[getoffmylawn]

To illustrate the, um, "less-than-fully-considered" nature of your comment you need to ask yourself--would Russia have invaded Georgia in the absence of Kosovo?

All this blather about "excuses" is simply being made by people trying to find "excuses." And for that, they need to look in the mirror.

"IF" is the biggest word in the dictionary. We'll never know "if" Russian would have invaded Georgia in the absence of Kosovo, because there is no absence of Kosovo. It really happened. America really changed the rules. America's opinion about other countries now changing the boarders of other countries really does remain laughable. It's a really sick joke.

At the very least the actions of the United States places it in the same category of criminal states as Russia. Wonderful. Russia probably didn't need any "excuses", but hot damn did the US every hand them one all nicely gift rapped and personalized when they pulled that crap in Kosovo which we stand behind to this very day.

[1rudeboy]

I understand your desire to treat Russia as a tabula rasa, because it is the foundation of the erroneous conclusion that follows.

Imagine the laughter if someone tried to argue with a straight face that the U.S. action in Kosovo was justified by the Russian action in Chechnya, or some other Russian intervention that happens to be "convenient."

What's happening here is a confluence of a Serbian "element" seeking to justify their behavior, and the "Blame America First™" crowd. And I will return to my fundamental argument (that people are ignoring because they hope it will go away): if one argues that Russia's action in Georgia is acceptable/excusable/justifiable for whatever reason, then one must argue that the U.S. action in Kosovo is the same.

I have the luxury of arguing that both interventions were wrong using a consistent standard. Everyone else is twisting themselves into pretzels.