Dmitry Medvedev said, "The world has changed and it occurred to me that August 8 has become for Russia as September 11, 2001 for the United States." It was a strange and surprising comment, as many people believed Russia already had its own 9/11 - the Chechen terrorist hostage crisis in North Ossetia that ended with the Beslan school tragedy of September 1, 2004, in which more than 300 people were killed, about half of them children. IF RUSSIA feels free to compare these two events, then it follows that it considers South Ossetia to be Russian soil. And here we get to the heart of the matter: Long before this military engagement between Russia and Georgia - throughout 12 years of tension and 12 months of provocational Russian overflights and cross-border incidents - Russia had already considered South Ossetia its own. Russia's assumption in this battle was that a region which the rest of the world considers sovereign Georgian territory was actually Russian territory. When Russia not only invaded and then occupied Georgia, but held its occupying positions despite the called-for withdrawal of the French-brokered cease-fire, and also acted as protector for South Ossetian marauders who looted and burned Georgian villages in South Ossetia, murdering those who didn't hide or flee. Russia had closed off access to Western media from the devastation of Georgian villages in South Ossetia for which its army provided cover.