"Erosi Kitsmarishvili, Tbilisi’s former ambassador to Moscow, testified for three hours before he was shouted down by members of Parliament.

"A former confidant of President Mikheil Saakashvili, Mr. Kitsmarishvili said Georgian officials told him in April that they planned to start a war in Abkhazia, one of two breakaway regions at issue in the war, and had received a green light from the United States government to do so. He said the Georgian government later decided to start the war in South Ossetia, the other region, and continue into Abkhazia.

"He would not name the officials who he said had told him about planned actions in Abkhazia, saying that identifying them would endanger their lives."

Yet, the Bush regime, with its totally failed foreign policies, keeps pushing for Georgia to enter NATO.

The NYTimes reports: "The United States has started an unexpected diplomatic initiative in Europe, urging NATO allies to offer Georgia and Ukraine membership in the alliance without going through a lengthy process and fulfilling a long list of requirements, NATO diplomats said.

"Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has had long telephone conversations with French, German and other senior European envoys, asking them to agree to bypass the formal application process, the diplomats said.

"The proposal faces significant hurdles. At a NATO meeting in Bucharest, Romania, in April, the United States failed to persuade NATO to offer the usual application process, known as a membership action plan, to Ukraine and Georgia. Instead, NATO leaders agreed that one day each country would join, without committing to a timetable.

"Some NATO members have indicated an unwillingness to waive the formal process, which includes requirements that applicants reform their armed forces, separate civilian and military authority and create full transparency over command structures.

"France, Germany, Norway, Luxembourg, Spain, Italy and as many as four other countries opposed the idea at a meeting on Tuesday at NATO headquarters in Brussels. NATO foreign ministers are scheduled to meet next week. “The allies are discussing, literally right now, how to take forward NATO’s relationship with these two countries,” said James Appathurai, a NATO spokesman.

"The war between Russia and Georgia in August, with the collapse of the Ukraine government and deep divisions in Ukraine over joining NATO, had left many diplomats assuming that neither country would be offered membership via the action plan next week. Ms. Rice’s proposal has surprised diplomats. When NATO members, at their meeting in April, debated whether to bring Georgia and Ukraine closer to NATO, and how, they struggled to reach a compromise.

"Germany argued that it was not the right time to offer either country a membership action plan, because Russia vehemently opposed it. Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said neither country was ready, and France, Italy, Spain and other members also opposed proceeding.

“This is a real turnaround of the U.S. position,' said a senior NATO diplomat who requested anonymity because of the delicacy of the issue. 'We reached a compromise in Bucharest after much haggling. Now, we are being asked to cancel it and effectively discard the MAP program. This is putting the unity and credibility of the alliance at stake.' "

In just eight years, the stubborn stupidiity and deliberate myopia of the neocon, warmongering, criminal Bush regime and its reprehensible foreign policy has damaged the image of the US and its historical leadership throughout the world.