Putin's mistake

Now that a ceasefire may be at hand, it's good to review what happened in Georgia.

La Russophobe has interesting analysis on the Russian attack on Georgia, that concludes it was a miscalculation. This act of Russian aggression has served notice to all the former USSR states that they are not safe next to the Russian bear. They will be clamoring for NATO membership. Ossetia is rump police state of about 70,000 people in the country of Georgia of 4 million. Ossetia has Russian ethnic population and is a pawn of Russian re-imperialist ambitions. Russia gave Ossetians Russian passports and has for years been trying to peel this region away from Georgia.

Saakashvili’s Televised Address on S. Ossetia on August 7 offered a peaceful resolution.

Georgia Ministry of Foreign Affairs has a timeline of the recent conflict , with a curious pre-war propaganda effort by the Russians:

" 3 August: South Ossetian separatist government announced evacuation of more than 500 people, including about 400 children. However, Ermak Dzansolov, deputy prime minister of Russia’s North Ossetian Republic, told Interfax news agency that it was not an evacuation. Sending children to North Ossetia was part of a pre-arranged summer-camp programme, as he explained. Russian media outlets started a massive propaganda campaign against Georgia."