In 1936 Hitler, against the advice of his generals, reoccupied the Rhineland, throwing a handful of infantry across the Ludendorff Bridge. Consider the two paragraphs below:

‘But “the bigger question confronting American intelligence officials, though, is whether the Russian president has a grander scheme at work. So far, their conclusion is probably not’

Now read that with a few changes.

But “the bigger question confronting British and French intelligence officials, though, is whether the German Chancellor has a grander scheme at work. So far, their conclusion is probably not.

The failure to stop Hitler when he could have been stopped was pusillanimous and villainously incompetent. Are we looking at historical analogies here? Or does Putin, living in the age of nuclear weapons, realize there is a line he may not cross, and so works up to the line, knowing the timorous character of Barack Obama, but never crosses it. The danger is miscalculation.

There is a line he must not cross
But Putin knows just who is boss
He has the measure of his foe
A timid man both weak and slow
A man whose mirror shows no truth
He sees himself as Gehrig, Ruth
A monster striding to the plate
A Metternich-like Chief of State
A brightly shining novae star
A brilliant leader without par
But Putin smiles, there are no cares
For such as he, who wrestles bears
Step lightly though, oh Tsarist boss
There may be lines thee must not cross