Member-only story
The war is at a standstill, neither party making significant advances.
But Putin keeps sending missiles to destroy Ukraine.
Again and again he fires them and again and again we say nothing.
What’s happened to our resolve?
Has it gone into hiding?
What are our nuclear weapons for if not to enforce deterrence?
A victory for Ukraine, in which it recovers all its territory, does not mean NATO will be deploying nuclear missiles there.
How long Putin will remain in power is up to Russians. Not the West.
It’s Russians who have to awaken from their sleep of complicity with Putin in his quest to take over Ukraine.
It’s Russians who will have to live with the stigma of not mustering the courage to assert their right to freedom in their land and instead kneel before Putin and kiss his feet.
But there is an enormous cost to the West also.
Our unwillingness to confront Putin and tell him to stop firing missiles from behind his borders is a sign of weakness for the West.
It was a sign of weakness for the Obama administration to not step up in 2014 and, marshalling the consent of the West, oppose Putin’s annexation of Crimea.
This time, at least, we’re providing resources, but not enough.
Again, a sign of weakness.
We heard the voice of Biden calling Putin a killer, but we don’t hear his voice saying to Putin, ‘stop shooting missiles into Ukraine or we will arm them with weapons to fire into your territory.’…
