Putin's nuclear threat

Putin has suffered a bloody nose. The Ukrainian military have thumped his forces trying to control cities in Ukraine and the whole world bar a few unmentionables have condemned him, the US and Europe have introduced the toughest sanctions ever including banning Russian banks from using the international Swift money-exchange system, and US Treasury aces are now searching for all of Putin's friends' superyachts and property to seize or freeze access to them. Putin is now so angry that he has actually ordered Russia's nuclear forces to go on high alert. This is a seriously dangerous man who has illusions of grandeur and, I fear, a death wish to destroy the world just so that he can get his revenge against, well, everyone else. The BBC has suggested that the raising of the alert status of Russian nuclear weapons doesn't mean that he is going to launch them. Phew, that's a relief. But study the man. Ok, it's very unlikely that he would really press the button because it would lead to a nuclear nightmare and then he would never be able to enjoy the billions of dollars he has stashed away, let alone climb on to his own superyacht to enjoy an evening sunset on the ocean. No, he can't be that stupid. Can he? However, Putin's decision to put Russia's nuclear forces on higher alert was not done for fun or even as a reminder to the West that he can destroy the world if he wants to. He did it, in my view, because he has got to the stage in his paranoia about Nato and the West in general where he might even consider turning to nuclear weapons. He wants to scare the hell out of the world. It's time I think for every Russian general and admiral and spy chief to persuade Putin to calm the hell down and get real. Putin is not just isolated from the world, he is isolated from his inner and outer circle and definitely from the whole Russian population who would like a decent life and food on the table which they are not going to get under Putin's regime.