Teaching the bear to dance

While Team Bush has been busy pushing ships into the Black Sea loaded up with humanitarian aid for Georgia, the buzz is that military aid could maybe be a possibility, if they can figure out how to do it without enraging the bear. And the bear is grumbling over the number of NATO ships presently in the Black Sea. While accusing the U.S. of bringing in weapons to Georgia, Russia is pointing to a 1936 treaty which says the offending ships can only stay three weeks. The fleet isn't the only stick poking the bear either. UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband, while visiting Ukraine, called for the EU and NATO to "rebalance" their relations to Russia. Whatever THAT might mean. This comes as Ukraine’s president, Viktor A. Yushchenko has decided now would be a good time to raise the rent on Russia's naval base in the Crimea. WIth all this poking, the bear is being backed into a corner. And that could be enough to enrage the bear again.