Georgia On Our Minds

The first thing we need to clear up is that, while Russian forces invaded-- and are taking their time pulling out of--Georgia, it does not mean Atlanta has been attacked.

The Republic of Georgia is a democratic nation of 4.6 million people, born in the collapse of the Soviet Union. Its capital is Tbilisi, and its president is Mikheil Saakashvili, who has been in power since 2004.

The dispute is over the region of South Ossetia, which wants to break away and form an alliance with Russia (the northern half of the region is within their borders). Georgian troops had been fighting the insurgents for weeks before the Russians got involved.

Some might say that Saakashvili was the one who picked this fight. But he's the one who's been making media appearances in the West pleading for help from the United States and its allies (they also want to join NATO), making it sound as though his little country is being swallowed up by the Big Bad Russian Bear.

Georgia isn't going to get much of anything other than humanitarian aid from the U.S. President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice can condemn the Russians all they want. The fact is, having started wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it's a lot like the pot calling the kettle black. Raise your hand if you want another war.

Russia had been dormant militarily since the Soviet breakup, concentrating more on trying to find itself as a country. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin--who used to be president, but everyone assumes he's still calling the shots--is attempting to bring back the glory days when the Russian Bear was feared rather than mocked.

Lately, the Russians have threatened Poland (formerly a Warsaw Pact nation, but now a NATO ally) with nuclear annihilation if they went through with letting the United States build missile defense systems there--which they did. They are also reportedly talking to Cuba about putting nukes there.

Is Georgia worth throwing away years of diplomatic peace between the West and the Kremlin? Or has the Cold War never really ended, just lying dormant for a short period? If that's true, then Atlanta (and the rest of the world) might really be in danger.