"but the only speculation we have that we know is true is that if the Russians have been fighting for five days straight, they're tired and in need of resupply and thus an operational pause is in order"True enough. On the diplo side, Sarkozy was in town to, in effect, negotiate surrender terms for the Georgians. Sure, the Russians could have stiff-armed him and pushed on pounding Georgia but Sarkozy is going to be president of France for a long time. France holds a veto in the UNSC. There will times in the future where Moscow would like France to entertain their diplomatic concerns vis-a-vis America.

Gratuitously insulting Sarkozy, who also represents the EU in his first high profile mission, during talks by shellacking Georgian cities wouldn't be particularly smart. Especially, if you need an operational pause anyway.

It also gave Medvedev and Putin a chance to muddy the analytical waters by playing good cop-bad cop.