Georgia Country

The Georgian soldier sprawled facedown in the ditch, so still that he looked dead at first glance. Skinny arms folded over his head, mouth in the dirt, combat boots braced against the earth. He was cowering at the side of the road in South Ossetia, frozen in place. Russian jets, wheeling overhead, had just bombed the road, a hot explosion that sent chunks of dirt and broken pavement showering down. The soldier picked up his head.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, a U.S.-trained attorney regarded by Washington as a pro-democracy wunderkind, has made a political career of brinkmanship with neighboring Russia. This time, he may have overplayed his hand. Saakashvili helped oust former Soviet Foreign Minister and Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze in the so-called Rose Revolution in 2003 and became Europe's youngest president the following January at the age of 36.

The website of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili was moved to a U.S. hosting facility this weekend after Russian hackers attacked it, Nino Doijashvili, chief executive of Atlanta-based hosting firm Tulip Systems Inc., said Monday. The original servers in the country of Georgia were "flooded and blocked by Russians" over the weekend, Doijashvili said. The Georgian-born Doijashvili said she transferred president.gov.ge and rustavi2.

With President Bush warning Russia that its push into Georgia could jeopardize relations with the U.S. and Europe, the administration signaled Monday that any retribution would be aimed at the Russian economy and prestige. Russia's pummeling of Georgian troops has left Washington with few palatable military options, said administration officials who requested anonymity when discussing internal policy decisions.

John McCain and Barack Obama both condemned Russia's escalating assault on its pro-United States neighbor of Georgia. But the candidates used somewhat different tones Monday to address the fast-changing conflict that could present major challenges to the next president. McCain, a Republican senator from Arizona, lashed out at Russia's "path of violent aggression" and warned of "severe, long-term negative consequences" for U.S.-Russia ties.

On the surface, the forces of European diplomacy responded vigorously Tuesday to the challenge presented by the eruption of conflict in the Caucasus. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who wants to reassert French and European influence while holding the presidency of the European Union, zoomed off to Moscow and Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, on the heels of a war-zone trip by his equally energetic foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner.

Russia appears to be rolling back its military incursion into neighboring Georgia. But that's probably because what Russia wanted wasn't territory at all. Instead, experts say, by sending in its troops Russia seized the upper hand strategically in dealing with countries around its periphery. "They don't want to rebuild the Soviet Union, but they do want a sphere of influence," said Steven Pifer, a former deputy assistant secretary of State and ambassador to Ukraine.

Other than the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, few foreign policy initiatives have gotten more diplomatic attention from the Bush administration recently than thawing its increasingly chilly relationship with Russia. Twice over the last 10 months, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates have been sent on joint missions to convince the Kremlin that it should cooperate on a variety of fronts, including missile defense and nuclear proliferation.

The Russian bombs and shells were falling fast Tuesday afternoon, dropping unseen through mist that clung to the mountains and wisped over the valleys. Panicked people pressed the gas pedal to the floor and roared toward the capital city of Tbilisi, trying to outrun the explosions. Russian helicopters hung low over the foothills. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had said that the "operation to force the Georgian authorities to peace" was finished. But here in Georgia, the war dragged on.

Russia's invasion of neighboring Georgia has raised doubts about the security of oil and gas pipelines that cross through the former Soviet republic and the wisdom of further investment in the transport lines. The foray also put an emphatic stamp on Russia's growing influence over the region's natural resources and, by proxy, over Europe.