To: TimF who wrote (2266 ) 9/10/2008 10:03:37 AM From: RetiredNow Read Replies (2) | Respond to Take a look at it from the Russian perspective for a second. Georgia was part of the Soviet Union and broke away and claimed independence. The Western world in our glee recognized Georgia's independence, especially because they wanted to be Democratic. Then South Ossetia, the citizens of which identify with their Russian neighbors, declared their independence from Georgia. The Western world didn't like that because the Ossetians were lining up with our former enemy, Russia. Georgia and S. Ossetia had several conflicts, until Russia provided aid to Ossetia and established a military presence to stop the fighting. Russia, of course, recognized Ossetia's independence, because they viewed all of Georgia as being Russian anyway. Then Georgia attacked S. Ossetia and Russia came to their aid and crushed the Georgian military. So purely from a tit for tat perspective, we have no right to be on the holier than thou side, because Russia was simply playing by the rules we established for regions declaring themselves independent. It's just that when those rules don't work in our favor, we don't like it.
