Kosovo went independent and in fact was encouraged to do so because of what happened. I don't know the feeling on the ground, but it seemed at the time to be a reasonable thing to do.
As for Georgia, this situation is only similar in one respect, there was no ethnic cleaning here, not now or in 1921 when they were initially protected. The reason they were protected was because Russia fomented it by turning them against Georgia and the people became labeled as essentially traitors.
This is still true today, and that's why the Russians continue to foment. It works as a great way to keep the entire country unstable which was Russia's aim from the beginning.
This is not a little chunk of land, it's a fair sized percentage and it seems to me, that under the circumstances, this province will require peace keepers for some time to come. The agreement I would like to see, is something along the lines of the U.N. or U.S. doing the peace thing, and get rid of the fomenting Russians. Over time, this province could be salvaged with the ones who must continue to hate and despise Georgians simply selling out and moving a few mile north. In time it will fix it's self. But you gotta get the Russians out of the hen house.
Kosovo is really too small to exist without lots of help, and one day they may come back to Serbia, but for now, I have no real issue with it.
There is no real comparison between the two, and the Muslim West is even less threatened by Georgia. Much less.
Get the Russians out, and time will cure the rest with some assistance from a neutral party.
The Russians have a different view of course, but they have massaged it and justified it by using commentary that I criticized. Unfortunately, a lot of Americans seem to be buying their distortions, and it does not make me very happy. The ethnic cleaning that occurred in Georgia has happened twice. The first time in 1921 when my Grandparents fled the country, and the second time is going on right now. Both were directed at Georgians by Russians and their mobs of mercenaries.
No, me and Weasley share only two things in common. We were both in the Army, and we both hail from Arkansas.
I don't endorse Russia's actions and I don't take issue with any of the history you've cited;
But the US has zero license to preach to Putin when he is doing no more or less than we did in the Balkans - and Russia has a long history of conflict with Georgia as opposed to Yugoslavia's 20th century history of nuanced neutrality and open aid to the US in WW2.
I don't mind us walking up to Russia and telling them we won't stand for it - but not from any presumed moral heights.
I do object to independent Kosovo because that was specifically disallowed when we graciously stopped bombing Serbs - we signed up to it and we tossed it away as soon as possible.
As to fomenting - there were US advisors, equipment and assurances provided to the KLA well in advance.
I didn't suggest Georgia posed any muslim threat, rather that our actions in FRY created one in the Balkans.
Disclosures:
I got out of the Army in '73 with a bunch of other reservists, should have gone for WO but didn't. While I was in, I served with an ex Ukrainian 'White' soldier (subsequently, Red Army, then SS, then Fr. Foreign Legion, then our side) who was married to a lady from Georgia and both would back your story to the hilt - I believed him as well. I was so amused by our Balkan adventures that I cut off all contact with my best friend from the Army because he was one of those advisors during the run-up and well after it.
(I'm not in the military, but I did spend a couple of years in Arkansas)