Has WWIII already begun? Possibly. I think it depends on whether China decides it has a viable chance to take Taiwan with the rest of the free world distracted. Likely Ukraine is the start of a larger regional war, but only if Putin decides he must go to the mat to try to win. Russia should stop now, sue for peace and declare 'victory'. But, maybe Putin's ego is just too big to do that.
There are a couple of things I think are apparent as of now:
(1) We - the US and our allies - aren't going to let Russia take over the rest of Ukraine; but
(2) We don't know if we actually want Ukraine to "win" this war by retaking territory like Crimea because of the potential for Russian regime change; however
(3) Regardless, we'll make the war effort for Russia more and more painful by amping up Ukraine's long-range power.
Russian stooges like Medvedev and Solovyev are already turning their amps to 11 with threats of nuclear war and the destruction of free European cities. Clearly, the pain in Russia is already stinging badly. It seems like pure bluster, but then again we thought the same thing when Bid Laden declared "war" against us in the 90s.
Call me a realist, but if the Russians want to fight NATO, well let's go ahead and get it done with already. It's been a long time coming, will be painful and many will die. But, in the end, Russia will be vanquished as a military power, and their territory likely broken into small sub states or territories. This should likely be a general positive event for China, actually, so hopefully they choose peace over attacking Taiwan. Regardless, Putin will be dead. Hopefully, Russia understand the MAD nuclear component and none will fly, but that's a bitter reality that we live with forever. Again, I'm not calling for us to attack these dumbasses, but I think major war may be inevitable depending on Putin's ego.
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