I would reverse that question and ask why we are expected to accept the assertion that Georgia only invaded South Ossetia in response to attacks from South Ossetians, since the only source for this assertion is the government of Georgia. If we are not to rely on sources that are biased, and if the government of Russia is biased, then the same standard applies to the government of Georgia. They cannot be trusted as an unbiased source of information about who attacked whom and when.

And for this reason, it is ridiculous to try to suggest that Georgia only bombed and invaded South Ossetia in response to attacks from South Ossetia and that we are expected to accept that just because the government of Georgia says so. Almost all of the media in the US and elsewhere are saying that Georgia bombed and invaded South Ossetia specifically for the purpose of taking back that territory, and that the Government of Georgia has had that intention since 1992. Which is what I have been arguing all along.

Nobody has to accept any assertions coming from the government of Russia. But if someone expects us to accept what the government of Georgia has to say about it, and then that person turns right around and says that we shouldn't accept what the government of Russia says about it, that person is engaging in hypocrisy.