Russia... again

So, the latest is Russia calling for the recognized independence of the two break-away Georgian districts of Osettia and Abkhazia... collectively, about as much square mileage as the Coast Counties in MS.

This smacks of the kind of petulance that a 5-year-old would show. You know the routine... "Well, YOU guys supported Kosovo's independence from Serbia... why can't WE support these two districts?"

Does anyone realise that we are talking about the Osettian region having a general population of LESS THAN 100,000 people? Of these 100,000 Osettians, less than HALF speak the Osettian dialect (a seemingly obscure off-shoot of Iranian in the Indo-European family), and it is only by the LANGUAGE that one is determined to be Osettian anyway... no other factor is considered when placing this particular ethnic label on someone.

The ONLY possible benefit that Russia could find in taking up this cause is to destabilize Georgia... there aren't enough "ethnic" Russians in the region to constitute a crisis. It is only the status of the Russian tongue as a lingua Franca within the Georgian state that even lends the "ethnic" issue an ounce of credibility!