I think it is telling in the article cited above, that the U.S. humanitarian effort is being coordinated by SECDEF, not by the State Department. Also note Bush’s choice of words: the effort will be “vigorous and on-going”.

I think Bush might be a little personally PO’d by Putin. As a lame-duck, and by not having a VP as the GOP nominee for President, Bush also has a degree of freedom of action he might not otherwise have. In addition, Congress is in recess, so he has a window of opportunity to avoid the scrutiny of the ankle-biters in Congress (for a while).