. Dug into the rocky, yellowish soil are around 40 small black markers, each bearing a different number but the same two words: ‘Utsnobi Jariskatsi’ - ‘Unknown Soldier’.

Next to the graves, a single, small Georgian flag hangs limply, while wilting flowers from the mass burial ceremony (pictured in photo) lie discarded on the ground. Just opposite, an abandoned blue Lada lies on its side by a half-derelict building. There is no sound in the Mukhatgverdi cemetery apart from the agonised wailing of an elderly woman; a mother grieving for her son who went to fight for his country and never came home again.

This desolate roadside may not be the last resting place for the unknown soldiers of last month’s war. The numbers on the temporary headstones refer to DNA samples which will, hopefully, allow the fallen to be matched with their families and buried in a more dignified manner later.

But it is still unclear exactly how many Georgians died during the five-day war with Russia. Government sources currently put the number at around 300 - 115 of them soldiers. It’s also unclear how many remain people missing; one official has suggested that more than 1,000 are yet to be found. The government has set up a commission to co-ordinate the search for the dead and missing, but the uncertainty about casualty figures has made some people uneasy.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of internal refugees have yet to return to their homes in the conflict zone. Indeed, many of them will never be able to go back, because their houses in South Ossetia have been razed to the ground. The huge tent camp in the town of Gori, close to South Ossetia, remains full to capacity. Heavy rains in recent days gave another warning that winter is bearing down fast, and the authorities are under pressure to rehouse people before the weather turns for the worse.

On the highway from Tbilisi to Gori, where the Russian army maintained its checkpoints just a few weeks ago, construction workers are now labouring intensively to build new mini-villages from scratch. Red roofs can now be seen where, less than a week earlier, there was only bare earth and grass. These little hamlets will provide much-needed shelter for those who have lost everything. But, like the war graves, they will also be an enduring reminder of how much has been lost, and why.

"Don't Tell Me It's Not Worth Fighting For"

Surreal scenes in post-war Tbilisi last night, as Canadian soft-rocker Bryan Adams played an open-air concert entitled 'Peace, Freedom and Democracy for Georgia'. Even more surreal was the discovery that the gig was reportedly sponsored by a Russian-owned mining company. Whatever the cause or its financier, however, respect has to be due to Adams for coming to a city where most international stars would - at this time at least - fear to visit. Adams is also reported to be donating money to build a school in the town of Gori, which was damaged by Russian bombing raids last month.

Ready - Or Not?

"The main thing is that the scope of the threat was underestimated, while our own combat capabilities were overestimated." A Georgian defence ministry source quoted in a sobering analysis of the Georgian military's preparations for last month's war, as published on the Eurasianet site. Read the full article here.

Two Wars Later...

From my column in The Moscow Times:

There was a jovial atmosphere last Saturday night in the Stop Russia bar in Tbilisi, after Russian troops started to pull back from their checkpoints deep in Georgian territory. The Stop Russia bar used to be known as USSR, and is still decorated with busts of Stalin and Soviet memorabilia, but was hastily re-branded after last month’s war. “It’s against Russian aggression,” a dark-eyed, pencil-thin barmaid declared urgently. “We want them out of our country!”

The ominous mood which had gripped the city seems to have lightened in recent days, particularly since the huge Stop Russia demonstrations a couple of weeks ago, which according to official estimates brought more than a million people onto the streets. Afterwards, youths partied late into the night in Tbilisi, letting off some steam after enduring some of the darkest times in recent Georgian history.

But reminders of the war are hard to ignore - particularly the thousands of internal refugees who fled the fighting and took refuge in empty state buildings and hastily-constructed tent camps. Ironically, some of them have occupied a dilapidated block which used to be the Russian military command centre for the Caucasus. Once this building housed some of Moscow’s spooks; now its population is dining on emergency aid packages supplied by Washington.

This is a tragedy which has only compounded the last one: Georgia is still struggling to deal with tens of thousands more people who were displaced by the civil wars here in the early 1990s. Many of them still live in suspended animation in temporary accommodation, sustained by dreams of eventually going home. For 15 years, they’ve been a visible symbol of Georgia’s lost territories, and a physical embodiment of the desire to win them back. But now those breakaway regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, are effectively Russian military protectorates, their chances of returning seem bleaker than ever.

In a tatty high-rise building on a rubbish-strewn hill, high above the capital, I met Mzia, a former teacher who escaped from the war in the breakaway region of Abkhazia in 1993, along with all the other families which live in this wind-lashed block. Since then, she’s shared a cramped one-room apartment with her grown-up son.

Mzia offered coffee and chocolates, while I asked her if - since Russia won last month’s war - she still thought she would someday go home. She smiled, then frowned, then suddenly seemed to be on the verge of tears. “Before, sometimes we lost hope, but hope always returned,” she replied calmly. “But now, we have doubts...”

Military Misadventure

"In light of the combination of fundamental tactical shortcomings and serious strategic blunders in the Georgian campaign to retake South Ossetia, it seems clear that the flaws in Georgian military planning were based on two key factors: an over-confident assumption of its own combat readiness and capabilities, as well as by a serious under-estimation of the scale and scope of the Russian response."

This intriguing piece by military analyst Richard Giragosian examines how and why Georgian forces were comprehensively defeated by the Russians. Read the full article here.