These are just first impressions, and while I think we’re getting news updates fairly quickly which are probably fairly reliable, there’s still a lot we don’t know.

It’d be very useful to know the true state of the Georgian forces, especially their morale, organization, and discipline. They could be retreating pell mell and are already beaten psychologically, but it doesn’t appear to be the case, as far as we can tell (especially if our advisers are coaching them). I’d love to know more about the Georgian general in command, his past record and so forth. The Georgians don’t have the room to play defense in depth for very long, but the lesser Caucasus does look nice, tough ground for armor. It could also be tough for Russian aircraft, especially if the Georgians are giving them a bloody nose with their SAMs. If they draw this out, exacting high Russian casualties, it could turn into political sentiment for Georgia (for what it’s worth). If the Russians planned this to start with the Olympics, they might very well be hoping for a quick victory while the world is distracted. A Rourke’s Drift last stand could be a Georgian military gold medal, sung to “Men of Harlech.”

Hopefully it won’t be posthumous.