So Russia and Georgia just went to war

[Filuwaúrdjan]

This is all so incredibly depressing. But not a surprise; it's been obvious for a while that something bad was going to happen over this. Sigh.

---
Random stuff lifted from teh BBC website:

*Russian planes have bombed Stalin's hometown (Gori) and the usual dispute over what and who was bombed be raging...
*Russia says it has "liberated" Tskhinvali, Georgia says it's still controlled by them.
*More Russian troops are to go to South Ossetia
*Two Russian planes have been shot down over Georgia
*Both sides disagree over death figures.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Ukrainian population are apparently divided on this.

Shock

[Filuwaúrdjan]

CNN:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Anyone feel it getting a little Cold?

Russia's too big for us to be on its wrong side for long. Bush can do this since he'll be out soon.

Russia is a joke. They never ever had a lead in the Cold War ever. We'd own them in a month or less.

Pity about the whole "nuclear winter" thing, Jeff

[Filuwaúrdjan]

I'm fully expecting permanent Russian garrisons around Georgia, a pliant client state installed, Abkhaz "independence," and South Ossetia very possibly annexed to Russia.

And that should be unacceptable to the west and worthy going to war over.

Not worth a nuclear war. And that's what any war between the West and Russia would entail...

[Filuwaúrdjan]

I'm fully expecting permanent Russian garrisons around Georgia, a pliant client state installed, Abkhaz "independence," and South Ossetia very possibly annexed to Russia.

And that should be unacceptable to the west and worthy going to war over.

Not worth a nuclear war. And that's what any war between the West and Russia would entail...

You're right.  We should let Hitler Putin have his Sudetenland Georgia.

Putin isn't Hitler. Just the latest in a long line of paranoid despots.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Of course.  But you agree this is his Sudetenland?

No. Nothing like that really; there's no racial nationalist motivation here, just the usual attitudes to the "near abroad".

[Filuwaúrdjan]

You greatly overstate how serious this is if you think a (misguided, as it happens) reference to appeasement is appropriate...

[Filuwaúrdjan]

There's no sane reason for Russia to occupy Georgia. Installing a more favourable (but perhaps not too favourable, actually...) would seem more likely, if it comes to that.