LIMA, Peru, Nov. 22 -- Just hours before a scheduled meeting here with Russia's leader, President Bush issued a provocative statement hailing the fifth anniversary of the so-called "Rose Revolution" in the former Russian province of Georgia.

Bush called the Georgian revolution one of the "most inspiring chapters in the history of freedom" and reiterated U.S. support for Georgia's "territorial integrity" in the wake of Russia's military invasion earlier this year.

"Thirsting for liberty and armed only with roses in hand, citizens throughout Georgia peacefully staked claim to their God-given right of liberty," Bush said in the statement, referring to a wave of massive anti-government protests in 2003. "These demonstrations proved once again, that when given a choice, people choose to live in freedom."

Bush's statement was dated Friday, although it was not released until this morning.

The remarks come at a time of heightened tension between Washington and Moscow in the wake of Russia's August invasion of Georgia in a dispute over the breakaway provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Bush and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev are scheduled to hold a one-on-one meeting later today in Lima, where both are attending the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

The Rose Revolution, which peaked on Nov. 22 and 23 of 2003 when protesters stormed parliament armed with roses and eventually forced the resignation of then-Prime Minister Eduard Shevardnadze, is a particularly sore point for Moscow. The uprising ushered in a pro-Western government that has sought to join NATO and end centuries of Russian dominance in its affairs. It was led by Georgia's current prime minister, Mikheil Saakashvili.

Striving to fail? Or scorched earth politics? Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of monomaniac lame ducks?

The fact is that what we're experiencing right now is a top-down disaster. -Paul Krugman