"Permanent"

It looks like Peace is right. Russia has decided to stop miltary operations against Georgia,

And it's clear that Bush is the anti-TR.   Speak loudly and carry a feather. Bush had absolutely no leverage to force Russia to do anything--thanks in large part to stupid overextension of US forces by his senseless invasion of Iraq--rather than trying to finish the job he started in Afghanistan.

That's assuming that Bush would have had the power to do anything in the Georgia-South Ossetia affair--in a corner of the world of overwhelming vital interest to Russia-- even without the Iraq war.

But it would still be good to hear exactly why South Ossetia would not choose a situation close to that of North Ossetia if given the opportunity. And it may still happen.