Like father, like son

Like G. H. W. Bush encouraging the Iraqis to rise up against Saddam and then not following up with US action while a massacre took place, it looks like Georgie has egged on Saakashvili to go kick Putin in the shins and then is standing back as the slaughter ensues:

Matthew Yglesias:

The Limits of Bluster»

Fred Kaplan, always worth reading, dives deeper into the issue of what was Shakashvili thinking and concludes that, basically, his big mistake was taking George W. Bush seriously:

It’s heartbreaking, but even more infuriating, to read so many Georgians quoted in the New York Times—officials, soldiers, and citizens—wondering when the United States is coming to their rescue. It’s infuriating because it’s clear that Bush did everything to encourage them to believe that he would.

And here's Saakashvili's response to the lack of response : (pdf)

Saakashvili, in an interview with CNN, vowed to fight on alone “until the end” if necessary, but added, “My people feel let down by world democracies.”

The Los Angeles Times goes on to call Saakashvili 'brash': (pdf)

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, a U.S.-trained attorney regarded by Washington as a pro-democracy wunderkind, has made a political career of brinkmanship with neighboring Russia. This time, he may have overplayed his hand. Saakashvili helped oust former Soviet Foreign Minister and Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze in the so-called Rose Revolution in 2003 and became Europe’s youngest president the following January at the age of 36.He has been jousting with Moscow ever since over control of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, two pro-Russian regions of his country.

Which pretty much hangs him out to dry.