"It soon became clear that the six-point deal not only failed to slow the Russian advance, but it also allowed Russia to claim that it could push deeper into Georgia as part of so-called additional security measures it was granted in the agreement. Mr. Sarkozy, according to a senior Georgian official who witnessed the negotiations, also failed to persuade the Russians to agree to any time limit on their military action.
"By mid-morning, European officials were warning of the risks of appeasing Russian aggression, while Georgian officials lamented the West’s weak leverage.
"'I’m talking about the impotence and inability of both Europe and the United States to be unified and to exert leverage, and to comprehend the level of the threat,' said the senior Georgian official, who had sat in on the talks between Mr. Sarkozy and Georgia’s president, Mikheil Saakashvili." ... New York Times
When Sarkozy's efforts with the Russians appeared to have succeeded, I was surprised. Sarkozy has never seemed like a leader with any real substance, a hacker. But Sarkozy's weakness is strength compared to Bush's weakness and to the huge decline in American power and authority his administration has been responsible for. We'll be paying a heavy price for Bush/Cheney for years to come. If, on the top of this, we elect McCain to succeed them, I think we're toast.
