Given that the Caspian Sea is land-locked, it's interesting that the Russians have vessels suitable to be cruise missile platforms floating on it.
The Mediterranean is so much closer!
Posted on 10/07/2015 11:25:51 AM PDT by marvel5
Russia’s Defense Ministry has published a video of its warships firing cruise missiles from the Caspian Sea to hit the positions of Islamic State militants in Syria.
(Excerpt) Read more at rt.com ...
I am not a “Kremlin troll.” In fact, I live nine blocks from the U.S. Capitol!
That aside, do you oppose US trolling too?
“The US military is developing software that will let it secretly manipulate social media sites by using fake online personas to influence internet conversations and spread pro-American propaganda.
“A Californian corporation has been awarded a contract with United States Central Command (Centcom), which oversees US armed operations in the Middle East and Central Asia, to develop what is described as an “online persona management service” that will allow one US serviceman or woman to control up to 10 separate identities based all over the world.” . . .
“Once developed, the software could allow US service personnel, working around the clock in one location, to respond to emerging online conversations with any number of co-ordinated messages, blogposts, chatroom posts and other interventions. Details of the contract suggest this location would be MacDill air force base near Tampa, Florida, home of US Special Operations Command.”
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/mar/17/us-spy-operation-social-networks
Given that the Caspian Sea is land-locked, it's interesting that the Russians have vessels suitable to be cruise missile platforms floating on it.
The Mediterranean is so much closer!
Obama claims to be going after ISIS.
One can be a pro-Russia troll and *work* at the U.S. Capitol. Or live in the White House. Just because they don't operate out of that referenced facility in Moscow doesn't mean anything. They could also be doing it voluntarily out of love and admiration for the KGB/FSB thug, Putin.
Its a two-fer. First, it shows that Iran and Iraq are both supporting Russian action, so another thumb in Obama's eye. Second, its extremely smart tactically, as resupply is simple and doesn't have to go through Turkish waters. It keeps the ships in the Med fully loaded to counter NATO and to be able to react to a much shorter intelligence lead time.
If they would have fired from the Med. US would have spotted it and warned the ISIS and our “Allies” (who would have warned the ISIS). This was a great move to blindside the ISIS and the USA. The fact that they could hit targets this far away says a great deal about their weapons programs. Watch—they will use this to sell weapons to India and other nations. This War may well be a PR Stunt to sell warplanes and weapons.
I don’t mind admitting I admire President Putin because he is a CONSERVATIVE. That is why the multicultural Marxists of the US/EUSSR hate him so much.
Putin FLAT TAX of 13% in Russia v. US Marxist progressive income tax up to 38%.
Putin NO ESTATE TAX v. US Marxist Estate Tax up to 40%.
Putin CORPORATE TAX HALF THAT OF US (20% v. 40%).
Putin RUSSIA DEBT TO GDP RATIO 18% v. 101% for US.
Putin on ECONOMIC POLICY: “Look at their trade balance, their debt, and budget. They turn on the printing press and flood the entire dollar zone — in other words, the whole world — with government bonds. There is no way we will act this way anytime soon. We don’t have the luxury of such hooliganism.”
Putin on WELFARE SPENDING: European countries have been “living beyond their means” and are now “witnessing the rise of a dependency mentality … [that] endangers not only the economy but the moral foundation of society,” Putin said. “It is no secret that many citizens of less developed countries come to Europe specifically to live on social welfare.”
Putin on IMMIGRATION: “Putin said those who break Russian immigration laws would be banned from entering the country again for between three and 10 years depending on the seriousness of their offenses, the Moscow Times reported.
The Russian leader also vowed that authorities would take forcible action to limit the stays of immigrants who linger in Russia without demonstrating a clear intent to find work.”
Putin on ABORTION: restricted in Russia to first twelve weeks of pregnancy; abortion advertising banned; $9,000 “baby bonus” for second and each subsequent child.
