US Planes are Fair Game Now: Russia Suspends Flight Safety Memorandum over Syria [trunc]

If a US plane is shot down over Syrian air space, world opinion is going to be with the Russians.

No, world opinion--which is demonizing Russia--is not going to favor Russians blowing up American planes. Nor is Russia going to shoot down an American plane anyway.

Some powerful people believe that the world would be better off with a population of a few millions.

It is unwise to interpret the world through an Illuminati interpretive lens.

Sometimes blowing up an airfield is just blowing up an airfield. Just like not all cigars are dicks.

russia is a land power and usually wins its wars

We are a sea power and haven’t won a war in over 70 years.

BULLSHIITE

Name me one war Russia has won in the last 70 years.
Todays Russia has only been around since 1991.
26 years
Before that was the USSR.
Todays Russia is a fragment of what the USSR was perceived as.
And that perception, we found, was over rated.

They beat Germany because Germany was fighting on multiple fronts.
Germany foolishly went into Russia, stretching beyond their supplies.

First-Land wars are won with air superiority.
Second-Russia has to get their land army to the area of engagement. Russia has very limited resources in Syria.
Third-Russia can't get to the US and we aren't going to Russia on the ground.

Predator drones cost 4 million vs the cost of an airplane and crew member.
Hellfire missiles cost $115,000

T-90 tanks cost $4.0 million

Russia is Syria's ally, as long as they only fight regional players.
They are in Syria with very limited resources.
Are they willing to commit the ground forces in theater?
Remember, their hands are full in Ukraine.

Russia has a GDP of 1.26 Trillion
The US has a GDP of 18.56 Trillion (15 times the size)

Russia's economy is VERY tenuous.
More so than ours.

We aren't interested in overtaking Syria.
Whatever meaningful resources Russia puts in theater, we can take out without meaningful boots on the ground.

Tanks and artillery cost big money.
Hellfires are dimes on the dollar in comparison.

In order to have a "ground war" like you say Russia is best at, means Russia has to get ground forces in theater.
Why do we want to be on the ground against Russia?
We can stand off and hit Russia targets, stuck on the ground.
Remember, Russia has the much vaunted S-400 missile system in Syria.
Remember, we just launched 59 cruise missiles into Syria, without ANY S-400 engagements.
(maybe the S-400 is a little over rated)
Russia can't get us standing off, without coming to us in the air or sea, which is our strength. Russia has limited projection capabilities.

NATO countries

Albania (2009)
Belgium (1949)
Bulgaria (2004)
Canada (1949)
Croatia (2009)
Czech Republic (1999)
Denmark (1949)
Estonia (2004)
France (1949)
Germany (1955)
Greece (1952)
Hungary (1999)
Iceland (1949)
Italy (1949)
Latvia (2004)
Lithuania (2004)
Luxembourg (1949)
Netherlands (1949)
Norway (1949)
Poland (1999)
Portugal (1949)
Romania (2004)
Slovakia (2004)
Slovenia (2004)
Spain (1982)
Turkey (1952)
The United Kingdom (1949)
The United States (1949)

GDP Nominal (billions of $)

Country / Economy

Blue = NATO country

Red = Russia

United States 18,561.934
China 11,391.619
Japan 4,730.300
Germany 3,494.898
United Kingdom 2,649.893
France 2,488.284
India 2,250.987
Italy 1,852.499
Brazil 1,769.601
Canada 1,532.343
Korea 1,404.383
Russia 1,267.754
Australia 1,256.640
Spain 1,252.163
Mexico 1,063.606
Indonesia 940.953
Netherlands 769.930
Turkey 735.716 0.978
Switzerland 662.483
Saudi Arabia 637.785
Argentina 541.748
Belgium 470.179
Poland 467.350
Norway 376.268
Ireland 307.917
Denmark 302.571
Portugal 205.860
Greece 195.878
Czech Republic 193.535
Romania 186.514
Hungary 117.065
Slovak Republic 90.263
Luxembourg 60.984
Bulgaria 50.446
Croatia 49.855
Slovenia 44.122
Lithuania 42.776
Latvia 27.945
Estonia 23.476
Iceland 19.444
Albania 12.144

The top 5 NATO countries, other than the US, all have higher GDP's than Russia.

Combined, they are almost 10 times Russia's GDP

All the countries below Russia have a combined GDP almost 5 times that of Russia.

France and the UK both have nuclear weapons.

"One thing to contemplate is that all the nuclear power plants will fail after a nuclear exchange. Just imagine several 100 Fukushimas’ here in the USA. Not good."

That good concern has been addressed and acted upon in some ways, but it wouldn't hurt to do more.

Security and deliberate attacks
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_in_the_United_States#Security_and_deliberate_attacks

Our tendency to recede and cower for decades before nations desiring empire has encouraged them to build up and to build up their smaller but more maniacal neighbors to start a future exchange. It's not so much about how to appease them but more about how to prepare the best we can and to build more defenses. It appears that the efforts to saturate foreign relations with the best of diplomats has failed to sufficiently control the minds of leaders in antagonist nations.

The best that we can do individually is to cast erroneous past popular media presentations from our minds, become more well informed and prepare ourselves.

Long-term health impacts of atomic bombs are NOT as dire as we think, claim scientists
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3734576/The-long-term-effects-atomic-bombs-AREN-T-dire-think-Hiroshima-survivors-life-expectancy-isn-t-dramatically-reduced.html

Nuclear War Survival Skills
Ch. 1: The Dangers from Nuclear Weapons: Myths and Facts
http://www.oism.org/nwss/s73p912.htm

Debunking the hardened dogma of exaggerated nuclear weapons effects and “ridiculed” cheap civil defence
http://glasstone.blogspot.com/2009/11/groupthink-and-proliferation-why.html

US Downs Dummy Ballistic Missile in Successful Test
(February, 2005)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1350575/posts

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