Later, it seemed that the Russians may have stopped not because they planned to stop but because the Russians suffered heavier casualties than expected and because lots of their vehicles broke down in the advance.
Now we find that Putin certainly wanted to crush Georgia once and for all and not settle for giving them "a lesson":
Putin told French President Nicolas Sarkozy that he would hang Georgian leader Mikhail Saakashvili by the testicles. The remark came during the August war between Russia and Georgia.
Alas for Putin, the testicle hanging was not to be. And Saakashvili seems to have the last word:
Responding to reports of Putin's remarks in the Sarkozy meeting, Saakashvili fired back at the Russians last week by saying "they wouldn't have enough rope."
As the saying goes, when you start to hang someone by their testicles, hang them by their testicles.
