President Bush adressed the Russian aggression against Georgia this morning. He said he is sending Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to France and then on to Tbilisi to meet with Georgian President Saakashvili.

He has directed Defense Secretary Bob Gates to dispatch U.S. aircraft and naval forces to deliver humanitarian and medical supplies, and called for Russia to allow passage of humanitarian assistance.

He also delivered a warning to Russia that their standing in the eyes of the world has been diminished, and that Russia must cease military operations in Georgia in order to “restore it’s place in the world.”

The problem is that Russia doesn’t really care what the rest of the world thinks of them. While their propaganda machine claims they have ended the assault, in reality they are continuing the aggression and dividing the country. They are bullies looking to see what they can get away with. If the world let’s them get away with this where will they stop?

Russia’s propaganda machine has been running non-stop for days, pointing the finger at Georgia, blaming the small democracy for the invasion. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Russia planned this all along, is it just a coincidence they chose to invade Georgia during the opening ceremonies of the Olympics?

Colonel Ralph Peters wrote a great piece last week, explaining in detail the way Russia works, providing some history of the relationship between Russia and Georgia and Russia’s violent acts of aggression against the democracy.

 What just happened? The Kremlin decided it was time to act, since Georgia was only growing stronger under its democratically elected government. Although NATO has been hemming and hawing about admitting Georgia, the Russians didn’t want to take any chances. (Just last month, 1,000 US troops were in Georgia for an exercise.)

Calculating that the media and world leaders would be partying in Beijing, the Russians ordered North Ossetian militiamen, backed by Russian “peacekeepers” and mercenaries, to provoke the Georgians earlier this month.

Weary of the Russian presence on their soil, the Georgians took the bait. President Mikheil Saakashvili ordered his US-trained military to respond.

That was the excuse the Kremlin wanted. Immediately, a tank brigade from Russia’s 58th Army (the butchers of Chechnya) crossed the international border into Poland - sorry, I meant Georgia.

John McCain was the first to come out with the appropriate response to Russia’s aggression. That’s something to keep in mind when you head to the polls in November.