CarolC – "People who deny the right of South Ossetia to break away from Georgia, but who uphold Georgia's right to break away from Russia are engaging in hypocrisy."

Can you tell us all exactly when it was that Georgia "broke away" from Russia? The USSR was made up of a number of independent republics – Georgia was one of them. When the Communist System in Russia collapsed the Republics were free to go their own separate ways. The borders of the United Soviet Socialist Republic of Georgia were determined by the Communists sometime around 1921, Abkhazia and South Ossetia lay within those boundaries. I asked earlier if the wishes and desires of the Ossetian people meant anything to the Russians, why was there never a United Soviet Socialist Republic of Ossetia? If the cause being supported by Russia is so laudable why did they not support the Ossetians in Georgia in 1990? When the circumstances were exactly the same? Oh wait a minute they weren't oil was not $115 per barrel, Russia was exporting very little of it and the BTC Pipeline had not been constructed. I supposed Chechnya will get "Independence" next Eh?