Some U.S. politicians are now beginning to admit that Georgia started the conflict with Russia.

For example, the U.S. ambassador to Russia said a couple of weeks ago that Russia's initial military response was legitimate after Russian troops came under attack by Georgian forces.

And a few days ago, Congressman Dana Rohrbacher, a California Republican, said:

"The Russians are right! We're wrong! Georgia started it, the Russians ended it"

Even Dan Fried, a senior US state department official who has consistently stated that Russia started the conflict, is now backpedaling:

The Georgians "believed at the time - at least they said at the time - that they thought the Russian forces were coming through the Roki tunnel (which links Russia with South Ossetia) and they were in imminent danger."

He added: "I'm unable to tell you now whether or not this was true."