Russians Take Gori

This is bad. Very bad. I don't think that President Bush has made it clear to the Russians just how much of a mistake they are making. Of course, given Russian fatalism...it might not matter. I look for China to be getting ideas about taking Taiwan if they can figure out how to disable the Taiwanese military with minimum fuss.

Here is Matthew Chance from CNN:

And here is Richard Fernandez from Belmont Club, and I am making an exception by linking to the people who were stupid enough to sever relations with the very exceptional Gates of Vienna (who are ten times better than the rest of the dolts at Pajamas Media):

Georgia — under its old borders — has effectively been lost to Russia. Moscow now sits aside the transportation links joining Tbilisi to the Georgia’s Black Sea ports. A Russian column has also reached the Senaki, at the western end of Georgia’s main flatland, the Kolkhida Lowland. The heartland of Georgia is now split in two. But the Georgian army remains apparently intact.

But the Russians have repeatedly failed to “bag” or encircle the Georgian Army, whose losses appear to be relatively light. The Georgians may have decided to avoid a ruinous battle for Gori, preserve their army and keep their state alive — even at the cost of abandoning their Black Sea ports and Kolkhida Lowland — in favor of a withdrawal behind the second of their major mountain ranges: the Lesser Caucasus.

I am turning in early tonight to catch the Perseids in the morning.