The Wall Street Journal has an interesting piece today on a very influential former British Army captain, Ryan Grist, who was serving as an OSCE war monitor in Georgia before he went AWOL across the Russian line on his own improvised fact-finding mission.  Grist’s comments to the media on the start of the war have been twisted and turned by both parties, and it’s clear in this article that he’s eager to clear up confusion.  (RA also had a post yesterday on the war debate)

Mr. Grist was in charge on the ground for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe when fighting erupted in Georgia’s separatist enclave of South Ossetia on the night of Aug. 7. Last month, he caused a stir when he told interviewers that his ceasefire monitors never heard Russian-backed provocations that Georgia says triggered the war.

He also says he repeatedly warned OSCE diplomats that Georgia might attack, but was ignored. Since giving his reports on the war, “I’ve been accused of working for MI6 and the KGB and I have been called a liar,” says Mr. Grist. “I just wanted to find out what was going on.” (…)