Condoleezza Rice: Russia invaded Georgia 10 years ago- Don’t say America didn’t respond

The Washington Post has released a piece by former US State Secretary Condoleezza Rice where she recalls the details of the Russia-Georgia 2008 war. 

Rice says that the Bush administration did recognize the looming danger of Russian military action in Georgia in 2008. 

It was in that context that I told Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili — privately — that the Russians would try to provoke him and that, given the circumstances on the ground, he could not count on a military response from NATO. I did not "blame” him for the crisis — and I still do not,” the piece reads. 

She says when the Russians launched their invasion, the United States focused first and foremost on protecting the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, and the duly elected Georgian government. 

Was there a threat to Tbilisi? Indeed there was,” Rice says. 

She recalled her phone conversation with the Russian foreign Minister Lavrov, who raised three "unacceptable” preconditions for ending the war. 

We focused our energies on stopping Moscow from overthrowing a new democracy that then-Russian Prime Minister Vladi¬mir Putin hated with a virulence that is hard to overstate,” Rice says. 

We could not deter Moscow in this case. But we did act, and Georgia survived, Rice wrote. 

Read the full story here.