Military Confrontations

Only the rumble of distant artillery fire punctured the silence Sunday here in the capital of Georgia's rebel South Ossetia region, but residents wondered how long the relative calm would last. The town remained on edge, its shocked residents venturing out from cellars for the first time after three days of ferocious fighting to find bodies uncollected and streets strewn with rubble and broken glass from wrecked buildings.

After several hours of trying to reach relatives in Tbilisi, the capital of the former Soviet republic of Georgia, Tsissana Djandjoulia finally got through on Monday afternoon. "Everyone was crying," said Djandjoulia, 49, who moved from Georgia to the U.S. nine years ago. "They don't know what to do. Everyone is in shock." Djandjoulia and her husband, Nodar Janjuli, who own Karpaty grocery store on Santa Monica Boulevard in the heart of L.A.'

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.

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.

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.

BEIJING -- Tanks roll and headlines blare. A newspaper photo shows a Russian soldier running past a dead Georgian counterpart. The Olympics rock and headlines celebrate. A newspaper photo shows a Georgian beach volleyball player spiking over a Russian. It is fascinating how seldom these twain shall meet. And when they do, how effectively they are minimized. It ought to be the Olympic motto. Citius, Altius, No Politicius.

The first Russian tanks rumbled past in the morning, witnesses said, startling the townspeople and then drifting away as casually as they had arrived. By afternoon, the tanks were back in a haze of smoke and dust. Russian soldiers lounged on top, sprawled in their fatigues, shutting down the roads out of the city. Russia and Georgia had signed a cease-fire agreement the night before, but it already seemed like an illusion.

Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq, is being forced to grapple with one of the unexpected byproducts of the conflict in Georgia: His plan to withdraw American forces in Iraq was predicated on all partner nations keeping their troop levels intact. With nearly 2,000 Georgian troops returning home in the midst of the crisis there, the coalition has lost what one senior military official called one of the largest and most capable contributions to the Iraq effort.

More than a dozen people were killed today as hundreds of Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels attacked several towns in the southern Philippines, the military and witnesses said. Gunmen in Lanao del Norte occupied the towns of Kolambugan, Maigo and Kauswagan, and were reportedly fighting in Tubod. Attacks also were reported in the neighboring provinces of Sarangani and Sultan Kudarat, where an unknown number of civilians were killed or wounded.

The Russian military said Monday that it had begun pulling back troops that had swarmed into the nation of Georgia last week. But U.S. and Georgian officials and news reports indicated that, at least initially, little had changed on the ground. Col. Gen.