Don’t allow Russia to combat former Soviet states

Russia's military assault on Georgia was a blatant violation of the feeble neighbor's sovereignty that U.S. diplomats should have seen coming and prevented. The attack demonstrated Russia's capability of bringing former Soviet republics to their knees without international interference.

In recent years, the United States has supported the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, the Rose Revolution in Georgia and the Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan, giving needed encouragement in bringing democracy and freedom to former Soviet republics. Russia's push in Georgia without international intervention caused concern in all former Soviet states.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili should have known that a military strike of secessionists in the enclave of South Ossetia would backfire. Russian encouragement of South Ossetian rebels after handing Russian passports to virtually all the adults there and in Abkhazia may have triggered the chain of events. Both South Ossetia and Abkhazia won autonomy from Georgia in the early 1990s but legally remain part of the country.

The U.S. has overhauled and equipped Georgia's military in recent years, and a force of 2,000 made Georgia the third-largest U.S.-led contingency in Iraq. The military strike that extended from South Ossetia and Abkhazia into parts of Georgia-proper prompted the force's U.S. airlift back to Georgia.

President Bush said he “was very firm” with Vladimir Putin, the former and de facto Russian president, when they met at the Olympic Games in Beijing over the weekend. Yesterday, he said the escalation "raised serious questions about its intentions in Georgia and the region," appearing to recognize how the fall of Georgia could become contagious along Russia's edges.

However, tough talk is empty without specific, promised response of some kind. Bush was in no position to threaten adverse action or gain support from America's traditional allies. While the U.S. military is stretched thin in South Asia, Western European countries are increasingly dependent on Russia for their oil and natural gas.

Those realities obviously were factors in Russia's arrogance in carrying out the military action threatening the democratic government. Without foreign intervention, the question was whether Russia, having abandoned democracy, would begin to look at other former Soviet republic as candidates for restoring the Soviet Union.

Russia's agreement today to terms of a cease-fire includes continued occupation of the two enclaves by Russian troops. The military action can be expected to lead to the transfer of the disputed territory from Georgia to Russia; that will be the subject of negotiations, according to the six-point agreement.

The assault on Georgia was a success for Russia, which showed its ability to punish neighbors for aligning with the West and seeking their goal of freedom and democracy. Unfortunately, Western nations appear unable to assure them stability in their pursuit of those goals.