Ukraine (closed; covers till August 2014)

[TheCurmudgeon]

I agree with most of what you say here, but I would also emphasize that if Putin is a threat, he is a threat primarily to Europe. The EU has economic and technical capacity equal to that of the US. They are not children or dependents. Whatever decision is made on Europe's security future has to be made in close concert with Europeans, and Europeans need to be paying the bill and taking charge of their own efforts. Of course the US should offer support and assistance where it's needed and asked for, but expecting the US to take the lead role in assuring the security of Europe seems to me simply irrational.

I agree. As I said, others will have to come to the party. If they are not interested then we should not waste our time. I think the Poles will be interested. I am not sure they would want German's stationed within their borders, but they might accept an English contingent.

But, yes, there needs to be commitments in the form of funds, military troops and equipment, and political will.

Right now we are ill prepared. The EU is dependent on Russia for energy. That is not going to change. The chess board favors them, and Europe is on the front lines (again). They will either want to play, or we will have to step back and watch from a distance.

If Europe does not want to play so be it. Militarily, Russia can only threaten us directly via nuclear weapons. I suppose they could sink some of our ships on the open seas, but they cannot invade the US. We should seriously look at our offensive/defensive options. I am not sure Putin is crazy enough to use nukes, but he will certainly use third parties in his media to make the threats. He already has. We need to let him know that we are preparing to deal with that.