‘Sinful Saakashvili’ or Hero?

"It has been awfully scary. When the president ordered to attack Tskhinvali [the capital of South Ossetia], we knew then we were doomed. How come he didn't realize that?"

well, maybe that Saakashvili doesn't work for georgia...

Saakashvili is not quite the champion of democracy that McCain wants people to believe in:

GEORGIA: Opposition Leader: Saakashvili Turning into Autocrat

http://www.washprofile.org/en/node/6197

Putin, like Saakashvili, was democratically elected, and the Russian people love Putin because he's tough on national security (sound familiar?). Both leaders have become autocrats and suppress democratic opposition in their respective countries. The main difference between them is that Putin has a much bigger army.

The Russian support for the ethnic Russians in Ossetia is a strong message to the USA & NATO that you just cannot rule the importance of Russia in world politics. This shakasvili fellow like a US puppet dog who thinks that the USA will come to his rescue if attacked but that is missing reality.

A great Militery like the USA in today's world is no big deal when faced by a smaller but just as robust opponent. My bet is on Russia because their leaders are chess players and they have calculated what the USA can & Can't do. This shakasvili fellow is an innocent who thinks his patron is ther to protect him ! WRONG !

Finally! An honest assessment of this fiasco.

But instead of blaming Saakashvili (who deserves plenty of blame) let's turn our eyes on the US State Department. Russia explicitily warned the United States Georgia was preparing to invade S. Ossetia. Someone at State should have talked Saakashvili down from this insanity. The bombed out civilians apparently understood their chances of victory better than Secretary of State Rice and the Georgia department.

Secretary Rice and the entire department should tender their resignations. I still can't even get myself to believe that Secretary Rice used information from a private call against the Russians at the U.N. Who will trust her enough to say anything now?

This entire episode shows complete ineptitude at the State Department and also the CIA. I love my country but we need somebody else in charge.

Saakashvili was foolish to provoke Russia & to expect help from the West. Europe depends on Russia for energy, Russia is a nuclear power, and the US has no hope of containing Iran with Russia's help. As much as we might dislike Putin, we can no more dismiss him than we could dismiss the Soviet Union. The US's aggressive expansion of NATO & our missile shield are threats to Russia & have made Putin a hero.

Saakashvili was foolish to provoke Russia and even more foolish to think the West would come to his assistance. Russia's controls the energy supplies to Europe, Russia is a nuclear power, and the US has no hope of containing Iran with Russia's assistance. As easy as it is to dislike Russia's de facto president Vladimir Putin, we can no more afford to dismiis him than we could be dismissive of the Soviet Union.

The method Russia seems to be using in gaining its objective of restoring the Soviet Union is to separate a piece from another country and then move in its ???piecekeepers??? to keep that piece for itself.
In conclusion, the international community should make plans for reacting to the next Russian attack on its neighbour. The present reaction is inadequate since Russian forces are still moving deeper into Georgia. The next attack will come since the invasion of Georgia is premeditated and part of a bigger plan (Robert Kagan???s Aug. 11 article in The Washington Post). There are also plenty of ???frozen conflict??? opportunities that Russia can warm up ??? Nagorno-Karabakh in Azerbaijan, Eastern Ukraine that is mainly Russian-speaking, Transdniestria in Moldova, the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad between Poland and Lithuania (access rights for example), the mainly Russian-speaking Ida-Virumaa region of Estonia.

Of course he's to blame, he miscalculated badly and devastated his country. The Russians don't play games, and this was handed to them on a silver platter. Someone should kick his butt for confusing nationalist enthusiasm with reality. I'm sure the Russian's can hardly believe their good fortune.