For what it is worth, here is an exchange I had on PowerLine with a suspect entrant:

Voltimand

Posted: 12 August 2008 06:35 PM

12 August 2008 06:13 PM

[Previous comment:]

I’m afraid Russia may well have succeeded in demonstrating not only to Georgia but to Azerbaijain and other countries in the region that they have no effective defense against Russian military power.

[Suspect comment on previous comment:]

And you afraid of it why? It is the reality. It is in fact very good when players understand rules of the game.
Otherwise they tend to do stupid things…… like use GRAD system of cities and killing hundreds of civilians…. [sic]

[My comment:]

The correct English/American locution is “And you ARE afraid of it why?” and also “understand THE rules of the game.” So now with some indication of what part of the globe you’re sending from, along of course with the sense and sentiment of the statement in mind, I reply.

The “rules of game” in this latest Russian move is that force is king if there is no counterforce. When the USSR fell it was because America had threatened it for years with nuclear retaliation if it made a move to take over Western Europe. That, plus the inherent self-destructiveness of communist government did the job.

Does the U.S. now have the capability of a counterforce? Of course. Will it use it at the present moment? I doubt it and so does Putin. What will happen afterwards when Russia tries to continue to act on the world stage as if nothing had happened may be another matter altogether. People who “know the rules of the game” consequently know where destruction of the homeland is at risk. It’s not at risk for the U.S. in Georgia. Not yet, but maybe in the future. If of course Russia continues to play by “the rules of the game.”

In the long run, a very stupid move. But then communism was a stupid move to begin with.