Go Away For A Weekend

... and I miss the kickoff of this century's cold war*. I swear, catching the video bites on our hotel TV was like watching Saddam invade Kuwait all those years ago.

My two cents:

Russian objectives:

Tactical:

1. Destroy the sovereign status of Georgia.

2. Exercise control over all energy transmission infrastructure now existing in Georgia.

Strategic:

1. Demonstrate that the U.S. is worthless as an ally. There's really nothing else this can be about.



I don't know why Putin pushed this while Bush was still in office; the interlocking military moves executed so far by the Russians clearly demonstrate a pre-planned operation. He (Putin) could have waited for the Community Organizer or Angry McAmnesty; chances are Reid and Pelosi would still be on the stage in the spring. Maybe he is petty enough to want to rub Bush's nose in the fact that the United States suffers from rot at the head and sand at the feet... and has, frankly, just a couple two or three real allies on the face of the earth. Most of our "friends" are really just kids we babysit.

Georgia is one of the real ones, though. They've actually bled with us in battle, in a real, if modest, fashion. Putin is betting we'll stand aside. And if we stand aside there, the EU will most certainly lube themselves up good and quick. And next it will be Turkey... or Poland... or Moldavia... pick a 'stan, any 'stan...

Big week coming up.


My guess on what we'll do? No clue; the only option that would serve our interests involves direct military confrontation in theater, with or without (that is also something Putin is highly interested in, even though he's on pretty safe ground, in my opinion, already writing off the EU and NATO)our feckless EU brats.

I believe that President Bush has got to be very, very tired of doing all the heavy lifting. How'd you feel if you knew that Reid and Pelosi had your back? Right? I thought so.

No call.


Oh, and I'm probably done surveying after tomorrow. Fuel costs, housing price losses, and scarce building credit have done their thing. I intend to go back to school on the fifteenth. Studying... history, of all things.

Have a fine one. Hope you liked that 300+ day on the DOW last week. You might want to put it in your scrap book.



* I will never post a link to Wikipedia intending it to be taken as a scholarly or objective citation of fact. Rather, it will be purely intended as an introduction to a topic.