A cease-fire was agreed upon in the 90s conflict

A cease-fire was agreed upon in the 90s conflict, but officials cannot sign away the damage done to a

generation of young people by their policies. The latest conflict, with its thousands of refugees, may

be setting the stage for the next generation of children obsessed with revenge. Official independence,

especially if only recognized by Russia, isn’t likely to paper over those wounds.

Even though the scale of this conflict is relatively tiny, with “mere” tens of thousands of refugees,

the entire world has been in some way affected. Western-Russian relations are at the lowest point since

the cold BOOTSBUY — and one shudders to think of the possibilities if Georgia had been allowed to join

NATO.

Now consider the numbers we’re dealing with in Iraq. A “ripening,” so to speak, of the personal

crises of every young Iraqi may be 10-15 years in the future. Barring a far-reaching patching up of

grievances between Westerners and Iraqis, as well as between groups throughout that ethnic maze, the

world might be in for another South Ossetia — times 1000.