Russia's War Is The West's Challenge

Russian soldiers patrol in Tskhinvali, South Ossetia, yesterday. (By Dmitry Lovetsky -- Associated Press)

Our government had no choice but to protect our country from invasion, secure our citizens and stop the bloodshed. For years, Georgia has been proposing 21st-century, European solutions for South Ossetia, including full autonomy guaranteed by the international community. Russia has responded with crude, 19th-century methods.

It is true that Russian power could overwhelm our small country -- though even we did not anticipate the ferocity and scale of Moscow's response. But we had to at least try to protect our people from the invading forces. Any democratic country would have done the same.

But facing this brutal invading army, whose violence was ripping Georgia apart, our government decided to withdraw from South Ossetia, declare a cease-fire and seek negotiations. Yet Moscow ignored our appeal for peace.

Our repeated attempts to contact senior Russian leaders were rebuffed. Russia's foreign ministry even denied receiving our notice of cease-fire hours after it was officially -- and very publicly -- delivered. This was just one of many cynical ploys to deceive the world and justify further attacks.

This war threatens not only Georgia but security and liberty around the world. If the international community fails to take a resolute stand, it will have sounded the death knell for the spread of freedom and democracy everywhere.

Georgia's only fault in this crisis is its wish to be an independent, free and democratic country. What would Western nations do if they were punished for the same aspiration?

I have staked my country's fate on the West's rhetoric about democracy and liberty. As Georgians come under attack, we must ask: If the West is not with us, who is it with? If the line is not drawn now, when will it be drawn? We cannot allow Georgia to become the first victim of a new world order as imagined by Moscow.

The writer is president of Georgia.