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Saakashvili still has the immense talent for communication that made him an international celebrity when he took power after 2003's bloodless Rose Revolution. He's an imposing man - at 6 ft. 4 in. (193 cm), he is the tallest Georgian I saw until we watched the national basketball team beat Belarus - with a polyglot charisma. At various times throughout the week, he spoke to me in Russian, Spanish and - above all - his famous English, an enthusiastic tumble of idiomatic American that he learned while studying and practicing law in New York City and Washington. (See pictures of the Russians...
...Road to War Our first flight took us to a deserted stretch of Black Sea coast at Anaklia Bay. Saakashvili, who is sometimes swept away by his own optimism, met several leading Spanish architects on the beach to discuss developing a resort nearly 4 miles (6 km) long that would lead right up to the border with the breakaway republic of Abkhazia. The area may have natural potential - "The water's like boiled milk," an official told me approvingly - but Saakashvili seemed to be ignoring the obvious. If war breaks out again, the Russian army will rumble first through Anaklia...
Saakashvili's heavily armed SUV convoy then took us north over dusty roads to the border village of Ganmukhuri and the 8-ft. (2.5 m) earthen berm he likes to call "the next Berlin Wall." Throngs of jubilant Georgians waved flags, passed him handwritten notes, yelled "Misha" and led chants of "Gaumarjos!" (To victory!). Saakashvili's personal film crew, which follows him nearly everywhere he goes, climbed the berm looking for a better shot but was quickly pulled down. This is, after all, a tense place, where a shouting match two years ago between Saakashvili and a Russian general almost...
Saakashvili has faced two major challenges to his leadership. In November 2007, his riot police responded to antigovernment demonstrators by beating them, arresting their leaders and shutting down two television stations. In April, the opposition took to the streets again to call for his resignation. But this time, Saakashvili was restrained. He let the protesters shut down the streets of the capital. Georgians grew tired of the inconvenience, and eventually everyone went home. Many opposition figures say they won't try to force him to resign before his term ends in 2013. Even Khidasheli, an ardent critic of the President...
...preposterously good bio--so good that a European journalist took cotton swabs to an interview in an attempt to verify that the brothers actually share DNA. But as awful as it must have been to live through, it's the family schism that allows Kings of Leon to get away with lyrical murder. Plenty of bands sing about sex, but Kings of Leon use their history to suggest that sex eases the burden of their shattered innocence, and they make music about it to reinforce their fraternal connection. They're aching emotional savants with deep wounds that require constant...