We can only pray!

People are surprised by this because? This has been building since before Kosovo declared independence.

TigerAngel, you hit the nail on the head...."This is over control of the Caspian Oil Pipeline."

The Russians (and Gazprom, Medvedev's alma mater) just scored a gigantic coup for controlling energy supply and delivery affecting Europe, the Mideast and Africa.

This coup, announced right after the G8 Summit, should have made headlines, page one, above the fold...but nary a word was said. This Georgia conflict is the first of perhaps many for Russia to protect their energy bonanza by all means possible.

The Russians have just scored checkmate in the energy game It's their game now and they have all the right allies in place. The US energy policy devised by Dick Cheney and the oil majors in early '01 proved to be the move that lost us the queen.

I've been following this situation very closely since I learned about it, and there's no "good" way to spin this news. It's going to get much, much worse before it gets better, and it might very well lead us into another war we can't win. This time, however, we'll be facing a disciplined and very well-trained army and battle-hardened special forces who have state-of-the-art equipment at their disposal. I truly believe Cheny is overplaying his hand in this game but, given the many layers of insulation between the White House and our field commanders, I'm relatively certain a colonel or general will shoulder the blame when Cheny's plan turns sour.

   Jim