A Politico headline sums up my feelings exactly, “The West finally throws a punch in its face-off with Russia.” The article goes on to say, “A rash of weekend moves on sanctions, airspace, military aid and more showed that the United States and its allies aren’t afraid to escalate when it comes to helping Ukraine. The gloves are off, at least for now. After months of making careful, measured moves that failed to persuade Russia to halt plans to invade Ukraine, the United States and its European allies have tossed aside caution in favor of a more ruthless strategy [emphasis added].”
I will be the first to admit that I underestimated the resolve of NATO (and the West). I was wrong, and I’m not afraid to admit it. Unfortunately, NATO has decades of evincing weakness and discord in the face of aggression from international bad actors, so I believed this moment would be no different. I suppose that I underestimated the menace of Russia on NATO and the EU doorstep. Funny how the threat of a mid-day hanging focuses the mind for these institutions because, at this point, no one seems to believe Putin would not stop at Ukraine, especially Sweden and Finland. More than any other non-NATO nation, Finland has a long history of being invaded by Russia.
Of course, there is a bit of irony hidden in Europe’s newfound resolve in no small part thanks to traitor trump. While Biden has masterfully cooperated with and led the collision of European countries, NATO must be coming to the stark realization that Putin is more aggressive than they anticipated. Moreover, there is no guarantee the U.S. will be a NATO member after 2024. In short, traitor trump has forced Europe to take matters into their own hands, which may be unintentionally good, but the true strength of Europe is one allied with the U.S. and nothing less.