When the fights in the Caucasus region started on Friday, we saw the start of a war that was simmering for month, if not for years. Since the fall of the Soviet Union the entire region has been separated by different interested and subsequently the support came from different sides, too. South Ossetia, supported by Russia, and Georgia, which has received US military assistance, are bitter enemies. From Moscow's point of view, Ossetia has been an important strategic base near the Turkish and Iranian frontiers since the days of the czars. The USA, on the other hand, are courting Georgia, which they see as a way to curb the Russian influence in the southern Caucasus. Georgia is also an important transit country for oil being pumped from the Caspian Sea to the Turkish port of Ceyhan and a potential base for Washington efforts to encircle Tehran.
And we all know, as soon as oil is involved there is no fast way out. So the fight continues.
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