Check it out:
The model for Mr. Putin’s occupation of Crimea was his incursion into Georgia in 2008, when George W. Bush was president. Mr. Putin paid no price for that action; in fact, with parts of Georgia still under Russia’s control, he was permitted to host a Winter Olympics just around the corner.
Let's see. Bush did at least limit the damage. He sent humanitarian aid to Georgia, including an armed Coast Guard ship that docked in a Georgia port. And whatever we did behind the scenes, Russia ended up with no more than they already had--Abkhazia and South Ossetia, already under Russian control. Russia pulled out of the rest of Georgia where they'd advanced. And we publicly flew 2,000 Georgian troops back to Georgia from their deployment in Iraq.
And it was President Bush who refused to back down to Russian threats over a missile defense system in eastern Europe designed to protect Europe and America.
There's one more thing. Russia invaded Georgia in August 2008. President Bush had five more months to be president. With the loyal opposition squirming to impeach Bush if he had attacked Iran's nuclear facilities, just how would punishing Russia over Georgia have gone over? The BDS-afflicted left would have screamed of the pending Bushtatorship. See! He'll use war with Russia to cling to power! There really were people who believed this stuff without a confrontation with Russia.
Face it, it fell upon President Obama who took the oath of office in January 2009 to make Russia pay a price for the August 2008 invasion of Georgia. He did not.
Indeed, he reset relations with Russia, as a smiling Secretary of State Clinton delivered a mis-translated button to the Russians. (I thought just ambassadors were chosen for campaign donations. Apparently translators were, too.)
But I should count my blessings. The Hope lingers in the editorial board room. But reality is clearing the air, a bit.
