Georgia On My Mind

It started as a dispute over South Ossetia, which has been claiming independence from Georgia since Georgia claimed independence from the old empire of evil (who never recovered from the miracle on ice . . . thanks again, Mike Eruzione). While Russia officially recognizes the South Ossetians as Georgians, they still took the opportunity to dust off the KGB playbook and roll out some tanks when Georgia decided to crack down on some pesky separatists. The problem is that Russia hasn't stopped with peace keeping.

According to FoxNews:

U.N. officials B. Lynn Pascoe and Edmond Mulet in New York, speaking at an emergency Security Council meeting asked for by Georgia, also confirmed that Russian troops have driven well beyond South Ossetia and Abkhazia, U.N. diplomats said on condition of anonymity because it was a closed session. They said Russian airborne troops were not meeting any resistance while taking control of Georgia's Senaki army base.

In fact, the Georgian ambassador to the UN claims that "A full military invasion of Georgia is going on." And Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili claims that Russian forces are "cleansing Abkhazia of ethnic Georgians."

Ah, but . . .

By late Monday, Russian news agencies, citing the Defense Ministry, said troops had left Senaki "after liquidating the danger," but did not give details.

Now, pardon me for saying so, but this is not the time for Russia to display super-power envy. Their bloody foray across an American ally's border could have serious repercussions concerning relations between Putin's purgatory and the U.S. -- and perhaps that is part of their intent.

Even as Saakashvili signed a cease-fire pledge Monday with European mediators, Russia flexed its military muscle and appeared determined to subdue the small U.S. ally, which has been pressing for NATO membership. "The bombs that are falling on us, they have an inscription on them: This is for NATO. This is for the U.S.," Saakashvili told CNN.

And no, I don't know how Saakashvili read the inscriptions before the bombs went boom.

The point is that Georgia is our ally. They supply troops to Iraq, land for our bases and an Eastern European name that seems strangely familiar. Putin may try to draw comparisons to the American liberation of Iraq, but only at the cost of conveniently forgetting that his signature was (metaphorically) on the UN resolutions condemning Iraq and allowing for military action.

Speaking of condemnation, where is America's leading nitwit on the subject? Shouldn't Jimmy Carter be coming to Georgia's defense?