By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
President George W. Bush is denouncing what he calls Russia's dramatic and brutal escalation of violence in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. He pressed Moscow to accept an immediate cease-fire and to pull back its troops.
Bush put the crisis at the top of his agenda as he returned from the Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
In a Rose Garden statement Monday, Bush said there appeared to be an attempt by Russia to unseat Georgia's pro-Western president, Mikhail Saakashvili.
He demanded an immediate cease-fire, the withdrawal of Russian troops from the conflict zone and a return to the status quo as of Aug. 6.