whiskey,

Something that I’ve seen time and again in the Russian justifications for invading Georgia is the statement “This is OUR 911!”
To my American ears that sounds contrived and melodramatic, and especially bogus considering Beslan. But, I think that you’re right. It almost seems like a kind of perverse projected delay reaction.
Just as so many Americans simply can’t accept that Islamic fanatics actually, really did use box cutters to highjack planes to attack us and prefer elaborate conspiracy theories, so it must be somehow easier for Russians to direct their animus against the comfortable, traditional enemy: Yankee Imperialism.
Volodya Putin knows just how to caress that sore spot for maximum effect.
Maybe he is playing “Crazy Ivan” to cast a longer shadow in the world, or, maybe he is trying to manipulate the price of oil, or, maybe he is tightening his hold on power at home.
(I’m told that Russian TV in NY (RTVi) keeps discussion the situation in terms of a power struggle between Putin and Medvedev. That might just be an element that we here are overlooking … )