Putin on HOMSEXUALITY: gay propaganda aimed at minors banned; “Many Euro-Atlantic countries have moved away from their roots, including Christian values… Policies are being pursued that place on the same level a multi-child family and a same-sex partnership, a faith in God and a belief in Satan. This is the path to degradation.”
Putin on RADICAL FEMINISM: jailed “Pussy Riot” for desecrating Moscow cathedral: “They got what they asked for.”
Putin backs CHRISTIANITY; rebuilds churches at government expense; requires religious/moral education in Russian schools.
Putin on MULTICULTURALISM:
“Multiculturalism “elevates the (idea of the) ‘right of minorities to be different’ to the absolute and, at the same time, insufficiently balances this right with civil, behavioral, and cultural obligations in regard to the indigenous population and society as a whole,” Putin argues.
I could go on, but you get the idea.
September 2014
(excerpt from a long, detailed article)
First and foremost, in any review of the basics regarding Putin, the most outstanding fact is that he is a creature of the Soviet KGB, a truly diabolical organization nonpareil, which stood for murder, terror, and grand deception.
It was the Soviet Communist Party’s tool for the brutal suppression of religion, including the persecution of Christians: denying them jobs and education; spying on and entrapping them; arresting and imprisoning them; torturing them in unspeakable ways; desecrating and demolishing their church buildings; infiltrating their agents into churches to subvert them. The KGB destroyed thousands of Christian churches, monasteries, convents, and schools, and slaughtered millions of Christians.
But it did not destroy the churches utterly. There remained an underground church, whose members were always at risk of discovery, arrest, torture, and martyrdom. Above ground, the KGB took control of the Russian Orthodox Church, which became a very useful organ of the Soviet atheist state.
In January 2009, Vladimir Mikhailovich Gundyaev, better known as Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, was elected, from a short list of three candidates, to be the 16th Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, the highest position of authority in the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC). The election was called to fill the post that had been left vacant by the death of Patriarch Alexy II, who had headed the ROC since 1990.
Documents from the KGB archives have confirmed what sensible observers had long ago deduced from his actions: that Patriarch Alexy II (also spelled Alexi or Alexei) was a long-serving KGB agent (code-named Drozdov, “Blackbird”), in other words, a traitor to his Christian brethren and the God he claimed to serve. Putin’s KGB/FSB was taking no chances with his replacement. All three candidates — Metropolitan Kliment of Kaluga and Borovsk (code-named Topaz), Metropolitan Filaret of Minsk and Slutsk (code-named Ostrovskii), and Metropolitan Kirill (code-named Mikhailov) — also have been reliably identified as agents of the KGB/FSB.
Russia expert David Satter, a former Moscow correspondent for the Financial Times (of London) and the Wall Street Journal, wrote of the election in 2009 for Forbes:
According to material from the Soviet archives, Kirill was a KGB agent (as was Alexei). This means he was more than just an informer, of whom there were millions in the Soviet Union. He was an active officer of the organization. Neither Kirill nor Alexei ever acknowledged or apologized for their ties with the security agencies.
Because Patriarch Kirill is of central importance to the myth of Putin as the Saul-to-Paul, Christian persecutor-to-Christian champion, it behooves us to more closely examine the man. He has publicly presided over, and provided official benedictions and exhortations for, Putin’s cynical and Stalinesque exploitation of Russian nationalism and Russian Orthodoxy. Josef Stalin, who had very nearly consummated the annihilation of the Russian Orthodox Church begun by Vladimir Lenin, reversed course in 1941. The reason? His erstwhile partner in crime, Adolf Hitler, had turned on him and had invaded Russia.
Stalin, needing all the help he could get, cut a deal with ROC Metropolitans Sergius, Nikolay, and Alexy. In exchange for their support in rallying the Russian people, he would cease (temporarily) the persecution and allow the reopening of churches and theological schools. In fact, Stalin’s Soviet government paid for the rebuilding of many of the churches. The ROC was thus placed even more firmly under the control of the NKVD, which was later to be reorganized and renamed as the KGB. ...”
much more at link
Mostly unsourced assertions stated as fact or citations of known Putin-haters. Interesting that the majority of comments DISAGREE with the article.
