On August 8th the military of the Republic of Georgia decided to celebrate the opening of the Olympics by attacking citizens of South Ossetia, a small section of the nation with a different language and culture, most of whose residents would like to reunite with North Ossetia. The "pro-Western" Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili has been excusing his murderous attacks using Lincolnesque language and worse...

He even called for U.S. military support, thinking his desire to keep his union in one piece is worth the threat of world nuclear war! In response, Russia, which had peacekeepers in the region to protect South Ossetians, has been testing its military might by bombing the heck out of targets inside Georgia.
Some good overview articles include:

* Georgian jets and troops pound separatists

* Georgia makes a power play — and a big gamble

* ANALYSIS-Georgia takes gamble with move on rebels

* South Ossetia: Inside Georgia but dependent on Russia

* Georgia 'pulls out of S Ossetia'

* Russia Expands Bombing Against Georgia

* U.S. Accuses Russia of Wanting Regime Change (talk about the pot calling the kettle black!)

* The Real Aggressor As usual Justin Raimondo gets it right

* Antiwar.Com ongoing listing of news and opinion articles on this topic

* CarolMooreReport: Crazy Old Coot McCain Encouraged Georgia to Attack S. Ossetia??

Updates on this issue will continue there...

The bottom line is that bad and aggressive leadership can destroy secessionist movements. Aggressive and violent secessionists (in the leadership or as dissident factions) can convince even conciliatory unionist leaders to react with military force. Unionist leaders bent on maintaining control may decide to use military force against even nonviolent secessionists - and even try to turn it into a bloody regional war, if it serves their political purposes. And any intervention by larger powers to aid secessionists, whether on the seceding region's border or even more so thousands of miles away, will taint the secessionist cause.