No matter what pacifist flubdubs and flapdoodle mollycoddles might say, the President knew that if there were a general war then America could well be drawn into it.
disapproval If you accuse someone of mollycoddling someone else, you are critical of them for doing too many things for the other person and protecting them too much from unpleasant experiences. Christopher accused me of mollycoddling Andrew. to treat someone too kindly and to protect them too much from anything unpleasant (mollycoddle (19-21 centuries), from Molly a female name + coddle)