My only experience with defense during time of war was the little training I received as a second lieutenant in the army. The following recommendation I’m about to make involving the war in Ukraine is therefore based solely on my personal judgment.
Immediately, allow Ukraine to become a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO); it currently has 32 member states. Established in the aftermath of World War II, Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty establishes member states agreeing to join together to defend any attack on a member state by any outside country like Russia. Had Ukraine already been an existing member, the Russian invasion would have never taken place.
It’s likely Putin would immediately conclude the resulting risk of a war facing a combination of NATO armed forces including America simply wasn’t worth continuing the conflict any further. Ukraine simply wouldn’t be worth the possibility of engaging in a military conflict with NATO.
But what about a Russian threat to engage its nuclear arsenal? It would never happen due to inviting nuclear suicide, leaving Russia a decimated unlivable waste land. His expansive game plan in reverse. It’s called “nuclear deterrence.”
The U.S. has nuclear weapons in Europe at air bases in NATO countries — including in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey. France and the United Kingdom have nuclear weapons of their own. Russia would be at a severe disadvantage if a nuclear war was to break out.
Of course, nothing like this appears plausible now Trump has regained the presidency. He has switched sides in support of Putin’s aggression; threatening to cut off further military aid to Ukraine and even considering withdrawing the U.S. commitment to NATO.
Raymond A. Hult, Bountiful
