U.S. official: Russia’s attack on Georgia is ‘disproportionate’

Russia’s use of strategic bombers and ballistic missiles against Georgia’s civilians outside of the South Ossetian conflict is “far disproportionate” to Georgia’s alleged attack on Russian peacekeepers, a senior U.S. official said Saturday.

… Russia’s use of its potent air weaponry signals a “severe” and “dangerous escalation in the crisis,” the official said. “For the life of me, I can’t image that being a proportionate response to the charge that Georgia has attacked Russian peacekeepers,” the official said. “It’s hard for us to understand what Russia’s plan is here.”

The official said Russia is probably trying to destabilize Georgia politically to kill its chances of joining NATO. – cnn