American Buddhist Net

I think Georgia overplayed it's NATO connections and pushed Russia too far. The Russians have made a risky move, but one that is not unpredictable; it sends a message to the other former Bloc countries about getting too chummy with NATO. The Russians may militarily dominate Geogia but, it will become a parallel situation to the Iraq & Afghanistan occupation; they will be hounded unceasingly by partisan acts of sabotage and assassination. Russia doesn't have the surplus for a protracted military occupation. Georgia would of course be supported by Israel/United states, who would easily dump tonnes of surplus weaponry on the resistant population delivered via the hashish/heroin smuggling networks already established. There are likely already large caches of weaponry in country. I don't think the US even needs to be directly involved, it works better if they aren't. It would serve US purposes to bog Russia in yet another protracted regional conflict, that over time would become unpopular among their own population, and likely result in a change of government. We have a whole group of exiled Russian "Oligarch" businessmen who are looking to make a reappearance in a Russia that is more economically pliable than the present one. Their remote control influence on the organized criminal element in Russia can make things difficult. Backed by American dollars, a lot could become extremely unstable in Russia. The US cannot directly involve itself, but already has covert operations throughout the area, so they need do nothing but what they do best.