How much help should the U.S. offer Georgia? More U.S. humanitarian assistance has recently arrived in Georgia and aid is welcome but that fact the aid is delivered by warships is not making Russia happy (AFP – Second US aid ship arrives in Georgia):
A second US naval ship carrying aid to Georgia arrived in the southern port city of Batumi on Wednesday, avoiding another port where Russian troops are still operating. […] The Dallas started unloading its cargo to the strains of Georgian folk music and dancing as onlookers shouted “USA! USA!” and waved American and Georgian flags. […] Russia has criticised Washington's decision to send two US warships and the coast guard cutter to deliver humanitarian aid to Georgia, where Russia sent troops and tanks this month. “Normally battleships do not deliver aid and this is battleship diplomacy, this does not make the situation more stable,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in Moscow on Tuesday. “I hope people who deliver humanitarian aid would be choosy about how they deliver it.”
In addition to humanitarian assistance there has been some talk that the U.S. may consider direct military assistance to Georgia (Reuters UK – U.S. assessing possible military aid to Georgia):
With Russian tanks and troops still occupying parts of Georgia, U.S. officials have said openly that Washington will consider new military assistance for the former Soviet state turned Western ally that has staunchly supported the U.S. war on terrorism and aspires to NATO membership. […] But one official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said U.S. and Georgian officials have begun a dialogue about the country's potential military needs and that the U.S. side was awaiting a Georgian assessment of the damage sustained during the Russian onslaught.
This prompted a rather stern warning from Russia that direct military assistance would be seen as a declaration of war. Given the high stakes, does the U.S. have a moral obligation to help Georgia, and if so, how far should the U.S. go in providing help? In this video Matthew Yglesias, from the Center for American Progress, and Jonathan Chait, from The New Republic, debate the morality of helping Georgia.
