Glenn Kessler has a very interesting piece tucked well inside the A section of Wednesday's Washington Post regarding the tough decisions America must make regarding the recent election in Ukraine. In "For the U.S., a Balancing Act on Ukraine", Kessler writes as follows:

The Bush administration is seeking to support Ukrainian demonstrators who are challenging official results declaring that a Moscow-backed candidate narrowly won Sunday's presidential election without risking an open break with Russian President Vladimir Putin, administration officials said yesterday.

Even before the count was completed, Putin on Monday congratulated Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych on his victory over Western-leaning Viktor Yushchenko in an election that international observers said was deeply flawed. Yushchenko declared himself the winner yesterday and took a symbolic oath of office as hundreds of thousands of protesters packed Kiev's downtown streets.

Putin visited Ukraine before the runoff election and an earlier round of voting, in an apparent attempt to influence the results. But administration officials said they are focusing on the need for a democratic outcome and ensuring a result that reflects the will of the voters and is credible to the world -- a message that a top State Department official, A. Elizabeth Jones, delivered to the Russian ambassador Monday.

I find it entirely inconceivable that the administration is even considering cowering to the Russians and Putin--a former KGB official--on this issue. Simply put, it is not exceptable for the Russians to continue to strongarm their neighbors, and we cannot allow the region to slip back into the control of a single, unchecked leader.

George W. Bush may have looked into Vladimir Putin's heart and seen good, but that's just not good enough. The safety of America rests on truly functioning Democracies around the world, and if today we allow the Russians to dominate their neighbors we will have no credibility in the world tomorrow (not that we have much today).

If Bush doesn't stand up to Putin, he must be held accountable, and if it's not the Democrats speaking, I surely hope Hagel, McCain or Lugar speaks up.