Putting aside the obvious fact that this is wholly Putin's fault, and that as you so eloquently show, he is driving Russia into ruin, let us not forget that to some extent, we encouraged - if not provided - his motivation.

I can't help but think back to the James Bond film, "Goldeneye", and how it openly _mocked_ Russia and the cultural downfall of the Soviet regime. Even as I watched the first time, I thought to myself, "Such public mockery of the Russians for their misfortune is wrong, and it's a big mistake for us to do so."

Then one remembers the sudden flood of advertisements, "Beautiful Russian women want to meet generous American men!" A great way to encourage hatred by the men of a nation is for them to see their women choose the men of a more powerful nation. This is not a new thing - I saw it all the time in the eyes of men in Asia when I was on port visits.

Lastly, I remember the eyes of Russian sailors when their ship pulled in to Pearl Harbor. My wife and I were at a small restaurant on base when a group of them came in, and they couldn't afford one beer for each of them. So I walked up and paid for them. They mumbled 'thank you', and one handed me a patch from their ship, an Udaloy-class destroyer. But I'll never forget their eyes - the eyes of a defeated enemy. I'd read about it many times before, but now I saw it. And they were just kids.

It's for the three experiences above that at least to some extent, I understand Putin's anger, and the anger of those who support him. That doesn't make their actions defensible, or good or right in any moral sense, but it didn't have to be this way.

We shamed a defeated enemy. With the lasting success of the Marshall Plan after WWII, we should have known better. What we see Russia doing today is to some extent our own chickens coming home to roost.