Russian Military Chief Warns US Against Attacking Iran

Russia's economy is no joke anymore, thanks to high oil prices.
Similarly their military is rebounding after years of neglect, thanks to a large infusion of cash.

It's questionable how they are likely to react to a confrontation between Iran & the West. They have an interest in seeing the Gulf in chaos, it will drive oil prices up and increase demand for Russian oil, which doesn't have to go through the gulf. They also have an interest in seeing the US further weakened by another controversial & costly Middle East war.

I suspect what we're likely to see is overt neutrality from Russia and China (opposing Western military action diplomatically but not militarily) and some degree of covert support for the Iranians.

Never going to happen. All concerned have too much to lose.

You could have said the same thing in 1914, in fact a lot of people did.

Originally posted by tombangelta
WW3 = end of civilised world.

No more McDonald's
No more Vodka
No more Chinese take out.

Never going to happen. All concerned have too much to lose.

if thats the case then i have just wasted 16 years of my life on educations when i could have been living it up

on a serious note doubt russia will do anything
they will just sit back and watch

Anyone familiar with MANIA?

This is looking a lot like WWI MANIA to me. Scary stuff. All we need is the smoking bullet to take the cake and BAM plunged into a world war we are. I doubt however that WWIII will equal the destruction of all mankind because once again nuclear weapons are more of a deterent than anything else. Keep in mind the only time nuclear weapons were used in the theatre of combat was to end WWII and only two were dropped.

WWIII would be many things, but an end to mankind it will not. I think we are all assuming that all nuclear weapons will be launched in a nuclear exchange the first couple of seconds of war which I don't think will ever happen.

And who said there is no such thing as an Air war? Air wars exist and air superiority does tend to help win wars. If you don't have air superiority or at the minimum air power, you're screwed.

Shattered OUT...

The American Goverment thinks it can take on the entire world. They no longer feel they have to answer to anyone. When they commit enough crime on the international level other nations will join together under the same premis we used to invade other countries. And do you think our government would ever surrender to opposing nations? Absolutly not, let the Nukes fly....It will go something like this.............

Dear Americans.....Our Freedom is at stake....these evil doers hate what America stands for........To maintain the Freedom of The United Steates of America we will now respond to this Aggression with nuclear force.........

Gosh imeddieone4202003, nevert give those bums ideas hurtful to Mexico, USA or Canada.
Our fears are not self made, they may be the result of other extraordinarily powerful Governments slightly above or below our peaceful Countries. Corner us in fear or in action or potential action places us in the realm of acting first.

Dallas

IMO, Russia and China are just reminding the U.S. that they have capital interests in Iran, and should the U.S. decide to take on Iran...well, theres gonna need to be some repriation.

No,not to Iran for the damages of warfare, but to Russia and China.

As long as their not losing cash on the deal, you really think Russia and China are going to come to Iran's defense?...not likely

Russia and China know the U.S. vs Iran is actually in boths best interests, U.S. wins, pays both countries for any damages to their interests and then they help divvy up Irans interests.

I can't find it, but there was an article a couple of months back, before the hostage crisis, that quoted a Russian official as saying that they would send it Spetznatz if a war in Iran broke out, to protect 'Russian Interests' in the nation.

It was a reliable source because i can remember the shock i felt over it. If the Ruskis did indeed send in spec ops to defend 'interests', i'm confident that it would end up in a skirmish between coalition forces and themselves, leading to a snowball effect of international incidents.

It would be the replacement for the Franz Ferdinand, and all hell would break loose. If anyone can find this article please post it, because i think it is key to this issue.

Foofstarr, I can see where the Russians might send in troops to protect things of vital interest to them eg..nuclear contracts, and China as well eg..oil

But I'm not so sure it would be to fight the U.S. forces as much as to say, ok, we have secured this area, your not needed here, we have it covered.

But, like you say, the fog of war...things could get confusing fast and mistakes get made.

Yeah, i don't think it would be intentional, but as you said, mistakes are made. Like the whole incident over the British pilot in Iraq taking out a US convoy etc.

From history it is easy to see that the Russians don't take much to snap... and i don't think that has changed much under Putin.

I can see him digging up their stockpile of T55s, AKMs and conscripts and going to war, regardless of the odds... and that scares me.

