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The Georgian government has admitted dropping cluster bombs in its military offensive to regain control of South Ossetia, reports Human Rights Watch.

Several thousand protesters waving Georgian flags approached Russian military positions on the outskirts of western Georgia's Black Sea port city of Poti on Saturday, asking Russia to leave Georgia

Patriotism has long been an issue in U.S. presidential elections. However, patriotism is often hard to define, and holds different meanings for different people.

Russia's President has promised to punish those behind war crimes against ethnic South Ossetians. Dmitry Medvedev made the remark during a visit to Vladikavkaz in North Ossetia, where most refugees are heading.

There is little evidence that Russian forces in Gerorgia are withdrawing, despite assurances from Moscow that the troops are to pull back. Georgia and its Western allies insist the Russian militry must pull back completely and leave only a small peacekeeping force in South Ossetia. Al Jazeera's Alan Fisher reports.

The conflict between Georgia and South Ossetia has become a genuine issue in U.S. presidential campaigning. The situation is very welcome to Republican contender John McCain, says Alexander Cockburn, an American political journalist.

Human right organisations have accused armed groups of looting and burning Georgian homes in the breakaway region of South Ossetia. Al Jazeera's Nazanine Moshiri reports.

Shortly after Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, signed a ceasefire agreement with Georgia, a contingent of Western officials travelled to the frontlines to see whether Russian forces were indeed withdrawing from Georgian territory. Al Jazeera's Jonah Hull reports.

Aid is finally getting through to some of the areas at the heart of the fighting over South Ossetia between Russia and Georgia, including the Geoirgian city of Gori. But as Al Jazeera's Alan Fisher reports, there are still plenty of Russian soldiers around.

More than a week of fighting between Russia and Georgia has left thousands of refugees on both sides of the conflict. Some are beginning to return to what remains of their homes, even if it means living among the rubble. Al Jazeera's Nazanine Moshiri reports from South Ossetia where she spoke to some of those who were been caught up in the conflict.

A 12-year-old American girl visiting relatives during the conflict in South Ossetia has thanked Russian soldiers for saving her from the Georgian attack. However, America's Fox News attempted to cut her and her aunt off air.

While the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali is attempting to return to some kind of normality, there are other locations that have also suffered from the Georgian attack. A number of South Ossetian villages were battered by severe strikes -- with some of them turning into ghost towns.

Al Jazeera's Hamish McDonald speaks with Mikheil Saakashvili, the Georgian president, in the country's captial.

Ethnic Russians who fled Georgia for Abkhazia last week have revealed that they had to leave to escape the growing tensions with local people which they say became unbearable. Many of them left everything they owned behind. But some of them not only found temporary shelter in Abkhazia -- they were also reunited with their families.

Georgia wouldn't have attacked South Ossetia without the green light from the U.S, believes Paul Craig Roberts, a former assistant secretary to the treasury in Ronald Reagan's administration. Seumas Milne: This is a tale of US expansion not Russian aggression | The Guardian : "The outcome of six grim days of bloodshed in the Caucasus has triggered an outpouring of the most nauseating hypocrisy from western politicians and their captive media. As talking heads thundered against Russian imperialism and brutal disproportionality, US vice-president Dick Cheney, faithfully echoed by Gordon Brown and David Miliband, declared that 'Russian aggression must not go unanswered'. George Bush denounced Russia for having 'invaded a sovereign neighbouring state' and threatening 'a democratic government'. Such an action, he insisted, 'is unacceptable in the 21st century'."

http://cspanjunkie.org/ August 14, 2008 CNN

http://cspanjunkie.org/ Part 2

While the ceasefire in South Ossetia remains in place, the blame-game battle, debating who was right and who was wrong, continues in the international media. Many say Russia has been losing the information war, but, in some quarters, it seems the view of events may be changing.