Georgia (NOT the U.S. State)

I don't know if anybody saw it ... or cares, but there on the Drudge Report today was this headline:  "Bolton:  'US fiddled while Georgia burned'... ."

A direct link to that article is here:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/georgia/2563260/John-Bolton-After-Russias-invasion-of-Georgia-what-now-for-the-West.html

That's a valid question, one which I would expect from Mr Bolton.  'What now?'

He said that our (the US's) actions match those of the "...very definition of a paper tiger."  And sadly for us ... he's right.

I was watching the news yesterday and ran across this:  One of the networks analysts said that the United States wouldn't go to war with Russia over Georgia.  He's also right.  But short of going to war, what can we do?

Mr Putin knew that the west wouldn't risk war over Georgia.  Make no mistake; this is not just my opinion, but also the opinion of many in the intelligence service (which I'm not, for the record.) 

But does anybody remember when Adolf Hitler 'only' wanted Austria?  This is the same thing.  Mr Putin knows that the other "stans" (the breakaway republics in that area) are now worried about what Russia will do ... and they've now seen that the United States, the West, and even the EU were willing to let it happen. 

Sadly, despite all the hollow talk, they are now truly on their own.

Do you think Mr Putin will stop there?  Perhaps for the moment, seeing that he's got from Georgia what he wanted.  He wanted a message to be sent to the other 'stans.'  And sent it was ... loud and clear.

Sadly, I also saw one of the anchors asking another analyst whether or not we're in a new Cold War.  She (the analyst) hesitated for a second and although I knew what she was about to say, her answer still chilled me.  She said two words "Not yet." (emphasis hers)

Not yet.

Most people reading this have only heard of the Cold War ... I lived through it.  I spoke with one of the waitresses about it when I took my parents to dinner last night.  She asked why Russia was in Georgia and how they got over here.

But there's also this little headline at the Drudge Report:  (which I had to access through the archives) http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ayrpPV6nJ4Qk&refer=worldwide  The title?  "Russia may focus on Pro-U.S. Ukraine after Georgia (Update5)"

Cold War, anybody?