The U.S. and its NATO allies are too afraid of poking the bear which should have been stabbed with a spear, not a stick long ago. Sanctions alone will not stop Vladimir Putin. Russia has proven its military ineptness on the ground and its soldiers are raping and butchering innocents, not only as the result of their own anger and frustration, but also as part of Putin’s strategy. Though Ukraine has done a laudable if not legendary job fighting back, the war is shifting to a more conventional type, one in which Russia’s advantages of manpower and substantial mid- to long-range missile power will come into play.
Putin is a modern-day equivalent of Joseph Stalin. It’s time for the U.S. and NATO allies to get involved in a physical way. The threat of chemical and nuclear war is real, but this threat won’t go away by stepping back and conceding to a madman.
Yahoo News columnist Randy Smith argued this very point, emphasizing that top U.S. military brass do not believe Putin would resort to nuclear weapons. Putin is a survivor and as a survivor he wants to survive. A nuclear war would be a suicidal act. Let’s quit being afraid of what he might do and stop him from doing what he is in Ukraine. It’s time to be more like Winston Churchill and less like Neville Chamberlain.
It is time for the U.S. and NATO allies to raise the temperature and slap Putin squarely across the chops. Introduce a no-fly zone and staunchly enforce it, and move ships into the Black Sea. Though these moves are late, they have a little more meat to them than sanctioning oligarchs and their children. It’s time to step into the ring. And Zelenskyy is right when he says Ukraine is fighting for all of us. It’s time we step up and fight emphatically for Ukraine.
— Colby Root
Fairbanks
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