Carson correctly points out that if we don’t act now, Putin will take even more territory. We need to take the initiative and force Putin to react to our moves.
Life doesn’t work like that. IF it mattered to stop Putin from taking more territory, you would have needed to act *prior* to Putin taking Crimea.
Instead, acting *after* Putin took the Crimea puts the U.S. “behind the curve” in military terms. Being behind the curve means that you have to make predictable, costly, or desperate moves...and your likelihood of success is small.
Right now, it is too late for Ukraine/Crimea. However, we could act now to shore up Poland and Germany.
Acting now for Ukraine/Crimea *instead* of shoring up Poland/Germany means that you could lose far more than (parts of) the Ukraine.
You have to stabilize the board at this point. Ground is lost because we got behind the curve. Getting more behind the curve will cost us more countries.
You’ll lose Poland and Germany if you waste efforts on the Ukraine at this point.