The world needs to stop the killing in Ukraine. The United Nations, the United States, the European Union, NATO and the Western democracies need to act. It's time to stop the murder of men, women and children in Ukraine and the destruction of their land and heritage.
The world dares to be timid in the face of brutality, murder and now atrocities. It's time to act! I firmly believe that the fear of a Third World War or a nuclear attack is unfounded and overblown. Putin is a criminal, but I don't believe he is stupid. He knows that were he to resort to the "nuclear option" to win control of Ukraine, he and the Russian people would lose. I learned during the Cold War, and Putin knows, that the U.S. and NATO have a significant advantage in thermonuclear firepower and Russia could potentially and tragically be "bombed back into the Stone Age."
This is not warmongering. It is the humane, moral and righteous right of the world to stop the killing of innocents and protect the sovereignty of a European nation. What do we know about brutal dictators? We know they fear and respect strength. Particularly massive strength arrayed against them.
If you can't fight, then write. National opinion polls reveal that the majority of Americans want the U.S. "to do more" to stop the killing in Ukraine. This is how the U.S. can do more. Write your elected and appointed officials in Washington (the White House, Congress, Department of Defense) urging them to take action to bring the war to an end. Let's not regret or lament that we chose inaction.
There is precedent. The world left Ukraine to the Russian wolves, but in the past, the world acted. We expelled the Iraqi Army from Kuwait.
On Aug. 2, 1990, the Iraqi Army, the fourth-largest in the world, invaded its neighbor Kuwait. The U.S. responded to "preserve the sovereignty of nations" with Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. The multinational effort brought together the largest force of Navy warships assembled in a single theater since World War II.
Faced with a multinational armed force, superior air power and the resolve of the world, the Russian Army would retreat. Clearly it would not advance farther. The Russians are currently stalemated in Ukraine.
That creates a major opportunity and a frightening threat. Putin may react in anger and revenge to the stalemate and increase Russia's siege and bombardment of Ukrainian cities and civilians, causing more deaths, suffering and war crimes.
