Pro-Georgia Protest @ Noon

An unconfirmed report in the P-I's Big Blog claims members of the local Georgian community and their supporters plan a protest today at noon at the Russian consulate at Sixth & Virginia. The protest is in response to Russia's attack on Georgian territory following Georgia's failed attempt late last week to recapture the breakaway region of South Ossetia. Relations between Georgia and Russia have been strained for years, since pro-Western President Mikheil Saakashvili came to power in 2003's Rose Revolution. Russia under the nationalist Vladimir Putin has sought to keep neighboring countries and former Soviet republics like Georgia and Ukraine from moving into the Western fold.