"And Then The Russian Army Invaded Georgia."

"The response of the trade union movement and the democratic Left was swift – universal condemnation of a blatant act of aggression, an obvious attempt to seize control over a country whose independence Russia had recognised. Georgia had no better friend than the international labour movement which stood by its side at a difficult moment."

Except that was in 1921, not 2008.

"One of the biggest differences between the Russian invasion of Georgia in 1921 and the one that took place this summer has been the reaction of the Left around the world. Of course the knee-jerk anti-American Left instantly blamed George Bush for the war, and looked for evidence of sneaky neo-cons putting in appearances in Tbilisi in the days leading up to the outbreak of fighting. One expects no more from the Chomsky-Galloway Left, but the reaction of the mainstream trade union movement was muted, to say the least."

The author of the essay, Eric Lee, is the founding editor of LabourStart.

UPDATE: Here's Edward Lucas on the pro-Russian alliance of anti-globalists, Tories, pseudo-leftists, Russophiles, aging Stalinists and bankers that you will find arrayed the Georgians today.