Yes but, these ships are permanent in the Caspian. Interesting in that they have range over most of Iran and the Caucuses.
Symposium: To Kill a Russian Journalist
By Jamie Glazov
FrontPageMagazine.com | November 17, 2006
The murder of internationally renowned Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya in early October 2006 was yet another troubling sign of Russia’s retreat into its totalitarian past. Today Frontpage Symposium has gathered a distinguished panel of experts to discuss why Anna Politkovskaya was killed and what the tragic loss of her life symbolizes about the direction in which Vladimir Putin’s Russia is heading.
http://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=1490
_______________________________________________________
'PUTIN'S RUSSIA' by Anna Politkovskaya:
http://www.amazon.com/PUTINS-RUSSIA-ANNA-POLITKOVSKAYA/dp/1843430509
_______________________________________________________
List of journalists killed in Russia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_journalists_killed_in_Russia#A_list_of_journalists_killed_in_Russia
From 2014
Yushchenko, hero of Ukraine’s Orange Revolution warns Europe that Putin won’t stop at Crimea
by Matthew Schofield - McClatchy Foreign Staff
March 27, 2014
Many Ukrainians believe you need look no further than the face of Viktor Yushchenko to understand Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
Once smooth and ruggedly handsome, it still bears the scars from an assassination attempt when someone slipped dioxin into Yushchenko’s food. ...”
Read more here:
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/world/article24765781.html#storylink=cpy
______________________________________________
______________________________________________
From 2007
Yushchenko: Russia blocking poisoning probe
by Bonnie Malkin and agencies, September 12, 2007
"Mr Yushchenko, a pro-European politician who wanted to bring his country [The Ukraine] out of Russia's shadow, fell seriously ill on September 6, 2004 as he was competing in presidential elections against a pro-Moscow candidate, Viktor Yanukovich, now [2007] prime minister.
After months of tests in an Austrian clinic, it was determined that he had ingested a massive amount of the poison dioxin.
Although he survived, his face was left bloated and pockmarked, and he has had to undergo regular treatment to rid his body of the toxin.
In an interview with Le Figaro he said he believed the dioxin used to disfigure him was made in a Russian lab.
Mr Yushchenko did not directly accuse the Russian government of being behind his poisoning, but he did say he had 'practically put all the pieces together' and the attempt against him 'was not a private action'. ..."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1562838/Yushchenko-Russia-blocking-poisoning-probe.html
The death of former Russian spy, Alexander Litvinenko, last week from radioactive Polonium-210 poisoning is the latest in a series of politically motivated attacks on the outspoken opponents of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
http://www.heritage.org/Press/Commentary/ed112706a.cfm
____________________________________________
“Over the next six years, Litvinenko became an anti-Kremlin journalist, accusing the Russian government of abuses during their battles with Chechen separatists in the 1990s, and the FSB’s alleged 1999 bombing of 300 people in explosions at apartments in Russia that was used to justify its second war against Chechnya.
He also claimed two of the Chechen separatists who took hostages at a theater in Moscow in October 2002 during which 162 people died were working for the FSB. He also pointed the finger at the FSB for having trained al Qaeda deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.”
Not up to date on the Yuschenko case are we?
No evidence has ever been produced that the Russian government had any involvement with this incident; in fact it appears the opposite is the case.
“In September 2009, Larysa Cherednichenko, former head of the department for supervision over investigations into criminal cases of the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office, said high-ranking officials from the presidential secretariat and family members of Yushchenko falsified evidence in his poisoning case, with dioxin being added to Yushchenko’s blood samples. Cherednichenko claims she was warned that she would be dismissed from her office immediately after she wrote her report on August 26, 2009 and said she was offered two positions, which she refused, and contested her dismissal in court.
