[tobyhill]

After Russia already flooded the provinces with Russians and anti-Georgian militias this is not a surprise. At this point it maybe best for Georgia to let Russia take over these provinces. The US nor Europe will fight Russia over a couple border provinces and Georgia risk losing it all by trying to hang on.

[Antoninus]

After Russia already flooded the provinces with Russians and anti-Georgian militias this is not a surprise. At this point it maybe best for Georgia to let Russia take over these provinces. The US nor Europe will fight Russia over a couple border provinces and Georgia risk losing it all by trying to hang on.

The trouble is, South Ossetia is a salient into Georgia and, unless I am mistaken, the only major pass through the Caucasus Mountains runs through there. To hand the Russians control of that salient means that a repeat performance of this past week's attrocities could happen at any time the Russians choose. Georgia would become an undefendable rump state--just like Czechoslovakia became once the Sudetenland was stripped away.

The parallels here to 1938 are positively eerie. Caveat Occidenta.

[Dead Dog]

Looks to me like the Roki tunnel is indefensible to begin with. A single choke point that keeps Russia out of Central Asia. They need S. Ossetia as a staging point.