Energy independence

During WW 2 our enemies were Germany, Japan and Italy and these three were called the Axis and they were run by dictators. Today we have a new axis composed of Russia, China, North Korea and Iran and they are all run by dictators. Throughout history it seems that it is dictators that covet land and start wars. In free societies the people must be convinced that war is necessary and that is no easy task. Usually it only happens in response to being attacked as was the case with WW 2 and later in Afghanistan. Sometimes free people will take up arms to help others calling for help as happened in WW 1, Korea, Viet Nam and later in Kuwait. In the case of Ukraine the threat of nuclear war looms overhead and new rules must be applied. The hope is that economic sanctions along with isolation will cause the Russian people to revolt as happened to Ceausescu in Romania. The next best thing is to stop buying oil and natural gas from Russia but Europe has gotten themselves in a bind by relying on Russia and the US has cut back on production so that option is not now available. The lesson here is to be energy independent like the US was just a couple of years ago. In both cases this is the result of poor planning.