U.S. Diplomat Condemns ‘Attack on Georgia’

The United States condemns “any attack on Georgian sovereign territory,” U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Mathew Bryza told Reuters on August 7.

He said it was too early to say who was behind the August 6 incident in which an air-launched missile hit open ground near breakaway South Ossetia. Bryza, however, said “we have no indication that Georgia targeted itself. That is for sure.”

Russia had earlier pointed the finger at Tbilisi, suggesting that the August 6 air strike was masterminded by Georgia to sabotage South Ossetian peace talks in the framework of the Joint Control Commission (JCC).

“Such rhetoric claiming that Georgia attacked itself is not at all helpful. It raises tensions,” Bryza said. “We have not seen a shred of evidence to suggest that is what happened.”

He also welcomed Georgia’s “laudable” and “measured” response to the incident. “It is a time to keep the rhetoric in check and we hope that everybody will be as measured as Georgia has been.”

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