by Michael Snyder, End Of The American Dream:

Most people simply have no idea how close we are to a nightmare scenario.  One of these days, some really dramatic event could cause some of our European allies to feel compelled to send troops to Ukraine.  If troops from other European countries join the fight, Russia will consider military facilities inside those countries to be legitimate targets.  Of course if Russia starts hitting targets in NATO territory, Article 5 will be triggered and we will be at war with Russia.  Needless to say, there are many other ways that we could get pulled into a direct conflict with Russia as well.  The longer the fighting in Ukraine drags on, the more likely it is that we will end up in a war with Russia, and once a war with Russia begins it is just a matter of time before it goes nuclear.