Free Republic

Now that was damn funny! Along with the Palestinian fire-alarm.

President Dmitry Medvedev said Wednesday that Russia will target the American missile defense system in Europe with its own missiles if Moscow cannot reach an agreement with Washington and NATO on how the system will be built and operated.

He must really be desperate to drum up support among his own people if he's bothering with rattling the saber over something he knows is not a threat to Russia. Especially since it's unlikely to ever get built. We don't need to be defending Europe anymore and can't afford it, and Europe won't sacrifice any of it's social welfare to pay for it.

If 30 million refused to pay their taxes I bet it would be a lot less of a ‘problem’ to round ‘em up.

I'd bet they'd have them all rounded up within a couple years!

Out of curiosity, is this base an actual base with permanent structures, a lg landing strip etc etc etc, or a couple huts with a little steamrolled strip somewheres?

I'm curious about that too, or whether it's a Pakistani air base which we added USAF personnel & equipment for drone operations. If we can evacuate all personnel & equipment within 15 days I say we do it without even TRYING to convince them otherwise. That way, if they're bluffing to get more money/material-support out of the USA, they might be more convinced we're willing to cut them loose entirely.

Sorry to reply so late...but I never said they’re fooling EVERYONE. Neither does the author of the book. It’s just that the people in power in this country DON’T CARE. They’re short-sighted people who won’t see past the end of their political careers, much less past the end of their lives. And others are profiting considerably by it, and have no real loyalty to this country.

The considerable political power being given to China through our trade policies has come back in the form of China buying-out US media, academia, & industry. His book is extremely well-researched. I’ll check out that book you mentioned, you should also give IN THE JAWS OF THE DRAGON a try.

.....if they could be convinced that Christian involvement in China's politics and business is at the heart of a rising China.

That's very hopeful of you, but they can't be convinced because there's no evidence to convince them. So far the most detailed anaylsis of the rising power of China in particular, and East Asia in general, is provided in Eamonn Fingleton's IN THE JAWS OF THE DRAGON. You should give it a read and your opinion might become a little chilled.

I hope China at least gets the Russian Far East,....

I don't. Given China's culture and history I don't think a powerful China is going to be a friendly China. I personally wouldn't mind a falling-out between Russia and China that resulted in Russia using up it's nuclear arsenal on China.

I agree. China’s being underestimated, especially with their steady infiltration of immigrants into resource-rich Russia, a nation whose ethnic Russian population is dying. I wouldn’t be surprised if, by the end of the century, China ends up buying the Eastern half of Russia. That would end a lot of raw-materials dependency.

I think a collapse of the USA would do short-term damage to China, but they would adapt.

Yeah, my tax bill hasn’t changed much either here in Everett WA, but my home value has dropped by $120k from it’s peak. I’m glad I listened to all of those “paranoid naysayers” about the inevitable housing collapse and refused to dip into the equity. Now I’m still ahead, but just barely.

Katyal also says Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's case is problematic because he may lack sufficient standing to challenge the health care law.

This "sufficient standing" crap I find extremely annoying. It shouldn't matter whether you're being personally harmed by an unconstitutional law. All it should require is that the plaintiff/s show evidence that it might be unconstitutional.

They’ll recover from the nuclear portion of the disaster just fine. Hiroshima and Nagasaki individually were far worse than the worst-case scenario for that N-plant. It’s the shattered infrastructure, over 10,000 dead, and the possibility of another big earthquake during the recovery itself that is a far greater threat.

If this had happened in 2020 instead of 2011 they would’ve had the much safer planned reactors 7 & 8 on-line and the 30-40 year-old reactors 1-4 would’ve been already defueled and getting dismantled.

In fact, Standard ROE is that you protect Nuke Assets with Nuke Assets. Even the Russians and Chinese have the same doctrine. A US Carrier or a US Heavy Bomber is by all assessment a Nuke Asset.

That's all fine in theory, but I don't think there's anyone in the chain of command with the nuts to go first-use with nukes. Zero probably has secret exec orders forbidding it. Besides, I believe all our tac-nukes have been withdrawn. Only strategic weapons remain in ready status. ICBMs & SLBMs.

But if you shoot down 300 US aircraft and sink 3 US aircraft carriers you would then have to deal with total, and complete, US domination in nuclear weapons and delivery systems.

That's only if they use nukes to achieve it. For first-use of nukes by us would require a President with a Pat Buchanan personality. See any of those among the current GOP or Dem establishment? Bush Jr. couldn't show any spine during the EP-3 incident. So far our track record on aggression by China, as well as trade issues, is very poor.

Considering how much industry and technology has disappeared overseas (or just disappeared) they could collapse our military production just by interdicting or intimidating our foreign suppliers.

We have like 185 Raptors...and will be building about 2,200 of the F35.

I have a feeling even the F-35 is going to suffer the same kind of cuts as the F-22, and it's combat capability is lower. I believe the Marine version doesn't even have cannon, which is INSANITY!

....somehow going to leap-frog US technological superiority.

They don't have to leap-frog us. All they have to do is close the gap enough that our losses in combat exceed our ability to replace them.

“Why are we fixing the broken ones anyway?”

My guess is they’re maintaining them only until replacement by Burke-class destroyers or for conversion into ABM ships.

Considering they’ve started retiring and scrapping Ticonderoga cruisers, I don’t think we’re going to see a refund.

"Russian nuclear bombers in Cuba?"...."Russia to help Cuba modernize weaponry, train military"...."Venezuela's Chavez welcomes Russian warships......"Venezuela Set to Develop Nuclear Power With Russia"...

Know what happens to bases at the end of long supply lines? An enemy can bring concentrated force against them and smash them far easier than bases far away. Embargo Venezuelan oil and Russia's operations become extremely expensive. They get no benefit other than cheap publicity. The problem is American politicians who allow themselves to be intimidated by such threats. If I was a politician and told about Russian bombers being based in Cuba, my response would be: "Really? Why would they put bombers where they could be smashed so much easier? I suppose it would save us the extra costs in jet fuel reaching them."

The point is that it's irrelevant. All your tin-foil "the USSR is secretly still alive" conspiracy theories to the contrary. Russia's native population is in decline. Chicoms and Muslims who don't share their interests steadily increasing within their borders. A neighboring China rapidly closing the technological gap, and in many ways in parity soldier-for-soldier. Like I said, Russia's primary threat is as a supporting wing of China. Russia is destined, just by demographics alone, to be a vassal-state of China.

America's problems are self-inflicted problems. Ever-growing welfare state, Cold War relic trade policies originally meant to prop up foreign economies so they won't fall to communism, and "peace dividend" defense cuts combined with military over-stretch through stupid wars-for-democracy. Russia needs both sides to cut their nuclear arsenals so they can fund the modernization of their conventional military, and reduce the threat to their future Chinese masters as a down-payment for not getting eaten in the future by the Dragon.

Unfortunately we don't seem to have leaders within the GOP who recognize China, and our own trade policies, for the threat they are to this country's survival.

Russia must think they can lick China’s boots indefinitely. They are going to wish they still had those nukes when the Chicoms stab them in the back. The world is safer with both our country and Russia’s with good-sized nuclear arsenals. It’s the only thing that’ll keep China from taking over the world.