Georgia conflict
Updated 1h 3m ago
By Jeffrey Stinson, USA TODAY

LONDON — In crushing Georgia, Russia has obtained control over new territory, weakened a neighbor that had closely aligned itself with the United States and sent a message to other neighboring nations that it's a major force to be reckoned with, analysts said.
"This very much shows that Russia calls the shots in the region," said James Nixey, who heads the Russia and Eurasia program for the London foreign policy think tank Chatham House. "It shows that when Russia wants to throw its weight around, it can."

Russian forces have full control of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, another breakaway province. Both have populations that have acted independently from Georgia and had aligned themselves with Moscow for the last 16 years.

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said as much Tuesday, telling thousands of Georgians in an afternoon speech downtown in the capital Tblisi that his government will declare the two regions occupied Russian territory.

In addition, he said, Georgia will declare the Russians as peacekeepers there to prevent any further conflict