Quote Originally Posted by thcbongman
It's in the US's best interest to defend Georgia. If Georgia secure those resources, we get a brokered a deal. Supporting Russia gains the US nothing.
true. but we should look @ the trade off for what we gain and what lose if we stand behind georgia and against russia... its not all about what we gain in short term, u may find depletable resources and u may buy a lifelong enemy(ies sounds more realistic)

all i think is that no resource in such a tiny area is worth another cold war or a real war for that matter for US taxpayers.

plus can some1 back up this claim that its about resources b4 we go any further in this subject cuz i couldnt come up with potential estimated worth of the resources we are talking about here...

i think this can explain the situation much better, i find it a credible source after reviewing the footnotes
Georgia and South Ossetia
"The region of South Ossetia lies in the north central part of Georgia and is home to an ethnic group distinct from both the Georgians and Russians. When Georgia came under Soviet rule in 1923, the Soviet government granted South Ossetia the status of being the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast (SOAO) within the Soviet Republic of Georgia. At the same time, North Ossetia was left under the domain of Russia, thus splitting Ossetia into Northern and Southern regions. Therefore, since the break-up of the Soviet Union, the South Ossetians, have been attempting to gain independence since November 1989 when the SOAO Council sent a letter to the Georgian Supreme Soviet demanding to be unified with North Ossetia, mostly out of concern regarding Georgian nationalism and subsequent second class treatment. The Georgian leaders did not meet the demands of the South Ossetians and went so far as to ban all regional political parties in September 1990 during parliamentary elections. The Ossetians interpreted this as a move directly intended to weaken South Ossetian autonomy and power in the political system. Therefore, Soviet leaders approved of unification with North Ossetia, located in Russia, but Georgian leaders did not. This triggered a series of events which eventually led to violent conflict between the South Ossetians and Georgia. In September 1990, the Ossetians declared sovereingty under the USSR and in return, the Georgian government dissolved its recognition of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast. In January 1992, a referendum was held in Tskhinvali, the regional capital of South Ossetia, with a clear majority of the people supporting South Ossetia's seccession from Georgia and joining Russia. The South Ossetian Supreme Council made these desires official after voting in favor of secession from Georgia to Russia on November 19, 1992."