Boots on the ground in the Caucasus
No one can predict when history will happen. But if you're in the way when it comes marching around, it can have dramatic consequences. "I really like Tbilisi and was enjoying settling in" wrote Doug Merrill last week in A Fistful of Euros. But his wife's employer made evacuation mandatory on Saturday afternoon, and now they're in Armenia. Just as the Merrills were departing Georgia, Michael Totten was arriving in Baku as a guest of the The Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy. He's got a front row seat now.
"Russia militia accused of orgies of looting and rape". Nothing new there. "Peace Plan Offers Russia a Rationale to Advance". Nothing new there, either. It was negotiated by the French, after all. History is about boots on the ground.
