"Mother" Russia - saint or sinner?

"Putin could care less of what the world thinks of him. And he could care less about the United States being an equal. To Putin right now, the United States, NATO, might only be future targets."

Every now and again, some nation state will pop up, and do something either very stupid, or very scary. Since the closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics, that nation has been Russia. This huge land mass, is spread over an unbelievable eleven time zones. It has 17 million square kilometers, and borders sixteen countries. It is huge. However, with that much land, the population of Russia is about half of what the United States is. Russia has about 145 million people, whereas the United States has 330 million people. And the land mass of the United States, is just under 10 million square kilometers, and borders only two countries.

For a country half our size in population, its military is twice the size of ours. Both sides have about 6,000 nukes, and thousands of tanks and other armor vehicles. If the United States and Russia ever got into a fight using conventional weapons, it would be more even than uneven. 

But if it came to nukes, Russia has something we do not. They have a guy with his finger on the button, who might now be unhinged. A guy who thinks a nuclear exchange might just be winnable for Russia. And for that reason alone, Ukraine is being destroyed by Russia, with little help from form US or NATO.

In my military career, my wars were mostly cold. I went in when Viet Nam was winding down. I retired right after the first Gulf War. All the time in-between, I was a Cold Warrior. Most folks in the military during that time, can say the same. What we did was important, but tedious. Much work went into ensuring the Cold War stayed cold.

The one thing which both sides understood back then, was MAD. MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction), kept the world safe. Kept our cities and military bases from becoming burned out, nuclear wastelands. Kept the United States and Russia, from poisoning the world with radioactive fallout. Yes, MAD worked for years. Now we might have traded in MAD, for a madman.

How is this situation in the Ukraine going to end up? No clue. Will Russia and the United States slip ever closer to the edge of the nuclear cliff? I pray to God, no. In a world which is still trying to recover from a pandemic, we now have war. For reasons which most can not understand, we have war.

Is Russia a saint, or a sinner? Actually, right now, many in Russia's Army in Ukraine are war criminals. As is Putin. I guess, that and a dime will buy you a cup of coffee. Putin could care less of what the world thinks of him. And he could care less about the United States being an equal. To Putin right now, the United States, and NATO, might only be future targets.