From the International Herald Tribune:

So along with the old-school onslaught of infantry, armor and artillery, Russia mounted joint air and naval operations, appeared to launch simultaneous cyberattacks on Georgian government Web sites and had its best English speakers at the ready to make Moscow’s case in television appearances.

If the rapidly unfolding events caught much of the world off guard, that kind of coordination of the old and the new did not look accidental to military professionals.

“They seem to have harnessed all their instruments of national power — military, diplomatic, information — in a very disciplined way,” said one Pentagon official, who like others interviewed for this article disclosed details of the operation under ground rules that called for anonymity. “It appears this was well thought out and planned in advance, and suggests a level of coordination in the Russian government between the military and the other civilian agencies and departments that we are striving for today.”

Last 5 posts by Robert Amsterdam

• Grigory Pasko: Yuri Luzhkov's Water Grab - November 23rd, 2009
• Who Helps Russia's Corrupt Get their Money Out? - November 23rd, 2009
• Sergei Magnitsky's Final Petition - November 23rd, 2009
• Energy Blast - Nov 23, 2009 - November 23rd, 2009
• Today in Russian Business - Nov 23, 2009 - November 23rd, 2009