"In the 21st century, nations don't invade other nations"

You mean like the pretext/lies used to invade Vietnam, or South Korea, or any of the multitude of other countries the US has invaded over the years, including those invaded when a dem was president?

And we shouldnt have.
We should not have attacked Kosovo, nor should we have provided any aid to them.

Now tell me, when you say..."Russia unilaterally recognizes the independence of South Ossetia in much the same way and what's good for the goose should be good for the gander", are you suggesting that we started a war so Kosovo could become independent?

Are you suggesting that the US invaded Serbia in support of Kosovo independence?
Are you suggesting that the US started that war?

Kosovo won the recognition of the United States and its biggest Western European allies on Monday, while earning rebukes and rejections from Serbia, Russia and a disparate mix of states the world over who face their own separatist movements at home.

We should not have recognized Kosovo, nor should we recognize the independence of South Ossetia, at least not till the govt of Georgia does.

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.....

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Legitimacy or not boils down to a single question: Who is authorized to decide whether or not any given government is legitimate?

Is this a decision which is made by large powers only, such as the United States, Russia, or China? If so, why them? They have sometimes created countries out of places where no countries existed before. But the majority of the countries in the world were not created that way.

Or is this decision made in the United Nations? A few countries in the world have been created after joint decisions in the United Nations, with examples including Namibia and East Timor. Soon, Kosovo may be added to the list. But the United Nations is not in the business of creating new countries, and the majority of the countries in the world were not created this way.

So how were the majority of the countries created? The same way that Moldova was: By a unilateral declaration of independence.

BTW, wasnt it Bill Clinton that ordered the USAF to start bombing?
Why didnt you complain then?

Collaborative U.S.-Russian Energy Partnership Hailed in Houston
Fri Apr 25, 2008 11:56am EDT

U.S. Private Sector Preparing to 'Pull Out the Stops' to Ensure Repeal of
Jackson-Vanik with Strong WTO Agreement in Hand

HOUSTON, April 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- One day after the announcement by
Russia's energy giant Gazprom that it plans to become a significant supplier
of natural gas to the United States, the U.S. energy capital, Houston, Texas,
served as the backdrop for the fourth day of a U.S.-Russia Road Show aimed at
drawing attention to bilateral successes in the commercial sphere and the
imperative for increased political cooperation between the two countries.

At a luncheon organized by the Houston World Affairs Council and sponsored by
U.S. oil major ConocoPhillips, U.S.-Russia Business Council President Eugene
Lawson saluted ConocoPhillips and Russia's largest private oil company,
Lukoil, for setting an excellent example as to how U.S. and Russian businesses
can work together for common benefit and profitability. ConocoPhillips owns a
20 percent share of Lukoil, and the companies are successfully partnering in
Russia on a series of projects. Additionally, Lukoil has expanded into the
United States with its operation of service stations on the East Coast.

Cairo, Egypt -AP, September 4, 2005) -- Iraq will within weeks reopen its embassy in Kuwait for the first time since it closed after Saddam Hussein ordered the 1990 invasion of the tiny country, Iraq's foreign minister said Sunday.

On 19 June 1961, the protective treaty relations with the United Kingdom were terminated by mutual consent, and Kuwait declared itself fully sovereign and independent. By this time, the sheikhdom had already become a major oil producer and had acquired a controlling interest in the petroleum industry. Iraq refused to recognize Kuwait's independence, asserting it had inherited the Ottoman claim to the territory. Baghdad's threat of an invasion was foiled by the dispatch of British troops and later the support for Kuwait of the Arab League. Iraq then appeared to acquiesce in Kuwait's sovereignty, although border issues were never definitely resolved. During the next two decades, Kuwait succeeded in establishing an open and prosperous economy, based in large part on foreign, especially Palestinian and Egyptian, labor.

During the Iran-Iraq War, Kuwait, albeit technically neutral, rendered important assistance to Baghdad, including the transshipment of goods and the provision of over $6 billion in loans. As a response, members of Kuwait's large Shi'a minority and other radical dissidents waged a war of terrorism against the government. Throughout the 1980s, there were bombings, assassination attempts, hijackings, and sabotage against oil facilities.

And if you dont recognize a countries independence, why do you seek loans and material aid from them in a war?

Russia's Lukoil enters 13 states

Company interested in West Coast, too

By Deborah Yao
ASSOCIATED PRESS

July 9, 2005

PHILADELPHIA " Lukoil, Russia's largest oil company, has launched a marketing offensive to put its name on gas stations across the United States and become as well known here as it is at home.

Over the last five years, OAO Lukoil " pronounced luke-oil " has entered the U.S. market by acquiring about 1,300 Getty gas stations and 800 Mobil locations in the Northeast. It is converting them to its brand and recently launched advertising to introduce itself to consumers in 13 states.