The problem with America's response to Putin has never been that it has been too strong. It has always been that we have been that we have been too weak. Bush was too weak. Obama was too weak. Trump was actually and actively on Putin's side.
Biden and the West have thus far responded more strongly than Putin could have expected. But in the days ahead he will test us. He will use his lack of conscience and his unchecked brutality as a weapon. We must respond with even greater strength and resolve.
That doesn't mean risking nuclear war. It does mean employing available option short of that. We must also make a commitment--that he is aware of--that he won't see an end to sanctions or an end to the support of Ukraine or an end to strengthening & even the expansion of NATO...
...until he has withdrawn completely from Ukraine and he no longer threatens his neighbors. This is critical. Experience has told him that he can gain from his violations of international law, from his aggression. He will keep doing so until it is clear that era is over.
Our response to him must be punitive and unflinching and not over at the first sign he wants to dial back his abuses. And then his war must carry with it a heavy cost for him and for Russia--economically, politically, in the international criminal court.
He is a sociopath. He has no better nature to appeal to. He doesn't honor his agreements. He knows only force. Personally, & I know this is a minority view, I believe that in the end this means that any nation he might threaten should be welcomed, if they wish to come, into NATO.
That is not a provocation to him, it is a sign that we understand his nature and the threat he poses. In addition, in the days and weeks ahead, should he increase his abuses, we will have to do more with our allies including take steps that may hurt at home like energy sanctions.
No option must be left unexplored. The people of Ukraine are now paying for our past weakness with their lives. We owe it to them but also, having learned from experience, to ourselves, to make this be the place that Putin finally learns his wanton criminality will no longer pay.
p.s. Comments make clear that my point in the second Tweet was not clear enough. The response of Biden & NATO & the EU has been excellent so far. What I am saying is new test are coming, new measures will be needed. (And I am confident they will meet that test.)
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