Former Vice President Dick Cheney called President Barack Obama "weak" over the crisis in Ukraine, but floundered when asked to compare that to his own administration's handling of the 2008 Russian-Georgian war.
Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Cheney said the Russian incursions into Ukraine are part of a larger pattern of foreign leaders taking advantage of Obama.
"He's demonstrated repeatedly, I think, that he in fact can be pushed around, if you will, by Putin," said Cheney.
Putin, Cheney added, is "taking advantage of this opportunity when he thinks we have a weak president to try to restore the old Soviet Union."
But as host Chris Wallace pointed out, this isn't the first time Putin has sliced off a chunk of a neighboring country. In 2008, Russian forces intervened on behalf of breakaway provinces in Georgia -- and the Bush administration responded feebly. Georgia is largely considered to have lost that war.
Cheney acknowledged that the two situations are "reminiscent," but did point to a few steps the Bush administration took. Georgian soldiers were flown back from Iraq, U.S. ships were sent into the Black Sea, and the U.S. "provided various kinds of supplies."
That was all Cheney had.
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