There was no Russian presence in the seizure of Crimea, which is part of Ukraine? Do you really believe that there are no Russian advisers in Eastern Ukraine helping to arm and train the insurgents?
There is a civil war raging in eastern Ukraine, pitting the Kiev government against a region that does not want to be governed by Kiev. If self determination is justified for western Ukraine, why not for the eastern oblasts?
That is a matter for Ukraine to sort out. The Russians are heavily involved on one side. They are getting involved in a "civil war." Should we allow them to prevail?
Russia clearly has an interest in the success of its allies in eastern Ukraine, and the West perceives an interest in having eastern Ukraine remain under the rule of the new Kiev government that we helped to install. As a result there is a proxy war raging between the US/EU and Russia on Russia's southern border.
How can it be a proxy war when only the Russians are involved militarily. Where do you think the insurgents are getting their weapons including anti-aircraft missile batteries? There are claims by the Ukrainian government that the two jet fighter planes shot down today were by missiles launched from Russian territory.
You are acting as an apologist for that slimy, KGB punk Putin.
No, I spent a career planning and training to fight the old Soviet Union that threatened to invade Western Europe. I am thinking rationally because too many people are letting their emotions sweep them into irrational war fever without knowing whether it is justified and without counting the potential costs. Now is the time to step back and examine "Who's zooming who?" before the world stumbles into a major war that almost nobody but Satan wants.
It does concern me that NATO -- a government program that once served a useful purpose -- is looking for a new mission and is hell-bent on finding one by pressing all the way to Russia's borders. Old scores always itch to be "settled" but borderlands serve to keep the old antagonists at bay. While I was willing to fight to defend the British, Germans and Italians, but I am not willing to shed American blood for Albania, Bulgaria, Romania or Slovenia. It concerns me that NATO is seeking to erase the borderlands, and that one of these newly-joined little angry chihuahuas is going to bite the bear so it can drag us by our treaty into fighting their battle for them. No thanks! Our national security is not threatened there.