[elhombrelibre]

Putin couldn't put troops in Canada because they'd never be invited into Canada. These nations where the US and NATO allies are putting additional troops are there at the invitation of the democratically elected governments. These governments are in NATO. These nations want Americans and other NATO allies there for one reason. To defend them in the event of a Russian invasion. They are neither poised or capable of conducting an invasion of Russia. Neutral nations like Sweden and Finland are considering joining NATO out of sheer fear of Putin and his aggressive behavior, which he has demonstrated in Georgia and in Ukraine. Even now, Putin is conducting an undeclared war on the Eastern part of Ukraine using Russian soldiers and equipment inside Ukraine. He has moved nuclear weapons nearer to Lithuania. He issues threats and keeps large numbers of troops ready to invade neighboring countries on short notice on their borders. His army fires artillery rounds into Ukraine, while claiming Russia is under attack. Family members who lose loved ones fighting in Ukraine are not even given the facts about where and when their loved one died in this senseless and undeclared war.

There are many people in denial about the real nature of Putin, but those nations closest to Putin know he is a threat. Obama removed the last US tanks from Germany in 2012 and pledged to reset relations with Russia to Russia's advantage. If the USA was a threat, why would that policy have been executed. Putin took advantage of the naive Obama.

[spetznaz]

Putin couldn't put troops in Canada because they'd never be invited into Canada. These nations where the US and NATO allies are putting additional troops are there at the invitation of the democratically elected governments.

A salient point that bears repeating, and does away with the false equivalence that often comes up on such issues.

[Karliner]

There are many people in denial about the real nature of Putin, but those nations closest to Putin know he is a threat.

What you write in your post is true. The part I don't understand is one of Soetero's first deals when he was in office was to deny eastern bloc nations a missile defense then all this fanatical shallow intrigue as he's going out the door.I respect Putin as a clever tactician. I have yet to see anything worth respecting in Soeter0. Can't speak for others but what I like about Putin is he's a leader whereas Soter0 is just a clod.