The Russians are not coming! Georgis Fakes Russian Invasion

[Magda Hassan]

Bogus TV report of Russian invasion panics Georgia






Watch the fake report on Imedi TV

Panic was sparked in Georgia after a TV station broadcast news that Russian tanks had invaded the capital and the country's president was dead.
The Imedi network report, which brought back memories of the 2008 war between Russia and Georgia, was false.
But mobile phone networks were overwhelmed with calls and many people rushed onto the streets.
Imedi said the aim had been to show how events might unfold if the president were killed. It later apologised.
The head of the holding company which owns Imedi TV, George Arveladze, said he was sorry for the distress that the TV report had caused.
'Disgusting'
For a brief moment on Saturday evening many Georgians thought history was repeating itself, the BBC's Tom Esslemont in Tbilisi says.
MEDIA HOAXES
1926 - mass anxiety after a BBC report of a murderous riot in London. It was a spoof by a literary priest
1938 - thousands flee after a CBS Radio report on Martians landing in New Jersey. It was a radio version of HG Wells War of the Worlds
1994 - panic in Taiyuan, China, after a TV report of a deadly creature on the loose. It was a commercial for a new brand of liquor

It is only 18 months since Russian tanks came within 45km (28 miles) of the Georgian capital, our correspondent adds.
In its news report, pro-government Imedi TV showed archive footage of the war and imagined how opposition figures might seize power after an assassination of the country's President, Mikheil Saakashvili.
Although the broadcast was introduced as a simulation of possible events, the warning was lost on many Georgians, our correspondent says.
One local news agency reported that emergency services had received an unusually high volume of calls in the ensuing minutes.
And once calm returned, the report was seen by some as a poorly disguised swipe at the Georgian opposition politicians who recently travelled to Moscow to meet Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
Mr Arveladze told Reuters that the aim was to show "the real threat" of how events might unfold.
That did not stop dozens of journalists and angry Georgians who gathered outside the Imedi TV studios to protest.
One opposition politician who was there labelled the report "disgusting".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8566571.stm

[Jan Klimkowski]

Georgia opposition accuses government over TV "war" hoax

Reuters Matt Robinson

Georgia's opposition accused the government on Sunday of being behind a fake primetime news report that Russian tanks had entered the capital at the call of the opposition, causing widespread panic.

For many Saturday night viewers, the 20-minute report on pro-government Imedi TV thrust the country back to its five-day war with Russia in August 2008.

The report laid out a scenario in which opposition leaders called on Russian forces now stationed in South Ossetia to intervene in political unrest following mayoral elections in Tbilisi, which are due by the end of May.

Imedi, which is run by a close ally of President Mikheil Saakashvili, did not hide the fact the report was in response to two opposition leaders meeting separately with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin late last year and this month.

The aim, it said, was to demonstrate how events might unfold.

The opposition was furious, saying the stunt raised fresh questions over what international watchdogs say is state manipulation of news media under Saakashvili.

Government officials have denied involvement. Asked if Saakashvili was involved or aware of the report before it aired, his spokeswoman said she was unable to comment.

"Full responsibility for the preparation and the results of the report lie with the Georgian authorities, which have practically monopolised all television space in order to wage information terror on their own people," the opposition Alliance for Georgia said in a statement.

NOT REAL

Introduced as a simulation of "the worst day in Georgian history," the report then ran without a banner making clear it was not real. Mobile phone networks crashed and the emergency services reported a spike in calls.

Many Georgians rushed home, and some Russian media interrupted their regular programming.

Imedi, originally an opposition broadcaster until police stormed the studios in 2007 at the height of protests against Saakashvili, apologised for how the report was presented.

Saakashvili also criticised the panic it caused, but said the scenario was not unlikely.

"It was really an unpleasant film, but more unpleasant is that fact the report was maximally close to what could happen or what the enemy of Georgia has in mind," local news agencies reported him as saying on Sunday.

The report underlined the stir caused by opposition politicians Zurab Nogaideli and Nino Burjanadze by meeting Putin and calling for ties between the countries to be restored.

Russia crushed an assault by U.S. ally Georgia on the rebel region of South Ossetia in 2008, sending tanks to within 45 km (28 miles) of Tbilisi.

"Whoever shakes the hand covered in the blood of Georgians of all ethnicities has no dignity," Saakashvili was quoted as saying.

(Additional reporting by Margarita Antidze; Editing by Charles Dick)

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20100314/tts...02f96.html

So, it was a ploy of Georgian President and neocon stooge Saakashvili, through his media company.

:hmmmm:

Sounds like a dry run for a future false flag operation. Or perhaps a false flag operation gone wrong.

I bet the spooky satellites were watching very very closely....