Teribus--

I deduce from your tone that you don't think that self-determination for the South Ossetians would result in their choosing a similar status to that of North Ossetia.

From Google:   "Before the Georgian-Ossetian conflict, roughly 2/3 of the population of South Ossetia was Ossetian.   25%-30% was Georgian." according to the Permament Committee on Geographical Names for British Official Use".   This is before the current hostilities--that is, before any ethnic cleansing as a result of the 2008 crisis.

"By August 2008, more than 70% of the South Ossetian citizens had Russian citizenship.`'--again, Google.

Obviously the South Ossetians want as much autonomy as they can get. They have seen how much Georgia is willing to give them.

It's time for you to provide some actual evidence and logic that the South Ossetians would not now voluntarily choose a similar status to that of North Ossetia, which is officially a part of Russia, rather than the status they now have within Georgia.