Vladimir Putin is making menacing noises.  If we interfere with his conquest of Ukraine, he tells us, there will be "consequences."  If we establish a no-fly zone, he warns us, we will be considered an "active participant" in the conflict.  He is putting his nuclear forces in a "high state of readiness."

Our foreign policy experts gravely avow that the situation must be handled with the utmost delicacy.  We have to offer Volodya an off-ramp.  Above all, we must not risk a nuclear confrontation.

Nonsense!

Can't you see that Putin is using our fear of nuclear war to scare us into acquiescence and appeasement?  His military chieftains are deeply conflicted over the invasion of Ukraine.  His citizenry has denounced it.  His troops are performing poorly.  Volunteers from around the world have enlisted in the Ukrainian cause.

Putin's not insane.  He's not a madman.  He's not going to ignite a nuclear conflagration over his own bungled offensive, nor would his inner circle allow him to.

This is an emperor practically walking around in his underwear.  He knows he miscalculated.  He told his minions it would be a cakewalk.  He never expected the Ukrainians to put up a resistance so determined that it inspires the world.  He didn't anticipate sanctions as severe as have been imposed.  He never thought Western Europe would come together as it has.

Image: Bomb blast by pxfuel (edited).

He overreached. He got himself into a jam, and he thinks the specter of the finger on the button can get him out of it.

If only we had a president with spine.  If only one world leader would stand up and say:

You want to talk about the neutrality of Ukraine?  Fine.  You want to talk about security guarantees?  We'll talk about it.

Let's be clear: we do not want one square inch of Russian soil.  We do not seek regime change.  If the Russian people are willing to suffer you as their dictator, it's no business of ours.

But in the name of civilization, we will not allow you to ravage a peaceful country that did not in the least provoke your aggression.  We insist that you immediately withdraw your troops to within your own borders, or we will force you out.  Not just the United States, not just Western Europe, not just NATO, but every country in the world willing to uphold the rights of free men and women and strike back against naked barbarism will unite to drive you out.

We will not be threatened, we will not be intimidated, and Ukraine will not perish.

What's your reaction as you read this?  Are you shocked?  Are you thinking, "Oh, my God!  We're all going to die!"?

Look, you and I know that Volodya will rely on the same "finger on the button" gambit when he advances on his next target, be it Georgia, Kazakhstan, Moldova, or Lithuania.  So will his tag-team partner, Xi Jinping.

We each have an eventual appointment to keep with an Intensive Care Unit.  Nothing can change that.  But the choice is not between mutual annihilation and peace in our time.  The choice is dealing with the little Napoleon on a relatively limited front right now or on a wider front later.

Bad actors don't stop themselves.

They must be stopped.

Sheldon Bart is a trustee of the Foundation to Illuminate America's Heroes, www.illuminateamericasheroes.com.