A smaller military, American trained, using Soviet Equipment older than what the Russians had available, delayed the Russians long enough for the United States to pull off one of the most audacious bluffs in the history of warfare. By standing as well as they did, by hurting the Russians as deeply as they did, the Georgians set the stage for the first American C17 to land at Tblisi to have an impact far beyond what it could have had otherwise.

From the behavior of the Russain 38th Army in Georgia I have to ask if Russia’s control over that force is as strong as Moscow wants us to think. The recent threat by Deputy Chief of Staff Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn: tells me the rot may well extend throughout Russian government, and Putin now finds him astride a pissed off slippery tiger. He seeks to control chaos when he hasn’t the tools to corral dirt.

A crumbling infrastructure, a dying people, and a disintegrating social order. All under the oft disregarded direction of a man with a delusional view of his enemies. A man asking his generals how long before Russia can declare victory, but, unlike Gorbachev, none of Putin’s men has the wisdom to realize that Russia has already lost.

http://americandigest.org/mt-archives/clickpix_blogs_on_a_roll/crittendens_bac.php