Lights go out in Georgia

RUSSIA’S lopsided five-day war with Georgia was nasty, brutish and short – to borrow philosopher Thomas Hobbes’ view of life. And as Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called a halt to fighting Tuesday, Moscow had achieved its war aims.

Georgian forces were driven from the separatist South Ossetia enclave that wants to join Russian North Ossetia. Georgia’s U.S.-trained military was routed and “disorganized” (in Mr. Medvedev’s words), having fled to the outskirts of their capital, Tbilisi.

The Russians pursued them into Georgia’s undisputed territory, destroying bases, airfields and command centres, bombing urban areas and taking control of the main east-west highway.

Georgia’s ambitions to join NATO and the European Union have been set back and its ability to offer Europe a secure oil-and-gas pipeline route that isn’t controlled by Russia has also been cast in doubt.

By humbling and destabilizing a troublesome U.S. ally, Moscow has shown there are limits to what America can or will do to confront Russia in its old sphere of influence.

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Russia and Georgia agree to truce

The heavy fighting between Russian and Georgian forces appears to have ended after the two sides agreed to an EU-backed ceasefire plan.

Speaking early on Wednesday in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president who currently holds the rotating EU presidency, confirmed that both sides had agreed to pull back their troops.

The peace plan demands that Russia and Georgia immediately end all hostilities and allow free access to the region for humanitarian assistance.

But the exact details of the truce must still be finalised and there are still reports from both sides that some fighting has continued.

Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, had ordered an end to military operations inside Georgia, but Georgia said Russian aircraft continued bombing villages and towns, killing several people.

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Putin is solely responsible. Saakaszwili had no choice

“Russian journalist: Putin is solely responsible. Saakaszwili had no choice.” Marcin Wojciechowski (Gazeta Wyborcza, 2008-08-10; the full interview to be published on Monday
Who is right in the georgian-russian conflict – Moscow or Tbilisi?
Oleg Panfilow:

Georgian President Saakashvili had no choice but to attack South Osetia. For more than 10 days Georgian territory was shelled from Osetian positions. Russian peacekeepers watched it passively. Saakashvili called on Russia to calm down the leadership of South Osetia, threatened to use force, and finally it all boiled over … Russia did nothing to diminish the tension. And that’s how Georgian military action in South Osetia turned into regular war (…) They (the Russians) bombed all military airfields, harbor in Poti, several military bases. Georgians can;t believe that they are in regular war with Russia. Nobody expected that Russia would react so violently to the events in SOuth Osetia. Georgians are astonished and upset that Russia used a pretext to start a regular war against Georgia.
MW – Are Georgians ready to fight Russia?
OP -

All Georgian opposition united around Saakashvili, despite still recently calling him the worst, accusing him of falsifying the elections, attempting dictatorship, etc. Today it does not matter who believes what politically. Everyone wants to fight for Georgia. Even the former minister of defense Irakli Irakisziwili wanted by the Tbilisi authorities for the attempted coup (probably in hiding in Russia) declared in an interview that he would like to return to Georgia to fight for it as an ordinary soldier. Many of my friends, the reservists, declare readiness to fight the aggressor. The mood is solemn. Strangely, there are no anti-Russian sentiments, in a sense of wanting revenge against ordinary Russians. I am walking around in the streets, I am speaking in Russian, I am not hiding who I am, and nobody confronted me. No even a verbal abuse. To me this is incredible. I hope it stays this way.

Putin is solely responsible. Saakaszwili had no choice

Blog Bits: Publishing Obama’s prayer; Roy Blunt’s view of Obama; predicting McCain’s running mate

Something fishy

If you felt that there was something fishy about that prayer that Sen. Barack Obama left in the Western Wall while in Jerusalem being stolen and printed in the newspaper as I did, you might have been right. Ma’ariv, the newspaper that printed the prayer, says that the prayer was approved for publication prior to Obama placing it in the wall. The newspaper said, “Barack Obama’s note was approved for publication in the international media…”

Read more: Blog Bits: Publishing Obama’s prayer; Roy Blunt’s view of Obama; predicting McCain’s running mate

The Same Old Story

In the aftermath of the shooting at Northern Illinois University in February of this year, Americans struggled to understand how Steven Kazmierczak could have perpetrated such a terrible tragedy. National media outlets quoted close friends of Kazmierczak who described him as “probably the nicest, most caring person ever.” His professors said he was “a nice kid” and “extremely respectful.” NIU Police Chief Donald Grady said that law enforcement had “no indications at all this would be the type of person that would engage in such activity … There were no red flags.”

They were wrong.

A recent article in Esquire, published more than five months after the shooting, paints a far different picture. Unlike the sweet, award-winning graduate student that we heard about in February, Esquire writer David Vann tells the story of a troubled, volatile individual who was clearly a threat to himself and those around him.

Read more: The Same Old Story