This is a fair and balanced quick summary of the regional conflict. It does rely on some mind reading of President Saakashvili. Saakashvili may not be as clever as the mind reading would suggest, but it is an effective plot device for summarizing events.

This is a small but, major conflict that can have a bigger baring on us than the war in Iraq. There are just too many variable factors in this outbreak. Georgia wants to be a free nation. Russia wants American support. This is a very thing line that America must walk. Geogia would like to join NATO.

RFE identifies this article as the viewpoint of the author & not RFE. If only the Wash. Post would have done the same with Kagan's article. This is very good article. It covers the facts and gives a very fair assessment of the goals of Russia, Georgia and the U.S. My opinion of Saakashvilli is he is a despot playing the west to his advantage. Only this time it backfired. This is the second article that identifies the culprit of the situation. The American media continually mentions Russia's attack & the killing of 2 thousand civilians. They definitely place the blame on Russia and not Georgia's attack on Ossetia that caused these deaths. This writer is courageous enough to identify the true culprit. Today anyone in the media who ... More »

A good attempt to characterize the big picture. Seems relatively even-handed and fair. Any discussion of the invasion has to mention Ossetia, as this one does.