After senior Daniel Usenko read and watched the Western-media coverage on the war in South Ossetia, he wrote a section in his blog. He titled it, “They Are Liars.”

Usenko, like a number of others, is frustrated with the West’s portrayal of Russian aggression without adequately acknowledging Georgia’s military assaults as well. Usenko was born in Russia and grew up in Abkhazia, a separatist region in Georgia. At age 11, he and his family moved to the United States.

The war between Russia and its southern neighbor Georgia broke out Aug. 7 when Georgia began shelling the capitol of breakaway province South Ossetia in an effort to reclaim the region. Russia repelled the attack by bringing tanks and troops into South Ossetia and then penetrated deeper into Georgian territory.

On campus, students responded to the conflict with mixed views and a goal to set the record straight.

“Both sides are lying to some extent, but I’m disappointed that my country [the United States] is lying,” Usenko said.

With his family living in Abkhazia, Usenko said he is grateful to the Russians for protecting Abkhazians from a Georgian military takeover.

“If Russia didn’t intervene, it would be certain that [the Georgians] would take over Abkhazia,” Usenko said. “If they took over Abkhazia then they would have killed my family.”

However, master’s student Khatuna Giorgadze agrees with the West’s view that the Russians are the primary aggressors, not the humanitarian heroes. She is from Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, and is a T.A. at the Jackson School of International Studies.

“It wasn’t in Georgia’s interest to start a military conflict. Georgia’s initiated attack was a response to provocations — well-planned provocations. Georgian government did exactly what Russian government wanted them to do,” she said.

Was Russia’s prolonged presence in Georgia necessary? To some students, the answer is more complex than yes or no.

“It’s a common practice for this kind of country to get more influence,” said Alim Khakimov, a junior from Uzbekistan and member of Russian-speaking Student Society. “It’s what you expect to happen with a big country like that.”

Sophomore Sasha Bessonova, said the presence is a trademark of Russian foreign policy — not only characteristic of big countries.

“Russia would never abandon their ideals and missions,” she said. “If someone says, ‘I don’t think you should do this’ to Russia, it takes it as a challenge and says, ‘well, let’s see.’”

However, Giorgadze thinks that Russia’s military occupation in Georgia was more than an expression of Russian practices; it was a message to post-Soviet states. She said Russia used Georgia’s military offensive as a pretext for an attack it had been planning for months.

“Russia sees its post-Soviet states as its imperial states where it has to restore its control,” she said.

The Russians, she said, attacked at a critical time: the world’s eyes were on the Olympics in Beijing, the Bush administration was exiting and Georgia was gaining momentum into NATO membership.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agreed to withdraw troops back to pre-war lines by Oct. 11 after the European Union deploys 200 E.U. monitors in Georgia starting Oct. 1.

On Aug. 12, UW officials announced the cancellation of the second exploration seminar due to the conflict in Georgia this summer. The seminar was headed to Sochi, a Russian city 20 miles away from the border to Abkhazia .

“We thought that putting students and UW employees that close to an area of violent conflict was not in anyone’s best interest,” said Max Savishinsky, program director of Exploration Seminars.

The three-and-a-half week program was slated to start Aug. 28 and would have focused on interpersonal communication, culture and health in the tourist-rich city.

“In my two years we’ve never had to cancel [an exploration seminar] due to violent conflict,” Savishinsky said.

Both John McCain and Barack Obama are supportive of Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili’s efforts to regain control of the breakaway territory and both candidates support Georgian NATO membership.

Since the conflict started, disputes over which side initiated attacks and motivations behind the war have been an ongoing debate or an “information war,” as Khakimo called it.

According to the New York Times, Georgia revealed two phone calls which claim to provide evidence that Russian tanks and vehicles entered South Ossetia prior to military activity on the night of Aug. 7.

Medvedev said Saakashvili ordered attacks at 11:30 p.m. that night.

Like politicians and military leaders, students on campus are digging for the truth. For Usenko, that means providing a side of the conflict that has been overshadowed by Western biases. His blog posting gathered 38 responses and numerous e-mails.

“Most people have reacted negatively but not all,” Usenko said. “Some have written encouragement e-mails or thank you e-mails for speaking out.”

Reach reporter Emily Lee at news@dailyuw.com.