Rick Moran: "Stories of Russian Atrocities in Georgia Mount: Where's the US Media?"

Dude, you so don't understand. These atrocities aren't linked to Bush. Worse, they tend to sort of justify McCain's "hawk" posture.

After some deserved praise of the initial reporting, Moran notes:

Now the Times Online informs us that Russians have been forcing the people of Gori - an extremely important rail and road junction that is the lifeline for the capitol Tblisi - to leave. And they are killing them if they stay....

"'We didn't have any guns, so he shot Georgi in front of me without saying a word,' she said. 'A neighbour helped me to bury him in our garden and then I just fled.'"

"Manana Galigashvili, 53, whose husband Andrei stared vacantly from a bed behind her, said that Ossetian soldiers had returned later and torched the house. They, too, had left after a soldier threatened to slit their throats."

'"Frightened refugees told similar stories all over the city of Gori yesterday as the Russian army extended its reach deep into Georgian territory despite a ceasefire agreement signed by President Medvedev that requires them to withdraw."

It goes like this: We "negotiate", while the bad guys kill and/or take other actions which help them gain their objectives. Then we talk so more, while they do some more. Then all parties eventually sign a meaningless document, we congratulate ourselves on our "historic achievement". Then they violate the document by gaining some more ground, and we try to "get them to the table" again. Repeat as needed.

Pacifists and State Department "negotiation" fans are the close allies of guys like Putin. They may not think they are, but they're absolutely essential to encouraging his actions in the first place, and helping him achieve his goals.

(And I'm a pacifist at heart too -- have always been -- but unlike my peers, I apparently learned to count the bodies and ask: "Why?")

I've already been rebuked for implying we should aid Georgia militarily in their fighting (an "indirect" attack). Well, now what folks? Sanctions? How many months (read "countries") will it take before those have any effect? Would you approve of our current course of action if you lived in Gori? What would you have wanted?