By treaty? I don't recall that.
No, if it is NATO, that is different. And Putin ain't that stupid.
Ahh, so American honor is only at stake when it's a treaty, not when it's, say, the Budapest Memorandum, in which, for what they thought was valuable consideration, Ukraine gave up its nukes, in which case the U.S. is entitled to act just like any other craven coward and lie through its teeth to get something from other people, with complete freedom to turn its back on those people later on, when it's convenient.
Got it. Apparently American honor sells rather cheaply these days, regardless of whether one calls one's self a conservative or not.
As for Putin being stupid - (a) he is stupid, witness the stupidity of believing he could swoop in and take Ukraine in a three-day blitzkreig, and (b) if the U.S. demonstrates that it is weak and will not stand up for its obligations, he will start whittling away at the small Baltic states. And then we will get a litany of "well, Latvia is only 1.8 million people; what business is it of ours if Russia wants to take them over; and after all, there is a strong contingent that has been agitating to leave NATO and rejoin Russia, so what business is it of ours?"
Pieces of paper, guaranteeing "peace in our time"! If only we sacrifice _____________ to the Russian Orc.