“It’s a pity that some of our partners instead of helping are in fact trying to get in the way,” Putin said at a Cabinet meeting. “I mean among other things the United States airlifting Georgia’s military contingent from Iraq effectively into the conflict zone.”

So Putin does not think we should even have taken those troops home. Gimme a break!

Look folks, the Soviets used this ploy before. They never ever invade a place unless it is to protect some poor people who invite them in or to oppose counter- revolutionary forces or some such. Czechoslovakia in 1968 they went into because they said NATO was about to. Afghanistan they claimed the government invited them, and that invite somehow included killing the leader of the country. It’s an old, old playbook and a ploy that everyone knows is fake, but it lets the fellow travelers and useful idiots wink and nod.

So this time there really was a provocation. Georgia really did invade South Ossetia, but we have no real understanding of what was going on before that. One could imagine that the separatist group in that country was making all kinds of threats for some time to provoke the Georgians.

When the news of the missile defense deal in Eastern Europe came out, Wretchard asked me what I thought the Russians would do. I told him the Russian response would be:
1. Somewhere else other than in Eastern Europe.
2. Would not obviously be linked to the missile defense deal in any way.
3. Would be petty. They are a very petty people at their core.

I don’t expect to see Russia take over the whole country. They could not run it worth a damn before and they know it.

I do expect we will be seeing F-16′s with Georgian markings stationed there.