american citizen joe mestas was vacationing in south ossetia with his wife and five year old daughter. mr. mestas' wife is from south ossetia and mr. mastas has been in the area many times.
mr. mestas said that since the united states has been supporting georgia that he thought that there would be some control over the situation and that it would be a peaceful resolution. mr. mestas says that what is happening in south ossetia is not just the war it is war crimes. mr. mestas says that "george bush and [georgian president mikhail] saakashvili should answer for the crimes that are being committed. the killing of innocent people...and the running over with tanks of women and children and throwing grenades into cellars to kill innocent people, war is supposed to be military against military - georgians are killing innocent civilians - they're committing genocide."
when asked by the russia today interviewer if he wanted washington to step in, mr. mastas replied "i urge every american who may be watching this broadcast right now, to call their senators, their congressmen, the white house and tell george bush to get out! america does not need to intervene in this war -- america needs to stop supporting georgia. what saakashvili is doing is no better than what saddam hussein did and if george bush is supporting that, like he's supporting georgia, he's no better than saddam hussein."
