Proxy Wars

Proxy Wars were very popular during the Cold War days. By popular, I mean that the United States and Soviet Union favored them as a means to divide up the globe between the capitalists and the communists. For most of the people in the countries where these things were fought, the proxy wars weren't very popular at all.

But the United States and Russia are still at it, fighting proxy wars. This latest conflict between Russia and Georgia has an element that caught my attention.

Did the U.S. Prep Georgia for War with Russia?

Since early 2002, the U.S. government has given a healthy amount of military aid to Georgia. When I last visited South Ossetia, Georgian troops manned a checkpoint outside Tskhinvali -- decked out in surplus U.S. Army uniforms and new body armor.

Emphasis mine. New body armor. From the United States. This was shortly before we were hearing the horror stories of our own troops not having body armor in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Pentagon short-changed their own soldiers in the name of a proxy war against the old Bear.

Do you have any idea how many yellow ribbons it takes to do the job of one small piece of body armor? Our soldiers got screwed.