> <http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/5568/>
> Georgia: the messy truth behind the morality tale
> [by Brendan O'Neill]
>
> Not surprisingly, Russia has exploited the affair to re-assert its
> punctured and waning authority in its neighbouring state. Its terrible
> assaults on Georgian territory and military buildings are an attempt not
> only to weaken Georgia but also to send a message to the other former
> Soviet republics and to Washington itself.
I don't know about terrible - it looks like Russia is trying to limit civilian casualties, by targeting the barracks, artillery units, and aircraft Georgia was using to blast Ossetia to smithereens. Maybe Saakashvili thought he was taking on the Russia of 1995 -- enfeebled, chaotic, ridden with oligarchic parasites. He probably figured, even if I get bogged down, the Russians will overreact and bomb the hell out of Tbilisi, forcing the West to intervene.
Instead, Medvedev sent in the Spetsnaz (who kicked the $%^@ out of Georgia's NATO-trained forces) and ordered the prosecutors to gather evidence of Georgian war crimes for a future international tribunal. From all accounts, the Russian armed forces have performed with professionalism, efficiency and rigorous fire control. Russia has clearly arrived as a geopolitical powerhouse.
-- DRR