(The Wall Street Journal has an excellent editorial (sub req’d) this morning on standing with Georgia. They write: “The world needs to watch Russia’s current pressure on Georgia. Its decision this week to ban trade, travel and postal links to neighboring Georgia isn’t the first time Moscow has tangled with the former Soviet republic. But it is a fresh reminder of just how paranoid and bullying the Kremlin’s foreign policy has become in the hands of President Vladimir Putin…. The world should not let the Russians bring Georgia to heel.”)

(The Russian screw tightens, reports The Independent in Britain.)

(Moscow has never fully accepted Georgia's independence and continues its intimidation campaign against this struggling democracy. Last January, the Kremlin cut off gas supplies to the Ukraine to punish Kiev. Is Tbilisi next? Will the E.U. and the U.S. stand firmly against another Russian power play?)

Posted September 20, 2006:

Since the Georgian democratic revolution in 2003, U.S.-Georgia relations have warmed considerably. The U.S. military recently signed another military assistance accord with the former Soviet republic, and Radio Free Europe reports that NATO will announce tomorrow that formal talks will begin with Tbilisi that could eventually lead to full NATO membership. As you can see, Georgia sits in a strategically significant region of the world and, so far, has been a success story for American diplomacy.

(Source: UN)