Georgia on my mind

This week, the international community stood by did nothing while Georgia and Russia engaged in military conflict. Hostilities began when Georgia moved into neighbouring South Ossetia, in attempts to expand their land claims over the area. Russia responded by attacking Georgia with brutal force, claiming that with many Russian citizens in Ossetia, it needed to protect it's people. The problem? Russia began to move troops into areas where there were no Russian interests and used a disproportionate amount of force to do so. Georgia, an ally of the U.S. (who sent the third largest contingent to Iraq, after Britain) had been training with the US military for the last four years and was trying to join NATO. As a former colony of Russia, it's been said that Russia was showing its strength toward Georgia, to warn them and neighbouring countries about trying to test Russia in the future. Russia's actions provoked strong reactions from world leaders but no one did much to diffuse the situation or strongly condemn Russia. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili went on a media tour this week, visibly angry with the West and Europe for remaining idle while his country was getting disciplined by Russia. Ultimately, French president Nicholas Sarkozy flew to the region and helped to broker a cease-fire agreement, which Russia is yet to honour. I respect Sarkozy for what he did in this volatile situation; he stepped up to the plate, the way a leader should. He didn't give the media some softball talking points and then move on to ignoring what was going on. Bush should be very ashamed of how they reacted to the situation in Georgia. Russia is exploiting the advantage they have in being a crucial ally in keeping Iran contained.