Putin Punishes Georgia

"I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straight forward and trustworthy and we had a very good dialogue. I was able to get a sense of his soul." - George W. Bush on Vladimir Putin, June 2001

Putin leads from front to send US a bullish message

The fighting in Georgia has answered the question that world leaders have been asking since Vladimir Putin stepped down as President this year: who runs Russia?

The answer, of course, is Mr Putin. It came not from Moscow, but from Beijing – 4,500 miles away – where the Russian Prime Minister was watching the Olympics when Georgia mounted its assault on South Ossetia.

Attending the opening ceremony of the Games, Mr Putin strongly condemned the military attack and vowed retaliation. Only several hours later did President Medvedev, Mr Putin’s handpicked successor, take to the airwaves.

... it should come as no surprise that Mr Putin is playing such a front-seat role in Russia’s clash with Georgia, for there is much more at stake than just the future of two tiny breakaway regions. Mikhail Saakashvili, the pro-Western Georgian President who came to power five years ago, is close to America and wants his tiny country to join Nato.

The prospect infuriates the Russians – especially Mr Putin, a former KGB officer.

As usual, Bush's instinct was way off. And hopefully nothing stupid happens that drags us into this.

We had better make sure Dick 'Five deferments when it was his turn' Cheney doesn't find out.