MORE THAN 70% OF GEORGIANS WANT TO JOIN NATO

THIS WILL PISS OFF PUTIN:

Over 70 percent of Georgians who took part in a nationwide referendum said they want the ex-Soviet nation to join NATO, according to results released on Friday.

The plebiscite was held simultaneously with the Jan. 5 presidential vote in which US-allied Mikhail Saakashvili won his second presidential term. The Central Election Commission said that 72.5 percent of those who cast ballots in the referendum said they supported Georgia's accession into NATO. Saakashvili, a US-educated lawyer, has helped transform Georgia into a country with a growing economy and aspirations of joining the European Union and NATO, cultivating close ties with the US and decreasing Russia's influence.

GOOD.

AND SINCE "NEW EUROPE" HAS MORE GUTS THAN "OLD EUROPE" - BECAUSE THEY STILL HATE TYRANNY - THIS MIGHT HELP MAKE NATO A LITTLE MORE GUTSY; (NATO'S EFFORTS IN AFGHANISTAN HAVE BEEN PALTRY, TO DATE).