i want to clarify that when i said the russians were going to react, that didn't mean i expected that they were going to launch missiles or invade poland or something.

the russians are not nearly as stupid as the americans are, and they fully understand that war in the 21st century is largely fought off of the battlefield.

what i meant was that you can expect that they are going to find a way to frustrate the situation.

here's an example: when obama put sanctions down on russia after crimea, the russians reacted by installing air defense systems in iran, which eventually forced obama to pull out of the iran deal (the so-called iran deal is just a face saving mechanism to obscure the reality that the russians closed the door). that was a major retaliatory measure, but nobody died in the process.

the russians have already indicated that they are going to be increasing their air defenses in syria. that is itself a provocative retaliatory step. and, i would expect further subtle actions meant to slow down and screw up the containment policy.

i apologize if you misunderstood what i meant, but this doesn't make the situation any less serious. the war is in motion. it is hot. it will get messy. and, much of it will escape the understanding of "analysts".