Georgia's 'War of the Worlds'

If you haven't been following it - and you probably haven't, since you don't live in bizarro-world - one week ago a Georgian television station aired a fictitious news segment claiming that Russians were invading their country. According to EurasiaNet:

"The Imedi program’s host told viewers that Russian tanks were moving toward Tbilisi, that ports and railroad stations had been bombed and that a majority of Georgian soldiers had deserted. Subsequent bulletins reported "unconfirmed" information that President Mikheil Saakashvili had been assassinated."

As you might imagine, this scared and alarmed a fair number of people: phones jammed, crowds rushed to ATMs and there was, unfortunately, "a surge in heart attacks."

Well the story gets more interesting (or more Soviet, depending on your perspective) with new leaks of an alleged phone conversation between two of the station's news producers. They discuss whether to include a disclaimer during the program, eventually deciding against it because "Misha" (President Saakashvili) wanted more "gusto."

The two accused have responded to the accusations and, naturally, (or unnaturally, if you don't live in bizarro-world) accused "Russian security services" of producing and distributing the tape, arguing that such spy teams could also fabricate a "conversation with the Dalai Lama or Rome’s pope."

Russians already view Saakashvili as a clown and Georgia as a circus. Regardless of the authenticity of the tape, this doesn't help that image.