The sharp exchange between US and Russian representatives at the UN last week was eerily reminiscent of another era.

The angry rebuttal to US charges that Russia was acting irresponsibly by attempting to change Georgia's leadership showed how deep Russian resentment of the US has become.

The US was told that it was in no position to lecture Russia after invading Iraq and overthrowing Saddam - a country that is nowhere near US borders, and one that posed no immediate threat.

It was so direct and utterly undiplomatic - you had to wonder how long the Russians were waiting to throw that card on the table.

It appears now that Russia is planning to occupy the break away pro-Moscow provinces and maybe the rest of Georgia, too.

Last night, Georgian President Mikheil Saakshvili appeared on every major news network with hat in hand, pleading for more Western assistance.

He rather bluntly raised questions of how resolved the West is to supporting fledgling democracies against outside aggression.

After an economic meltdown and then watching its satellite states break away, Russia was almost impotent in the 90's. It had no say in the Serbian outcome, a war that erupted near its border. Former Clinton advisor Richard Holbrooke described it as a humiliating diplomatic defeat.

What a difference a decade makes.

Now Russia has bounced back, flush with natural gas and oil wealth. Its attack on Georgia - a sovereign nation - was predictable.

European response has been tepid at best since they aren't about to have Moscow turn off the gas lines with winter just around the corner.

What is unknown is what Russia will do next, and how it will impact other former Soviet proxy states like the Ukraine and Poland. Both declared their independence at the beckoning of the West. And what about Taiwan and South Korea?

There is, of course, nothing the US can do - with a military that is overstretched in two wars and a treasury that is swimming in red ink.

Bush's diversionary folly into Iraq will have long-lasting consequences for the US and Europe. The oversight is colossal in scope considering Condoleezza Rice is an expert in Russian affairs.

Only a year ago, Bush Sr. hosted then Russian President Vladimir Putin at the family estate in Maine. It made for a strange and foreboding image.

Whatever George W. claims to have seen in Putin's eyes years earlier isn't there now - if it was ever there at all.