I personally find this quite worrying, russia has been quite for such a long time, but these past six months they have come forth with some bold and aggresive comments, regarding some pretty serious political situations. Russia is willing to back up its words, and im scared of the consequences if we don't listen. scratch that......if tony blair doesn't listen.

Originally posted by ShatteredSkies
And who said there is no such thing as an Air war? Air wars exist and air superiority does tend to help win wars. If you don't have air superiority or at the minimum air power, you're screwed.

Of course air superiority is vital. I didn't say it wasn't. What I said is that there has never been a full war (I don't mean battle, I mean War, with a capital W) that was fought and won with air power alone. It can't be done. You need boots on the ground to destroy an enemy, it's just that simple.

The Russian's should watch what they say about Iran...their in "no" position to speak with a big tounge against my country...if need be my country would devour their's in a sec.

I hope the U.S. listens to Russia. Because it doesn't seem to be listening to its own people. My letters to congress seem to just go into some void.

Anyways The only thing I'm really worried about is if a terrorist has a nuclear weapon. Because it's a known offical fact that there are nuclear weapons unaccounted for.

I don't think the U.S. wants to go to war with another country right now. There are too many other problems it has to deal with... like the Iraq situation.


[edit on 3-4-2007 by curiousbeliever]

There is no arguing when it comes to what is important in today's combat. Both air and ground forces are vital for the success of a campaign in today's conventional warfare.

Shattered OUT...

Blah blah blah WW3 this, WW3 that. I have to sit through and read this garabage every three months, if not more. And we have all been saying the same crap since 2003; So to really give you soem insight:

All this is just entertainment for intelectuals and international studies hobbyists (IE, a large population of ATS) to keep each other busy about things that will never come to keep your intelligence from focusing on actually making a difference in reshaping the way the world works.

Don't believe me? try to have any of these conversations with people shopping at a mall, or working at a low wage business. They will not know what the hell your talking about. They are on a much lower level of "how the world really works" insight and are even more easily entertained by silly things on TV and flashy jewelry.

Us all here, are entertained by talking about the howfors, and whatnots of international interaction between different cultures. The effect is that noone here actually happens to make any difference in shaping these events, or contributing to the solutions. Your all simply here for entertainment

Look at how entertained you keep yourselves with these dillusional fantasies of global war and superior might and scenarios that will never come to pass. All the while we have more potential to influence how the world works, yet are as stagnant as those below us. And yet, There are more people above us who have even greater ability to make even immediate changes, unfortunatey their entertainment is also much greater than ours.

Nobody is going to attack Iran, its is the Westernmost front of the Eastern border of the world now, the geographical diving point between foes who have been at it since the beginning of recorded history. Any Western attack on Iran, is a Western attack on the Eastern world. The west will lose more land than the East will gain.

This entertainment only continues in order to continue justifying a perpetual increase in profits to those who run the world.

Dont forget that it was Russia who gave Saddam intel on the US invasion before it happened. WE can be sure they will do the same if not more with Iran..

Originally posted by Jamiethegreat
The Russian's should watch what they say about Iran...their in "no" position to speak with a big tounge against my country...if need be my country would devour their's in a sec.

And what fantasy country is this that you live in? Sounds like a nice place.

Originally posted by DYepes
Blah blah blah WW3 this, WW3 that. I have to sit through and read this garabage every three months, if not more. And we have all been saying the same crap since 2003; So to really give you soem insight: ...

You have voted DYepes for the Way Above Top Secret award. You have two more votes this month.

Ignorance Denied. Fantastic post.

Here is another report of Russia's Army Chief of staff Yuri Baluyevski cautioning the US on attacking Iran:

Russia: Iran Defeat Bleak for US

The US may well seriously damage Iran’s military and industrial potential, but it would be impossible for it to defeat that country, a source from the Russian defense ministry stated Wednesday.

The chief of the Russian Army General Staff, Yuri Baluyevski, sustained that in a first attack, Washington could destroy 50 percent of Iranian nuclear targets with the powerful naval and air forces deployed in the Persian Gulf.

yea its a bad idea to attack iran. if the us so much as pokes them im sure they will unleash hell.

My prediction;
When Iran finishes its payments to Russia, USA will attack. Good old rule in world of diplomacy is: "Let me do my business and i will let you do yours"

ps. Russia will not support Iran more than Iran is capable of paying. When money ends, so do the weapon shipments.