THE BEAR IS HUNGRY

Russian troops take their attack into Georgian territory and the retreating Georgians wonder why the U.S has abandoned them. When will the people who run our government learn (and this has been true through the years of both Democratic and Republican administrations) that they should not encourage other peoples to believe that the U.S. will back them in their time of need, especially when their adversary is a Great Power?

Meanwhile, the President of Georgia writes this op-ed piece in The Wall Street Journal explaining his side of the story, and calling on the West for help.

Robert Kagan believes this move by Putin's Russia is a watershed moment.

Historians will come to view Aug. 8, 2008, as a turning point no less significant than Nov. 9, 1989, when the Berlin Wall fell. Russia's attack on sovereign Georgian territory marked the official return of history, indeed to an almost 19th-century style of great-power competition, complete with virulent nationalisms, battles for resources, struggles over spheres of influence and territory, and even -- though it shocks our 21st-century sensibilities -- the use of military power to obtain geopolitical objectives. Yes, we will continue to have globalization, economic interdependence, the European Union and other efforts to build a more perfect international order. But these will compete with and at times be overwhelmed by the harsh realities of international life that have endured since time immemorial. The next president had better be ready.

I agree.

Still, some would prefer to blame the Bush Administration.

Bill Kristol wonders if the Russians will get away with it. I think they will.

In The National Review, James S. Robbins and Jonathan Foreman have thoughts on the conflict.

I believe the conflict reveals certain realities that will have to be dealt with in the coming years. First, as I and others have speculated for months now, Vladimir Putin is still the undisputed leader of Russia. Whether he calls himself President or Prime Minister or Tsar, he runs the show. Second, Russian nationalism has returned and, fed by resentment over the loss of superpower status and fueled by oil wealth, it is a force to be reckoned with. Third, as a result of one and two, Russia's neighbors should begin to see to their defenses if they wish to maintain their independence.