September 3, 2008 - 18:49 AMT
Saakashvili buried Georgia's image of "democracy lamp"
The Georgian-Ossetian conflict showed how tremendously ineffective the Russian war machine is, according to an Armenian expert.

"But it also showed that Georgia doesn't have an army, despite up-to-date armament and long-term trainings of the personnel. Georgian soldiers failed to defeat 350 Russian peacekeepers, 200 Ossetian policemen and 200 servicemen," Caucasus Institute Director Alexander Iskandaryan said during a round-table discussion today.

Russia's will always be present in South Ossetia, according to him.

"Georgia will recover from the collapse but its image of "democracy lamp" has been buried forever. Moreover, no Georgian leader will dare to attempt to resolve the South Ossetian and Abkhazian conflicts by use of force.