Whatever happened to the supposedly principled stance of resisting unprovoked, aggressive war intended to fatten a nation's military and treasury?
Putin surmised that since the US couldn't deploy 300,000 troops to fight Russia we wouldn't do anything; but he seems to have thought that meant we would do nothing. Now he risks a localized incident with the US flying in and out of Tsiblisi at will. Sure we still can't send 300,000 but he's had to stop and ask himself does the cost-benefit analysis justify accidently engaging the US military. It seems the answer is a resounding "NO!" and by vigorously reinforcing our movements--limited though they may be--it sends the very strong message that the Ukraine et al should be scratched off of Putin's list as well.
This is exactly the modality that organizations such as the UN were fostered to demonstrate (but have, to date, failed miserably). If the DUmmies had more sense than hatred for America they would be proud of our efforts for collective security.