“”The Second Most Powerful military on the planet has been exposed as a schoolyard bully with not much heft to its punch.””
Except for their nukes. Which... in any logical, normal, sane world (obviously not ours)... would make them extremely dangerous if backed into a desperate corner of defeat.
For over two years, Russian TV has been cheerleading for nuclear strikes on Western capitals and New York City. This “threat” is getting long in the tooth.
“...if backed into a desperate corner of defeat.”
The “desperate corner” would mean simply withdrawing to Russia’s own borders.
“Except for their nukes”
it’s long been said that russia is essentially a third world country with nukes ... for a country that acts rationally, nukes are only useful as a defensive threat against invasion ... nukes are of no use offensively unless the goal is to destroy the earth with a nuclear holocaust ...