Posted on 04/09/2017 8:16:19 AM PDT by Enlightened1
I believe that relying on North American energy alone, and ridding ourselves of the ME, was the first thing we should have done after 9/11.
We are just funding terrorism.
If more Muslims die, it’s a good thing.
I am going to make a guess, Tillerson will be told not to come to Russia.
They are as good as their sources which in this case are not good.
I also think that Russia knew about this. It may even be a great business deal for them. Now that his planes are gone, Assad will have to purchase more from Russia.
I agree. We’ve proved ourselves, so let’s concentrate on North Korea.
But not to worry: the Russians are cool with us bombing them.
Of course, Assad might do it again, now that he knows he will be backed by the might of Russia and Iran. God help us.
Zero Hedge has been consistently wrong about markets so now those morons have turned their “skills” to international security issues.
Zero Hedge picks and chooses the news “sources” it “aggregates” to fit its point of view, which is almost always wrong-headed.
“Of course, Assad might do it again, now that he knows he will be backed by the might of Russia and Iran. God help us.”
Are you serious? Assad knows that Russia and Iran are not capable of making a dent in us. Assad will not do it again as he could lose millions of more dollars in airplanes, etc., and embarrass his allies when they do not follow through on their threats. He is not so stupid to do this again.
LOL, you’re probably pretty close to truth there. Seems like it doesn’t it.
Russia would also lose the huge political influence they have over Europe as the monopoly supplier of nat.gas to Europe. Several years ago in the dead of winter as we tried to form a united front with European nations in the face of Russian aggression in Ukraine there were a few minor problems with the Russian pipeline supplying the Europeans their gas. The Europeans immediately went into appeasement mode and the united front fell apart. What choice did they have? Freeze to death in the middle of January without any natural gas. This “thing” in Syria is a big thing. Realpolitiks of the Kissinger type is playing out on the world stage right now.
These are gas pipelines, not oil, and we’ve got access to plenty of natural gas without looking to the ME.
Now Europe is another matter...
Russia’s been accustomed to blackmailing its neighbors for years to get them to go along with Russian foreign policy or face having no heat in winter.
Zero Hedge is very putinista, may be even funded by putin. The two guys now writing there under the FIGHT CLUB name are all over the place but consistently pro-putin.
Have you really paid attention to Russia’s military?
Here is a link that I posted yesterday on Russia’s GDP
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3542266/posts?page=106#106
Navy’s are what you use to project power.
To support efforts away from home.
For an idea of Russia naval condition, google Russian Navy Rusting.
And if you think they are adequately rebuilding, compare their economy to GDP of other nations in my link to what I posted yesterday.
Here is something I posted yesterday on the condition of Russia’s navy.
(If the navy is this bad, consider the rest of the military)
“My point is that the Russian fleet is a paper tiger.
It’s considered a coastal or border fleet.
We have 6 Boomers out at sea. In a month or two, 1-2 or 3 will return and 2-3 will go out, and another month to two, 1-3 more will return.
They rotate around ALL THE TIME.
14 boats, doing 2 or 3 or even 6 tours in a year, depending on the length of tour.
They do about 14 boats x 8 months tour duty, equals 112 months at sea.
The Russians do 5 maybe 6 tours a year.
Maybe get 30-40 tour months a year.
You can’t keep crews adequately trained at that rate.
Despite all the time in port, their navy is slowly falling apart.
Most of their force projection ships are old.
53 out of 168 have been built 1990 or newer.
Their 5 capital ships were built in ‘82, ‘86, ‘89, ‘90, and ‘98. Only one is post USSR.
The Kuznetsov is known (notorious) for engine problems.
Four of 15 destroyers are post USSR
3 of 6 frigates.
19 of 81 corvettes.
Of the 19 corvettes built post USSR, 8 are in the Caspian Sea.
Of their 13 boomers, 3 were built post USSR. 4 are soon to be retired.
(it’s important to note that 3 of the boats were built in ‘13-’14, getting the bulk of the tour time, meaning in actuality, the Russians have 3-4 ready boomers.)
Of the 13 Oscars built, 4 have been retired, 1 sunk, leaving 8, with 3 being modernized, leaving 5 active. Of the 5 active, 2-3 are looking at near retirement.
When one looks at the Russian fleet and sees what they have. How much is newer. How much goes out on tour. How much gets refitted or modernized (OR NOT). You get a real idea of the strength of the Russian military.”
Yes, have you ever heard the term “mutual assured destruction”? Look it up. Putin does not want that any more than anyone else.
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