Posted on 12/16/2014 5:02:11 AM PST by HomerBohn
Yes, we don’t need to be shrinking from our national security commitments. We need to be strengthening them, keeping our force strong and encouraging our partners in NATO and SEATO to build/rebuild their military forces to counteract these mutual threats.
“Russias nuclear arsenal has recently surpassed Americas, and their ability to deploy these weapons has Americas top brass rather worried. Russia is currently deploying bombers, submarines, and ICBMs that could be just as advanced and stealthy as our own, if not more so.”
I thought both sides were numerically equal, tied to the latest treaty? Russia’s weapons are newer though.
Where did you find this Blame America First website?
Shootin’ blanks.
Russia a ‘superpower’?
Please. They’re being pummelled by the Saudi’s.
Russia has been threatening NATO partner states for quite a few years now. In Ukraine, Russia has committed ground troops.
The underlying point concerning proxy wars might be legitimate, but the idea that the U.S. is the provocateur is off the mark.
How would supplying weapons to Ukraine be a direct, overt attack on Russian troops, if as Putin states there are no Russian troops in Ukraine?
There are legitimate concerns about supplying weapons to Ukraine to discuss, but that it makes the U.S. the provocateur isn't one of them. Russia is in no condition to fight a land war in Europe. No we could not win such a war quickly or without significant losses in life and treasure, but Russia would be doomed to lose from the beginning. They would likely end it by kicking off a tactical nuke exchange to broker a peace agreement, but there is no way that Russian troops would push through Poland.
Another mystery. Where did the kids come from?
so are we.
Right next to the 'Don't Blame Hillary' site.
America is bankrupt. Our government is morally bankrupt and headed up by an unknown psycho.
Oh look. European Union apologists pointing everywhere but themselves to try to find blame for the mess they are primarily responsible for.
No. The author correctly rates the Euroweinies wimpiness.
If the US won’t save them even current Russia will kick their asses.
Obama rides a red horse.
Not to worry.
We have Dorkbama, the West Wing Clown Show of Felon/Cretins, and our bottom of the IQ barrel marshmallow major State Department, led by Lurch (D student) who just happened to serve in ‘Nam.
Nothing can go wrong.
Nothing can go wrong.
Go wrong, go wrong......
There are other factual errors: a) we all knew we were supporting the Afghans with Stingers in the '80s; b) Russian pilots ('volunteers') fought directly against American pilots in both Korea and Vietnam-- there was no escalation to nuclear war.
The Bear isn't ten feet tall, although its ability to con many in the West that it is seems to be a perennial feature of world politics, reaching back to France's gross overestimation of the Russian army's abilities before WWI, even though the Russians had just been shellacked by Japan in 1905.
“The Russian economy is facing hard times but no one expects Russia to back down even if Putin is gone tomorrow.”
I agree 100 percent with that. That the Russian military is ready for a prolonged military adventure, or that nuclear war is something they’d countenance as an alternative to economic collapse, of that I’m less sure.
What may be more true is that Putin has hard intel that if they did issue a nuclear strike order, especially a limited nuclear strike order, Obola would back down and not counter it, conventionally, financially, or nuclear.
For example, if Russia nuked Riyad and allowed the Iranians to occupy Saudi Arabia, I don’t think we’d do anything. I’m not sure the Europeans would either.
What’s worse, I don’t think anybody is doing any scenario planning that would allow the National Command Authority or the EU’s NCA to quickly respond to something like that.
The news is saying that fracking is what’s causing the drop in oil. That is false - completely false, actually.
All fracking does is POTENTIALLY allow the US to move into the position of being a pure energy exporter. This would allow the US to POTENTIALLY become a market maker in energy.
The ONLY market maker in energy is Saudi Arabia. They have $800B in cash reserves. They make the market in oil - full stop. If they choose to continue to pump, the price will continue to fall.
KSA is doing this because of the political and military alliance that exists between Russia/Iran/Syria and potentially Turkey now. On the other side is KSA/Jordan/Egypt and Israel (if you can believe it).
War has formally begun between these alliances. The world has sanctioned Russia for the Ukraine and the KSA is artificially depressing the price of oil. Add to this the flight of capital from Russia and you have an honest to goodness political and military conflict. Israel destroyed a stockpile of brand new RUSSIAN missiles in Syria last week.
Nobody has declared war, but its on. The ONLY question now is figuring out at which point Russia decides it has no other option than ESCALATION against the KSA.
If the KSA stops pumping, Russia’s problems are solved. Russia CAN and WILL find buyers for its oil, as will Iran, if the KSA stops pumping.
I think the only question for Putin is whether you hop over Israel to come down from the north into the KSA to take their great spoil (cash, oil, access to shipping routes), or they decide they have to take out Israel first.
Israel is a one nuke country. They can nuke Tel Aviv and preserve Jerusalem (attacking Jerusalem would cause a holy civil war in Russia and their axis wouldn’t stand for it).
They won’t nuke Israel, because they don’t want a counterattack from one of Israel’s sea based nuclear deterrents.
The KSA? No worries there.
Putin has to be seriously considering bombing the KSA.
All he has to do is gain military control over it and then tell the world, “Look, do you want the oil or don’t you? We had a problem, we believed that even though the problem was economic, it was being inflicted on us, we perceived it as existential, and we solved it. We have no further military ambitions at this time, and we’ve got enough money to wait you out now. Are you buying?”
This is the only way you can explain the probing the Russians have done of late. If they have to go, what can they reasonably expect? Russian play chess. Obama plays Candy Crush.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.