South Ossetia Musings

OK, I have a question, one that I'm not seeing an answer to in the main stream media, or anywhere else for that matter.

What the devil got into Georgia?

South Ossetia has been a breakaway region for years. Heck, the Georgians signed an agreement with the South Ossetian Separatists back in 1992, 16 years ago. For sixteen years, South Ossetia has been separate from Georgia, with certain agreements in place, and for 16 years, the separatists have had the sympathy and backing of the Russian government. Granted, there was no official recognition of the separation by the UN, but who listens to them anyway :p

So for the last decade and a half, the separatists have been thumbing there nose at the Georgians, with Big Brother(i.e. Russia) lurking in the wings to make sure no one picks on them. What in the world made Georgia think, "Oh, now it's the perfect time to teach those separatists a lesson."?

I have to wonder if there's a bigger picture that we're missing out on. It occurs during the Olympics, I'm not sure what the benefit of that particular timing is, but it would seem to have some significance. It's basically calling the world's attention to the area. However I find it odd that no one is decrying the Georgian invasion of South Ossetia, just the Russian defense of the separatists. Granted, our Russian friends seem to have gotten a little over-exuberant in their implementation of defense of their little friends, but I digress.

Something had to trigger this, and push the Georgians into picking a fight that they absolutely know they had no chance of winning. Even if they marshaled all of their forces and swept in overnight, and took over everything in one fell swoop, there'd still be Russia to deal with, and you know they'd take umbrage at such a thing.

Something caused the Georgians to go temporarily insane. Something that I can't seem to figure out. There's a bigger picture here that I'm missing. If anyone knows what's going on that I'm missing, please enlighten me....

Casey