Posted on 12/16/2014 5:02:11 AM PST by HomerBohn
More than two decades after the Berlin Wall fell, it appears that the United States and Russia are engaging in the same sort of proxy wars that were so common during the Cold War. Everywhere that Western and Russian spheres of influence meet there is the potential for conflict, and the two aging superpowers have shown their willingness fight through their neighbors. However, this game of chess has taken on a whole new dimension that is radically different than what we saw during the Cold War.
The whole point of a proxy war is to resist your enemy without actually engaging with him. Once the nuclear arms race began, it became clear that the massive ground battles of World War Two were a thing of the past. If a war starts between Russia and the US, its only a matter of time before the conflict escalates into nuclear annihilation. Like the computer says in Wargames, A strange game. The only winning move is not to play. That makes Americas current actions in Ukraine all the more puzzling.
The Ukraine Freedom Support Act (UFSA) of 2014 authorizes lethal and non-lethal aid. Besides whats already being supplied.
Including communications equipment. Body armor. Night vision goggles. Humvees. Radar. Counter-mortar detection units. Binoculars. Small boats. Various other gear.
Sniper and assault rifles. Hand grenade launchers. Mortars and shells. Stingers. Anti-tank missiles. Whats known may be the tip of the iceberg.
UFSA legislation authoriz(ing) (Obama) to provide defense articles, defense services, and training to the Government of Ukraine for the purpose of countering offensive weapons and reestablishing the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine
Gone are the days of quietly supplying the Mujahideen with stinger missiles in Afghanistan. Im sure Russia knew we were helping their enemies in the 80′s, but our government didnt really make this fact public, and thats a crucial strategy with proxy wars.
Remember, the goal is to not fight your enemy directly. But on the global stage, making a public statement to harm your enemy, forces your enemy to take action in a public way. They cant be seen as weak, so they must swiftly return fire for all the world to see. As you can imagine this has the potential escalate quickly, especially between two nuclear armed superpowers. What starts as a proxy war can quickly turn into a real war with millions of casualties. In the words of Russias Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov Russia will not be able to leave this without a response.
But the United States hasnt just made a public attempt to supply Russias enemies. Theyve also directly threatened them in subtle ways.
The Pentagon has threatened Russia with redeploying nuclear cruise missiles to Europe, accusing Moscow of violating two arms control treaties.
We dont have ground-launched cruise missiles in Europe now obviously because theyre prohibited by the treaty, said Brian McKeon, principal deputy undersecretary for policy at the Department of Defense.
But that would obviously be one option to explore, he added.
It appears that the United States is playing hardball with Russia, when theyre really in no position to do so. 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.
It should come as no surprise that Russias military may be able to surpass our own in the near future, because theyve kept their priorities straight. While the United States has spent the past 15 years training and equipping its military to suppress low budget insurgencies all over the world, Russia has never stopped preparing its military to fight our own on a conventional battlefield. While we were busy fighting the War on Terror, they caught up to us.
And now the United States thinks it can bully Russia and arm their neighbors. Its like they think its still 1991, when Russia was in free fall mode. Russia isnt some second rate backwater we can push around. Theyre an advanced nuclear armed superpower that delivers nearly half of Europes fuel supply, while all we can deliver is a broken military and an economy that is rapidly circling the drain.
They have all the cards, and yet our government continues to poke the Russian Bear with a stick. It should be perfectly clear by now that our government is hell bent on starting World War Three. There will be no more pussyfooting around like the Cold War. Except this time, I dont think anyone believes that the US will come out on top. Not only are we desperately trying to start a war, were practically begging to lose.
I am pretty certain that this website is a Russian backed disinformation site. Putin is the one threatening war with everyone-not the US. He’s attacking the Ukraine and he’s blaming everyone but himself for his economic crash. He’s the one who built his economic house on the sand of the oil business.
He ran the KGB. He hates the US. He’s the one flapping his wing about a war to shift blame and cover up his failed economic mess. Putin is dangerous. I think he might use Iran to nuke the US.
Another new sign up, been here two weeks, posts about an article a day, and posts pro-Russia propaganda.
Are you a Paul supporter?
Cruz/Walker
He's got a great opportunity now to turn large parts of the USA into rubble. (Thanks to low information voters and to the evil Democrat Party and their co-conspirators in the Republicrat Party now poised to give America the coup de gras by shoving Bush III in our faces.
"Here is your Bob Dole, and Mitt Romney."
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