The US is going nuts here and the media has done a great job of spinning this as evil Russia. Here’s an outline of how I gather events happened:

Georgia either thought it could win a battle against Russia, or didn’t think Russia would respond, so it aggressively attacked the separatist region of South Ossetia.

South Ossetia is a region that looks favorably on Russia, and maybe even looked to them as protectors. (was there an agreement in place?)

There was already anecdotal evidence that Georgia maybe was not known for it brains because it was the only nation on earth with a favorable view of Bush.

Anyway, Georgia attacks, and Russia has a decision to make: do we help out our friends, or do we turn our backs and let our friends fall to a pro-western government?

Russia decides to help out, swoops in, and efficiently pushes Georgian troops back to Georgia, and adds a little incentive for them not to regroup and attack again.

So far, do I have the events somewhat correct? Does anyone want to inject any propaganda at this point? No? Fine.

So, the US media, taking their direction from the White House, start spinning this a naked Russian aggression. The White House is thinking about a few things:

1) Georgia’s leader is an abject moron, similar to Bush.
2) Georgia just kissed their chance at NATO membership goodbye.
3) Bush’s popularity in Georgia just went down.
4) NATO is likely to make the admissions standards much, much tougher because adding volatile nations greatly increases the chances of a forced confrontation. (especially with dumb-as-bricks leaders).
5) Hopes for a missile shield just went bye-bye (I’ll talk about this in a moment)
6) They should have been working on a Tank and Artillery Shield instead.
7) Bush has ruined the future of another country. That now makes the US, Iraq, and Georgia as nations that will suffer for years.

Actually, I’m being presumptuous about Georgia. I have not seen evidence that Russia is going to torture Georgia. It’s just that if they wanted to go Western, then they are going to wait.

As for the missile shield, the US was quick to splash an agreement with Poland in the papers yesterday, but that was the old trick of putting good news on top of bad, even if the news is a lie. The agreement yesterday was between two people, not between two nations. They may as well agreed to resurrect Jesus, cure cancer, and stop hunger. Until the Polish parliament ratifies the agreement, it means nothing.

Now, why would Poland ratify the agreement? The missile shield is being touted as a defense against Iranian and Al Qaeda missiles. In other words, against imaginary threats. That would normally be OK, but it is complicated by the announced, very real threat of Russia taking severe actions against any country that hosts the shield. What ’severe’ means is anyone’s guess, so let’s ask Georgia what they think it means.

The agreement also stated that the US would sign an agreement with Poland to protect it, and to build a military base there.

Now as a US citizen, I have to say that I never agreed to this. I was never even asked about it.

Hopefully Poland will look to the past to see what happens to their country when it is used as a battle theatre and decide the missile shield for imaginary missiles is not worth the risks of real tanks and artillery.

I’m calling it for Poland, which means the US has lost major face and influence all around on this one, and therefore is furiously trying to spin the news otherwise.

Look for it to do many stupid things in the coming weeks, all of which will hurt itself.

Kids, not Russian government, attacking Georgia’s Net, says researcher
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10016152-83.html?tag=nefd.pop

Quelle suprise. Non!

I think it probably has something to do with something happening in Baijing beginning with the letter O.

http://www.wbez.org/content.aspx?audioID=27675

http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/russo_georgian_war_and_balance_power

They are very close to the Pentagon and say that the US must have known about the attack and the prepared Russian response.

You have probably seen the preliminary Polish Russian agreement that has just been announced. Is this what the US wanted? But impossible that Putin did not foresee that as well?