Does he have the stones?

"The question then remains - does Putin have the stones to bump this war up a notch? Many in the world, including myself, are very nervous on how this could turn out. One wrong move, one misstep, could put us in a boxed canyon with no escape."  

Just when you think things could not get any more tense on our world, Ukraine has become the mouse that roared. Ukraine went from being an argi-business country, whose location just happened to be tucked in by the belly of Mother Russia. And then when big, tough Russia decided to attack this bunch of farmers and accountants, Russia soon figured out they did not have a mouse - they had a tiger by the tail. And now after almost three years of fighting a war of attrition, Ukraine has done the unthinkable. They have attacked Russia - and taken territory.

Truthfully, if not for the help of NATO supplying much needed weapons, this war would have been over a long time ago, with the Russian flag flying over Kyiv. Many times, over the past 2 1/2 years, Putin has threatened the west with death and destruction should these weapon deliveries continue. Even though Joe Biden had to stiffen his spine more than once, they did continue. But now we are at a different fork in the road. Where longer range Storm Chaser and ATACMS missiles might tip the battle over to Ukraine. And Putin does not like that - not a bit.

With these two game changing missiles going to Ukraine, there are two types of thinking right now. First way of thinking is this - Putin has shown his best stuff, and it is not good enough. Allowing Ukraine to hit deep inside of Russia, especially their military bases, could bring this dreadful war to a conclusion sooner rather than later. 

The second way of thinking is much grimmer. Like it or not, Russia still has more nukes than any other country. Poking this bear once too often might lead Putin to do something very foolish - declare war on NATO. Putin could unleash a barrage of conventional missiles towards many soft targets all over Europe. Or (God forbid), he could unleash a nuke or two.

The question remains on the table - does Putin have the stones to take on NATO after this slugfest with Ukraine? If he does, it will be the start of World War III. It will be the start of a war which could change everything for everyone for evermore. 

But if Putin puts up with Storm Chaser and ATACMS missile destroying parts of Russia, it will probably be the end of Putin. Because this war has not gone well for Russia, Putin is living on borrowed time. To have this bunch of farmers and accountants best the mighty Russian war machine - would probably spell the end of the story for Putin.

The question then remains - does Putin have the stones to bump this war up a notch? Many in the world, including myself, are very nervous on how this could turn out. One wrong move, one misstep, could put us in a boxed canyon with no escape.