Wednesday of last week, with Russian troops firmly entrenched in the Georgian countryside, President Mikheil Saakashvili ignited a flicker of hope in his people. He assured them that Georgia’s staunchest ally was sending military assistance.

“Georgian ports and airports will be brought under control by American troops to carry out humanitarian and other missions to protect our people,” he said reassuringly in a nationally televised press conference. All will be well; the Americans are on their way.

But within minutes of Saakashvili’s reassurances, Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell issued a statement implying the Georgian president had misunderstood U.S. intentions: “We are not looking to, nor do we need to, take control of any air or sea ports to conduct this mission.” Indeed, U.S. military aircraft and naval forces were already en route to Georgia, he confirmed—not to stop the Russian invasion or defend the Georgians—but to drop off food and medical supplies.

Imagine the disappointment. Syringes of medicine may be helpful, but they don’t stop bullets or tanks.

Hope can be such a fleeting emotion. The Georgians had every reason to be hopeful. For years, the United States has embraced Georgia as a friend, and arguably its strongest ally in Central Asia and the Caucasus. Georgia has even provided direct support to the U.S. for the war in Iraq, putting its own troops on the ground there and in harm’s way. Washington has promoted Georgia as an example to other former Soviet republics of the benefits of leaning toward Western-style governance. Additionally, the U.S. has also been the foremost supporter of Georgian efforts to join nato—which was a prime reason for Russia’s invasion.

Friendship with America has come at tremendous risk for Georgia. Historically, Georgia has lived and functioned under the arms of either Middle Eastern Islamic powers or the Russians. Geographically, the tiny state is nestled precariously between Russia and Iran, two anti-American regional powers undoubtedly infuriated by Washington dancing with a Western-style democracy in their backyard.

The fledgling state has risked everything in recent years to distance itself from Russia and align itself with America and other Western nations.

Now Georgia is being flattened under the Russian bus—after being thrown there by the United States!

The Bush administration responded to Russia’s invasion of Georgia with strong rhetoric and a flurry of diplomatic activity. But less than 24 hours after the conflict began, the State Department made it clear that there was no chance of any American military intervention. Other than multiple harsh condemnations—which clearly fell on ears deafened by shelling—and lots of talk about Georgia’s right to sovereignty and nato membership, the American government still has not responded in a manner that has impelled the Russians to relinquish Georgia and quit being belligerent.

“The response of our own government has been pathetic,”opined Ralph Peters last week (emphasis mine throughout). America essentially pushed Tbilisi into war with Russia; now it’s standing by and watching Georgia be devoured. “We’ve called Georgia a ‘friend and ally,’” wrote Peters. “Well, honorable men and states stand by their friends and allies. We haven’t.”

New York Times columnist Helene Cooper observed a common justification for America’s impotent response: “While America considers Georgia its strongest ally in the bloc of former Soviet countries, Washington needs Russia too much on big issues like Iran to risk it all to defend Georgia.” In other words, in America’s “strong” relationship with Georgia, principle can be trumped by geopolitical expediency. That’s an alarming reality!

Can you imagine what America’s allies—particularly those whose foreign policy and national security equations hinge on U.S. support and guarantees—are thinking now? Russia’s unchecked invasion of Georgia exposed the inert, impotent state of American foreign policy and willpower, and its inability and unwillingness to meaningfully defend its friends and allies!

The confidence of America’s allies has been shaken to the core. Notice what Stratfor said on August 12:

Russia has also achieved its … goal of showing the West’s impotence …. Since the Americans—Tbilisi’s largest political supporters—did not show up to help the Georgians during their hour of need, U.S. influence in the region (and other former Soviet regions) will plummet. Washington simply will not be seen as a reliable guarantee against Russia.

Stratfor stated that America’s impotence has shaken states situated on the western and southern rim of Russia. But America’s abandonment of Georgia also resonates among other critical allies, including Pakistan, Taiwan, the Iraqi government and Israel. To one degree or another, each of these governments falls under the protective wing of the United States, with Washington being a key provider of political, economic and military aid to each nation. What happened—or didn’t happen, in the case of America’s response—in Georgia undermines the confidence each of these nations has in Washington!

The Georgia debacle exposed the powerlessness of American foreign policy, and the gaping lack of willpower to defend friends and confront enemies. The American military, overstretched and overtaxed by its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, lacks the tactical and strategic capabilities to intervene in other conflicts. By invading Georgia, wrote Stratfor Chief Executive George Friedman, “Putin revealed an open secret: While the United States is tied down in the Middle East, American guarantees have no value” (August 12).

