[barnbwt]

an infinitesimal part, if that, even. This move was a freebie for Obama, and I can hardly blame him taking it (heck, I admire the competence shown in recognizing a political opportunity with no downside and taking it, for a change). I fully expect a similar move on ammo at some point, but I'm sure he's waiting for another escalation before that happens. For some reason, we have to ramp up our foreign policy in incremental steps, like a stupid comic book super hero battle. We can't just tell him we're willing to bring in advisors that might get hit by their artillery if they don't knock this off (and if we aren't so willing, we'll never fool anybody with this charade so there's no point engaging in sanctions, even)

As far as the chest thumping people saying this is justified, recall that embargoes and even boycotts can be considered acts of war. If we aren't committed, don't commit falsely. It only sends mixed signals and leads to escalation and miscalculation. If we'd responded resolutely to the level of our commitment in the first place, the Russians could have seen where we stood, and decided to act or not. Instead, we sidle around the ring, each side getting more and more anxious, until someone blinks, or slips.

TCB