Georgia on our . . . tab

President Bush has vowed to send $1 billion in disaster-relief and economic aid to the small country of Georgia, showing once again his tendency to conduct foreign policy by emotion and puffing up his chest (with our money; the deficits are apparently not big enough), even when it is painfully apparent that there is really not much at all that he can do to protect Georgia if Russia is truly determined to dominate it, as it has for most of the time since about 1800. Here's the Register's editorial arguing that it's not our fight, that a smart country picks fights it has a chance of winning instead of money pits. Probably the best we can hope for is is that Russia will be content to neutralize Georgia (that's why it destroyed or immobilized so much of its military equipment). The best way to get there is through quiet diplomacy, not courting confrontation.