http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2008/08/11/BL2008081101093_pf.html Back in 2005, speaking before a crowd of more than 150,000 exuberant Georgians cheering "Bushi! Bushi!", President Bush made a promise to the people of that former Soviet republic: "The path of freedom you have chosen is not easy, but you will not travel it alone. Americans respect your courageous choice for liberty. And as you build a free and democratic Georgia, the American people will stand with you."
So where was Bush as Russia launched a major military attack against Georgia? Monkeying around with the U.S. women's volleyball players -- and otherwise amusing himself at the Beijing Olympics.
This is not to suggest that Bush should have sent in the Marines. But his impotence in the face of such a gravely destabilizing move highlights not only his personal loss of stature, but how deeply he has diminished American authority on the world stage generally and, particularly, in the eyes of Russia.
In the long term, the best way to take Russia down a notch (along with Iran, Venezuela, and other hostile powers overflowing with oil money) is to pursue policies and fund technologies that slash the demand for oil. The Georgia crisis should make clear, if it isn't already, that this is a matter of hard-headed national security.... http://www.slate.com/id/2197281/
Finally, the essentially anti-American and anti-Israeli character of the so-called "anti-imperialist" crowd has been confirmed.... http://www.oregoncommentator.com/2008/08/11/losing-georgia/
Following are comments from security, political and economic analysts on the crisis: ... "It's payback time by the Russians for what the West did in Kosovo. ..."The military action in Georgia is a reminder to financial markets that geopolitical risks remain significant, even if, in recent times, they have been overshadowed by economic and credit risks... http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUKLB71416020080811
"If the United States and Europe don't stop Russia, I think this is the end of what we thought of as the post-Soviet era," said Sarah Mendelson, a scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. ... http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/12/world/europe/12diplo.html?ref=europe
http://www.forbes.com/2008/08/11/russia-georgia-putin-biz-cz_hb_0811russia_print.html
Putin's War Games
Heidi Brown , 08.11.08, 6:03 PM ET
The most surprising thing about the Russian invasion of Georgia this week is neither the incursion into another country's sovereign territory nor the vehemence of the attack.
No, most surprising was how the invasion baldly showcased who's really in charge of Russia. While Prime Minister Vladimir Putin met with commanders in South Ossetia and made statements, his anointed successor and Russia's nominal leader, President Dmitry Medvedev, hung around Moscow holding press conferences, thousands of miles from the action--and the world spotlight.
Georgia accused Russia of attacking its Baku-Ceyhan-Tbilisi pipeline, which transports oil from Central Asia to Western markets via the Black Sea. Russia's foreign ministry has denied the attacks, but Georgia claims it is an attempt by Russia to control its infrastructure.
But Putin's true aim is political. As the U.S. continues to build its missile presence at Russia's back door (missile defense systems are being developed in Poland and the Czech Republic) and Georgia and Ukraine cozy up to NATO, Putin is reminding the countries of Central Asia, as well as the West, that Russia still has the wherewithal to wage a successful war.
"Russia's end game is to reassert its sphere of influence," says George Friedman, director of intelligence-analysis firm Stratfor in Austin, Texas.
There's another purpose as well: helping Putin solidify leadership in Russia, backed by the siloviki, a network of former intelligence officials he has at times tolerated and other times embraced throughout his years in power.
Since the presidential elections in May, Moscow's main parlor game is figuring which government faction will prevail: Putin's network or Medvedev's much smaller circle of technocrats and finance folks. Olga Kryshtanovskaya, a sociologist who has spent much of the last two decades studying the business and government elite, argues that Putin has managed to keep--and expand--a powerful network of former intelligence officials and powerful businessmen eager to fulfill his demands.
Despite the surface changes in leadership, Putin retained almost all of his old crowd--former security services cronies like Igor Sechin and Victor Ivanov, who are rumored to be advising him on this action as well as on Russia's request that Georgia's leadership be replaced.
Many in the West hoped Medvedev would be able to build up a block of allies in the Kremlin and begin to push for progress in the government. It didn't happen, says Kryshtanovskaya. "Medvedev's personnel resource is extraordinarily limited. For now he can count on a small group of officials with whom he had worked in the government previously. But in the main, he is surrounded by Putinite cadres."
The aggression against Georgia, despite some self-important public statements by Medvedev, suggests Putin and his circle still have the upper hand.
Putin can use the war against Georgia to show the greater populace of Russia that his view is relevant--even necessary. "Let the West denigrate our military, let them call us retrograde," he might say, but Georgia's actions only show how desperately Russia needs to be strong.
No matter the level of influence Putin's circle of apparatchiks may have, he is sending them a clear message: Your point of view works for me. And I'll be keeping you around for a while.
That means that those who hope for an end to the Putin era will be left waiting for a while longer too.
http://english.pravda.ru/hotspots/conflicts/11-08-2008/106053-georgia_ossetia_russia-0 US presidential runoff John McCain said that Russia should not interfere in the conflict in South Ossetia. The pro-Georgian propaganda in the US media testifies to the same opinion. It brings up the idea that the Georgian aggression against the unrecognized republic of South Ossetia has been coordinated with the US administration. Nevertheless, all arguments of US politicians and experts (Pravda.ru interviewed some of them) do not withstand any criticism.
The US military was surprised by the timing and swiftness of the Russian military's move into South Ossetia and is still trying to sort out what happened, a US defense official said Monday..... http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080811222408.40e5p19r&show_article=1
