Posted on 10/12/2010 5:49:46 AM PDT by huldah1776
Putin and Medvedev have been politicking in the area. Our President is concerned with the elections in Kenya.
IMHO, the Cold War just got colder, but it never really ended.
NATO meets in Lisbon soon to reset it’s mission statement. They no longer have the intestines for Afghanistan and support is even more divided than ever. I imagine NATO’s splits become more apparent in the next few weeks and the Russians will feel emboldened once Zer0 puts out his timeline for withdrawal. The Russians are simply counting down the time before they return to what they consider to be their natural buffer zone territories.
I wonder about how possible it is that our troops in Afghanistan will get cut off from any support or evac?
It’s hard to blame NATO in this case. How the hell a North Atlantic Treaty Organization country in Europe (take your pick among them) ends up in a military campaign in Afghanistan for more than nine years is beyond me.
For the same reason we were in Vietnam...to show support for NATO allies. The measure of commitment in any military alliance is one’s willingness to spill blood in far away places and stand by the side of your allies.
And Swartzenegger goes to Russia and has a sit down with Puti.
I wonder how the people of Afghanistan will feel being so close to the Russians once again? Maybe this overshadowing will be a blessing in disguise when the people of Afghanistan get to choose if they want us to stay and protect them plus develop the mining for them instead of for Russia. Hopefully that decision will not be made until after 2012, unless Russia sees weak zero as a non-threat like they do in Kyrgyzstan. Where was our Secretary of State when this politicking was going on?
Pakistan can permit “militants” to close off our supply routes to Afghanistan. Kyrgyzstan can close the airbase.
Our troops will then be in an untenable position, surrounded by hostile regimes in Iran, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, etc.
Does anyone think that Russia, China, and Iran are not aware of this?
How long would it take to redeploy our forces if we needed them quickly elsewhere (like Korea)?
How long before they run out of needed ammunition and fuel where they are?
That disgusts me. See what happens when unnaturally born citizens govern?
Which is why BUSH fought the war in Iraq first, no? Too bad our Muslim leaning leader can’t visit the golf courses in Pakistan and get them totally on our side.
I refer to this as The Great Game, a reference to Kipling’s ‘Kim.’
It’s not a natural position for the US to extend force to this region for any protracted period of time.
US strategic goals and our natural ability to project force at a distance is most effective at sea.
In our reaction to the Jihadi’s - and in our effort to control Iran - we have surrounded Iran by placing significant forces around that country in Afghanistan and Iraq - and are trying to futher stimulate Pakistan into taking up the cause....But in doing so, we have alienated the strongest power in the region and the one most naturally suited to deal with Iran, and that is Russia.
Partially, I believe this is because we don’t trust Russia - nor should we - as Russia will always continue to persue her aims. But I believe for a while Russia was comfortable with the idea of us dealing with what they also see as their Iranian problem and they didn’t mind us spilling our blood and treasure for a while in this region...that was until they big bases were built in Uzbekistan and Kyrgystan...They see this as their natural territory and as a necessary buffer zone for their defenses. It’s also the only real natural path to warm water ports for their navy.
The Russians know we can only project force in this region on land for so long and will eventually retreat back to the oceans.
This would happen eventually regardless of who was president. It’s only a matter of time. Controling the Eurasian land mass is not possible from a distance.
The Russians are already flexing their muscles. Look at Georgia. Next will be the Ukraine and Moldova, eventually down into the Caucases and into Turkey.
Russia needs to surround Iran to prevent it’s undue influence on Turkey and to prevent a resurrection of the Chechin-type rebellion inside its borders and along its southern line of influence or they will face the same threat that faces Europa from these terrorists.
The transition from US control to Russian control probably passes through Pakistan...and that is sticky at best. I don’t know what Hillary is or was doing, but I doubt she has the wherewithall to make that happen on her watch even if she had full support from the President.
Pakistanization of the War in Afghanistan is going to be even harder than the Iraqization of the Iraq in order to stop the influence of the Iranian backed terrorists there.
It’s one thing to defend a nation from an aggressor (which is what a mutual defense treaty like NATO is intended to promote). When you’re halfway around the world in a military campaign that has now lasted longer than the two world wars combined, you start to ask yourself some questions about what exactly you’re doing there.
Just saying, that’s the article that was invoked when NATO joined us in the Afghan effort. Right, wrong, or indifferent, that was the pretext.
I stink at chess.
ROE prevents. I think of these gorilla wars like a surgeon going after an octopus shaped brain tumor.
I used to play more...
But the Russians are very good at it. It’s almost a congenital defect - the chess gene.
They are paid 1.5 million dollars a day rent. They won’t be missing any rent checks, no matter what the local politics are.
Well, we could always launch an amphibious landing in Iran and forge a new supply line to Southern Afganistan.
Is there anyone else here who knows that the Brits and Americans invaded Iran during WWII? The Shah was thinking about joining the Axis powers because the Germans kept telling him that Persians were pure Aryans. We sent a couple of divisions along with the Brits from Basra, Iraq to Tehran to help the Shah make up his mind. We had to keep the supply line from the Persian Gulf through Iran and Georgia to the Russkies open.
Holy Moly. Will the ruskies out bid us?
Thanks huldah1776.
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