So is it our probLem or no? Should we act or no?
Few things.
Biden just announced that he's going to address the American people tomorrow to announce what action he's going to take. I'm assuming more soft sanctions. Why on earth is he addressing the nation. If you're going to sanction..speak with western allies and sanction. He's making this an American problem. The US takes in 8-12 million barrels of Russian oil per month. The US is now a net importer of oil under Biden. We have enough domestic energy that the American people should not lose a nickel over this. Production is shuttered all over Texas and New Mexico. This is a problem that can be solved tomorrow. Biden serves the American people and the American people should come first.
Much of this comes from The Obama red line in Syria and the subsequent tough guy talk Biden is fond of using.... if you've ever met a Russian you know it doesn't play well. It's a dare.
The US has been nibbling around the edges of Russia and China for decades albeit for separate reasons. It's long past time for the Russian financial sector to be cut off from the rest of the world. You don;t have to do it all at once. Just pick the biggest bank, perhaps one that has the most mortgages or business lines of credit and take it off the SWIFT system OR make it impossible for Russia to trade oil on the open market through the global financial transaction systems. Either would be a good reminder of who the swinging dick is around here.
Germany needs a reminder as well and they should pay a price for being a Russia benefactor for so long. Some sort of sanctions are in order.
China makes US politicians and institutions very wealthy and they aren't going to bite the hand that feeds them. China is watching this and making the Taiwan calculation. It's decision time with China. China is going to bank Russia and the US needs to act accordingly with financial sanctions against China.
We should act..but not with the Military. It shouldn't take a Russian invasion with Ukraine for Americans not to funnel money into the coffers of countries like China or Russia.