Brent, I've talked with a lot of our advisors who worked with the Ukrainians over the past 7 years. They lost 10,000 men in the fighting around Luhansk beginning in 2014. For instance, you'll see pictures of Ukrainian solders riding atop the APC's not inside - the Russian thermobaric weapons cook soldiers inside. Ukrainian artillery originally used a Facebook computer page for fire computations - this was bugged by the Russians and resulted in a lot of artillery casualties...etc. This war is not new. Our guys unanimously say the Ukrainians are awesome soldiers and they absorbed a lot from their experience and from us.

Biden deserves credit for deciding that, Kabul debacle aside, the world order promulgated in the UN Charter that you do not change your border by force, needed upholding. (Remember, Biden was the sole cabinet member who voted AGAINST going after Bin Ladin in Pakistan on 1 May 2011; He does not have a bellicose reputation; no-one lifted a finger over Crimea or South Ossetia previously - Obama and Bush 43).

Biden gave weapons. But it was the Ukrainians in the Pripet Marshes fighting with nothing that destroyed those Russian columns advancing on Kyiv like the Finns did in 1939. The credit goes to them. The question remains though, if Putin had perceived a real risk, would he have started this stuff in the first place? History will have to answer that.

It's still a darned tragedy. I've been fighting for 55 years - Vietnam, central Africa, Iraq, Afghanistan, the Sahel. Sick of it.