The Russian Bear Is Angry Now

Vladimir Putin And George Bush

From The WNU Editor: In the previous post, I mentioned that Russia may use its war with Georgia to assert its influence in the region. The following New York Times article agrees with this assessment.

Georgia Clash Provides a Lesson on the United States’ Need for Russia

WASHINGTON — The image of President Bush smiling and chatting with Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin of Russia from the stands of the Beijing Olympics even as Russian aircraft were shelling Georgia outlines the reality of America’s Russia policy. While America considers Georgia its strongest ally in the bloc of former Soviet countries, Washington needs Russia too much on big issues like Iran to risk it all to defend Georgia.

And State Department officials made it clear on Saturday that there was no chance the United States would intervene militarily.

Mr. Bush did use tough language, demanding that Russia stop bombing. And Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice demanded that Russia “respect Georgia’s territorial integrity.”

What did Mr. Putin do? First, he repudiated President Nicolas Sarkozy of France in Beijing, refusing to budge when Mr. Sarkozy tried to dissuade Russia from its military operation. “It was a very, very tough meeting,” a senior Western official said afterward. “Putin was saying, ‘We are going to make them pay. We are going to make justice.’ ”

Then, Mr. Putin flew from Beijing to a region that borders South Ossetia, arriving after an announcement that Georgia was pulling its troops out of the capital of the breakaway region. He appeared ostensibly to coordinate assistance to refugees who had fled South Ossetia into neighboring Russia, but the Russian message was clear: This is our sphere of influence; others stay out.

Read more ....

My Comment: Mr. Putin and the Russian Government have used this (and I am not going to be polite about it) .... this incredibly stupid attempt on the part of the Georgian Government to forcibly reinstall their authority on South Ossetia .... into their's and Russia's advantage.

The deaths of Russian citizens and Russian soldiers have galvanized the Russian people to a fury that cannot be stopped now. Just as the American people were furious and galvanized after 9/11, the same is for the Russian government and people now. If a poll was to be held today, I am sure that Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev will be receiving 95% support (minimum).

International opinion will have very little sway on what is going to happen now. The only ones who can now influence Russia's military behavior are its friends and allies. I can only hope that they will be influential enough to make Moscow understand that there should be limits on what they are can do to Georgia, and that they should not go to extremes that will only hurt them in the long run.