Georgian War Lays Bare Bush Policy's Failures

The Georgian war crystallizes the failure of the Bush administration's foreign policy, writes HDS Greenway in the Boston Globe. Besides the ready-made justification the Iraq war provides to any invading country, America has stoked Georgian boldness, "and now America's client is wiping blood from its nose," he writes. "The wreckage of Georgia's towns and countryside, however, is not as complete as the ruin of Bush's policies."

Mikheil Saakashvili deserves blame for “misreading America’s mixed signals,” Greenway contends. Besides encouraging Georgian bluster, the Bush administration has needlessly provoked Moscow despite needing its support on Iran, terrorism, and nuclear proliferation. "Given the administration's attitude toward Moscow's interests, it was only a matter of time before Russia pushed back." (More America stories.)