"The conflict between Russia and the former Soviet republic of Georgia moved toward all-out war on Saturday as Russia prepared to land ground troops on Georgia’s coast and broadened its bombing campaign both within Georgia and in the disputed territory of Abkhazia." - Bret Taylor from Bookmarklet

mmm, home work to read http://blog.wired.com/defense... - A.T.

Interesting take by noted military strategist Thomas P.M. Barnett http://tinyurl.com/6od63z - Dave Martin

Georgia and Russia Nearing All-Out War By MICHAEL SCHWIRTZ, ANNE BARNARD and C. J. CHIVERS Published: August 10, 2008 Russia and Georgia veered closer to all-out war on Saturday as Russia moved parts of its Black Sea fleet toward Georgia’s coast and intensified its air attacks.So,according to this report, we have to "pay per view" what's happening? For free access to this article and more, you must be a registered member of NYTimes.com - FAIL - Graham Steel

Silpol: Thanks for the link. The comments were interesting to say the least. - Mathew A. Koeneker

For me, this always brings up the question of when should countries allow separatist areas go and when should they forcefully bring them back to the fold? If the people in South Ossetia really want to be their own country, should the international community support them? Or should the sovereignty of the nation take precedence? - Brett Cannon

unfortunately I know Georgia too well - I used to serve there on the edge of times in 91-92, my unit had been here http://tinyurl.com/5mdyq3 (yes, now abandoned airfield in Vaziani) that scratched gray square is place where my *stuff* was... what is going on now in that area looks as dumb mistake from US side and Russia got (almost) all possible excuses to leave no alive spot on Georgian surface... - A.T.

@Brett Cannon you ask actually questions which has no single answer, IMO - A.T.

the political decisions of "ordinary" people mostly just suck. they only see whats surrounding them. they dont understand the bigger causal connections and how the power-game is played. just take a look what happened to east timor. they are now poorer then before and their wish to be independent was based on totally whack assumptions. the decision to separate should be judged on the likeliness that the living standards of the ordinary people would go up. - Chris Hofmann

...and not on history or the silly coolness of supporting the underdog - Chris Hofmann

@mcdawg: look at BBC, they carry nearly the same coverage. - 9000

Putin is still the boss, eh? The NYT articles implies all President Medvedev is doing is handing out press releases. Anyway, hope this all gets resolved sooner rather than later. - Jim Stanger

...but BBC's coverage is more peicemeal, alas. - 9000

more caucasian violence, sigh... - Jim Norris

fire cease? - ieruo

Oi no good at all will come of this. - Geoff Schultz

It's like if Canada invaded Northern Michigan, it's just a little one-sided and pointless. - xero

i'm afraid Canadian allusion doesn't fit well here - it's more likely to along scenario of Canadian Bacon (1995) http://www.imdb.com/title... - A.T.

Fine, we'll call it Spain and Portugal, without 90min of John Candy cursing. ;) - xero

It's difficult to "like" things like this in FriendFeed. - Daniel Schildt

change" like "to "diggg" - 阿石

only politicians like wars - because they don't have to die of being wounded, but it solves some of their problems - A.T.

There is plenty of private industry that likes them too. - Geoff Schultz

I think we are kidding ourselves if we thought Russia was not a threat to world peace. Though; please to not fear for the worse if you live in other countries. "You must face your fears if you are to overcome it. Fear is in the future. There is not fear in the present, only action and reaction." -- Oonu in Dinotopia - Brandon from twhirl

This is going to be bad, bad, bad all the way around. Georgia is our ally, and we're ignoring them. Russia, flush with petrodollars, is making up for it's lost superpower status with a vengeance. If we never invaded Iraq and succeeded in Afghanistan, we might have the moral and military might to back up a diplomatic surge to end this type of over-reaching. But we don't. So our allies suffer and our rivals outmaneuver around the world. - Kawika Holbrook

this thing has been bouncing around the timeline forever... and no can't say I agree with the current status over there - the main problem is not knowing what the real issues are... is it geopolitical? is there oil involved perhaps? - ben rogers from twhirl