Lieberman and South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham met with Georgian officials as well as with the ranking U.S. general on the ground. Graham, speaking to refugees alongside Lieberman, said that the Russians are "not going to prevent the American people from helping you."

About 80,000 people displaced by Russian-Georgian fighting are in more than 600 centers in and around Tbilisi.

U.S. Brig. Gen. Jon Miller has ordered a U.S. military assessment team to draw up a response plan to provide for semi-permanent housing for about 20,000 people who have no homes to return to. He also wants such a housing plan to be capable of quick expansion to provide for the rest of the refugees if the Russians do not withdraw and people are unable to go home.

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Associated Press writers Misha Dzhindzhikhashvili and David Rising in Tbilisi, Georgia; Christopher Torchia in Igoeti, Georgia, Jim Heintz in Moscow and Richard Lardner in Orlando, Fla. contributed to this report.