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Another recap of what the Russians are doing -- or in the case of the withdrawal, not doing -- in the various areas from Tbilisi to the Black Sea.
TOM
FOREMAN: Welcome to our viewers in the United States
and around the world. The United States is delivering
a stern new warning to Russia to get its troops out
of Georgia immediately. Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice says a cease-fire signed by the
former Soviet republic today clearly has not been
honored by Moscow.
Georgia's president signed the cease-fire plan after
five hours of talks with Rice in Tbilisi. We're
standing by to speak with the president live.
Russia's president says he will sign the agreement,
too, but, so far, there is no commitment from Moscow
about when it will withdraw its forces.
The anger and suffering in Georgia, of course,
growing by the day. The U.N. says almost 120,000
people have been uprooted, most of them Georgians, a
week after Russia intervened in a dispute over
breakaway provinces.
CNN's Michael Ware is in Georgia.
Michael, what's the latest?
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Tom, the latest is
that the Russians are not taking their foot off the
accelerator. They're simply not listening to
Washington. They're not listening to the sharpened
rhetoric. And to be honest, there is no incentive for
them to do so.
What we know is that, you know, from the beginning,
Russia attacked. They invaded Georgia across two
fronts. And on both of those fronts, they're actually
defying the international community and America's
wishes for them to withdraw.
On the eastern front, they have done anything but
pull back. Indeed, they have advanced closer to the
capital, Tbilisi, where Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice visited this afternoon, than they
have ever been in this conflict. They're barely 29
miles from where I'm standing right now.
Meanwhile, on the western front, where we visited
today, we found that, although the key seaport of
Poti was not under Russian occupation, as many had
thought, there was a Russian presence. They sank a
number of Georgian navy and coast guard vessels. And
they had been conducting armored patrols through that
city.
By and large, they had not disrupted the population,
nor attacked the infrastructure. And, indeed, this
evening, Georgian officials have announced that they
believe those Russian forces, as small as they were,
have left that city.
On the other hand, much more disturbing is that, as
we explored the western front line this afternoon, we
found a significant Russian force not withdrawing,
but, in fact, digging in deep within undisputed
Georgian territory.
So, despite the calls from Washington, we found
Russian artillery in entrenched positions with
fresh-cut foliage as camouflage. We saw numerous
tanks and armored vehicles from the Russian army, and
literally hundreds of soldiers who appear to have all
but taken up residence at a makeshift barracks. This
is in a key position that allows them to dominate
much of western Georgia. So, we can see that the
Russians are not backing off at all, Tom.
FOREMAN: Do you have any sign of where the Georgian
military is in the middle of all of this? You're
talking about where all the Russians are.
WARE: Well, the Georgian military barely has been in
this fight from the beginning, I'm afraid to say,
Tom.
Despite several years of U.S. sponsorship and aid,
the presence of more than 100 U.S. advisers, and,
indeed, their participation in the coalition in Iraq,
the Georgian military is barely able to defend
itself.
In the initial attack, the Georgian military went
into one of the disputed territory, where there are
pro-Russian separatists, to try and quell an
artillery barrage and ongoing attacks. That was
precisely the provocation that Russia needed, to not
only invade that part of Georgia, but another
disputed territory which contains pro- Russian
separatists.
And in neither of these areas were the Georgian
military able to stop the Russians. Indeed, they had
to retreat. And, to this day, Russia controls the
areas that it's in without any challenge whatsoever
from the Georgians or indeed from the U.S. -- Tom.
FOREMAN: Michael, I'm afraid we're going to have to
move on. Thanks so much for your report.