South Ossetia: tell me what to think
I admit it: I hadn’t heard of South Ossetia before the events of the 7th August. Like so many things I was previously ignorant of as soon as it makes the front pages suddenly everyone has an opinion.
I am curious though: is anyone in the right here? Is it an act of foolish aggression, as the Foreign Secretary is saying, or is it the result of a strategic mistake on the part of Georgia? Any ideas?
The War Nerd is as callously insensitive as ever, but suggests that Georgia started it:
There are three basic facts to keep in mind about the smokin’ little war in Ossetia:
1. The Georgians started it.
2. They lost.
3. What a beautiful little war!For me, the most important is #3, the sheer beauty of the video clips that have already come out of this war. I’m in heaven right now.
On the other hand, David Miliband, UK Foreign Secretary is saying that the Georgians were provoked:
Since the early 1990s the frozen conflicts of South Ossetia and Abkhazia have been the subject of international mediation aimed at peaceful resolution. In the first week of August South Ossetian provocation prompted a Georgian military response.
So who do you trust to be correct - a shady Internet personality, or a high-ranking British politician?
[The Exiled analysis via Ken MacLeod]
An article on the Business Week website suggests that 
