yea what did you jump on JohnR for, I think he was making a point that Lenin, and Stalin and not as dead as we have been lead to believe. Russian quote not quite right though, johnR, fix the meter.
Now the way I see it this war is strictly business (in Michael Corleone’s or Lavrentii Beria kind of way), Russia is delivering a smackdown to a particularly successful former subject of the empire who has been becoming an economic competitor in the oil/gas pipeline business and politically friendly with Turkey, US and Israel. A Khodorkhovsky kind of smackdown, to teach the community of kindred entities to toe the line. Putin’ll try to play to the Haag Tribunal, try to get the change of regime going on the basis of war crimes, try to set up a client state.
I am a little mystified as to how Saakishvili took the bait of the Ossetian provocations and shelled the entire Tskhinvali – that’s why some speculate that it was indeed his gambit to draw the Russians out but it seems to crazy a gambit…