“Bush needs to break from the past appeasement of Russia and announce a policy change forthwith. He needs to be clear that Russian aggression has serious consequences for the US and the world. – Paul”

Here’s an interesting question to ponder: How is the invasion of Georgia in 2008 different than the invasion of Kuwait in 1990?

* Both were considered “friends” if not “allies”
* The US trained both armed forces
* Georgia has been friend enough to put blood on the line along side U.S. troops, where Kuwait, arguably, didn’t put blood on the line to defend themselves (i.e. yes, in Kuwait, one person of Royalty did fight, but not many Sheiks were lost during the invasion).
* Obviously, Saddam Hussein was no Putin, and Iraq was no Russian (even in Russia’s depleted military state).

If Kuwait was important enough for Bush I to declare “This will not stand”, why is Bush II declaring, in effect, “Puttiee… I’m getting just a little bit pissed about some of your goings on…”. What’s the moral difference between the situations, Kuwait versus Georgia?