A hopeless sense of betrayal pervades the consciousness of many Georgians as their troops retreated under shellfire and the Russian Army pushed forward to take full control of South Ossetia.

They are wondering why America and Nato haven’t stepped in to help them…after they sent their soldiers to both Kosovo and Iraq the west seems to be unavailable for assistance when they need it.

Terrified civilians have fled by the thousands. They are convinced that Russia will not stop at the border but will next sweep into Georgia. The fear is that the Kremlin is intent on establishing a buffer zone to guard South Ossetia against future incursions.

Gori is normally a busy city of 50,000 people. It is now largely deserted after Russian airstrikes over the weekend. Scores of people are abandoning their homes and loading their meager possessions into vehicles or carrying what they can on foot.

The Georgian Government is recalling its 2,000 troops that are now serving in Iraq to confront the threat at home. Many Georgians will not want to send them back after this conflict is over. By constrast, Russian peacekeepers seem sure they will soon be joined by comrades from their regular army. “We are operating normally; nobody has disturbed us at all,” said one.