When the Soviet Union fell apart in 1991 and Ukraine became independent, it gave up its nukes on condition of remaining unaligned. Since then, geniuses in the US pushed Ukraine closer to NATO, despite knowing that this would make Russia feel surrounded and threatened.

And how do bears act when they feel threatened? They open their mouths wide to show their teeth and growl loudly. And if this doesn’t suffice to make the threat back off, they attack. Everyone knows that’s what bears do – everyone, that is, except the pro-war geniuses who thought the whole thing up in their seminars.

But did they ever shoulder a rifle? Did they ever learn the manual of arms and small-unit tactics? Did they ever see their best friend blown away? Did they ever risk anything worse than a paper cut or a coffee stain on their Ivy League neckties?

Oh no, not them. They’re members of the self-anointed elite, you see. They send the sons and daughters of the working and middle classes to war, while they fantasize great victories and nation building, in places where no one wants a new nation built.

So there they are, poking the Russian bear with a stick. And when the bear turns, furious, it won’t be their kids at risk, it will be Ukrainian kids – but please God, not our kids.