This is another Bush/NeoCon war. They have been arming and egging on the Georgian leadership for some time. They pushed the idiotic Georgian assault on South Ossetia. There are eerie similarities to the recent fiasco in Lebanon where the pro-Bush puppet was encouraged to take on Hezbollah only to be humiliated. The NeoCon game has been to encircle and neuter Russia. Now it has backfired. In response to the Georgian aggression the Russians have shown their renewed military strength while the NeoCons can do nothing. What a shame that so many innocent people had to die for yet another foolish geo-political game. Hopefully the Georgians can get rid of their idiot President before we get rid of ours.

Bush, Cheney, and Israel are contributors to this mess. Here's another perspective on why Russia attacked Georgia:

Georgia - Just The Facts

And The Truth

http://www.rense.com/general82/truth.htm

The Caucasus - Washington Risks

Nuclear War By Miscalculation

http://www.rense.com/general82/dcnuke.htm

Zbigniew Brzezinski.

Enjoy Obama's foreign policy.

I hardly think there would be political support for intervening in Georgia, no matter how much the Neos want it.

"BLOCKBUSTER FATIGUE."

The Russian move was timed perfectly to coincide with Bush's lack of standing in the world and Russia's re-emergence as a military force. What was the pres. of Georgia thinking about when his troops moved into neighboring S. Ossetia? But the West cannot defend places like Georgia so Georgia has to adopt a "Finland" type of policy in order to keeps its independence. Russia is clearly sending a powerful message to other former-republics, i.e. be careful of who you pal around with. And it also ends the eastward drift of NATO into what were former Soviet republics. My guess is that there will be a regime change shortly in Georgia where a pro-Russian puppet will be installed and that will end Georgia's flirt with democracy (as we know it) and with the West.

Bush bears some responsibility for this as he pandered to these folks during a 2005 visit and stuck it to the Russians in their own backyard. This kind of baiting is remembered for a long time by those in power and Putin struck back and struck hard.

http://exiledonline.com/georgia-gets-its-war-onmccain-gets-his-brain-plaque/

Also good for background and analysis, as well as general reading pleasure:

http://www.exile.ru/articles/detail.php?ARTICLE_ID=7455&IBLOCK_ID=35&PAGE=3

http://exiledonline.com/war-nerd-south-ossetia-the-war-of-my-dreams/

You wrote:

And what is the lead story on Salon?

"BLOCKBUSTER FATIGUE."

My sentiments exactly!!! I've been a Salon member since day one, back in the David Talbot days when this website was truly on the cutting edge of journalistic brilliance. In fact, during the 2000 elections, it was my ONLY source of news, with hourly updates coming directly from the boots on the ground. I simply couldn't trust any other media outlet.

But now . . .with few exceptions, the whole site is in a sorry state. I've been in denial about the fact that I'm just hanging on for sentimental reasons, but after all these years, I won't be renewing when my subscription runs out.

Just to understand: is this Obama's fault somehow?

Nothing more can happen, other than the Russians winning, I suppose. Certainly Saakashivili won't survive this, and his successor will probably be milder with the Russians. CIS states, please take notes. And that'll be it.

Achilleselbow, I liked your links, especially the last one. Thanks for them!

WITH A GROWING POPULATION in a world of limited resources, the threat of widespread human deprivation, escalating conflict and war is greater now than ever before.

WHAT IF GOD SENT A NEW MESSAGE to warn humanity of this dangerous threshold and to ignite the inspired action so very needed to advance the human family in the difficult times ahead?

WHAT WOULD GOD SAY about this conflict between Georgia and Russia?

http://www.NewMessagefromGod.org

Well, he'd probably say, "What kind of a fucking idiot attacks the Russians?" Apparently, another Neocon hanger-on, that's what kind.

Good luck getting the Russians out of Georgia. They're gonna occupy the whole country and instigate a little "regime change" of their own. And if the Bush takes his purddy little mouth off of Russia's oil-dripping cock long enough to let out a little whimper of protest, the Russians will gladly remind him that he attacked and occupied a country which - unlike Georgia - had never attacked us in the first place.

D'oh!

Could Americans insert a fully logistics backed up force into Georgia of perhaps as many as 75,000 to 125,000 ground combat, air/naval combat and support and supply train troops?

No.

Why was Georgia allowed by Americans to do what plainly was a really bad idea if premised on a strong and full set piece American military/economic response?

Americans after five years of being in Iraqi sand box do not have willpower or war making power to have done it.

Taking on Russia in any part of South Central Asia with American military surely a truly big trigger to pull for Americans who have demonstrated quite well how incapable they are in Iraq.

Ideas of American meddling in South Central Asia politics and energy gaming playouts for a long time now only serving to stir up the kind of trouble now falling on Georgia.

Hell---Americans have not put in place war tax loads,manpower drift nets and economic disciplines required for American invasion and occupation of Iraq still after five years of that conflict having been undertaken.

Moving any legitimate American military force into South Central Asia to repel Russian forces would require levels of military set-ups the Americans have shown no interest or ability to marshall as yet in Iraq.

The American neo-cons ironically have been wanting a dust-upwith Iran for some time now. Forget that---now they will have to contend with the real world of fallout coming out of past several years of Cheney styled South Central Asia American stick in the eye poking of Russia.

Americans may have been thinking they were so clever to be drawing lines on maps in old Soviet Union lands but doing so was based on American military back-up supremacy.

We are now seeing that supremacy. Actually not seeing it.

I note also on another matter that the LA TIMES in the current online version offers 48 photos of Georgian/Russian conflict.

With dead bodies and lots of civiliam destruction to be seen.

Interestingly similar coverage of American conduct in Iraq is not to be seen in American media. The propaganda war is being put in place to cast Russia in bad light yet Americans have been sponsoring just as brutal of conduct in Iraq for several years now but that gets airbrushed out of Americans view.

Anyway one can expect the American neo-cons now to seek out who to blame for what they are responsible for. And then they will throw and catapult the blame they richly have earned at others.

American neo-cons thought it OK to invade/occupy Iraq and want to do same to Iran but do not see irony in/of Americans telling Russia it can not do same.

Really?

American neo-cons. A real bunch of stand up guys.