CPT Charles: Thanks for your analysis.
That bit about dropping the 82nd in causes me to have a severe pucker factor as the mental image is one of spreading and escalation rather than minimizing and containing. Nonetheless, that just might cork the genie but good.

Your description of Roki Tunnel and Kodori Gorge inspire a new name: Dien Bien Putin.

The man really is clever and ruthless in political infighting and the like. But he does not appear astute enough to recognize how things can go wrong for him. Hopefully, that blindness does not extend to picking an all-out fight with the US.