At last, the McCain campaign has a direction

For the sake of accuracy, Georgia didn't actually invade S. Ossentia. It has always been a part of the territory of Georgia, but has been a breakaway region since the fall of the USSR.

This is not uncommon or unique to Georgia. Many groups were moved around by Stalin as part of a territory and people control policy, and has resulted in the breakaway regions throughout Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, and throughout Central Asia.

Georgia President Saakashvili dealt with another breakaway region, called Adjara, immediately upon taking office in the same, heavy-handed manner, and it worked then.

I guess he thought the timing was right to deal with S. Ossentia. I guess he was wrong. Unlike Adjara, S. Ossentia is populated primarily with ethnic Russians, and Russia moved to deal with the situation, unlike with Adjara, which no one cared about.

Policy advice from another Republican president.

Unfortunately America has lost its voice and will not be able to wield a Big Stick again without a major recharge.

Though Mr. "No Sympathy" may be right, Russia rather than the US/NATO should control the future of the Black Sea. It will certainly hasten US and European energy independence.

The real shame is that Russia did what it did in Georgia because America its knows America lacks to manpower and money to do anything and Europe will appease Russia to avoid intervention at all costs.

While the Georgians are one of the few countries to support our continued war effort in Iraq, we have thrown that country to the Russian Bear and squandered our own Black Sea naval base opportunity now as of this morning the Russian military controls Georgian ground all the way to the Balck Sea coast.

This should be a wake up call for ending the squandering of resources in Iraq and bringing our financial house in order so we can defend against real threats to the US an our allies.