“Stripping a motivated people of their dignity and rubbing their noses in it is a very bad idea.” Hmmm, sounds like what Putin is doing to Ukraine and his own people. Is that what you meant?
No. Prior to WWII we - through the treaty of Versailles - told Germany to divest themselves of any industry that could make weapons. We also told Japan to get out of China. We cut Japan off from their supply of oil for not doing our bidding and Germany descended into a terrible depression. Both countries resorted to the fall-back tactic of rejuvenating their economies by going to war.
Now we’re telling Russia to get out of the Ukraine. We’re driving the price of oil down to reinforce our demand. Their economy is suffering which means the Russian people are suffering (you can bet that Putin still eats well!) If their economy doesn’t rebound soon they may also resort to war. According to recent data, our nuclear stockpile is at about 15% of what it used to be. Is theirs? Where we used to maintain an uneasy “peace” through the fear of mutual destruction, that may no longer be the case. In the event of a full-scale nuclear war WE may end up as the glass parking lot.
None of this is rocket surgery. It’s just a mixture of common sense and history. Is it unreasonable to expect our legislators to read and understand ‘cause and effect’ when they make decisions that affect us all? Evidently.
To make a further point, let me ask a question: Where do WE get the authority to tell ANY country how to conduct their business? Protection of U.S. citizens residing in a politically unstable situation MIGHT warrant our intervention but even that is “iffy.” As I remember, that was the same ploy Hitler used to start the festivities in Europe.