> If Russia takes Ukrainian territory and we don’t do everything necessary to stop them, then the next stop will be halfway through Poland. <
No disrespect meant, but I do not buy that argument. And that’s because I’ve heard it before. Back in the early 1960s we where told that if we don’t stop the communists in Vietnam, then Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, etc. would fall. There’d be a domino effect. The folks who told us that were wrong.
But I do not completely discount your argument. You’d be correct if Putin truly is another Hitler. I just don’t see that. I see Putin more like that opportunist Italian dictator, Mussolini. Still not a good guy, but not a crazy expansionist either.
Russia has historically always been a conquering nation. What makes you think Putin is any different from the historical trend of Russian politics?
This is high stakes gambling. The cost of getting it wrong will be horrendous. Bogging down Russia in Ukraine is hedging our bets. It’s terrible for the Ukrainians but losing will be as well. Their country will slowly die, especially if they lose their coastline. It’s a terrible situation. But as long as Ukraine is willing to do the heavy lifting, then the West profits by having the fight there instead of further west.
What we don’t know is the state of the rest of the Russian Federation. Perhaps they will begin to break apart. It may be that the Russians at the front will break as the individual soldiers must be poorly motivated knowing that if they were contractors, they’d at least get decent pay. Russia is offering to make Ukrainians who surrender rich. That must piss off the Russian soldiers as well.
There are a lot of unknowns and unknowable’s. But the longer the conflict goes on the weaker Russia gets.
Here is an interesting take on how the rot in Russia may affect their chances of victory.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9i47sgi-V4