U.S. forces headed for Georgia. (Insider Report).(Brief Article)

If you're dismayed at the deepening Afghan quagmire, wait 'til we've become bogged down in Georgia (the bandit state in the Caucasus, that is, not the Peach State). Georgia, the newest hot spot in the war against terrorism, gained nominal independence in 1991 from the old Soviet Union. Russia, however, still maintains a number of military bases in Georgia, and one of Mikhail Gorbachev's old cronies, unreconstructed Communist gangster Eduard Shevardnadze, still runs the country with an iron fist. Shevardnadze came to power after a bloody coup against former president Zviad Gamsakhurdia. Gamsakhurdia was later assassinated, and Shevardnadze is long suspected to have played a role in his death.

In addition to Shevardnadze's corrupt police-state rule, Georgia has endured two separate wars against separatist movements in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. In both instances, the separatists beat back the Georgian army and now enjoy de facto autonomy. Meanwhile, the Pankisi Gorge area in the mountainous north has become a refuge for Chechen rebels fighting Russian forces in adjacent Chechnya. But lately, the lawless border region has attracted Washington's attention; over the past several weeks, ...