Posted on 02/08/2015 11:07:13 AM PST by tlozo
‘I believe the Russians are mobilizing right now for a war that they think is going to happen in five or six years... with somebody within the next five or six years.” So says Lt. Gen. Frederick “Ben” Hodges, commander of U.S. Army Europe... "American engagement is essential if the West is to deter a revanchist Russia that has set out to “redraw the boundaries of Europe,” Gen. Hodges says... Russian President Vladimir Putin “has done in Ukraine,” he says, “is a manifestation of a strategic view of the world... This level of assistance suggests Ukraine “is not a foray, not a demonstration. They are deploying capabilities way above and beyond anything that any militia or rebel organization could ever come up with.”
The fact that the political class in the West is still splitting hairs about the nature of the insurgency in Ukraine is testament to the success of the Kremlin’s strategy of waging war without admitting it... Gen. Hodges notes that the Russians already have an advantage in the information battleground: “They’re not burdened with the responsibility to tell the truth. So they just hammer away, and whenever somebody in the West puts out a blog or a tweet, there’s an immediate counterattack by these trolls.”... Gen. Hodges won’t comment on the U.S. strategic-force posture in Europe other than to say he is “confident in that process.” But he adds that the fact that the Russians rehearse nuclear-strike scenarios “shows that they’re not worried about conveying a stark message like that. You know, frankly, you hear this often from many people in the West, ‘Oh, we don’t want to provoke the Russians.’ I think concern about provoking the Russians is probably misplaced. You can’t provoke them. They’re already on a path to do what they want to do.”
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
Peace Talks Fail: Russian President Vladimir Putin rejects attempts to contain Russia
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/3255407/add-keyword
This thread has been pulled.
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Several stories in Russian media over the last few weeks of them “reopening” thousands of Cold War-era bomb shelters.
Search Twitter or Youtube for them.
If Russia wants to invade Western Europe and take on Germany and France and Italy, it doesn't bother me. I don't even care who wins.
The American economy would become strong again.
We don't have a dog in this fight, but if it happens at all, it would work out in our favor. We just have to be smart enough to stay out of it.
Agreed. We need to continue the sanctions and increase them if possible. We supplied the Afghans with weapons to bleed the Russians. We need to do the same with the Ukrainians.
We need to bleed the Russians any way possible.
NATO’s Russian front is east of Poland. If Russia is gearing for a war, it’s to keep NATO off their doorstep. The US and Western Europe would be doing themselves bigger favors trying to work with Russia as an ally against the Jihadis than trying to realign the political orbit of the Ukraine.
That's why NATO exists, so we can avoid being murdered in mass numbers by despots.
“Wars and rumors of wars ... “
“You’re talking about a country where nobody has any real rights, where the government freely violates property rights, the right to a fair trial, even the right to not be summarily executed to sent off to an insane asylum (they’re still sending “dissidents” to psychatric facilities). And you’re talking about a country that aids and abets our enemies in Iran, Syria.”
Confused us for a moment there,
How can Russians be provoked any further? They have thousands of their troops in Ukraine already. Putin is not ready for a full blown war with Ukraine and west, because
a) he’s a pussy
b) Russian economy couldn’t handle it
c) the Russian serfs, ahem, people, are not ready to kill former “Slavic brothers”, the Ukrainians.
We’ve got a small-scale, attrition war, where Ukraine and Russia are slowly bleeding. Russia burned through $100 billion of foreign reserves in 2014 and $9 billion in January 2015. Ukrainian and Russian bodies are piling on, so nothing for Putin to worry about. Have another Olympics, I’d say.
The “to” before insane asylums should be “or”.
I don’t think such Cold War thinking is operable today.
There is no fundamental ideological divide between Russia and US — both countries have changed so this is just not Capitalism vs Communism any more.
