P.S on South Ossetia, Georgia and Russia

After the confirmation that Russian troops have invaded the main part of Georgia - and a reply from Ola Szkudlapska on my first post on South Ossetia - i'd like to make it clear that i don't think Russian forces have any right to be in any part of Georgia outside of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and also that Russian airstrikes on civilians are not justified in any way.

I also realise that Putin and the Russian government are attempting to re-build the Russian empire that never ended, even under the Soviet Union.

Saakashvili's government is guilty of human rights abuses - including attacks on civilians in South Ossetia, dubious elections and jailing of political opponents - but then so is the Russian government on an even larger scale.

The overthrow of the Georgian government by military force would make things worse, not better and western governments are right to call on Russia not to take any such action and to withdraw its troops from central Georgia.