Clayton Morris: Washington's Dangerous Policies Have Put U.S. and Russia on the Brink of Direct Clash - Diplomat. All out war and it sounds from the United States side that they are ramping up this rhetoric instead of trying to tamp it down. What do you make out of these words coming out of Moscow over the past 24 hrs. Scott Ritter: Well, I mean we have to understand where the United States is coming from first. We're losing in Ukraine. We have double downed; we've taken the mortgage, the kid's college fund and everything and we have placed it...