Consider the Jewish state. The Trumpet has reported in recent months on the transformation unfolding in the long-standing U.S.-Israel alliance, and the fact that Washington is gradually abandoning the Jewish state. Everyone knows Israel is encompassed by an arc of feverish Islamic hatred. Signs indicate that large-scale conflict with Hamas, Hezbollah and even Iran is inevitable—perhaps imminent!

America’s pathetic, weak-willed response to Russia’s invasion of Georgia is a glimpse into what will happen when Islamic hordes invade the Jewish state!

Consider Pakistan. President Pervez Musharraf resigned on Monday. The government of this tumultuous, strategically situated, nuclear-armed nation is up for grabs. The U.S. has injected countless hours of diplomacy, military hardware, tactical know-how and more than $10 billion in aid into Islamabad in recent years in an effort to woo Pakistan as an ally in the war on terror. Despite this massive expense, however, Musharraf proved to be a half-hearted ally, and America decided it was time for him to go. Washington’s efforts to court Pakistan’s new government are made more difficult by the way the U.S. handled the conflict in Georgia.

Whomever Pakistan’s new president is, he or she will have to strike a balance between a nation in governmental crisis where radical Islamists are quickly gaining military (and political) momentum, and an American government desperate to write big checks and make lots of promises in an effort to maintain its critical foothold in a country integral to the war in Afghanistan and key in Iraq as well. But remember, Pakistan, like Georgia, is situated within arm’s reach of a deeply anti-American regional superpower, Iran. You can be sure Washington’s impotent response to the Georgia crisis will resonate with Pakistan’s leadership as it debates how far it should get into bed with America.

Don’t be surprised over the next few months if Pakistan’s government, cognizant of America’s declining geopolitical power, repositions itself in light of the reality that the region is dominated by Iran and Islamic political ideology. To learn more about this deadly serious possibility, read “Pakistan and the Shah of Iran,” by editor in chief Gerald Flurry.

The same goes for Iraq. Even before last week’s conflict in the Caucasus, the tension between the Iraqi government and Washington was apparent. Iraq appears to be growing more stable and independent and is beginning to position itself for the withdrawal of U.S. forces and a reduced American presence. This means cementing some kind of relationship with Tehran, the unchecked king of the region. But Washington is wary that the Iraqi government might draw too close to Tehran and become infected with its anti-American poison. The debacle in Georgia surely gave Iraq’s leaders pause in trusting America to guarantee Iraq’s security and to counter Iran.

The news out of Iraq has been positive in recent months, but the tide is about to turn. Without U.S. guarantees, the Iraqi government—whether it willingly aligns itself with Iran or is actually overrun by it—is about to come under Iranian control. The mullahs in Tehran would have been inspired by what they saw in Georgia!

The same principle applies to Taiwan, the tiny island situated in the shadow of China. The United States has long been the repelling force that has prevented China from snatching Taiwan. You can imagine what many Taiwanese are now thinking: If America isn’t prepared to defend Georgia from Russia, then it doesn’t have the will or ability to defend Taiwan from China. Watch! The United States, as the Trumpet has long forecasted, will abandon Taiwan—just as it did Georgia.

How can the greatest single nation in history with the largest military in the world by far be held over a barrel so easily? That’s a question only God can answer.

And answer it He does. In Leviticus 26:19, He says to America and Britain: “And I will break the pride of your power ….” The United States is a colossal power with incredible wealth. The problem is, God has removed America’s pride in its power!

The willpower of the American people and their leaders has been sapped. This reality is explained fully by Herbert W. Armstrong in our free book The United States and Britain in Prophecy:

Today even little nations dare to insult, trample on, or burn the United States flag, and the United States, still having power, does no more than issue a weak protest! What’s happened to the pride of our power? We have already lost it! God said, “I will break the pride of your power!” And He did! … You need to open your eyes to the fact that Britain’s sun already hasset! You need to wake up to the fact that the United States, even still possessing unmatched power, is afraid—fears—to use it, just as God said: “I will break the pride of your power”; that the United States has stopped winning wars—that America was unable, with all its vast power, to conquer little North Vietnam! The United States is fast riding to the greatest fall that ever befell any nation!

Can we see that America’s inert response to Russia’s invasion of Georgia is proof that God has broken America’s pride in its power? To learn why God would do this, read the first 14 verses of Leviticus 26, as well as The United States and Britain in Prophecy.

To America’s allies, the invasion of Georgia by Russia exposes the United States’ geopolitical and military impotence, and will quite likely cause the U.S to become more isolated, as its allies look elsewhere for security and support.

But consider what it means to you individually. America’s broken pride in its power fulfills a prophecy made by God more than 3,000 years ago. It is another astounding proof that the Bible is indeed the Word of God! And just as sure as that prophecy has come to pass, so too will the prophecies of a better world tomorrow! That is a truth you can have real, lasting hope in!