[GK3]

Great post Goose which I agree completely with. And I think BC's post important too, especially that Russia, while still slowly advancing, is doing so at great cost and at a very slow rate. They are not inevitable victors.

It is not in our national interest to just be mercenary weapons suppliers.

I think the pragmatic approach given current US political realities is to try and get to a place where the administration can message internally that Europe is paying for top quality American weapons, actually enforce and step up Russian sanctions if the war continues, while the US is still providing intelligence support and hopefully some material support from existing funding lines which are still pretty substantial. I just don't see a lot of new funding being approved any time soon unfortunately.

I wonder what role is most important in our national interest? Money, Arms or Boots on the Ground, or all 3?  Have we ever clearly defined what our National Interests are?  They change, but they do not change much. Since 1963, how many ill fated adventures have gotten involved in only to look back at failure?  China seems to be doing its best to control the shallow waters that lie between China, South Korea, Japan, the Okinawa island chain, Taiwan, the Philippines and Vietnam. China seems to be trying to create its own version of the Monroe Doctrine. 
We do need to control the deep waters lying East of all these areas but I see no need to try and do anything but occasionally show the flag West of Taiwan.  No room to maneuver, too shallow and too close to China to risk some very expensive assets. 
None of that means anything unless we have a well thought out National Policy with plans to support it.
Russia on the other hand seems an even larger enigma. The big question, one which no seems to have an answer for is how long can Putin survive under current conditions?  And how bad are current conditions really?
I think our best bet now is to find ways to keep Ukraine supplied with at least a great part of what it needs and encourage Germany, Poland, the Baltic States to continue to invest in their military.  I suppose I could see declaring open season on the Shadow Fleet after making a clear announcement as to what will happen to those ships who haul Russian oil, but then that can lead to other complications.

[GK3]

Great post Goose which I agree completely with. And I think BC's post important too, especially that Russia, while still slowly advancing, is doing so at great cost and at a very slow rate. They are not inevitable victors.

It is not in our national interest to just be mercenary weapons suppliers.

I think the pragmatic approach given current US political realities is to try and get to a place where the administration can message internally that Europe is paying for top quality American weapons, actually enforce and step up Russian sanctions if the war continues, while the US is still providing intelligence support and hopefully some material support from existing funding lines which are still pretty substantial. I just don't see a lot of new funding being approved any time soon unfortunately.

I wonder what role is most important in our national interest? Money, Arms or Boots on the Ground, or all 3?  Have we ever clearly defined what our National Interests are?  They change, but they do not change much. Since 1963, how many ill fated adventures have gotten involved in only to look back at failure?  China seems to be doing its best to control the shallow waters that lie between China, South Korea, Japan, the Okinawa island chain, Taiwan, the Philippines and Vietnam. China seems to be trying to create its own version of the Monroe Doctrine. 
We do need to control the deep waters lying East of all these areas but I see no need to try and do anything but occasionally show the flag West of Taiwan.  No room to maneuver, too shallow and too close to China to risk some very expensive assets. 
None of that means anything unless we have a well thought out National Policy with plans to support it.
Russia on the other hand seems an even larger enigma. The big question, one which no seems to have an answer for is how long can Putin survive under current conditions?  And how bad are current conditions really?
I think our best bet now is to find ways to keep Ukraine supplied with at least a great part of what it needs and encourage Germany, Poland, the Baltic States to continue to invest in their military.  I suppose I could see declaring open season on the Shadow Fleet after making a clear announcement as to what will happen to those ships who haul Russian oil, but then that can lead to other complications.