Russia is making threats and threatened to overthrow our government.

[jongaltsr]

Has anyone noted that Putin keeps making bold statements about open conflict with the United States.

I question the fact that "He is not exactly stupid" even if he is a bit arrogant.

Does anyone have any insight or thoughts on why Putin would make open threats when it would not to be to his advantage to do so if he REALLY intended to attack us?

My "Logical" mind says he is making such statements just to intimidate our politicians and NOT to forewarn an actual invasion.

ANY THOUGHTS?

[Nowhere Man]

I think we lost a good opportunity to bring Russia closer to us during the 1990’s to the GW Bush era.

[Nowhere Man]

The people I met from Russian, eventually became citizens of America. These people, from Russian, were classified as Russian Jews in their homeland. When the opportunity came they ran as fast as they could for the exits to leave Russia. Some of the stories and words told me of the suffering, by these people at the hands of authorities in Russia, would curl your toenails.

My great grandmother was a Russian Jew and the story was that she had two villages burned out from under her before she came over to America.

[TigersEye]

Of course.

[Georgia Girl 2]

All third world countries have McMansions and luxury cars. It doesn’t make them a military power with a ghost of a chance of invading the USA.

I just like to worry about something that might really happen like Obama getting lucky and declaring himself president for life or the Chinese hacking in and putting our grid down. Or most likely a total economic collapse.

[jongaltsr]

This time they will have the help from the Chinese and the N. Koreans.

[DungeonMaster]

I think Haiti is a good example of the kind of country we’d get with obama’ism unchecked.

[jongaltsr]

Want me to say that I am paranoid?

If that is so then you are 100% correct.

I lived around the planet half of my life and that means that I have made contact with many people who KNOW or are pretty damn sure that WE are getting weak (perverted/self delusional) and that the Russians and Chinese are growing ever more determined.

I will stick with my paranoia and you can remain ignorant and we shall see who survives.

[jongaltsr]

What is your definitional difference between socialism and communism?

Are they THAT much different? Not by much I guarantee.

Russia/China/N. Korea/Etc..... all rely upon our own people clearing the way for our enemy and allow (THEM) to step in and take control via diversion and deceit.

Thats ok. \

Most Americans wish to stay ignorant and unprepared so go ahead and relax. You will never know what hit you until to late and your response - “Nobody told/warned me”.

Well you are officially forewarned.

If it doesn’t happen it is because people like me dedicated our lives to preventing such an event to happen,

[jongaltsr]

Would anyone actually notice if an anti-American communist took over from Obama?

That is precisely what WILL happen unless we grow a spine and fight back.

[jongaltsr]

Any rational observer would conclude America is about to be simply handed over to the Chinese and/or the Islamists. Perhaps Ivan concludes, “WTH, I might as well step in and take it!”

I have to say, that probably would be preferable to where we are headed.

Not handed over exactly cut "gutted" internally by ignorant people who think that they personally will benefit.

BOY ARE THEY GOING TO BE IN FOR A VERY BIG SURPRISE......

[jongaltsr]

My comment was made “tongue in cheek”

Good thing.

Be aware....

Be Prepared.....

[Georgia Girl 2]

My brother in law is with the state dept and he has traveled extensively throughout Russia. Its a third world country with no ability to invade the USA or probably anybody else. I urge you to worry about something that is really likely to happen like the internal threat to our country sitting in Wash DC.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

I would say the functional difference between socialism and communism is though they have similar goals, socialists believe in gradualism and achieving these goals over a length of time; whereas communists want radical change, destruction of the old system followed by completely different systems.

A good comparison can be found in the old Russian Mensheviks and Bolsheviks. The Mensheviks were like the very worst of American squishy, hopelessly p.c. and naive San Francisco liberals.

They passed some of the worst, most childish and stupid laws imaginable, such as the infamous Order #1, which abolished the rank structure in the Russian military, in the middle of World War I. All military decisions were to be made by majority vote. (The most popular of which was “shall we run away?”)

When the Bolsheviks took over, after killing the Mensheviks, they established the brutalitarian regime of Lenin, who at least had the common sense to realize that when every single idea they tried was an unmitigated disaster, to countermand them, and go back to doing something known to work. But when he died, Stalin went back to by-the-book communism, killing countless millions.

And thus the Soviet Union experienced 70 years of failing to recognize patterns of abject failure.

In any event, the subject was Putin and Russia, not China and other communist regimes, who are a completely different kettle of fish.

I consider myself something of a Russian expert, as these things go; but I know some old China hands who are the first to tell you that even after two decades of study, much of what the Chinese do is still inscrutable to them.

Oddly enough, George H.W. Bush, when he was ambassador to China, was one of the few people who so thoroughly understood them that they were terrified of him. Where he picked up this genius is unknown, but he grasped nuances of the Chinese way that most of their own leaders missed.

