This question has been pushed to the center in large degree by a fierce, multimillion-dollar Russian PR campaign that hinges on leaked, very partial, and misleading reports from a military observer from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) that claimed Georgia responded militarily in South Ossetia without sufficient provocation by Russia. Judging from recent media coverage, this campaign has been successful.
Look, Saakashvili is no saint and was a fool to fall for Putin's trap. But don't be a fool and buy the Russian line that Georgia is at fault for this war. Russia set up Georgia and carried out their plan set up long before the firing in South Ossetia began:
If you really believe the Russian military was able to pull together an invasion on the fly after a sudden and unexpected Georgian attack, you are a fool or a member of the Russian media.
The Georgians, clearly, were fools to respond to the Russian provocation. And the Georgians did not follow rules of engagement that we would follow. But the Russians were the aggressors and the bad guys in this war, efforts to white wash Putin's aggression to the contrary.
Georgia deserves Western backing--with conditions that will prevent Georgia from falling for another such baited trap and drawing us into a war with Russia, and make sure the beginnings of democracy in Georgia do not falter.
