Just on the odd chance someone hasn't figured it out by now...
*AotC SPOILERS!!!*
In both this message and throughout the entire thread.
Originally posted by Wedge009
Yoda stated it was the beginning of the Clone Wars... so they must be fighting something. I just don't understand why the Republic - supposedly democratic and peace-loving (in general, at least) - would take the battle to the separationists before they had even been attacked.
A 'Democratic and Peace-Loving' nation CAN launch an initial assault, provided they're fairly convinced that there's a strong enough need. Convince that nation that their neighbors are in the process of building up an overwhelming military force, are on the verge of attacking, and feel no need to negotiate, and suddenly the 'Peace-Loving' nation can get downright barbaric.
Think of it as a 'Pre-emptive' attack.
As for who they're fighting?
I thought the end of the battle scenes on Geonosis made it fairly clear that a number of Trade Federation battleships made it clear of the planet. The Geonosians were probably crushed quite handily (since the fighting took place on their homeworld), but the other groups (Trade Federation, Techno-Union, etc...) probably only had a small portion of their military strength on Geonosis. The non-Geonosian military units that we see are largely Trade Federation, and that is explained by the battle droid manufacturing facilities on the planet.
The original theory regarding the Mandalorians and Boba Fett was that the Mandalorians were the clone warriors in the Clone Wars, and their attack against the Republic was defeated by the Jedi Knights. Boba Fett either fought in the wars (from what I've heard, even the novels themselves have conflicting stories regarding Fett's childhood - of course, its probably ALL invalid now...) or refurbished a suit of armor because of their reputation.
Note that the above doesn't exactly agree with Zahn, either, since, iirc, his clones were created by the 'Sparti Clone Masters'(?), and the name Mandalorian is never mentioned in his novels. Pretty much the only single common thread throughout all pre-AotC Clone Wars stories is the idea that the clones were the ones who attacked the Republic.
I don't think Lucas personally has any particular regard for Boba Fett. I'm sure he's not particularly certain why Boba gained such popularity after ESB and RotJ (other than tracking Han, he doesn't really do much in either movie - and his fighting scene in RotJ is rather embarassing), and I think I've read that his decision to include the Fetts in AotC was more or less a nod to Boba's popularity with fans.
In short, in the 'Lucas Continuity', Mandalore is probably just a name with no particular significance.