I agree except I suspect the "ongoing political choice" you mention really comes down to ongoing dithering and failure to make a choice, in the USA. Everything

I agree except I suspect the "ongoing political choice" you mention really comes down to ongoing dithering and failure to make a choice, in the USA. Everything from pronouns to COVID to Ukraine get turned into political footballs, used to score points against the other party. The country suffers from lack of leadership, and that's not helped by the historic American isolationism and unwillingness to engage in foreign wars. Now we're heading into an election, one in which Biden can't make any big mistakes, so I don't expect the administration to take any risks. Referring back to my original comment, Americans have more immediate and pressing things to get pissed off about and pressure politicians over, like price inflation, housing costs, medical costs, homelessness, infrastructure, loneliness, etc. I don't think a majority of Americans can find Ukraine on a map, or know one fact about it other than it has some conflict with Russia. Politicians trying to get more money or do anything that increases America's involvement will not have much public support. I just spent some time with a friend who lives in Kiev, and was there when the war started. He's leaving, can't have a normal life under those conditions. He agrees with your assessment: Ukraine needs a lot more political and military support from the US or they will lose.