As I was replaying, in my head, the film of events from last night, in Ossetia, something struck me. Take two situations:

a. Ossetian separatists fire on two georgian villages. The Georgian military responds by launching a large-scale military operation, essentially aimed at taking control over the entire South Ossetian territory.

b. Rockets are fired from the Ghaza strip into Israeli border towns. The Israeli Defense Forces [IDF] respond by launching a large-scale military operation, aimed at taking control over the territory.

Both examples show a similar approach: large-scale operations following rebel/terrorist attacks. Dispoportionate, one might say. Without attempting to make value judgments, I cannot help but notice one important variable that is missing in the second example, but painfully present in the first: i.e., Russia.

Two questions emerge: Is Georgia deliberately following the Israeli strategy in its recent approach to the frozen conflicts? How wise is Georgia’s approach considering Russia’s involvement?