Let's say you have amazing intestinal fortitude. Could you have secured MH17 site with the 173rd Airborne and the Royal Dutch Marines? If yes, how? If not, why? Just very curious.
You can do lots of things, but the *cost* in labor, money, time, equipment, and lives increases based upon (among other things) the length of your supply lines versus the length of your opponent’s.
MH17 was quite close to Russian supply bases, and quite far from U.S. supply bases...and with only 1 American on board, MH17 was a minor U.S. “interest” compared to those of Russia.
Which is to point out that volunteering to over-extend your military for a trivial national interest is generally considered to be unwise.