[Cronos]

I disagree mildly with you on both counts:

1. "assad is our enemy" -- yeah, but the alternative is worse. It's like the Ukrainians in 1941 welcoming Nazis as saviors from the Soviets -- from one evil to a greater evil.

2. "Russia is our enemy" -- no, the Russians are posturing. The Russian people see the west as a rival, yes, but not the enemy. The Russian government too see's the West as a rival for Russian influence -- mainly for their pride. They have not got the resources to be a serious enemy

3. "Iran is our enemy" -- more correctly the Iranian regime is the enemy. The Iranian people have no beef with Israel and if anything the Iranian people are indifferent to the USA -- there is no visible US presence, so the Iranian government's "Big satan" bit sounds like posturing and deflection to them

[ETL]

The Russian government too see's the West as a rival for Russian influence -- mainly for their pride. They have not got the resources to be a serious enemy

Ridiculous. Al-Qaeda is a serious enemy with 1/10,000th the resources of Russia.

[ETL]

Russia’s military spending soars
February, 2011

Russia has revealed details of its ambitious plan to upgrade its army over the next ten years, planning to spend US$650 billion on the project.

­The unveiled large-scale plans of the Russian defense ministry propose the spending of vast sums of money up to 2020.

First and foremost, Russian defense will focus on the development of strategic nuclear weapons, construction of over 100 military vessels for Russian Navy, including construction of four originally French-made Mistral-class amphibious assault ships, and the introduction into the Air Force of over 1,000 helicopters and 600 military planes, including fifth generation PAK-FA fighter.

Most of the military hardware will be equipped with next-generation weaponry.

http://rt.com/news/military-budget-russia-2020/
______________________________________________________________

China and Russia Launch Military Exercises
April 22nd, 2012

China and Russia launched joint naval exercises Sunday in the Yellow Sea between the east coast of mainland China and the Korean peninsula.

Sixteen Chinese surface vessels and two submarines as well as four Russian warships will take part in the six days of drills. ...

China and Russia have conducted four bilateral and multilateral military exercises since 2005.

http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2012/04/22/china-and-russia-launch-military-exercises/

China and Russia Launch Military Exercises
April 22nd, 2012

[ETL]

The Russian government too see's the West as a rival for Russian influence -- mainly for their pride. They have not got the resources to be a serious enemy

That reminds me of this...

May 18, 2008: Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, these countries are tiny compared to the Soviet Union. They don't pose a serious threat to us. ...they spend 1/100th of what we spend on the military. I mean, if Iran ever tried to pose a serious threat to us, they wouldn't stand a chance.

May 20, 2008 (2 days later!): Iran is a grave threat. It has an illicit nuclear program. It supports terrorism across the regions and militias in Iraq. It threatens Israel's existence. It denies the Holocaust.

Source for these genuine Obama quotes: NewsBusters.org:
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/brad-wilmouth/2008/05/23/fnc-shows-obamas-iran-flip-flop-colmes-might-talk-hitler

[aruanan]

The Russian government too see's [sic] the West as a rival for Russian influence -- mainly for their pride. They have not got the resources to be a serious enemy

Sure, if you've got some really, really special definition of "resources" and "serious."

[ETL]

The Russian government too see's the West as a rival for Russian influence -- mainly for their pride. They have not got the resources to be a serious enemy

"Vladimir Putin praised Cold War-era scientists on Thursday for stealing U.S. nuclear secrets so that United States would not be the world's sole atomic power, in comments reflecting his vision of Russia as a counterweight to U.S. power. ...

Putin's remarks referred to the dawn of the Cold War more than half a century ago, but they echoed a message he has made loud and clear more recently: that the United States needs to be restrained, and Russia is the country to do it. …

(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...

[ETL]

The Russian government too see's the West as a rival for Russian influence -- mainly for their pride. They have not got the resources to be a serious enemy

Obama, May 20, 2008 (2 days after saying they were NOT a threat!): Iran is a grave threat. It has an illicit nuclear program. It supports terrorism across the regions and militias in Iraq.

Source for these genuine Obama quotes: NewsBusters.org:
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/brad-wilmouth/2008/05/23/fnc-shows-obamas-iran-flip-flop-colmes-might-talk-hitler

"Iran is a grave threat. It has an illicit nuclear program. It supports terrorism across the regions and militias in Iraq."

At the very, very least, the same can be said about Russia.

[SunkenCiv]

Assad is our enemy, and claiming that the alternative is worse is a non-sequitur, not least because they’re all equally bad. There’s no reason to support Assad except that one supports Assad.

Russia is our enemy, has been our enemy, and until Russia stops being our enemy, will remain our enemy.

Iran is our enemy, and there’s no quibble or semantics about it. The Iranian people are not all one thing. The only acceptable outcome in Iran is that those who want out from under the mullahcracy chop off the heads of all the mullahs, demolish every mosque in Iran, and toss all the muzzie scribblings into the paper recycling bins, IOW totally annihilate Islam in Iran. Some Iranians are will oppose that, and so will Syria (the Assad dynasty, or the Muzzie Bro-hood) and the Putin regime in Russia.