This isn’t even Power Politics aimed at world domination. Russia has a relatively small population, they have little economic power beyond oil, and oil is not a good store of global power right now. Russia cannot take over the world, and it would bleed itself dry trying to move against Germany.
NATO should be dead. The US should avoid a European war.
Generals always try to fight the last war — and I see a lot of armchair generals here trying to fight the Cold War that ended in 1989.
That's why you don't think "cold war thinking" is operable. But you are wrong that there is no "fundamental ideological divide." Russia is a totalitarian state without rights for its individuals. Like Communism, it is basically a massive and murderous kleptocracy that dominates every level of society:
From a Russian who escaped there and is now living in the U.S.:
"In simple terms, Russia is a mafia state. All the way from Moscow to regions and to small towns, everything is controlled by various mafia gangs. Police and judiciary are parts of most powerful gangs. They usually assist in extortion or theft of property earned by local small and medium size businessmen. Big business is subject to federal mafia clan wars.
The mafia-state formation is logical consequence of Russian economy: it is totally dominated by oil and gas revenues. Oil, gas and derivatives provide meaningful employment to about 1M people. Russian population is about 150M. How do they survive? The majority depends on various forms of government handouts.
With russian-style oil production you don’t have to think, innovate or even hire smart people. All you have to do is to cash the check. Gazprom is ranked as one of the most grossly inefficient enterprises in the world. So what happens when a small, totally incompetent minority controls country-wide oil rent while the rest of 149 million people are a burden? The answer is obvious: that 1M would create a mafia state to keep the rest of 149M in check by means of police and judiciary abuse and mass propaganda.
Russian propaganda machine is vast, it now exceeds the one of Soviet Union. Official TV propaganda lies professionally and constantly. There are no independent TV channels; everything is controlled by government stooges. The “news” teams employ special teams that do video editing and fabrications to present absolutely falsified accounts for TV transmission. Then these fabrications are broadcast to brainwash captive population.
The population at large is, statistically speaking, not very bright. Many are deranged from overuse of alcohol or drugs. A big number are simply aging elderly rooted in USSR-centric mindset who never adjusted to the modern world. Most of them do not “work” in the sense we understand full-time employment here: they occupy placeholder positions sponsored by the government. Being dependent their whole life on government help, they are psychologically unable even to think government can do something wrong."
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/bloggers/3189416/posts
Russia is an Empire of lies and depends on violence and intimidation to exist. It's media tell its people every day that the USA is an evil country and must be annihilated-- that they ought to establish an empire, that everyone in the world ought to live like them (and what they are are groveling slaves ruled by thugs).
There is such a thing as a national character, despite the claims that culture doesn't matter. The national character of Russia is a slavish and bloody monster. They can never be compatible with us. We are founded on entirely different values.
And don't shout out "the Russians are Christian!" It is a country where the majority of people identify as members of the Russian Orthodox Church for purely chauvinistic reasons, but only 2-3 percent even bother to attend on an Easter. Their ROC is run by a known member of the KGB who wears expensive watches. They have believers who march around with icons of Joseph Stalin next to icons of the virgin Mary. And anyone who is not Russian Orthodox is subject to intense persecution.
In Ukraine, Christian Churches, whether protestant or Catholic, are being actively taken over and pastors tortured and murdered.
NATO should be dead. The US should avoid a European war.
Your foolishness would lead to the death of us all.
Since we are a founder and member of NATO, of course we are a part of any attempt by Russia to conquer Europe.
The thing that strikes me most clearly about the current Ukrainian crisis is the level of blind anti-Russian bigotry out there. I don’t like Putin, I never defend Russia. But I see Russia as a country pretty much like any other country.
You see Russia as the devil incarnate. I don’t think you are rational on this topic.
Russia is invading right up to NATO's borders, and you, say that nonsense?
LOL, “” I never defend Russia.””
Except when you post.
“I don’t think we should get involved” == “defending Russia” ??
I reiterate my point: You people are not rational on this topic.
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