Russia is a very multiethnic country, with, in addition to the Ossetians and Abkhaz, the Mingrels and Svans not being very happy with Tbilisi. You may recall that Tbilisi had a military incursion into Svan territory a coupld of years ago. Anyway, this is all fallout from the hypernationalistic Georgian government in the early 1990s and its "Georgia for the Georgians" policy.
--- On Sat, 8/9/08, Mr. X <from_alamut at yahoo.com> wrote:
> From: Mr. X <from_alamut at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] South Ossetia
> To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
> Date: Saturday, August 9, 2008, 10:29 AM
> Ossetians (Alans) are not Georgians ethnically, they are
> closer to Iranian (The Georgian language and the language of
> the Oseetians are not related). They have a right to
> self-determination and it seems like they have chosen to
> associate with Russia over Georgia.
>
> peace,
> Jim Davis
> Ozark Bioregion, USA