Why Was Cheney's Aide in Georgia Before the War?

The LA Times reports that Joseph R. Wood, Vice President Cheney’s deputy assistant for national security affairs, “ was in Georgia shortly before the war began.” James Gerstenzang wonders what Wood was doing there. Sergei Markov -- a senior political scientist who is close to Vladimir Putin -- claimed recently that the war was “ part of a plot by Dick Cheney” to help John McCain. But media reports indicate that a “ parade” of U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, had warned Georgia President Mikheil Saakashvili not to instigate the conflict with Russia.