Putin learned his lesson with Iraq. He knows that he needs to make sure he has all of his money BEFORE we invade Iran.
From post #11 "I hope they're getting a lot of those really good GPS jammers that Saddam bought from the Russians. Those worked out great!"
Putin, as always, is playing with his cards close to his vest. We know how effective ex-Soviet hardware has been to Saddam. But how effective was the hardware sold to Iraq within weeks of the US led Coalition’s taking Iraq away from Saddam?
The "GPS jammers" might as well have been "target locators" for all we know. It's not that difficult a double cross. There are plenty of examples of smart munitions with "home on jam" software guiding their terminal flight. No doubt all arms dealers and buyers know this. Russia and Iran have traditionally been at each others throats by proxy (battles in Afghanistan, Dagestan, and Chechnya in particular). Weapons deals of ex-Soviet and modern Russian hardware would be more convincing if they had been sold through China or North Korea. I doubt even Castro and Chaves would want to play this hustle.
If this is so, and if Putin is playing a repeat of what he sold to Saddam, it might be to butter up an EU Coalition strike. I suspect that W. Europe is tired of playing second fiddle to world military powers and they want to see if their war toys work. Iranians are ripe for democracy and the world is tired of its tyrannical theocracy waving a nuclear gun in everyone's face. Countering Iran similar to how the US countered Iraq would give the UN a quasi-legitimacy that it lost to Saddam. Containing radical fundamentalism might redeem the UN in the minds of free men, but I doubt the Pope would agree unless the UN bans abortion and stem cell murders FIRST. Then the UN’s international courts would have the moral high ground to protect innocent Iranian lives (similar to how President Lincoln took the moral high ground to free slaves in the American Civil War and return rebel states to the Union).
My head tells me that this is possible. My heart warns me that it’s unlikely. My heart tells me this of secular (godless) powers governing Western and former Communist nations.
Secularists will focus on a radical and tyrannical criminal power (that happens to be a theocracy) that’s stepped way out of popular favor even among its own people. The secular (godless) will see the short term improvement and will stifle ALL religions whose origins come from Abraham—Judaism, Islam, and especially Christianity. Fanatical criminals like Hamas may be uprooted from its very garden, but the struggle to recognize the Truth of God in human courts will continue (as men refuse to see the devil’s reality). The UN, US, Russia, and the EU will continue to murder unborn children and inflict Frankenstein stem cell science upon the weakest members of humanity. The godless will attempt to spread their errors of hedonism, substance abuse, and financial slavery to present Western paradigms of legitimacy and popular consensus.
The good that survives and prospers amidst the future persecutions will recognize Jesus Christ for who He really Is. Those who don’t will continue to persecute the land of His birth and will eventually turn upon Israel in all ways similar to that as the human body and soul has in free will to reject God. I don’t worry about this because God’s enemies will be slaughtered in such a way as to make the task of burying their dead bodies almost impossible.
From post #11 "I hope they're getting a lot of those really good GPS jammers that Saddam bought from the Russians. Those worked out great!"
Putin, as always, is playing with his cards close to his vest. We know how effective ex-Soviet hardware has been to Saddam. But how effective was the hardware sold to Iraq within weeks of the US led Coalition’s taking Iraq away from Saddam?
The "GPS jammers" might as well have been "target locators" for all we know. It's not that difficult a double cross. There are plenty of examples of smart munitions with "home on jam" software guiding their terminal flight. No doubt all arms dealers and buyers know this. Russia and Iran have traditionally been at each others throats by proxy (battles in Afghanistan, Dagestan, and Chechnya in particular). Weapons deals of ex-Soviet and modern Russian hardware would be more convincing if they had been sold through China or North Korea. I doubt even Castro and Chaves would want to play this hustle.
If this is so, and if Putin is playing a repeat of what he sold to Saddam, it might be to butter up an EU Coalition strike. I suspect that W. Europe is tired of playing second fiddle to world military powers and they want to see if their war toys work. Iranians are ripe for democracy and the world is tired of its tyrannical theocracy waving a nuclear gun in everyone's face. Countering Iran similar to how the US countered Iraq would give the UN a quasi-legitimacy that it lost to Saddam. Containing radical fundamentalism might redeem the UN in the minds of free men, but I doubt the Pope would agree unless the UN bans abortion and stem cell murders FIRST. Then the UN’s international courts would have the moral high ground to protect innocent Iranian lives (similar to how President Lincoln took the moral high ground to free slaves in the American Civil War and return rebel states to the Union).
My head tells me that this is possible. My heart warns me that it’s unlikely. My heart tells me this of secular (godless) powers governing Western and former Communist nations.
Secularists will focus on a radical and tyrannical criminal power (that happens to be a theocracy) that’s stepped way out of popular favor even among its own people. The secular (godless) will see the short term improvement and will stifle ALL religions whose origins come from Abraham—Judaism, Islam, and especially Christianity. Fanatical criminals like Hamas may be uprooted from its very garden, but the struggle to recognize the Truth of God in human courts will continue (as men refuse to see the devil’s reality). The UN, US, Russia, and the EU will continue to murder unborn children and inflict Frankenstein stem cell science upon the weakest members of humanity. The godless will attempt to spread their errors of hedonism, substance abuse, and financial slavery to present Western paradigms of legitimacy and popular consensus.
The good that survives and prospers amidst the future persecutions will recognize Jesus Christ for who He really Is. Those who don’t will continue to persecute the land of His birth and will eventually turn upon Israel in all ways similar to that as the human body and soul has in free will to reject God. I don’t worry about this because God’s enemies will be slaughtered in such a way as to make the task of burying their dead bodies almost impossible.