[John Beaman]

In my local daily newspaper there is a reprint from a Washington Post correspondent on the causes. Essentially he says Georgia got too close to the "West" and Putin was determined to stop this. Putin has used the excuse of Georgia firing on Russian peacekeepers. I.e., Russia is putting paid to having a potential NATO country right next door in a sensitive (to Russian interests) area. Russia really got ticked off over the "missiles" in Poland and other former "eastern" countries and the "color revolutions" next door which removed their influence in Ukraine, etc.

Interesting peice. Unfortunately, I cannot post a link to the W. Post.