I asked in my last column what Russia's true intent might be regarding its invasion of Georgia, appropriating portions of that country, taking over at least one port city, then allowing looting and murder of civilians, all based on trumped-up claims of protecting its citizens from rampaging Georgians.

Other than using Georgia as a military practice round for its next expansion effort, it seems that Russia didn't really get much from the invasion, unless it was a prelude to something larger.

Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer had an answer right away: the next target is the Ukraine, the gateway to western Europe.

Since Krauthammer is one of America's premier commentators on both foreign and domestic affairs, his ability to discern where Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is headed next is well worth considering.

(Yes, I know that Putin has a title other than dictator, but we're dealing in reality here. Putin and Putin alone is in charge in Russia which makes him a dictator. Argue with Putin, the former head of the communist secret police and you'll end up dead, which pretty much defines him.)

The Ukraine is an historic target of Russian communists. An estimated 10 million residents of that country were starved to death in the 1930s in late communist murderer Joseph Stalin's drive to take over all of Europe. Stalin created a fake famine by drastically increasing the amount of grain the Ukraine farmers were required to donate to the Soviet system, insuring that there would not be sufficient food stores to feed the Ukrainian populace.

He enforced that decree using troops and secret police to ferret all who attempted to horde enough to feed their families, killing them when they were discovered. It even was a crime to not be losing weight.

Russian communists downplayed the results of the famine, maintaining that "only" six to seven million people died slow, horrible deaths from starvation in 1932-1933, but independent sources have put the ultimate death toll at 10 million. Regardless of the extent of the holocaust that engulfed the Ukraine, the communists gloried in its effects on the population, because it ended resistance to communism.

Western news organizations at the time all but ignored the famine in their unceasing drive to portray communism as the one form of government that would truly make everyone equal.

The comparison to journalists today is obvious, since many of them are trying to portray the Russian invasion of Georgia as analogous to the US response to Saddam Hussein supporting terrorists building bases in Iraq from which to attack the US. The comments in the mainstream media are so ludicrous they would be laughable if it wasn't for the fact that people are dying.

Here are a few comparisons to consider. Georgia did not invade a neighboring country as Iraq did when it attacked Kuwait and subjected its citizens to pillage, rape and murder until driven out by an international coalition.

Georgia did not attack its own indigenous population with guns, armor and poison gas as Saddam did to his own people. Georgia did not invite known terrorists into its country to build training camps to attack Russia. Georgia did not provide sanctuary, security and assistance to known terrorist mass murderers such as Abu Nidal and Abu Al Zarqawi as Saddam Hussein did.

Georgia did not violate dozens of United Nations resolutions aimed at preventing development of a nuclear weapons program, nor did it violate an oil-for-food program by paying hundreds of millions of dollars in bribes to heads of state and high level officials in countries across the world - including Russia!

The truth is, except for those of the communist mindset, there is very little real comparison between Russia's invasion of Georgia and the United States' intervention in Iraq. Not that the truth stops Barack Hussein Obama's spokespeople from again claiming the US was wrong in Iraq - the war we are winning, which he also said was not possible - not does the truth have any relevance to many in the mainstream media.

But for all the talk in the past eight years about Vladimir Putin and his goals for Russia under his dominance, the truth is in his actions, which thus far are mimicking Stalin - or Hitler for that matter, who attacked the same eastern European countries from his base in Germany.

Rather than being a devout nationalist who merely wants Russia to take is rightful place on the world stage following the fall of the Soviet empire, it is obvious that Putin wants to re-establish that empire, with him in charge. To the people of Eastern Europe who have suffered under both Nazi and communist systems in the recent past, it probably doesn't make much difference which political system's label most appropriately defines their attackers.

The differences between Nazi and communist philosophies are hard to discern anywhere except in a classroom. In practice, they both rely on murder, forced labor, mind control, propaganda and concentration camps to enforce their will on the populace.

Putin's lies are no different from Stalin's lies that were no different from Hitler's lies or Mao Tse Tung's lies or Ho Chi Minh's lies or Pol Pot's lies or Fidel Castro's lies or Hugo Chavez's lies. They all claim they are going to change the status quo for the benefit of the weak, the poor and the downtrodden. But all they really do is take control by force of arms, renege on the promises they made to their supporters, and then murder those who object to being used as dupes and puppets.

That is not opinion. That is historically documented fact.

So, what are we going to do about this? The world stood by and did nothing when Stalin's communist armies took over the countries of Eastern Europe one by one. Journalists of that time lied and produced propaganda for the communists, who murdered millions upon millions of innocents, just as today's alleged journalists are producing propaganda for Islamo-fascist terrorists and Putin's thugs.

Are we going to stand by and let history repeat itself? Are we soon going to be in another cold war with millions of people once again subjected to the excesses of communist debauchery as we were from the 1930s to 1990?

So far we've seen little in the way of direct response to the Russians except for some relief shipments. There has been a lot of talk from various world leaders, but that is eerily reminiscent of the talks that European leaders had with Hitler in the 1930s.

Back then entire countries were swallowed up first by the Nazis and then by the communists as the fortunes of war shifted away from Hitler. Listening to the commentary from that time and comparing it to the modern commentary reveals that both have a similar definition: appeasement.

Vladimir Putin knows this and is milking it for all it is worth. When he went fishing with his shirt off a while back he was sending a message to the other leaders on the world stage - they are golfers and country club members, he is a street fighter.

Then may look down on Putin and think he has no means of effectively hurting them, but he knows better. He was flexing his muscles to let them know he believes he can beat them, but they just smirked and saw him as a classless, ineffective buffoon.

Nonetheless, Putin will land a series of shots that individually don't amount to much, but as they continue to pile up will hobble the west and bring its leaders down to his level. Then, just as the realization dawns that they are hurting and in danger of losing to him, Putin will hit them low and dirty with a shot that effectively will take the prima donna western countries right out of the fight.

And as the west grovels in pain, its effete diplomats bad mouthing Putin for being "a dirty fighter," he'll stare down at them from the winner's circle, his face the picture of contempt, and sneer "Da! But I won!"