We’ll see what happens, but I think the Russians have just knocked over a big hive.
Indeed, the Georgians will not grapple like bears: they will sting like bees. I further suspect the American trainers–many, if not all, of whom have undoubtedly served in Iraq or Afghanistan…or both–will be major force multipliers for the Georgians if they do remain in-country (and they likely will). I can easily envision the trainers morphing into an ad-hoc OSS.

IED’s anyone? How about complex ambushes? Is is night-fighting more to your taste?

If the Russians do try to occupy Georgia, they will quickly discover that Chechnya was a relative cake-walk compared to what they’ll be encountering up-close and personal against a populace that has long memories of Soviet occupation and repression, and which is almost universally united against them.