Russian plan for Georgia made clear in March: "Divide & Destroy"

Here's a story back in March about the Kremlin's attitude toward Ukraine and Georgia joining NATO.

This provides some background as to the how and why of Russia's attack on Georgia.

A quote from a Kremlin guy lays out the Russian plan:

Gleb Pavlovsky warned on the program that Ukraine shall be “destroyed, divided” if it pursues a MAP leading to NATO membership. To deter Kyiv from pursuing a MAP, Pavlovsky recommended that Russia should raise the full range of complaints regarding the Russian language and rights of ethnic minorities in Ukraine and present Ukraine with a “yes-or-no choice.”

Russia is carrying out their stated plan, but instead of Ukraine, they're picking on a smaller country to check the commitment of NATO. Putin's plan is to show the Georgians that NATO is all talk. That way, the Georgians will grow angry with the West for failing to help them.

Putin is a genius and we're on the receiving end.

We've seriously dropped the ball and now we cannot effectively deal with this.