I'd say that the outcome of *any* conflict is unknown from the start, but the same could be said in the direction of *inaction*. Wouldn't we be *assuming* that our stance of inaction wouldn't cause some unknown horrors to happen in the future? I'd say it's just as dangerous to get rather imaginative in one direction and rather unimaginative in the other.
What I *do* know is the nature of bullies and people comfortable with levels of violence that others are not. I have grown up and lived in that environment, and I have seen the costs of setting weak precedents that seem small at first and come to be the first domino in something much larger. "The appetite grows with the eating" as the Russian saying goes. Give a mouse a cookie today, who knows how tall that glass of milk will be tomorrow. This doesn't end with Ukraine or even Europe because this is about what The West is willing to do/not do and what kind of blood that puts in the water for the men who will follow in Putin's shoes. We live in the world we create folks.
Travis I don't disagree with anything you wrote on this post, but I will mention that the outcome of this current conflict is unknown.
What if we find out that a coalition of countries and economies can cause more damage to Russia than beating them militarily in Ukraine?
I feel like you are espousing that we've already lost because we're playing the long game. Are you so sure of the outcome of a short-game strategy?
I'd say that the outcome of *any* conflict is unknown from the start, but the same could be said in the direction of *inaction*. Wouldn't we be *assuming* that our stance of inaction wouldn't cause some unknown horrors to happen in the future? I'd say it's just as dangerous to get rather imaginative in one direction and rather unimaginative in the other.
What I *do* know is the nature of bullies and people comfortable with levels of violence that others are not. I have grown up and lived in that environment, and I have seen the costs of setting weak precedents that seem small at first and come to be the first domino in something much larger. "The appetite grows with the eating" as the Russian saying goes. Give a mouse a cookie today, who knows how tall that glass of milk will be tomorrow. This doesn't end with Ukraine or even Europe because this is about what The West is willing to do/not do and what kind of blood that puts in the water for the men who will follow in Putin's shoes. We live in the world we create folks.
Don't you think that's why Biden is working so hard to firm the line in the sand at NATO borders? Ukraine is kind of a sacrifice?