Russia's Thuggish Aggression
By David Aikman

Russia's alarming invasion of Georgia is based on the claim that it is protecting the citizens of South Ossetia, who have been at odds with Georgia since the 1990s.

In fact, its real goal is to punish and embarrass the United States, which has gained new friends and allies, including Georgia, in the Russian backyard after the Soviet Union fell. It wants to end Georgia's flourishing democracy, nip in the bud Georgia's desire to join NATO and close down an oil pipeline that breaks Russia's monopoly on exporting the region's oil. Essentially, it's Vladimir Putin's Monroe Doctrine: foreigners, especially Americans, should stay out of what used to be the Soviet empire.

If Russia gets away with intimidating Georgia, other former Soviet republics, now independent, may be next.