Some elements of special counsel Robert Mueller's report are inherently open to interpretation. Still, Mueller has proved at least one thing beyond all reasonable doubt: Vladimir Putin's Russia remains an ardent adversary of the United States.

Enter the Mueller report's repeated referencing of the GRU, Russia's primary military intelligence service. Mueller notes that the GRU and its facilitators, or cutouts, engaged in a highly aggressive effort to disrupt the 2016 presidential election. This involved leasing servers on the U.S. mainland, using bitcoin currency in an effort to avoid evidence of Russian culpability, and employing various technical intelligence tools. These were then weaponized to access the private communications of U.S. politicians, activists, private citizens, and state and local government agencies. The GRU then released that information through intermediaries such as Wikileaks and Guccifer 2.0.

Mueller also makes clear what should now be obvious to all: This effort was not a flippant attack on a whim. Instead, Russia sought to suborn the democratic will of the public to Putin's policy interests. While it must be said that President Trump's policy towards Russia has been tougher than the Russian leader would have hoped, Putin's 2016 attack struck at the very heart of our democratic tradition.

True, we should not pursue conflict for conflict's sake. But neither can we afford to ignore investigative findings such as Mueller's. Choosing to believe Putin is either a marginal power or a misunderstood politician, we invite great danger to ourselves and our international order.