Are we at war with Russia? Just asking...

 

"If you are a praying type, keep praying for peace. Pray that cooler heads will prevail in Moscow, and that hate is removed from the hearts of the invaders. The world needs peace, not war. Amen."  

"Mr. Secretary", the news reporter asked our SecDef, Lloyd Austin, "are we going to have a nuclear war with Russia?" Without batting an eye, Austin replied, "I don't think so". Now, here are my words - YOU DON'T THINK SO??? What kind of an answer is that? The Russians have all but told us, if we keep arming Ukraine, we might be on the receiving end of one of their Satan II missiles. I guess an answer I would like much better from our head defense guy is either, "No way they would try it", or "If they did launch something at us, our BMD could handle any missile they have."

Why has the heat all of sudden been turned up? Because someone in the Administration decided to blab to everyone, our strategy for Russia has changed. Instead of giving Ukraine just enough to help them, we now want to give them enough of our firepower to cause a serious degradation in  the Russian Army. As if the Russians have not suffered enough losses so far. Now, (as the saying goes), "this s*** is about to get real!"

Many in our government now feel that Russia is "all hat and no cattle". Threats and no action. I am not of that ilk. I think Crazy Ivan might just be crazy enough to try and teach us a lesson. Launch just a couple nukes, and then call it a day. Even though Austin has said time and time again, "nobody wins a nuclear war", I don't think Putin believes that. I think he is head over heals in love with his new hypersonic missiles. That his missiles are better than anything we have, or can defend against. That a first strike with his hypersonics, might be the final strike. 

Here is the bottom line as I see it. Russia's conventional forces have proven to be way, way overrated. His troops were ill prepared for what awaited them in Ukraine. So the Russians sunk to new levels of butchery. Committed unspeakable war crimes. Heck, if they can't beat the Ukrainians the old fashioned way (army against army), they will butcher women and children instead. Then throw all the bodies in mass graves. Why bring that up? If Russia would stoop to doing something like that, I could easily see them launch (something). Why? That would be the only way Putin could win. To take us and NATO out of the equation.

I know Putin, Lavrov, and many Russian Generals think they have Joe Biden cowed. They can bully him or scare him. They know what Biden said about WW III at the beginning of the conflict. Now they are going to pour salt in that wound, and threaten us (again). 

The question remains - are we at war with Russia? Is it just a "proxy war", or is it something bigger? What if a Russian jet shoots down a Polish jet in Polish air space? What if it is an American jet? Does Article 5 kick in immediately, or does the pot continue to boil at a higher temperature? I think that all nations involved, mostly Russia, are playing with fire right now. If Pandora's Box is opened up, it could be a game changer for everyone.

If you are a praying type, keep praying for peace. Pray that cooler heads will prevail in Moscow, and that hate is removed from the hearts of the invaders. The world needs peace, not war. Amen.