Cranky Greg wonders if the people of South Ossetia and Abkhazia feel "independent." Cranky Greg doesn't think so. They may like Russia, and many are probably Russians, but they are now in Russia's orbit, thanks to Putin's blatant land grab and jab at the West.
Putin's a scary guy, with a lot of oil money, and he's on a rampage that's just getting started. He fooled dumb ol' George W. and there's no telling what he could do to Barack Obama.
Cranky Greg doesn't think Obama can stand toe-to-toe with Putin. Hopefully Americans won't have to find out.
The Russians have been employing cyber-attacks agaisnt the websites of the Georgian government. Here are some links to their new, temporary sitesand some others from the Georgian point of view:
Hitler's Putin's invasion of Georgia should be of paramount concern here in the United States.
Via Instapundit, Cranky Greg found this entry on the West's practice of "Anticipatory Capitulation" as Robert Bidinotto accurately characterizes it.
Cranky Greg's not seen this blog before, but he will check it regularly from now on.
Bidinotto says:
The greatest terror of postmodern Westerners is "confrontation": to be compelled into situations in which they must actually face down a bully. And, of course, taking a moral stand may sometimes lead to such "confrontations."
He is absolutely right. The only way to deal with a bully is to deal with her head-on. Dealing with a bully in any other way just puts the conflict on the bully's terms and allows the bully to win.
Cranky Greg is very concerned about Putin's aggressions. Looks to Cranky like Putin's trying to reclaim what the Soviet Union lost when the Wall Came Tumbling Down.
Georgia put up when it sent troops to Iraq to support the United States. Now the United States needs to put up in helping Georgia fight the aggressors.
It certainly puts the USA in a bad position, with no easy way out. But in the long-run, capitulation only encourages the bully, and never solves anything. Isn't now the time to take a stand before Putin turns into an invading Hitler?
BIGMEDIAPRESS and Russia blame Georgia's president Mikhail Saakashvili for instigating this war, but believers of this BS are naive. Putin's been messing around with Georgia's internal politics for quite some time. Putin hates that there's a democracy on his doorstep.
This is Putin's first military adventure into a neighboring country. It won't stop here unless the West stands up to Putin, and now. Putin is also friendly with Ahmadinejad and his friends in Tehran, and with oil as expensive as it is now, Putin has lots of cash and new influence after invading another country with no real repercussions. No telling what kind of trouble he's gonna foment!
Putin's a new man. A dangerous man with lots of money and evil intent.
Cranky Greg's been concerned about KGB Putin for a long time. Read this.
This is another reason why Cranky Greg misses Ronald Reagan. And his campaign commercials, like this one, which seems very relevant today: