It's been apparent for a long time that Iraq has served as a "stand-in" while the U.S. demonstrates its military prowess to impress the major Asian powers whose capabilities are, perhaps, a little less.

Now it seems to be South Ossetia's turn to bear witness to what happens when a U.S. client, in this case Georgia, decides to put the weapons and training it's been provided to the test.

But, South Ossetia is also different. It's proving to be a "stand-in" for all the ordinary people who've been getting bombed in Iraq for five years--a situation the electronic media have been prevented from showing us.