Bloodless Coup

Uh, Are You Sure?

Dick Cheney, being kept as far away from the Republican National Convention as is humanly possibly, has stated (publicly) that Georgia should join NATO:

TBILISI, Georgia - Vice President Dick Cheney flew here on Thursday to deliver a forceful American pledge to rebuild Georgia and its economy, to preserve its sovereignty and its territory and to bring it into the NATO alliance in defiance of Russia.

(snip)

"I assured the president as well of my country's strong commitment to Georgia's territorial integrity," Mr. Cheney said after meeting with Mr. Saakashvili, without aides, for more than an hour, twice the scheduled time. "Georgia has that right, just as it has the right to build stronger ties to friends in Europe and across the Atlantic."

This doesn't seem like a great idea, and even if it is a great idea, now doesn't seem like the time to discuss it publicly. Exactly what US policy goal is being furthered by letting Georgia into NATO? I can see the democracy angle, but NATO isn't about democracy (or, at least, wasn't and hasn't really been since the end of the Cold War). Do we really want to tie ourselves to an unstable state in an unstable region? While we're at "war" with Islamic Extremism? I understand the motive here (public statements stand as metaphorical tripwires, telling Russia that we'll back Georgia), but since we can't really follow through on this (unofficial) commitment, is this the sanest policy?