“If you want war, well, then go for it. But we are going to protect Ukraine. If this is what you want, NATO IS THERE, AND READY.””
Threats offered by the likes of brutal dictators like Putin have to eventually be met in kind. Otherwise, like anyone under the sharp bootheels of oppressive leaders, we 
become just one more enabler, the next Neville Chamberlain, an eventual conquest to be had. Or, as the right used to put it before they became what they accused others of being…
”Surrender monkeys.”
Putin is doing what any bully does to keep people and other nations in line, submissive, quiet. Threaten, intimidate… It’s like chess played with an opponent willing to lie, threaten, make false claims, make faces at/stare down the opposition. Maybe even throw up the board in the air then shoot you, if he must, to “win.” Whatever to be sure mistakes are made in his favor.
Ukraine goes FAR beyond just Ukraine. Putin won’t stop at Ukraine. He has long dreamed of reconstituting the old USSR empire.
Recently I have changed my mind as to what we need to do, For the longest time I agreed with the Biden administration that Ukraine joining NATO would be a serious problem. That we don’t need to start WWWIII. Let Ukrainians save Ukraine. But it’s increasingly obvious nothing will end this until we threaten the king.
We need to sponsor Ukraine for NATO membership. Putin keeps threatening to use nukes, but I think he will back off. He already has: he has threatened many times to use them, then backed off. If he threatens after we do that then we should move nukes into Ukraine. The bully must Be intimidated in return. Being nice to him, ignoring him, as with most bullies, does not work. Only makes it worse.
This way he knows what would happen if he used nukes.
Is this risky?
Hell, yes; yet just leaving it as is is risky too. One thing the usual war mongers: suddenly now newly minted now peaceniks out of political convenience, have right is why should we continue to spend so much arming them? Seems there’s another answer that would offer more disincentive. Encourage him to BACK THE HELL OFF. And also gain more support from other nations, more “skin in the game;” an unfortunately cliché’ in this case… is NATO membership.
Right now Vlad knows he can wait us out. Sooner or later administrations will change, the idiots who think just letting Putin have Ukraine is OK will “win.” Like any chess game time is on the side of he who is allowed to wait until his opponent makes mistakes, and I think not going beyond arming them is a mistake. The longer we wait the bigger the mistake it is.
Assessing your opponent is important and the way we’re doing it now means Putin has our number. Just wait us out. As a brutal dictator there are plenty of missiles and Russians he can throw at Ukraine. Who is going to stop him? Apparently not even a renegade soldier of fortune.
We should call his bluff. He can only control us if we let him wait us out. Certainly NATO membership would out one hell of a target on him.
NATO is our checkmate move.
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“Inspection” is a column that has been written by Ken Carman for over 50 years. Inspection is dedicated to looking at odd angles, under all the rocks and into the unseen cracks and crevasses that constitute the issues and philosophical constructs of our day: places few think, or even dare, to venture.
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