AKHMAJI, Georgia (AP) -- At a military checkpoint between Georgia and its breakaway region of South Ossetia, the word ''Russia'' is hand-painted in pink on a concrete security barrier.
''It will be Russia,'' said a Russian army lieutenant as the Ossetian soldiers under his command nodded.
''And Georgia used to be Russian, too,'' said the young freckle-faced lieutenant, who would give only his first name, Sergei. Three armored personnel carriers and a tank were dug in around the checkpoint.
Russia has troops just 25 miles (40 kilometers) from the Georgian capital, in violation of the European Union-brokered cease-fire that ended last year's brief war. And in recent weeks, it has put even more soldiers and armored vehicles within striking distance of the city ahead of street protests against Georgia's president.
The protests, which began April 9, drew about 10,000 people Tuesday, and opposition leaders said they would continue daily until President Mikhail Saakashvili resigned.
The demonstrations have been fed by public anger over Georgia's humiliating defeat in the August war, which left Russian troops on previously Georgian-controlled territory and drove tens of thousands of Georgians from their homes.
And how close are they?
Peter Semneby, the EU special representative for the South Caucasus, said the Russian military presence is clearly ''significantly larger'' than it was.
From a Georgian police checkpoint just 100 yards (meters) from a Russian roadblock controlling access to the village of Akhmaji, a half dozen Russian tanks and other armored vehicles can be seen in the valley.
Local police chief Timur Burduli said the vehicles appeared during the first week of April and are the Russian forces closest to Tbilisi, the Georgian capital. ''A tank needs only 40 minutes,'' he said.
I am sure Obama will stand up to Russia, but just in case he doesn't expect the left to convince us that Georgian Democracy isn't worth defending.
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