Please note that the tanks were actually T-64 variants with some BTR families and APCs with some trucks mounting 37mm AAA and some missile systems. Ethnic Russian fighters have received some MANPADS too!

A war we would do well to stay away from.

well I want a Hot Dog now... 5's

Believe it or not, in WW1 someone (Allied) had the stupid idea of building a bunch of armored hot dog-shaped vehicles with guns to race across No Man's Land at speed and break through German defenses with infantry following behind. This idea was abandoned b/c there were mines and both heavy German MG and artillery fire would have destroyed them easily! Mobile armored shields were tried on both sides using manpower too, but those failed as well. Soviets developed a tank with 8 tracks that could withstand a nearby nuclear blast and still fight... for what as everything would be destroyed!?!

Patrick, the US and NATO need to stay away from the Ukraine b/c the Ethnic Russians actually there in Crimea and E Ukraine want annexation in Crimea's case and stronger economic ties in E Ukraine with Russia rather than with the West. That's their right under self-determination and their democratically-elected former leader was forced out of office by a mob. Russia has every right to deal with problems along its borders with unstable, bankrupt nations and the encroachment of NATO near Russian borders with weapons. It was US and NATO that broke their 1990 agreement not to expand into E Europe and supply arms. Putin may want a Greater Russia but much of that is talk. Russia has NOT invaded Ukraine but is supplying arms via the border in the same way the US and the West are trying via the opposite side. Ukrainian military forces are weak and don't really want to compromise, so the stand-off is still in place. There is more action in Iraq over ISIS than there is going on in Ukraine. That's the priority as ISIS surpasses Al Qaida as major threat to entire region and US through Syria-Iraq-Iran terror connections and land grabs, danger to oil facilities, and grabbing abandoned weapons supplied by the US to poorly trained Iraqi forces that have fled after Billions were spent training them and arming them to fight their own battles. Shows that US lost Iraq with 5000 killed and 30,000 wounded plus 60% with PTSD. Afghanistan is lost too. To appease the REPs, Obama needs not only to protect the embassy personnel in Baghdad, but ensure that ISIS does not capture it at all cost. Fighters and drones are fine but need troops on the ground to coordinate and some fighting is expected on the ground no matter what Obama claims. Either that or lose Baghdad and that region. Russia's Putin doesn't know what to do by comparison.