Throughout the ‘80’s, the assessment was that we were going to be in a knock down drag out naval war with China, for which both sides were in full preparation, but the very idea that somebody like H.W. could exist slammed the brakes on direct aggression on their part.

Since then they have been in the passive aggression mode, and only since weak Barry are they testing the waters to see how belligerent they can be and get away with.

[TsonicTsunami08]

Mission accomplished!

[cunning_fish]

>>>>I think we lost a good opportunity to bring Russia closer to us during the 1990’s to the GW Bush era.<<<<<

Yep, in late 1980s Russians liked Reagan, they were learning the way western society and economy working etc. The problem is that by 1993 their government was full of liberal Clinton-Soros advisors who watched the reforms.
As a result there wasn’t any true privatization of socialist property, it was simply looted and parted between former-communist oligarchy and Soros’s agents.
Freedom of speech and assembly was reduced to promoting drugs and gay parades.
No rule of law was established to replace Soviet legal system, the government of single Russia which was a part of SU along with 15 nations became actually larger than the entire Soviet government in terms of both the number of officials and their control functions.
New oligarchs couldn’t manage that much assets they looted and for that reason a number of decent companies simply went out of business. For that reason, world’s second economy in 1990 worth some $2,5 trilion in 1980s dollars turned into a $20 billion economy (in late 1990s dollars) by 1998.
Economic decline was actually worse than it was during the WWII when they were invaded by Nazis. The loss of jobs was huge. An already tiny average Soviet income of about $9000 a year turned into 15-20 bucks a month. And they couldn’t maintain extensive Soviet welfare system which made old and disabled live off the dumpsters and die in sewers.
There were enough idiots pointing at American advizors and Soros’s types to claim the whole reforms as an evil American plot and democracy itself as an evil tool to ruin economy and society.
Next there was a civil war with muslim separatists who were largely supported by US government, NATO enlargement, Yugoslavian wars there US supported muslims against Russian allies, US efforts in Asia to pave road for China into Russian underbelly, missile shield in Europe, constant critizism and sanctioning Russia for violation of muslim and gay rights etc.

All of the above made a majority of Russian public into an idea that US actually played a friend at the time and in fact is no friend but evil Sodom dreaming to obliterate their nice Motherland at first opportunity. It is how they see it.

There is a lot wrong in their thinking and lots of the above is their own fault, but they still have some points as well.

[Tailgunner Joe]

If Putin was pro-American, then he would be a slavophile. After all, the slavic countries he is hostile to are all America's NATO allies. That's why he is hostile to them, because they are friend of the USA, and friends of the USA are enemies to Putin.

[jongaltsr]

Your studies of socialism/communism their interrelationship is more than merely commendable.

May I suggest a book to help you better understand the Chinese, the Mongols and even the Russians.

Read the History of Gengis Khan by Jack Weatherford.
another book is the Art of War by Sun Tzu.

Both tell you how creative rulers think and conquer established, well established societies.

[jongaltsr]

Now THERE is a subject to study.
Jews are indeed tough people to have lived under the conditions in Russia.
I have read many stories (Not Fiddler on the Roof) of how Russian Jews adapted to their new lives in Israel. How do you think the IDF was organized?
Russian Jews who knew how tough they had to be to survive.

[jongaltsr]

I agree that right now our major in internal but very soon will be multiplied by forces from outside one we have been weakened first from internal saboteurs - i.e. (Obama)

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

As an aside, the planning outline created by Sun Tzu is still in use today by all modern armies (in the US as the Operations Order (The D-Day order was some five feet thick)), with the original five paragraph order almost unchanged.

The Situation of Friendly and Enemy Forces.
The Mission.
The Execution of the Mission.
The Supply, Support and Transport.
The Command Structure and Signals/Communications.

Though the Russians added an additional paragraph that is quite reasonable, and referenced by Sun Tzu elsewhere. It is concealment, obfuscation (such as smoke) and deception.

The philosophical descendent of Sun Tzu, Sun Bin (or Pin), wrote his own Art of War, thought lost, but was rediscovered in 1972.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Pin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Bin’s_Art_of_War

For the most part European tactical warfare developed far more based on technology, until Napoleon’s strategies and tactics of modern warfare were described and elaborated on by Clausewitz, in his still remarkably readable and sensible “On War”.

Sixty years later, Alfred Thayer Mahan did the equivalent for naval warfare with his The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660–1783 (1890).

Finally, the great compilation by the father and son team of R. Ernest Dupuy and Trevor N. Dupuy, who produced The Encyclopedia Of Military History, which is an exhaustive and brilliant examination of military conflict all the way from the ancient world. An essential reference.