Russian Rampage

“If the world is not able to stop Russia here, then Russian tanks and Russian paratroopers can appear in every European capital.”–Alexander Lomaya, secretary of Georgia’s National Security Council

I am a great admirer of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (I have that proverbial bridge to sell to anyone who thinks President Dmitri A. Medvedev is actually running Russia). He is ruthless. Cross him and you get a bullet to the head. Even so much as think of blaspheming his name and your corpse will radiate pollonium.

But those were acts of thuggery against individuals who crossed him. This is different, some on the order of Chechnya and, as he did pummeling that nation into rubble, Georgia will, sooner or later, cease to exist. Hitler would have been proud of George Bush’s soul brother.

“This is about annihilation of a democracy on their borders,” Saakashvili told the British Broadcasting Corp. “We on our own cannot fight with Russia. We want immediate cease-fire, immediate cessation of hostilities, separation of Russia and Georgia and

international mediation.”

At a meeting of the U.N. Security Council Saturday, the third in three days on the issue, Russia refused to agree to a cease-fire or a diplomatic agreement. The move ensured that the fighting with Georgia would keep spilling into other regions such as Abkhazia’s Kodori Ridge, where 15 U.N. military observers were told to evacuate.

Russia’s hunger for territory will not be sated. Its planes are leveling the airport in Tbilisi, flying over Georgian cities, and the civilian population are being menaced. Putin is running everything from the region. He should be held accountable. Nothing short of being tried for crimes against humanity will do. For his crimes in Chechnya and was is commencing in Georgia.

Georgia will be no more than a way station for Russian oil to pass through to the West. That is why the world will not lift a finger to help this beleaguered nation.

We watch but do not see.