Good Morning. World War III is Upon Us. Have a Nice Day!

The human cost of Biden's presidency could be Biblical

Joe Biden (or whoever runs the country) is considering sending thousands of US troops to the Baltic to confront Russia.

Think back just over a year ago. Then, the US and Russia were getting along rather well despite many US sanctions imposed on Russia, Russian companies, and Russian individuals. That was when Trump was president.

With remarkable speed and celerity, Joe Biden has brought the world to the brink of war. Via Fox News:

The president is considering sending 3,000-5,000 U.S. troops to Romania and to Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia as part of a broader NATO effort. Other NATO countries may also contribute troops to warn Russian President Vladimir Putin not to try to move into neighboring countries.

How much would a world war affect you?

Don’t answer yet. There’s more!

The president is also considering deploying naval vessels to make port visits to NATO allies who may feel threatened. Some equipment and troops in these proposed actions would come from Europe and some would come from the U.S.

Troops and sailors are going to Eastern Europe. Perhaps the similarity in sound between “Baltic” and “Balkans” reminds me of that famous quote by Bismark:

Europe today is a powder keg and the leaders are like men smoking in an arsenal … A single spark will set off an explosion that will consume us all … I cannot tell you when that explosion will occur, but I can tell you where … Some damned foolish thing in the Balkans will set it off.

—Otto von Bismarck,  the Congress of Berlinm, 1878

If you’re wondering how Russia’s determination to bring Ukraine into its sphere of influence could trigger World War III, consider this paragraph by Donald R. McClarey in The American Catholic:

Looking back, one is struck by how slow contemporaries were to grasp where events were heading.  The general feeling was that this crisis would be ultimately resolved and that war would be avoided, perhaps by a meeting of the great powers.  Alas such was not to be.  Austria used the assassination as a pretext to militarily settle accounts with Serbia.  Kaiser Wilhelm, against the advice of wiser heads among his advisors, gave Austria a blank check.  Russia would inevitably enter the war on the side of Serbia, which would bring in her ally France.  Germany would quickly be fighting a two front war.  The German invasion plan of France required an invasion of Belgium which would bring Britain into the war.  All of these domino actions were clear enough at the time, but the powers that be in each of the Great Powers assumed that their adversaries would back down rather than risk a general war.  Such was not the case.

Of course, the players have changed, but the pattern is the same. Only, this time, the players genuinely span the globe.