While this is obviously "his" side of the story, I suspect - regretfully - he may be dead on with his last statement.

If Georgia falls, this will also mean the fall of the West in the entire former Soviet Union and beyond. Leaders in neighboring states -- whether in Ukraine, in other Caucasian states or in Central Asia -- will have to consider whether the price of freedom and independence is indeed too high.

The War in Georgia Is a War for the West