[ETL]

You overlook the fact that Putin is not a threat. He lacks the national wherewithal to be a military threat. He needs to strengthen his economy before any such venture as war with America

First of all, he most certainly IS a threat, even now, particularly to the Ukraine, Poland, Turkey, (annexed) Crimea, Estonia, etc. Second, if Russia grabs control of the military strategic, resource-rich Middle East, they'll soon increase their wealth significantly. Their close ally Iran, thanks to the Obama-Putin Iran deal, now has 150+ BILLION dollars available to them. Third, they a NUCLEAR POWER.

[bert]

I know all that. putin does in fact have potential

Putin has a problem that is related to the military and arms. He lacks industrial capacity outside arms to keep people employed. He must continue building the things to keep all those employed with wages.

Since he has no real need for all that product he must sell it around the world. The exercise in Syria is in large part a dog and pony show to allow customers to actually the stuff being sold

He is not like Kim in North Korea who is a genuine belligerent

he has not retaliated against Turkey by whom he was actually attacked