That Georgian sense of humor

Well, at least the Georgians haven't completely lost their sense of irony. After ruinous battles against overpowering Russian forces, parliament in the former Soviet republic of Georgia voted unanimously Thursday to recommend that the government break diplomatic relations with Moscow. Gee, you think? A neighbor bombs your cities and seizes your territory -- want to sit around a table and talk to them now? Sounds like diplomacy has already failed, doesn't it? At least Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili got it right. He told the Reuters international news service that there was almost no dialog between the two countries anyway. Georgia withdrew its ambassador from Moscow in July to protest overlights by Russian military planes. "They've never taken us seriously," Saakashvili said. Earlier in the week, Saakashvili dismissed the idea of cutting diplomatic relations with Russia as academic. "This is beyond bilateral relations now," he said, according to Reuters. "I would not focus too much on procedural aspects of our bilateral relations right now." Russia invaded Georgia's South Ossetia region earlier this month after Georgia sent soldiers to battle pro-Moscow separatists. Russian forces still occupy portions of South Ossetia and another breakaway region with a large ethnic Russian population, Abkhazia, in westernmost Georgia.