To be fair, South Ossetia wasn’t just minding it’s business when Georgia invaded. Earlier that week Ossetian forces attacked Georgian troops, killing two. Then a few days later they mortared a Georgian village which killed eight. Saakishvili then called for a cease-fire and urged separatist leaders to resume talks on a settlement. The response was more shelling of Georgian villages. So Georgia said enough and went in.

Of course, they also wanted an excuse to get back control of the region. The only way I see them thinking they could get away with it was by getting a green light from the US. So I put this current crisis in the laps of the neocons.