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Too late. We have already invested in the pipeline there. There is no returning now.

Several of my close friends in the military say that with the right tools, Georgia can defend herself against Russia. It is in our interests to see that Georgia gets them.

The fact is no amount of weaponry is going to make Georgia able to withstand an attack by Russia. When you are a small country next to a nuclear superpower, you have to know your place and make a few sacrifices. It’s not fair, but that’s how the world has worked since the dawn of man.

Afghanistan, a small nation, had some limited success in brining a neighboring superpower to its knees.

Russia is a nuclear power. But it is not a superpower. Russian military equipment has fought US equipment before. It is indeed possible for some F-16's to knock out a hell of a lot of Russian made aircraft given proper training. Even a Georgian pilot with a Raptor could probably take down as many Russian jets as he could carry ammo for if we were to someday export those.

It is definitely possible for some M-1 Abrams to go through a hell of a lot of Russian armor. And that is without anti-tank mines.

It is definitely possible for Stinger missiles to take out lots and lots of Russian helicopters and aircraft.

All this has been done before against Russian equipment. Many of those who invaded Georgia were thugs and undisciplined paramilitary.

We and the Georgians could make it very painful for another invasion of Georgia if we wished.

"make a few sacrifices"?

Cowards are slaves. The brave live free or die. Those are not just words. Fortunately for us the founding fathers did not hold your weak beliefs. That isn't to say that Georgia should be stupid about poking the bear. On the other hand they shouldn't lie down and pull their dresses up like you are advocating. They can, and should, build up their defenses to the point that if Russia attacked them they would pay dearly. Strong deterrence works. Appeasement does not. Some deterrence may or may not work. But it beats the hell out of slavery.

Chechnya was painful. Russia took over 5,000 casualties in their first failed attempt, and another 5,500 in their second push which was finally successful. This was against a rag tag force armed with RPG7s, RPKs and AKs.......

You're right, ultimately Georgia can't win, but with the right weaponry, tactics, and a will to fight, Georgia can be more painful than what it's worth. Think about what a profound affect a simple weapon system like the Stinger had in Afghanistan. If we arm them with the right stuff, we can push the pain threshold beyond what is acceptable, and even if Georgia is gobbled up, the net result in the grand picture is still that Russia is in a weakened state afterward and others see that we didn't abandon them.

Doing nothing is conceding to the will of Russia and allowing them complete control of the Caucasus, re-estabishing themselves as the regional hegemon. If we do nothing others in the Caucasus and former Stans will take note, and they will fall in line with Russia like domino's for they know they stand alone, even if no Russian tank is parked in their capital. If we take no action and back away, if we appease as the Europeans would surely have it, we are actually feeding the monster.

Arkinsaw is right, arm them. Raise the ante.