There appear to be many in the media and elsewhere, including the likes of Mikhail Gorbachev, who feel that the Georgians started this war and are reaping their just desserts.

To these I put this question: How did Georgia provoke the Russians when Georgian forces never left their own soil? While there were Russians involved in the attack and some Russian civilians killed, they were living in Georgia and some of those killed were involved in an uprising to break away from Georgia and join Russia. Which, of course, is what triggered the Georgian operation.

Furthermore, we do not know how many civilians were killed by the Georgians and how many were killed in the Russian invasion. (We may never know as the Russians occupy the territory and are surely contaminating the crime scene.)

Nothing the Georgians did justifies the Russian response. This attack was naked aggression and is eerily similar to Hitler's attack on Poland. Russia has already made threats against others of its former satellites including the Ukraine and Poland.

The implications are sobering and our response is critical. The correct course of action will be to remove Russian forces from Georgia using any means necessary, including force. Russia cannot be allowed to profit from this attack. If we plug the hole in the levee now, maybe we can prevent a flood.

D. Kyle Dickson

Winslow