[MarMema]

You have it wrong. The Georgians were baited by the separatists in South Ossetia.

[gandalftb]

And the ethnic Russian separatists in Ossetia are being led by the Russians.

There have been constant escalations by both sides trying to gin up a military confrontation.

The Georgians were baited just as the Russians were, their mistake was militarily acting on it, offering a tactical bait to the Russians and an excuse to pre-emptive counter-attack.