[klyrs]

It does, and it doesn't. Like the US invasion of Iraq, the war in Ukraine doesn't make a damned lick of sense. The thing that I'm most scared of is the possibility that he'll actually use a nuke; that others will respond in kind. I think that a hot WWIII would be measured in days, and I don't expect that to happen.

What gives me hope is that nobody is really taking Putin's side here outside a few of Russia's neighbors which are already in shambles because of Russia's military excursions into them. Germany had more and stronger allies going into the previous two world wars; right now it's pretty much Russia vs the West and it seems that China doesn't want to get involved.

I'm somewhat dismayed at the non-involvement we're seeing. My heart-sinking prediction is that Russia will nuke Kiev (or perhaps something of more tactical value) and that still won't move the needle. That would define a new era in nuclear tactics; one which I'm terrified to contemplate.