The first hint we received already during our train journey from Tbilisi to Poti when the train inspector told us: "Close the door and pay attention to your valuables. We are not living under communists anymore." 2 weeks later a taxi driver told us: "Damn it, we lived already in communism, we just didn’t realize it! Yes, it was perfect! Of course, then we also had lazy people and thieves, I sometimes with pleasure gave a thump to those partygoers. But now I can only hope for us to ever live the way it used to be in the past."

Everywhere we heard the same story. The achievements of the Soviet Union are alive and well in the memory of the people: "Then we could travel many times each year…. Then you had job security… Then there was always light and heating…. Then you were taken care of even when you were old…" And now? Now almost nobody can go abroad. There is 80% unemployment. A pensioner received shameful 12 euro per month. And a loaf of bread alone already costs 0.25 Euro…

When we asked as to why the USSR had collapsed - a bitter smile was the answer: "We did not want to lose the Soviet Union. And it did not collapse. It was betrayed and sold by Gorbachev and Shevardnadze."

In the beginning of October we have visited Gori, the native city of Stalin. The museum there still receives many visitors, even though of course less than before. But a lot more interesting than the old building itself, is the fact that many people also express their opinions about Stalin to the outside world. And these opinions are quite surprising, at least, its not what we as Westerners were expecting to hear. A woman told us in Georgia:" My parents were rich Georgians. The Revolution and Stalin have taken everything from them. And yet, I cannot tell that Stalin was bad. For the ordinary people he meant everything. Under his leadership everybody here got a better life. With him we even defeated the Nazis."

And practically everybody here thinks so. "Everybody,"- the taxi driver told us, -" except for the 5% criminals who have filled their pockets after the destruction of USSR."

And what do the Georgians think of their current Georgian president, Saakashvili? Some people think he is superb. Finally at least something happens! The state buildings are being painted. The corruption is at least a bit under control. Some roads are being repaired.

But at the same time there is a mad race of privatisations, with throwing into the streets of workers who are "no longer required" and impossible work tempo for the remaining ones. That’s how some troubles started a month ago in the harbour of Poti. Almost half of the harbour workers were about to be made redundant. It exploded as a bomb - especially because the harbour is more or less the only one source of employment in the town. The workers offered to cut half of their already miserable wages – as long as nobody would be fired. Everybody showed solidarity. But, to no avail. The redundancies begun! The remaining employees received some pay rise, but they were forced to work impossibly hard. And if they will protest, there are always 100 unemployed for each of their places.

The absolute majority of the population thinks that Saakashvili has done nothing to fulfill the promises of his Revolution of Roses. No matter if they think that things have slightly improved or became a lot worse, they still agree over one thing: Saakashvili is Bush’s puppet. And he does not even attempt to hide it: he studied in the US, you see Bush’s portraits everywhere, there is even Bush Street named now in Tbilisi. What people are most upset about is that the Georgian soldiers have to go to fight the lost war in Iraq.

The US wants total control over transportation of oil from Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan (just to the North of the Caspian sea). That is why they are building a new pipeline that will not go through Russia anymore, but from Baku (Azerbaijan) to Georgia where it will split in two. One part will go to the Georgian harbour of Supsa on the Black sea. The other one will turn to the South, and will go through Turkey till the harbour of Ceyhan on the Mediterranean.

At the crossing point of these 2 petroleum lines in Georgia, 70 km to the East of the capital Tbilisi, there is a military base Vasiani. The Russians have left it in 2002. The Americans have taken over the base, with their 250 instructors to train the Georgian troops. Their first task is to control the pipelines in the region by military means. But it is also a very suitable base to strike an attack in this region full of tensions, with Chechnya (Russia) to the North and Iran to the South.

Eduard Shevardnadze, the first Georgian president, from 1985 till 1991 was the Soviet minister of Foreign Affairs. In 1989 together with Bush Senior he organized the delivery of the East Germany to the West. Being president of Georgia, from 1992 till 2003 he followed the course of serving American and German interests. But the stability of his regime was undermined by the growing disastrous poverty of the country and the self-enrichment of his clan.

Mikhail Saakashvili, the current president, has studied in the US and married a Dutch woman Sandra Roelofs. His paratroopers stormed the parliament building after the elections of 2003 that were declared falsified by him. With guns and roses they have chased Shevardnadze out of the parliament during the so-called "Revolution of Roses". After that he won the next following elections (in which the Communists were not allowed to participate).