Itching for a fight?

"Picking a fight with NATO might be the slippery slope which ends poorly for everyone. There is no good outcome. Not for Putin, not for us. And the elephant in the room continues to be the nuclear genie. And that genie can end all of us."    

Did anybody hear the news flash out of Germany about what their intelligence network had recently picked up? Hint: It concerned Russia, and their ambitions. It seems that Ukraine was only a ruse - a warmup act for Putin. True, Ukraine has proven to be more of a problem than Putin had figured. Taken much longer, and cost too much. All that being said, his eyes are still on the prize. And the prize is NATO. Russia wants the war which never happened during the Cold War. He wants war with NATO.

We have been hearing (almost daily) about incursions over sovereign borders by Russia. First Putin's drones, and now Putin's Air Force. Why in the world would he do that? For what purpose? To what end? NATO is being probed. Find out where the "red line" is. In Putin's mind, it will not take much for NATO to shoot at one of his aircraft. That would be the provocation that he needs. Then the border between Ukraine and Poland might become invisible to Putin. Or maybe Putin would take a run at the Balkans. 

Yesterday, it was Demark's turn to put up with Putin's incursions. My advice it not to try this with France, as Macron has had it with Putin. As it is, Marcon is inches away from sending troops into Ukraine to help the cause. If Putin starts buzzing France with MIGs or SUs, it might just be "Katy bar the door". And if France goes into Ukraine to help with the fight, you can bet your bottom dollar that Germany and Poland will be right behind Marcon. And then, the all-Europe war many have feared - will be upon us.

What is it with Putin? Why is he such a modern-day megalomaniac? Is he trying to channel Adolph Hitler? Can he not remember the carnage which was visited upon Russia during World War II? It is also estimated that Putin is putting together a shadow army, outside the throwaway troops he is using in Ukraine. Why? To prepare for a much larger battle with NATO. NATO is proud they are finally spending 5% of their GDP on defense, however, Russia is now spending twice that much. German intel figures that before the end of the decade, Russia will be locked and loaded, and ready for more war. 

One word of caution for Mr. Putin. As much as Trump wants peace, and to be a broker of such, Donald Trump would have no compunction about jumping into this fray with both feet. Peace through strength might be our first order of battle but fight to win! is the close second. My advice to Putin would be not to test us. Not to test Poland. Not to test France.

Picking a fight with NATO might be the slippery slope which ends poorly for everyone. There is no good outcome. Not for Putin, not for us. And the elephant in the room continues to be the nuclear genie. And that genie can end all of us.