Politics - Near (abroad) and Far

In regard to my earlier observation, I have been watching the news about the Russo-Georgian conflict. Interestingly enough, the International Criminal Court is also trying to find out what happened in South Ossetia and Georgia to determine if any war crimes were committed.

So, what seems to have happened is that the South Ossetians kept provoking the Georgia forces with minor attacks until the Georgians finally snapped and struck back, admittedly with excessive force. When they did, the Russians had their excuse and it was on.

A sad and rather humorous, in a dark way, article in defense of the Russia actions by Mikhail Gobachev. He does say one important thing, "The region is a patchwork of ethnic groups living in close proximity." But neglects to mention that it was Russian (and then Soviet and now Russian again) policy to encourage, support and sometimes create such a patchwork to insure their ability to 'intervene' as needed.

The Russian military, intelligence and diplomatic services mounted a very well coordinated and effective campaign, though not everything went the Russians way, overwhelming force tends to make up for small mistakes.


And a minor kerfuffle in the gaming blogosphere, one of McCain aides made a statement (in reference to questions about a story McCain tells about his path) that was insulting to D&D players. However, he has since apologized.

Edit: The apology was from an earlier kerfuffle apparently. Though I am quite amused by it in any case.