We could, in addition to sending "strongly worded letters" to the respective comabtants, we could also begin "veiwing with alarm" the actions of the aggressors, knowing that they will know that we know they now know that we know and are "shocked" and "concerned" over the developments.
The American Indian issue is dead. We as a nation have done more, paid more and protrated ourselves in self-loathing more than enough to make up for the sins of our fathers. Done. Dead. Gone.
There is no doubt in my mind based on the reporting I have read, like
THIS ONE, that this was planned by Russia long in advance and were simply waiting for the right moment to strike. This was a case of a nation, fully recognized by the international community, trying its best to find a way through the labrinth of new democratically founded and elected nationhood. Internal struggles are a part of this process.
To see how this is generally handled in a democratic society, one need look only as far as our own borders. What happened when the malcontents in LA rioted over the Rodney King verdict? National Guard and US Marines (I know because I was one of them) were moved in to quell the disturbance. How about that little fiasco in 1861 when a few agitators in Richmond, Virginia decided they wanted to exercise their "right" to self-determination? Internal struggles dealt with by internal means.
The point is that this WAS an INTERNAL problem that had all the appropriate international observers and in place and monitoring the situation and generally giving positive feed-back. The only real complaint was that Russian sponsored peace keeping force in South Ossetia was hardly unbiased or even handed toward the local provisional government. A request by Georgia to Russia to replace the all Russian force with a Commonwealth of Independent States force was promptly ignored by Putin. Not an unreasonable request, IMHO, but certainly didn't fit into the plans of the "concerned" Russian president.