Also in September 2009, a special commission, created by the Verkhovna Rada, came to a conclusion that the Yushchenko dioxin poisoning was falsified to strengthen his positions during 2004 presidential elections. The commission demanded to bring to justice those guilty in fabrication of blood tests. To date, no one has been identified. There were allegations US intelligence services injected blood samples taken from Yushchenko with dioxin to feign poisoning These allegations were dismissed by Ukraine’s Office of the Prosecutor General.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Yushchenko
Also:
“However, a new team of investigators assigned to the case after Yushchenko lost power to his long-term rival Viktor Yanukovych, alleged that the Yushchenko dioxin poisoning could have been falsified to strengthen his positions during 2004 presidential elections.
Investigators demanded that the ex-president give new blood tests, as traces of dioxin remain in blood forever.
Yushchenko, whose health has improved significantly since 2004, has refused to cooperate and said last year he wanted to “close that chapter” in his life.”
http://sputniknews.com/world/20120405/172637154.html
The 2006 article you cite, which contains no evidence at all establishing Putin’s responsibility, just innuendo and speculation, is a bit out of date.
“In August 2011, Russian prosecutors claimed they were close to solving the murder after detaining Dmitry Pavliuchenkov, a former policeman, who they alleged was the principal organiser. The following month Kommersant Daily reported that, according to Pavlyuchenkov, Lom-Ali Gaitukayev was the one negotiating with the person who ordered the killing, and although Pavlyuchenkov did not know the name, he suspected he could be the fugitive businessman and Putin critic Boris Berezovsky.
In December 2012 Dmitry Pavliutchenkov was found guilty and sentenced to 11 years in a high security penal colony.
In May 2014 five men were convicted of murdering Politkovskaya, including three defendants who had been acquitted in a previous trial. The defendants were three Chechen brothers, one of whom was accused of shooting Politkovskaya in the lobby of her Moscow apartment building. In June 2014 the men were sentenced to prison, two of them, Lom-Ali Gaitukayev and his nephew Rustam Makhmudov, receiving life sentences. It is still unclear who ordered or paid for the contract killing.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Politkovskaya
“According to Pavlyuchenkov, it was Boris Berezovsky and former Chechen emissary in London Akhmed Zakayev who ordered the murder.” https://www.rt.com/op-edge/165348-russia-politkovskaya-court-verdict/
From Sept 2009:
“It looks like the alleged poisoning story is far from over. Whether the new findings are true or not, the question that still remains is what really happened to the Ukrainian president and what caused dramatic changes in his appearance.”
https://www.rt.com/usa/ukrainian-president-poisoning-falsified/
________________________________________
According to the May 2012 Sputnik article I cited, Ukrainian prosecutors closed the case because Yushenko refused cooperation with the investigation, declining to submit to new blood tests.
“Moscow’s highest criminal court on Monday sentenced five men to prison, including two to life sentences, for the 2006 murder of the investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, but left unsolved the question of who ordered the killing, the highest-profile attack on a Russian journalist of the last decade.
Ms. Politkovskaya, who was known for scathing criticism of Kremlin policies in the Russian republic of Chechnya and of the local strongman Ramzan A. Kadyrov, was 48 when she was shot to death in a contract killing in her Moscow apartment block.
On Monday, Judge Pavel Melyokhin sentenced Lom-Ali Gaitukayev, the organizer of the team that murdered Ms. Politkovskaya, and his nephew Rustam Makhmudov, the gunman, to life sentences in prison.
The sentences for the men, who were convicted last month, were the toughest punishment to date in the long-running investigation into Ms. Politkovskaya’s death.
Yet that investigation has yielded little publicly about who wanted Ms. Politkovskaya killed and why.
“The case cannot be closed because it has not been solved,” Vera Politkovskaya, Ms. Politkovskaya’s daughter, said by telephone.”
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