Bush's Big Nyet

"The U.S. embassy in Tbilisi originally said the Dallas would be joined in Poti by a U.S. warship, the USS McFaul, which docked in Batumi on Sunday. But the embassy said late on Tuesday that the plan had changed. It did not say why.

"'This decision was taken at the highest level of the Pentagon,' a U.S. embassy spokeswoman told Reuters."

David Jackson writes in USA Today: "Adding to the tension, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev threatened an unspecified military response if the United States follows through with a missile-defense system near Russia's borders in Poland and the Czech Republic. . . .

"Medvedev said his country may respond to a U.S. missile shield in Europe. 'We have to react somehow, to react, of course, in a military way,' Medvedev was quoted by the RIA Novosti news agency.

"Stephen Larrabee, a specialist on European security with the RAND Corp., a think tank, noted the escalating war of words.

"'We're having sort of an action-reaction spiral,' Larrabee said. 'Things are deteriorating quite quickly. Where it will end up is very hard to say at this point.'"

Here's White House spokesman Tony Fratto taking questions in Crawford yesterday:

Q. "The President yesterday called specifically for Russia's leadership not to recognize the independence of these regions, and swiftly just the opposite happened. So does the President have no influence left with Russia's direction?"

Fratto: "Russia is making, I would say, a number of irrational decisions. And this is not about the United States and Russia; this is about Europe and the international community and Russia, and the choices Russia is making that affect its place in the world. . . . "

Q. "U.S. entreaties for Russia not to recognize the breakaway regions or face unspecified consequences didn't really seem to work. When will the U.S. start to outline what some of those consequences will be?"

Fratto: "I think there's time for that. . . . "

Q. "Tony, the President we know puts great store in his personal relationships with foreign leaders, and yet today's action by the Kremlin came a day after he personally appealed for Russia not to do what it exactly went ahead and did. So does he view the Kremlin as thumbing its nose at his appeal?"