Russia has sent a missile cruiser and two other ships to a Georgian port, while a US military ship has docked at another southern port in a show of force amid an escalating standoff with the West over a nation devastated by war with Russia.

Georgia’s former president Eduard Shevardnadze said Russia will live to regret its recognition of rebel regions and called for a boycott of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, in remarks published Thursday.

As the attention of the America public is focused on the American election, with the Democratic Convention having just ended, and the announcement today of McCain’s female running mate, and the Republican Convention next week, the public has missed something. Something not missed by Europeans, even mainstream European news media …