This type of rhetoric is unnecessary if the Russians' sole purpose was to open another front to prevent U.S. action in Iran.
Russia main goal is to reclaim lost Soviet territory by force. However, it would like to distract America to reduce its involvement. Both the election and problems in Iran provide distractions. If necessary, Russia will skip the distraction, and provide its own excuse by exaggerating events in Georgia or elsewhere.
Conclusion: Russia has already declared [cold] war, and we must do the same. The only difference between cold and hot is that shots are not being fired with any regularity.
Another motivation for Russia’s action now, I assert, is that Russia believes it can deliver a near-knockout blow to our computing infrastructure at will. I refer to the millions of PCs in private the government hands, on which our economy and readiness depend. Much of our anti-virus software comes from Russia. I speculate, but I believe accurately, that Russia can bring down a large percentage of our computers whenever it chooses, damage or destroy data, and steal their information. We very much need to evaluate and remove this risk.