Military

Latest reports are that the Svanetian region, Kodori Gorge, was taken by joint Russian-Abkhazian forces. It was a contentious area, way up in the mountains... but a place that Georgians had recently built a school, hospital, and church... likely all destroyed.

Russia reports still being fired upon, which means that pockets of Georgian fighters are still active... who can blame them with a huge invasion force in control of half the country?

With Medvedev publically announcing that "Russia's objectives have been achieved," we're expecting a gradual withdrawal of Russian troops to the frozen conflict zones. The status quo will be resumed, and those regions probably won't voluntarily rejoin Georgia for many years to come as a result of these recent conflicts.

The port in Poti has apparently been nearly destroyed, with cargo ships in the harbor sunk, oil containers blown up, and port infrastructure obliterated. It's important to point out that the port is nowhere near the conflict zones and most of the equipment destroyed is in private hands, a lot of it owned by Azeris. What did this port have to do with "peace-keeping" in South Ossetia? Nothing. But it had everything to do with Russia's real motive of setting Georgia back a few years economically and maintaining the conflict zones that made Soviet 'divide-and-conquer' policy so effective in the Caucasus. This region will never be strong without strong national borders and regional security. Lacking either, no investor comes near and the entire area, rich in agricultural and mineral resources, not to mention cultural history, continues to live in poverty.