I recognize Putin for what he is, America's greatest military adversary at this time. Putin believes the single worst thing that has happened in generations is the fall of the Soviet Union, and he means to reconstitute it as best he can.
A stronger President might have confronted Putin in Ukraine and stopped his adventure in the Middle East before it even got started, but unfortunately we are saddled with an incompetent and weak Obama presidency. Putin sees that weakness and seeks to fill the vacuum and exploit those weaknesses.
Puny human/ETL is that you?