MOSCOW -- Moscow is furious, Russia indignant. President Vladimir Putin frowns, the Russian Parliament wails. The people would be burning American flags in the streets if they could get some. The hotheads are already talking about boycotting McDonald's and "The Lord of the Rings." The nation feels humiliated and longs for revenge. Russia has lost the Winter Olympics.
True, winning 16 medals is not what you would normally call a loss -- and Russia still managed to place fifth in the 2002 Olympic medal standings -- but when you are used to placing first for decades, it hurts. It hurts like hell.
Nothing America has done in the last 10 years -- not the bombing of Serbia, not the snub over NATO expansion -- has hurt the Russians as much. The people seem to be saying, "We don't care about Serbia, Ukraine or Poland, but give us back our medals!"