Whitehall – what America chooses to spell something usually becomes a done deal in the end. Like color and colour — how would a non-English speaker spell it?

If the Ossetians and Abkhazians choose to live under Russian rule, more power to ‘em. They’re choosing the option deliberately of lawlessness and brutality, so as long as they’re being brutal to each other, I don’t see why Georgia or the U.S. should care.

Just make sure their visa-privileges to visit the West are cut off at the same time as the rest of the Russians are.

(I never even knew there *was* a country called Abkhazia outside of Harry Potter and his “Prisoner of Azkaban” …)