And the fact that we have been provoking Moscow means nothing to you. Is it not obvious that OUR government is trying to start a large scale war? They are not even being coy about it.
I am 53 and my whole life our country has been at war somewhere—save for a few years here and there. I am sick of it. Let Europe deal with Putin. He cannot come sweeping through the Fulda Gap any more. It is not our issue.
Provoking Moscow? Please. Russia simply trots out that excuse every few years when it feels the need to invade and occupy some small country.
From the Kremlin's standpoint, everybody they murder is "provoking" them. For example, all the journalists beaten in subways or murdered in Russia "provoked" the Kremlin by practicing journalism. Similarly, the U.S. provokes Russia by not dismantling NATO, even while the Russians have been modernizing their nukes and military forces for years.