[Navy Patriot]

It's Vox, but there are some good points on public perception of both sides.

[Paladin2]

If only Russia would go all in on repelling Islam globally, things would be fine.

[Norm Lenhart]

It became possible for the most traditional of American reasons. Liberals in power.

[gingerbread]

I don’t think so. I think Putin will just wait until we’re up to our necks fighting ISIS, then he’ll attack these countries that used to belong to the USSR.

[Vinnie]

The US pledged that it would uphold its commitment to defend those countries as if they were American soil, and later staged military exercises a few hundred yards from Russia's border.

Maybe before Hillary dragged out the 'reset' button.

If the Baltic States are relying on Obama to protect them, well.....Fugedaboudit.

[Jim from C-Town]

If Obama had told Putin to remove his ass from the Crimea or the First Marine Division would do it for him, it would have been resolved immediately.

Russia is incapable of a sustained fight with ANYONE. they are a basket case on the edge of collapse, again. Oil is $56 a barrel, close to or below their cost of extraction for their dirty fuel.

They are also the only country in Europe that has a declining life expectancy coupled with a collapsed birth rate.

[taxcontrol]

I am of the opinion that we (human race “we”) have tried to take the horror out of warfare. In the Roman times, if you went to war and lost, you lost everything. You were most likely killed and your wife and children were beaten, raped possibly maimed and sold off into slavery. Consequently, you went to war only when you had no other choice.

Now, there are all kinds of “little” wars. Civilized wars where one side gets hit hard and all of a sudden it’s opps, we didn’t mean that. Lets walk away friends. And a generation later it’s the same causes, the same conflicts, being fought by the same sides.

The devil dances to the tune of never ending war where the winners and losers are only temporary - wait a generation and we will get them for sure next time.

[Erik Latranyi]

[ansel12]

The evil empire was defeated, the free world and Russia are no longer equal on the battlefield.

Russia can’t just invade it’s neighbors and expect Europe and NATO to surrender to it and let it keep conquering it’s way back to becoming a WWIII level threat, again.

[Rodamala]

How World War III became possible

[Truth29]

But the US would send in its gay legions with rainbow banners held high. That would terrorize the Russians into ... There is a real question of if Obama or most Western leaders would fight a major war where there is any chance they would be incinerated as part of it.

[faithhopecharity]

what the USA COULD do is not even relevant

what counts is what USA WILL, or is likely to, do

and for at least the next 19 months or so..... anything could happen (I view these next 19 months as the most dangerous period I can recall... as our allies have learned our administration is untrustworthy and our enemies have learned they have a friend in the WH)

[faithhopecharity]

if we make it to 2017 and get almost any reaonsable, loyal American elected (regadless of party), perhaps the damage.. and danger... can be fixed, lessened....

[The Toll]

If WW3 kicks off I’m opening my own front.

[GOPJ]

In the Cold War, he pointed out, both sides had understood this risk and installed political and physical infrastructure — think of the "emergency red phone" — to manage tensions and prevent them from spiraling out of control. That infrastructure is now gone.

"All those mechanisms were disrupted or eroded," he said. "That [infrastructure] has been degraded since the end of the Cold War because the common perception is that we don’t need it anymore."

Russians don't trust our government... Americans are starting not to trust our government either...