Jake Tapper stating the obvious - two decades of stern warnings and misplaced optimism in the US paved the way for Russian President Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine.

I mean honestly. If you were Putin do you were Putin, would you think there were any real limits to what you can get away with? I mean it’s easy to see why he thought this time would be no different. President Biden is right. Dictators who do not pay a price for aggression continue causing more chaos. But may I ask - have we actually learned that lesson?

So far, it looks like we have not. The US (along with the its NATO allies) must immediately enforce a no fly zone over Ukraine. Appeasement did not work with Hitler - it will not work with Putin.

We in the US say that we are the protectors of freedom and democracy in the world - the one indispensable nation. Well here is a clear cut case of when the United States military might is required. The world is watching. Are we as a nation going to live up to our rhetoric? Or are we going to stand by and let the thousands of civilians die?