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As the world turns its attention to the spreading fight between  Russia and the Republic of Georgia, it’s worth a reminder that war can have lasting effects on the soldiers who fight it and the citizens who get caught in it. The effects of post-traumatic stress disorder are well-known, and some populations are affected more than others. (Meanwhile, some armed forces are experimenting with ways to “juice” the brains of their soldiers, and Georgia is accusing Russia of a coordinated cyberattack on Georgian Web sites, according to ZDNet.)

Non-human primates probably won’t fare very well either. According to Reuters, Sukhumi, Georgia's Institute of Experimental Pathology and Therapy “is now a shadow of the pioneering centre that helped defeat polio and saved countless thousands of lives in World War Two with penicillin treatments.” The center, in the middle of the pro-Russia separatist enclave of Abkhazia, was at one time home to 2,500 monkeys. Today only 303 live there. “Staff still recall the dark days of the early 1990s when Georgian troops waging war with separatist and Georgian forces clashed in and around Sukhumi,” Reuters notes. “Both sides engaged in looting, taking away monkeys.”

photo: iStockphoto.com

3 Comments

1. 1. bobvde 04:16 PM 8/12/08

   To this day we know Russia is the stronger country military wise, they have put their fear into Georgia by showing just that (entering the country with with an unnecessary abundant force, killing a vast amount civilians and then leaving again like nothing had happened)... hoping this fear will generate respect and future obedience to the Mother country. However and I quote... no, not from the Bible but from a known green midget source saying "Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering" I pray the latter will not come to be, for the the day will surely come when Russia has burned its own bridges across the world and when allies are running short.
   
   As it is today what has happened will be forgotten in the stream of news from the Olympic Games, another thousand or so people have lost their lives due to Russians atempt to set the status que in balance. but in the end of the day we now that " Fear is the path to the dark side"!

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2. 2. Roman 04:32 PM 8/12/08

   Russia Georgia
   Where were we when South Ossetia held referendums in 1991 and 2006 to join Russia and voted overwhelmingly to do so? I dont remember CNN reporting on that or the fact that after the 1991 vote the Georgian troops went into South Ossetia and killed over ten thousand civilians to stop them from leaving Georgia. Where was CNN then, where was NATO?
   
   
   And this time again when they went to join Russia after a democratic vote the Georgians started to bomb again. The only reason Russia went in is because Georgians started to kill civilians again and we in the west did not care.
   

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3. 3. jmscam 03:03 PM 8/26/08

   HY,
   
   I LIKE UR SITE CONTENT
   
   -James
   
   
   Georgia Alcohol Addiction Treatment
   
   

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