Word: russian
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...country out of humiliation is as deplorable as doing so for territory or riches. Indeed, the West must be prepared to sanction Putin for the invasion of Georgia. The U.S. and its allies can avoid humiliating Russia by acknowledging that Georgia is not blameless and that the rights of Russian minorities must be protected. But Western countries must refuse to accept Russia's cease-fire assurances without independent monitoring, and they must state that Russia's continued membership in the G-8 and future entry into the WTO will turn on its peaceful resolution of regional disputes. The upside...
When Russia sent shells raining down on Georgia, it seemed initially as if Vladimir Putin was savagely pursuing what he saw as Russian national interests. Moscow claimed Georgian aggression against Russian loyalists in South Ossetia and has objected to both Georgia's bid to join NATO and the Pentagon's arming and training of the Georgian military. But a closer examination of the run-up to Putin's inexcusable invasion suggests that Russia's action had as much to do with its wounded pride as with its alleged impaired security...
...Perhaps the best preview of Russians' brewing rage at their lost grandeur came in Kosovo, when, in the wake of NATO's 1999 war against Serbia - a war Russia opposed - Russian forces seized the airport that NATO had intended as headquarters for what many Russians considered an occupation force. No shots were fired, but Western generals found it jarring to see how far Russia would go for a territory so marginal to its wealth and security...
...Russian tank squats across the main road heading into the town of Gori, its turret pointing east toward the capital, Tbilisi. Three armored personnel carriers seal off the rest of the thruway; one churns up the asphalt and repositions itself in the bushes. A handful of Russian special forces crouch next to their rocket propelled grenade launchers and eye the Georgian positions a few hundred yards away. In the valley behind the Russian units, in Gori itself, a column of thick black smoke billows skyward...
...peacekeepers," explains Russian Sergeant Vasili Schevchenko, from Stavropol, dragging on a cigarette and eyeing the aid workers and journalists wanting to get through. "All we want is peace." He does not know what is causing the big plume of smoke in Gori, he says. When will the Russians pull back? "We are just taking orders," he growls...