Shock and Awe

The Russian counter-attack in Georgia is reminiscent of the initial US attack against Iraq in 2003, but on a much smaller scale of course.

Had the US turned right around after it defeated the then-Government of Iraq and left as swiftly as it entered, the fiasco that resulted from the occupation may have avoided.

The question now, in Georgia, is whether Putin has learned the lessons of the US Iraq occupation and the USSR Afghanistan occupation. Will he accomplish his goals, which he may have already, and make a hasty retreat from the potential quagmire, or will he linger in Georgia and cross the line into a de facto occupation of that country, even for a short time?

If the conclusion of this needless mess follows the path it has so far taken, Putin will pull his ass out of there with the same Shock and Awe speed with which he entered.