Experts such as Stephen Jones at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts say Mr.Saakashvili's decision to attack South Ossetia's capital, Tskhinvali,was a colossal mistake.

VOA: standard.2009.09.01

But the firms most often blamed for precipitating the crisis were colossal investment houses, mortgage institutions, and insurance corporations, many of which required multi-billion-dollar bailouts or government takeovers to stay afloat.

VOA: standard.2009.10.01