[annalex]

Putin will only be stopped when he overextends himself and he tries to go someplace that he is not wanted. Comparing Putin to Hitler thus far is historically flawed

The comparison is accurate to Hitler in 1938 when he engineered the Anschluss of Austria and Sudetenland. In both cases the Germans were quite welcome by the population overall. That is the comparisons the Czechs are making as it is most meaningful to them.

Besides, it is a commonplace truth in East-Central Europe that while differences between USSR and the Third Reich exists, the similarities outweigh the differences as far as the Czechs, Poles and the Hungarians are concerned.

We should also remember that even in countries not ethnically tied to Germany, Hitler was not all that unwelcome, as he drove the Communists out. The fierce anti-German resistance in Russia, for example, is for the most part an artifact of Communist propaganda.

[ClearCase_guy]

I expect Putin will continue to expand.
I don't think the US necessarily has the role of "Putin-stopper".
Going to war against Russia simply does not seem like a good idea at this time.

Now, having said all that, and also begin aware of Hitler's actions cicra 1938 ... it also does not seem like a good time for the US to take a meat-cleaver to our Defense budget. We may find that we really do have a need for those assets in a few years, whether we want to or not.