[steel_resolve]

it becomes hard for even such an ardent Europhile as President Vladimir Putin

Is this the same Europhile that turned off gas supplies to Western EUrope WITHOUT WARNING and also is threatening Poland and The Czech Republic? Europhile my ass...

[duckln]

We have no business expanding NATO into eastern Europe. Russia's been invaded more than once from the west. Can't blame them.

W screwed up not continuing working with Putin as he did right after 9/11. But our State Department has been screwed up ever since we supported the Afghan insurgents against the USSR occupiers. And supporting the Islamists in the Balkans and in Chechnya is a continuing blunder.

Makes no sense forcing them to find allies, however undesirable.