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Moscow museum celebrates Georgia war

The tattered Georgian flags, the NATO-style uniforms and the U.S. assault rifles clutter a small corner of the Russian Central Armed Forces Museum in Moscow. They are trophies from Russia's recent war with Georgia, gathered haphazardly but displayed with a clear message.

"Now people understand who started this," said Aleksandr Nikonov, the museum's director. And, he did not have to add, who finished it.

Along with the ragtag spoils of war, photographs displayed at the exhibition, "The Caucasus: Five Days in August," portray Russia's victory over Georgia as absolute. Raw images of mangled and burned soldiers scattered among bombed-out tanks are captioned, "The enemy has been stopped." Other photos show relieved, war-weary villagers welcoming Russian troops.

This hastily assembled exhibition has a message that goes well beyond rendering a verdict on the Georgian conflict...

Read entire article at International Herald Tribune