Price Tag

President Obama said that Russia would pay a cost for invading Ukraine. What should that price be?

One, going to war over Ukraine is out. We aren't going to send a couple corps to Ukraine. The logistics nightmare would be ridiculous.

And we still have tens of thousands of troops in Afghanistan relying on supply lines running through Russia.

Besides, except for nukes and fossil fuels, Russia is weak. Why dignify their behavior by reopening the Cold War that destroyed the Soviet Union? Honestly, open hostility would probably suit their egos.

But "reset" is dead.

So what do we do?

One, we accelerate Ukraine's NATO membership process (assuming Kiev wants it--which I do if Russia invades). If I understand the situation correctly, Ukraine can't join NATO if it has a non-NATO military base on its territory. If Russia annexes Crimea, Ukraine no longer has a Russian base on its territory. That would be a nice repayment, alone.

Two, continue to push for NATO membership for Georgia, Finland, and Sweden.

Three, set up prepositioned stocks of equipment for at least a couple heavy brigades in Poland. See if the British will do the same for a brigade. We should put the Kaliningrad Russian enclave at risk in case of a crisis.

Four, permanently station American fighter aircraft in the Baltic states.

Five, station the 18th airborne Corps headquarters in a European NATO country and add two more brigades to our Europe-based Army (of two brigades). Nothing needs to be forward deployed in eastern NATO.

Six, rotate Marine Corps aircraft through Romania capable of carrying out air defense and anti-ship missions. If Russia wants their Sevastopol naval base this badly, we can put it at risk.

Seven, look to station NATO small attack craft in Romania to have a weapon against the Black Sea Fleet.

Eight, station Modularized Auxiliary Cruisers in the Black Sea.

Nine, practice moving B-52 bombers to the eastern Mediterranean or Balkans to carry out anti-ship strike missions or naval mine laying missions.

Ten, use NATO infrastructure funds to start moving Ukraine's Sixth Corps all the way to eastern Ukraine and move Thirteenth Corps to central Ukraine to support Sixth Corps or Eighth Corps in the north. This will take a lot of time, I admit. But the Ukrainian army's deployment makes little sense in this era.

Eleven, improve logistical links from the Rhine to the Dneiper River.

Twelve, seriously work to defeat the Assad regime.

Thirteen, do what it takes to get our Pakistan ground lines of communication working.

Fourteen, do not under any circumstances recognize Russian conquest of Crimea.

Fifteen, talk to the Turks and see if we can get them to act like more of an ally again.

Sixteen, do what we can to make international travel and banking difficult for any Crimean or Ukrainian leaders who work with the Russians.

Seventeen, recognize a Ukrainian government-in-exile for Crimea and eastern Ukraine, if that is lost, too.

Eighteen, move the prepositioned equipment for a US Marine brigade from Norway to one of the Baltic states.

Last, do it all quietly. No need to work ourselves up into a new Cold War. But do it. So our allies and potential foes can see we will respond with more than just words.

UPDATE: Other suggestions on how to respond.

I wouldn't try to make a major Navy deployment, however. Intelligence ships are fine. And Coast Guard ships for humanitarian aid deliveries--but not the Navy as a fighting force. I'm not sure what relevant treaties on use of the Turkish Straits allow. I'm reasonably sure it is very limiting.

UPDATE: Michael Barone also has suggestions.