What Plane?

There has been silence from both Tbilisi and Moscow in the days since Georgia claimed it shot down a Russian military aircraft. The upshot: The two disputatious neighbors have taken the sensible route away from confrontation, which is -- pretend nothing happened.

Steve's comment: Last weekend, it looked like tension could rise considerably between Georgia and Russia after Georgia claimed it had shot at the jet on Aug. 23. Georgia said it saw the plane go down and then a fire erupt in an isolated part of the forest, possibly in Georgia proper, and possibly in the breakaway Black Sea region of Abkhazia.

There was concern because it is one thing to claim that Russia has violated one's airspace -- which Georgia has done with some regularity -- and quite another to shoot down that violator.

There were the usual Russian denials and Georgian vows to prove what they said. Since then, however, both sides have held fire.

The only one talking a bit has been Abkhazia, which says it, too, saw something in the sky and a fire. The verdict? Space debris, say the Abkhaz.

Good enough.