wretchard,

i don’t believe russians are planning to stay where they are. they are positioned so ossetins and abkhazians can finish up eithnic cleansing and mop up all georgians, to create defensible, ethnically homogeneous zones. this is eactly what russians meant when they told russia to forget about it.

when it’s done, they’ll fall back, leaving daily chafing contacts (that no army needs) with georgians to local irregulars (who thrive on this sort of things).

the only way out of this mess is preemptively recognize independence of ossetia and abkhazia, and send UN troops on the borders.