Fair point, Rick. These things are easier to assess with the benefit of hindsight. Certainly there was no appetite here for farflung military adventures after the "War on Terror," and McCain also notes in that interview that Europe would be loath to help out. And *I* certainly didn't think so at the time, so it's not like I was some seer…
Fair point, Rick. These things are easier to assess with the benefit of hindsight. Certainly there was no appetite here for farflung military adventures after the "War on Terror," and McCain also notes in that interview that Europe would be loath to help out. And *I* certainly didn't think so at the time, so it's not like I was some seer or something. Maybe we did all we culd at the time, in that moment. With that said, there is no question that American weakness wrt Crimea emboldened Putin.
Fair point, Rick. These things are easier to assess with the benefit of hindsight. Certainly there was no appetite here for farflung military adventures after the "War on Terror," and McCain also notes in that interview that Europe would be loath to help out. And *I* certainly didn't think so at the time, so it's not like I was some seer or something. Maybe we did all we culd at the time, in that moment. With that said, there is no question that American weakness wrt Crimea emboldened Putin.