and can't find a trace of that "soul" Dubya claimed to see.  Reptilian is the word that springs to mind for me.  Of course, what should we expect from someone who rose through the ranks of the KGB?

This is a nasty mess.  I can't figure out how this is going to turn out well for anyone, but it looks like Russia is making an open land grab attempt at this point.

share the same dark soul, except Vlad is more competent (and smarter) than Dubya.

Your average sixth grader is more competent (and smarter) than W.

I read the news today, and I couldn't help but hear "Back in the U.S.S.R." play in my head.  

Putin is NOT our ally.  However, as neocons need to understand, that doesn't mean we have to get sucked into another military conflict.  Now is the time for tough diplomacy.

That's for damn sure.

This has been going on for some time and before Putin came into office.  Russia has seen and continues to see the former Soviet republics as a part of their sphere of influence.  Both Ukraine and Georgia have been seriously angering them in this regard by their desire to join Western institutions like NATO and the EU.  And we have been fanning the flames by encouraging their entry.

The Georgian government knew what the consequences of this were.  The losers in all of this are the Ossetians who neither wish to be a part of Georgia or of Russia.  And as far as this war is concerned, back in '91 there was a civil war between the Georgians and the Ossetians.  The peacekeepers there include Russians.  How was Russia not going to respond to Georgia's incursion?  

It's clear that Russia is not concerned about Ossetia or Abkhazia.  They just want to use use them as leverage over the Georgian government.  But it is also a bad move on Georgia's part to go toe-to-toe with these rebels and Russia on this.  And if they had sought our counsel, I would hope that we told them to back off.

During this evenings Olympic opening ceremonies, NBC zoomed in on Bush and  Putin having a little "chat". Wonder what W whispered in Mr. P's ear?  

n/t

It's mountainous, I know, but there's plenty of oil in the general area.  Also, maybe more important, what about natural gas and pipelines carrying the same. Oil, gas, pipelines, this might explain some of the martial activity, and our interest in the goings on. Even before oil became important, Tsarist Russia banged around in the Caucasus for generations, and the only ones concerned were the occasional Ottoman Turk or British grenadier. Then came Oil, and things changed. The reason the Nazis drove south on the Russian front was to get to Baku and the oil, but they stalled at Stalingrad.

with a GDP of $15 million ($250/person). I can't imagine there's much of anything there.

or access to pipelines.  That would be enough for the Russians to grab the area.