@jimk3758 - in the end - and in my book too - the real baddy here will be the one who starts the nuclear war.
I think Putin has miscalculated everything, even the mood in his own country.
For his people - and for a while now - there has been a willingness to modernise and democratise their country, a willingness to be part of 'the West' and progress.
Putin is an enemy of progress for his people, because it will mean the end of his autocratic reign. It's his personality which is going to start this drama and not any pacts etc. (which are definitely a good reason).
If he overplays his card - and I hope he realises that the onus will be on him, the guilt will be on him, even if all the theoretical excuses and reasons are on his side - it will be WWIII and it will all be his fault, if we are all still around to find fault.
Maybe that's the course of pre-destined history - two white people destroying one another - so that the Chinese Empire can rise.
Taurisk
