Who Poked the Bear?

"In a brief and unusually stern Rose Garden statement shortly after his return from the Beijing Olympics, Bush called Russia's actions 'unacceptable in the 21st century.' He urged Moscow to withdraw its forces from Georgia and accept a European peace plan.

"But beyond a reference to damage inflicted upon 'Russia's standing in the world,' Bush made no mention of any potential consequences if Russia fails to comply."

DeYoung concludes: "With yesterday's events, the administration's relationship with Russia seemed to come full circle, back to the tension of Bush's first months in office, when conservative Republicans regarded Russia as a threat and warned the new president not to trust Russian President Vladimir Putin. In the intervening years were Bush's favorable glance into Putin's 'soul' and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's 2006 assertion that Washington and Moscow enjoyed 'probably the best relations that have been there for quite some time.'"

Anne Gearan writes for the Associated Press: "The Russian Bear is back, and the United States does not seem to be able to do much about it. . . .

"Bush has put Moscow on notice that US relations with Russia would suffer if the conflict continued, but Russian leaders know that Washington needs their cooperation on a host of world problems. They know, too, that the American public has no stomach for war in an obscure corner of the globe and that Bush will be out of a job in five months."

Helene Cooper writes in the New York Times: "Even as President Bush denounced the Russian actions in the strongest terms to date, the United States and its European allies faced tough choices over how to push back. They seemed uncertain how to adjust to a new geopolitical game that threatened to undermine two decades of democratic gains in countries that were once part of the Soviet sphere. . . .

"Administration officials said military options were almost certainly off the table, but the United States did airlift Georgian troops stationed in Iraq back home, answering a plea from the Georgian government and prompting a sharp response from Russia. Washington could also press to ostracize Moscow on the international stage, perhaps by kicking it out of the Group of 8 industrialized nations.

"Yet there was no immediate indication that Western powers could exercise much leverage over Russia if it chose to ignore their warnings.

"The country is enjoying windfall profits from oil exports and seems determined to reassert influence over Georgia and Ukraine, while sending a clear signal to other former satellite states that they should be wary of an overly cozy political and military alliance with the United States, analysts say. . . .

"Even as American and European leaders were demanding, begging and pleading with Russia to halt its advance into Georgia . . . diplomats were going through what one Bush administration official described as 'not exactly the greatest hand of cards to have to play.'"

Bay Fang writes in the Chicago Tribune: "American military support, while not officially off the table, is neither a realistic nor desirable option against a nuclear power such as Russia. The UN Security Council, of which Russia is a permanent member, is not likely to produce a resolution with teeth on the fighting any time soon. Sanctions against Moscow also are not an option for many European countries because they import most of their energy from Russia. . . .

"Even on the diplomatic front, the administration has not reacted with as much force as it has during other world crises, preferring to take a back seat to its European allies. Although the French, who hold the European Union presidency, and the Finns, who lead the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, both sent their foreign ministers to the region, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice preferred to send a special envoy, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza, in her stead -- and then not until after a couple days of fighting. . . .