[WMCoolmon]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7550354.stm

[ShadowGorrath]

Took you all THAT long to notice? Geesh. . . And it's a war now, not a simple crossing of the border.

[Scuddie]

This just in:  War happens!

[NGTM-1R]

Took you all THAT long to notice?

I was wondering when it would be mentioned here, but didn't have a source handy for anyone to look at

This seems a little out of left field for me. Georgia busted up a Russian espionage ring some time ago and made what seemed at the time very alarmist noises about Russia, which seemed partially vindicated when Russia tried to play hardball over a prisoner exchange until the rest of Europe looked on this shenangians with a decidedly gimlet eye. Still, I've heard little else out of the region since, so this is...unexpected.

Though it does remind me of Pakistan and India's antics over Kashmir...unfortunately for Georgia it doesn't have the 800-pound gorilla in the form of the USN to keep things from going too far.

Now I suppose we see how well the EU can handle it, and whether NATO becomes involved. (IIRC didn't Georgia try to get NATO membership once? A lot of ex-Soviet states have, it becomes difficult to keep track sometimes...)

[Nuclear1]

Russia, intentionally or otherwise, has put itself in an interesting position.  Having granted Russian citizenship to South Ossetians, it has an obligation to defend them against the Georgian attack, but the question is how far Moscow is willing to go to make sure Georgia stays out.  Bombing Georgian civilians certainly isn't going to convince Tbilisi to back down, which may have been the one fatal flaw Russia made.  Had they simply rolled into South Ossetia with that massive column of tanks to back the separatists, I'm almost certain Georgia would have at least considered slowing down, if not breaking off the attack just due to the large size of the force sent at them.

This will be interesting to see how it develops.

EDIT:  Now it seems Abkhazia is considering opening a second front against Georgia...better hope for some sort of resolution quickly or Georgia is going to fall apart.

[Flipside]

I wouldn't write Georgia off too quickly, mind you, that country could prove a tougher nut to crack than Russia thinks.

That said, I wish there was a clear picture of what was going on, the Russians are denying air raids that are being reported by foreign media, which never looks very kosher...

Edit: Oh, and I wouldn't rely on the UN at the moment, if there's one thing that organisation cannot do, it is make a decision in a crisis, too many egos.

[Nuclear1]

I'm not saying in any way Russia will be able to necessarily defeat the Georgians in the long run.  Are they perfectly capable of destroying the vast majority of the Georgian military and razing Tblisi to the ground?  Yes.  Will Georgians lay down arms even afterwards?  Not likely.  Then we see Russia bogged down fighting an insurgency, with South Ossettia in bad shape, and Abkhazians using the war as cover for ethnically cleansing the 250,000 ethnic Georgians that live in its borders.

Russia doesn't need to defeat Georgia for the country to melt down. 

Also, I didn't necessarily mean "Resolution" as in what the UN may do, but rather "resolution", as in an agreement between the parties involved to end the conflict before it spirals out of control.

[Warp Shadow]

I think I remember a news article posted in this forum a few months back, with a video of a georgian unmanned aircraft being shot down by a russian fighter plane. I think russia claimed it was rebels, even though it was obvious fronm the recovered camera that the plane was expensive, well kept, military issue and that the guy flying it knew what he was doing.

[karajorma]

Of course this is rather ironic when you compare the Russian response to their own separatists in Chechnya.

[Herra Tohtori]

I wonder how confused many US Citizens would be when the media announced that Russia is invading Georgia.

[ShadowGorrath]

Last time they heard of Georgia and Russia, they started the "We must nuke the Communist bastards".

[Herra Tohtori]

Last time they heard of Georgia and Russia, they started the "We must nuke the Communist bastards".

It was the Soviet Socialist Republic of Gruzia at that time...

[ShadowGorrath]

It was recent, and they meant the russians by calling them "commies". Some people in the western world ( especially USA ) still think that Russia is a Soviet nation. . .

[WeatherOp]

I wonder how confused many US Citizens would be when the media announced that Russia is invading Georgia.

Well, to answer your question, I haven't seen anyone packing up their deer rifles or shotguns yet, but I'll let you know if they do.

[Herra Tohtori]

I wonder how confused many US Citizens would be when the media announced that Russia is invading Georgia.

Well, to answer your question, I haven't seen anyone packing up their deer rifles or shotguns yet, but I'll let you know if they do.

Most likely because they haven't heard about Russia invading Georgia yet, what with John Edwards having affairs outside of marriage [gasp!] and the Olympic Games starting up and presidential election stuff going on...

[General Battuta]

We have the Internet just like everyone else, fortunately.

[TopAce]

...Most likely because they haven't heard about Russia invading Georgia yet

It's all over CNN.

what with John Edwards having affairs outside of marriage [gasp!] and the Olympic Games starting up

These news are dwindled by the Georgia conflict, even if the Edwards thing is local and the Olympic Games are global.

I'm only wondering how many will have to be told, "No, this is not our Georgia, but a small country in Europe."

[Nuclear1]

Of course this is rather ironic when you compare the Russian response to their own separatists in Chechnya.

Chechnya doesn't have a big brother to fall back on when they get bombed.

South Ossetia does.

[BloodEagle]

Rather than comment in any meaningful way, I'll comment in a comical and unrelated way.

WOLVERINES!

[Herra Tohtori]

...Most likely because they haven't heard about Russia invading Georgia yet

It's all over CNN.

Fair enough, but is it on the Fox News?  

...but this isn't really related much on anything.


It's a pretty interesting political situation there indeed, what with the recent acknowledgement of Kosovo's sovereignty after one-sided declaration of independence. S.Ossetia declared independence in 1992, and at that time Georgia did start military ops at the region, but Russia pressured them to back down then. I dunno if the Kosovo thing really sparked the separatists' actions, and I don't know if the stories of ethnic cleansenings by Georgian troops are true, but I don't really think Russia should be playing the white knight in protecting S.Ossetia's claims for independence while keeping Chechenya as tight under their heel as they can...

All that is now needed is someone big supporting Georgia on the matter and things might get really interesting. Of course the definition of "interesting" in this case might come from the movie Serenity...