Vladimir Putin, Peacemaker

Another day, another "compromise" from Vladimir Putin. After months and months of sabre rattling, the jolly dictator of Russia has announced that he doesn't think it's likely that Russia and the Ukraine will end up fighting a bloody war that would engulf the region in a cataclysmic catastrophe, probably a precursor to another World War. Isn't that good news? And isn't that just another funny old line from the comedian Vladimir, who all along has been leading everyone to think that war is inevitable?

That comical guy just can't stop with the practical jokes. It turns out that Russia never had any troops in Ukraine, to begin with. No, these were all just "sympathetic people" using expensive Russian-made weapons to beat the crap out of the Ukrainian people. Where these "sympathizers" got hold of these weapons is anyone's guess, and Vlad is not venturing to say.

Anyway, all is well now, and we can all just lean back and take a collective deep breath. Russian and Ukraine are all ready to play nice. The only ones who haven't gotten this message are those stubborn folks in Ukraine, who just keep dying and dying every day while weapons that come from nowhere continue to bathe their country in rivers of blood. Rivers of blood that aren't manufactured in Russia...

World War Three Begins

Welcome to World War Three

With each passing day, it is becoming more obvious that the conflict in Syria, Libya and Iraq is something more than a regional conflagration, a set of local issues that will be resolved locally, and without risk to adjoining countries, Europe and the West. It is becoming more obvious that what the world stands on the cusp of is nothing less than world war. That would be World War Three, ladies and gentlemen.

What has the response been to all of this rattling? Confusion and no small measure of shock, minus the awe. With Europe just two hundred miles from the epicenter of a very volatile conflict in Libya, a conflict that has already seen dozens and dozens of beheadings, burnings and barbaric acts, the response has been less than clear and focused. It has been, frankly, weak, ill-focused and flimsy at best.

And what has the nominal Leader of the Free World had to say about all of this? Well, that's a good question, and one that seems to be answered more by deeds--or lack of them--than by serious resolve. Obama seems as frozen-in-place as any of the European leaders. The people who make decisions just don't seem to know what to do about this very new, very untested adversary. And someone had better figure something out quickly because, in a matter of another year or two, we may well find ourselves mired in a conflict that will cost not dozens of human lives--but millions.