Now its a shooting war

The New York Times has a piece on the fighting between Georgia and South Ossetia; they're using tanks and rockets now: "As Georgian forces besieged Tskhinvali, the capital of the enclave, President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia promised to 'punish' those responsible for what he called 'a deep violation of international law' by Georgia that he said had led to the deaths of Russian citizens and Russian peacekeepers stationed in Tskhinvali... The developments raised the question of how the United States might react to a Russian attack on Georgia, an American ally whose pursuit of NATO membership has angered the Russians."

Rico says he learned a lot time ago that it doesn't pay to piss off Russians, especially when you live in their backyard. This is going to go hard on the Georgians, but hopefully we can stay out of it...