[Juha]

Ruy
with all respect You are mixing facts and misinformation. Georgia was part of Russia only from 1801 to 1918/20 after that it was independent appr 1½ year, ruled by Menseviks, until conquerred by Bolseviks in 1923 IIRC. After that to 1991 it was a SSR, Sosialist Soviet Republic, and part of Soviet Union, not part of the Russian SFSR. And as a SSR it had right to separate from the Union according to the constitution of the Soviet Union and it used that right and SU accepted Georgia's declaration of independence appr ½ year after the declaration, a couple months before the dissolution of SU. So all went according to SU constitution and international law or at least more or less according those. Now IIRC areas can be separate from states if the "mother" state accepts that. If "mother" state doesn't accept the separation it had right to use certain amount of force to prevent the separation but not "excessive" force but of course what is "excessive" is a matter of oppinion.

And both South Ossetia and Abkhazia were ASSRs inside Georgia ie parts of Georgia SSR during Soviet era. At least most ASSRs belonged to one or other SSRs, for ex many were part of Russian SFSR.

Now what is morally right sometimes differs from that what is lawfull, on Abkhazia problem is that 1/3 of population kicked 2/3 of population out of area, or at least appr ½ out and rest flee the war and chaos. Now in 1991 a little over ½ of the population wanted the SU to continue, georgians (46% of population) boicotted the vote. Abkhazes made some 20% of the population in 1989. So who has right to decise the future of Abkhazia, those who live there now or has also those who were forced out or fled the violence of early 90s some say on the question? I don't have any firm oppinion on that.

On Shaakasvili, at least his policy towards South Ossetia has been a catastrophe, so I'd not be surprise if his time in office will run out.

Juha