Russia Roars, NATO Purrs Alliance needs to step up and protect Eastern Europe By Kevin Spak Posted Aug 22, 2008 7:51 AM CDT Copied Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, right, meets Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in the Moscow Kremlin on Wednesday, Aug. 13, 2008. (AP Photo) Russia had better watch its back. NATO has proven that if it goes around invading its neighbors, the world’s mightiest alliance will take action and…er… cancel the next NATO-Russia Council meeting. That’s the lone consequence NATO put forth in its statement on the “situation in Georgia,” a document that Charles Krauthammer of the Washington Post finds “almost comically evenhanded.” The statement dares not even say, for example, who invaded whom. “We deplore all loss of life,” it reads, as if the attack were a bus accident. It’s a ridiculous display because the stakes are so high. If Russia unseats Georgia’s government and NATO does nothing, it will demoralize Eastern Europe and signal a return to Russian power. Today’s Russia has geopolitical pressure points. Why aren’t we pushing them? Read These Next A space capsule carrying ashes of 160 people crashed in the ocean. A lesson in minding your own business ... at 30,000 feet. The death toll in the Texas floods has risen to 27, including 9 kids. Desperate search for missing campers continues in Texas. Report an error