Payback Without Pique

Friends,
Putin drags Russia into a European Iraq. I think that Putin has created more problems for Russia than he thought. His revenge in Georgia will backfire into Poland and beyond.
Peace and Love,
Rev O

A Measured Response To Putin Washington Post Op/Ed
"For Putin, the attack on Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's forces was not just business. It was intensely personal. Putin set out to bring about the downfall of the brash, impulsive Georgian who has overplayed the support he received from Washington."

"Putin's feelings about Saakashvili resemble those George W. Bush had about Saddam Hussein," a Russian friend observed as his nation's troops moved out of South Ossetia and into the Georgian heartland. "This could turn out to be our Iraq."

"Putin now acts in similar fashion, apparently heedless that the Georgia action was certain to make former Soviet satellites and states more determined to seek U.S. protection. A few days after the invasion began, Poland put aside its reservations and signed a long-delayed accord to host U.S. missile interceptors."

"European and U.S. cooperation should emphasize strategic steps that do not descend to Putinesque payback. Americans should not march to the same vindictive and erratic drummer the Russian leader follows into a Georgian quagmire. What is needed is a steady, controlled -- and united -- effort to confront Russian excesses without a trace of spite or pique."

A Measured Response To Putin Washington Post Op/Ed