I’ve been wondering what it would take to close off that tunnel, leaving the Soviet force unable to be resupplied or reinforced on the ground. Isolating a sizable extended force and forcing its surrender is always bad for an invader, as the Nazis found out at Stalingrad.
IF Georgia blows the tunnel, then the Russians will claim that they are staying because the blown tunnel “prevents them from leaving.”
That’s how global diplomacy and propaganda work during wars, after all.
What Georgia is doing is instead the correct course of action:
1. resupplying
2. consolodating defensive positions after yielding ground
3. letting international pressure work against Russia
4. hitting the Russians outside of the Ossetia disputed region...or disengaging to see if the Russians advance further
Now granted, there could be a time/place for blowing the tunnel...but from then on the game changes substantially.
The question then becomes: do you want the game to change today, or later when you have more allies mobilized and more anti-tank missiles imported?
Keep in mind that the U.S. and the Ukraine have prevented Putin from blockading Georgia, so full modern arms imports can be purchased by Tbilsi.
One has to wonder if selling South African anti-tank missiles and Israeli anti-aircraft missiles has found a very willing buyer this week, somewhere in Africa/Middle-East...
“I’ve been wondering what it would take to close off that tunnel, leaving the Soviet force unable to be resupplied or reinforced on the ground.”
I think that’s Bush’s trump card in this situation...
A few criuse missles, and Russia’s armour and allies are dependent on Air Resupply..