Ukraine
I thought about this for a while today. My answer is yes. Hell, as a male of fighting age, I would volunteer myself (though I only have medical experience, no physical training at all).
I am of the opinion that NATO should make a stand now rather than later. Either Russia is defeated in Ukraine, or NATO will be dragged into a wider war once Georgia/Moldova/Lithuania are next for Putin.
In historical parallels, it almost seems like we're inching toward 1938 all over again. Could Hitler have been stopped if the Allies took his occupation of Austria seriously? The Czechs? Sudentenland? If he were confronted before the German army even crossed into France? If North Korean troops are the difference between Ukraine being overrun or Ukraine living to fight another day, something must be done.
10,000 more cannon fodder doesn't move the needle entirely in that direction. But 25,000? 50,000? 100,000? Where do we put the red line? If Kim is emboldened in Ukraine, what does he attempt next?
So many questions and so much uncertainty. But there has to come a point where rhetoric and deterrence is given the teeth needed to mean something (without resorting to nukes). Hopefully people far smarter than me have the balls to stand up when we hit that point.
Thanks for the considered response, and your explanation of a position I certainly respect. I disagree with it as a direct analogy to Hitler but only somewhat. In my view, the Ukraine situation is more akin to his initial grab for the Sudetenland.
That said, I agree that Putin’s lebensraum desires are effectively the same as Hitler’s, and that he must be confronted with strength. Perhaps I only differ from your view regarding the how, the where and the when.
I’d be willing to sacrifice American lives (and, by extension, the lives of my kin) to honor existing treaty obligations to NATO allies or, perhaps, in the event of an open Russian attack on a third country without any historical claim underpinnings.
Further, I wonder if you’re fully considering the Asian theatre ramifications of the US getting involved in a shooting war in Europe now. Doing so would, at minimum, put Taiwan at much greater risk. Frankly, from a realpolitik perspective, Taiwan is a lot more important to US security than is Ukraine.
And, of course, all of this is without mentioning at all the associated potential opening of the nuclear Pandora’s box.
One other thing to consider: People always assume things would have gone swimmingly had Hitler been confronted earlier and, in 1936, I’d agree. But in 1938, things actually may have gone much differently (and worse) in the Battle of Britain had the UK and France drawn the line in Czechoslovakia in 1938 rather than Poland in 1939. No one knows, of course, but the human mind is biased to simplicity in these “What If” hindsight scenarios, and I think it often is a flawed way of assuming what would have happened.
All this said, I do respect and appreciate your position as a valid viewpoint. Thanks again for offering it.