In an exclusive interview with RT, Georgia's ex-President Eduard Shevardnadze said it was ‘a big mistake’ of Mikhail Saakashvili to send Georgian forces into Tskhinvali.

US journalist Christian Parenti believes America's backing of Georgia stems from its oil interest in the region. Parenti also gave the flipside of western media reports on the conflict.

American sociologist Matthew Maly says that the South Ossetian coverage was so biased in the western media that it appears to be a dress rehearsal for future biased coverage designed to scare Americans into voting for McCain over Obama.