Nothing can justify the brutality of the Russian onslaught in South Ossetia/Georgia, but this article from The Daily Telegraph helps put it in some wider context, specifically the (possibly questionable) decision by much of the EU and the US to recognize Kosovo in the way, and at the time, that they did. I noted, in particular, this quotation by one well-known fellow-traveler, appeaser, neo-Chamberlain etc:
“Recognizing Kosovo will bring nothing but trouble. No one can be denied the right to self-determination, but only within the bounds of common sense…with its irresponsible behaviour, [Kosovo is] causing new divisions in Europe and globally and undermining international relations.”
The author of those words? Lech Walesa.