A great deal of what you said is true, and it changes nothing about the fact that a giving a single digit percentage of NATO's total annual defense spending to

A great deal of what you said is true, and it changes nothing about the fact that a giving a single digit percentage of NATO's total annual defense spending to Ukraine has stopped Russia's advance and crippled their ability to wage modern war while leaving NATO's ability completely intact. What would 10% do? 50%? I don't know if Syria is a good example to give of arrogance leading to an impending downfall. * A force of about 1,000 US personnel at al-Tanf garrison has supported anti-regime fighters and effectively denied half of the country to the Syrian regime and Russia. A similarly small Turkish force has done the same in the north. * The only time Russian forces engaged with US forces they were soundly defeated, and that is being extremely polite. * Israel flies over Syria with impunity. For over a decade, Israel, flying US aircraft, has bombed what they want, when they want, and has only lost a single fighter (one F-16, no fatalities) despite thousands of missiles being launched at them. * The only time NATO and Russian aircraft engaged each other, the Russian aircraft was shot down. The Russian aircraft failed to detect the radar lock of the Turkish F-16 and then failed to detect the incoming missile, leading to its destruction. Then one of the rescue helicopters was destroyed. It should be noted that the Turkish F-16 is a much less capable aircraft than what would make up the bulk of the US force in a US-Russia conflict. * The United States routinely operates two aircraft carriers in the region. The Russians cannot successfully deploy even one. Right now the Ford is there and the Eisenhower is on its way. * Someone, either Syria or Iran, keeps shooting rockets and launching kamikaze drones at al-Tanf garrison and they all keep getting shot down. The only casualty so far has been a civilian contractor who had a heart attack while running to a shelter. The US presence in Syria is so small that it doesn't even register in the national consciousness as being an ongoing event. Also, the USS Carney-- a lone US destroyer, shot down 19 Yemeni (and therefore, Iranian) drones and cruise missiles last week over a nine hour period. Russian air defenses cannot reliably stop western cruise missiles. I work in synthetic aperture radar development and I can assure you that the USS Carney's radar systems are very good but are already a decade out of date and the new systems coming on line are much, much better than Carney's. I don't think any of that is indicative of arrogance that may lead to a downfall.