Posted on 08/07/2005 3:26:55 AM PDT by UnbelievingScumOnTheOtherSide
I would not be a bit surprised to learn that the British sub was intentionallly chosen by the Russians to free the Russian crew. As bad as it looked for the British to save the Russians - it might have been too costly politically for Putin to have the Americans get the glory. I found it odd that it took so long for the US crews to get the Super Scorpio loaded and ready. If it were an American sub you can bet they would have been there in a hearbeat. I don't doubt there was some diplomatic wrangling going on over this.
Maybe conspiracy theory on my part but I would not put anything past Putin.
LMAOPIMP
"Bloomberg reports all rescue transport planes were refueled for return flights free of charge."
Oh, Boy. the "No Blood for Oil" crowd won't be liking THAT! ;)
(Thanks Goodness they were saved!)
Who better knows the sea than an island race ?
The utter corruption left behind by Yeltsin will take decades to eradicate. The Russian economy is limping along, just barely.
Business as usual: US/Brits maintaining civility and civilization. And how many times have we sent earthquake relief to Iran and other Muslim countries? The "Great Satan" at work here again, risking life and limb to aid a onetime enemy.
I really am touched, tho, that we are such a decent people. And, hey, the Ruskies gave a free tank of gas for the return trip ;)
All sailors look out after each other, submariners especially so. They have my deepest respect (last naval man in our family was with Dewey at Manila Bay.)
Russia Stats (World Bank)
Interesting comparison of GNI (Atlas Method) and GDP (PPP). Unfortunately this comparison is for 2001, but things haven't changed much since then.
Comparison of per capita GNI (GDP) [Atlas Method vs. PPP]
I cannot possibly imagine how Russia's PPP GDP/capita has been adjusted to be equal to Mexico's, when Moscow is one of the world's most expensive cities. I think someone is cooking the numbers.
The Real per capita GDP of Mexico is higher than that of Russia.
not to be misunderstood .. "they" was a reference to the Russian government. I'm grateful they didn't waste valuable time in this instance, as they did in the Kirsk (?) some years ago.
God bless the submariners, US/UK/Russian .. the Russian submariners are just men doing a dangerous job, men who have families, whose lives I am just thrilled were saved.
Terrific news! I was afraid they were goners.
However... REUTERS is reporting it? How can we know it really happened? If REUTERS reported that I was a man, I'd have to double-check,just to be sure.
Dan
Actually, I think this is a good sign that the Russian government was more willing to work with us and the Brits to rescue the sailors than they were previously . . . hopefully there won't be any bad repercussions security-wise so we can continue to save life at sea whenever possible . . .
Just shows what 70 years of Communist rule can do to a country.
He still doesn't get it.
Russia is Mexico with Nukes
My only disaggreement with you on this is that Russia has a fast negative population trend and Mexico has a fast postive population growth.
I understand that being in a 40 degree capsule for two days might leave one feeling a little wan, however, these guys are noticably grey. Genetics? Melamine? Lack of vitamin A?
The reason is you little commy is that you and your country are too poor to ever own expensive toys.
Russia will do fine in the future, if they can lick corruption and petty bureaucracy. Putin got it right with the flat tax, now they just need to have a good legal framework and Russia can take off.
Another statistic that makes one scratch his head is the fact that according to our own CIA, some 25% of Russians live below the poverty line, as compared to some 40% of Mexicans.
I've visited both countries several times, and Mexico seemed much poorer... although I have not been through many of the poorest parts of Russia.
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