Not sure how true this is, but here’s what the London Times says about how close Putin came to over throwing the Georgian government.
With Russian tanks only 30 miles from Tbilisi on August 12, Mr Sarkozy told Mr Putin that the world would not accept the overthrow of Georgia’s Government. According to Mr Levitte, the Russian seemed unconcerned by international reaction. “I am going to hang Saakashvili by the balls,” Mr Putin declared.
Mr Sarkozy thought he had misheard. “Hang him?” – he asked. “Why not?” Mr Putin replied. “The Americans hanged Saddam Hussein.” Mr Sarkozy, using the familiar tu, tried to reason with him: “Yes but do you want to end up like [President] Bush?” Mr Putin was briefly lost for words, then said: “Ah – you have scored a point there.”
This would seem to settle whether or not Russia aimed to actually overthrow Georgia’s government that some in the blogosphere were debating.
Also is it just me or have a lot of my titles been ending in question marks lately? Who knows?
(HT: Reason Online)
It’s interesting how much an American precedent is the ultimate validation for action with Putin. Every time he wants to do something controversial or downright nefarious, he always uses the “but the Americans did it” rationale. It’s a revealing sign of insecurity.