With Russian troops now withdrawing back to South Ossetia, the cease-fire negotiated by the French is being examined. Why exactly did Russian troops continue their march toward Tbilisi despite this so-called cease-fire? Turns out the agreement involved the surendering of more Georgian territory: Russian troops were allowed to claim peacekeeper roles across the entire nation, rather than just in South Ossetia Abkhazai. Thanks, France.

It was nearly 2 a.m. on Wednesday when President Nicolas Sarkozy of France announced he had accomplished what seemed virtually impossible: Persuading the leaders of Georgia and Russia to agree to a set of principles that would stop the war.

Handshakes and congratulations were offered all around. But by the time the sun was up, Russian tanks were advancing again, this time taking positions around the strategically important city of Gori, in central Georgia.

It soon became clear that the six-point deal not only failed to slow the Russian advance, but it also allowed Russia to claim that it could push deeper into Georgia as part of so-called additional security measures it was granted in the agreement. Mr. Sarkozy, according to a senior Georgian official who witnessed the negotiations, also failed to persuade the Russians to agree to any time limit on their military action.

So he got Russia to agree to being allowed to go as far into Georgia as it wanted for as long as it wanted. So, uh….what was the great compromise here? Russia got what it wanted and stopped doing what it wanted when it wanted. Georgia got more bombing and deaths. Why the hell would Sarkozy agree to this?

“I think it was presented as, ‘You need to sign on to this,’ ” the official said of Mr. Sarkozy’s appeal to the Georgians. “My guess is it was presented as, ‘This is the best I can get.’ ”

So the French-negotiated cease-fire did crap to solve the crisis. It allowed Russia to continue doing what it wanted and Russia took advantage of that. Only after the EU threatened to throw Russia out of the G-8 and the American military was ordered sent in did Russia begin its withdrawal to South Ossetia.