Bulletin: Georgia Bombed Itself

Over the weekend, the top layer of Moscow's leadership got behind the response of middle-ranking Russian officials to the charge that Russia fired a missile into Georgian territory last week. It is another in a series of lost opportunities for Russia to bat away attacks on its international credibility, and show that it is a serious player.

Here is the first paragraph and backup matter from the AP story: Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov on Saturday accused Georgia of faking the alleged release of a missile from a Russian aircraft into Georgian territory. Ivanov called the allegations a "theatrical show" aimed at preventing a planned meeting of a commission of South Ossetian and Georgian authorities to discuss the decade-long standoff over the region's status. "The authors of this theatrical presentation achieved their main goal — they ruined the meeting," he said. Read rest of story.

Steve's comment: The Ivanov remark retreats to Russia's traditional defensive refuge -- blame the victim (most recently employed in the murder of Alexander Litvinenko, who some Russian officials accused of poisoning himself along with Andrei Lugovoi, the man Britain charged with murder in the case.). In fact, the evidence so far is almost entirely on Georgia's side. Here Vladimir Socor presents the current state of reporting on the missile incident.

Moscow's defense might deserve serious scrutiny, except that, coming in this long line of instant Russian denials, it appears reflexive. One wonders why Ivanov -- one of two presumed heirs apparent to President Putin -- is willing to put his name behind such an untenable position, thus playing entirely to the domestic audience but neglecting the international credibility that he may require down the road.