It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker.
Please white-list or disable AboveTopSecret.com in your ad-blocking tool.
Thank you.
Some features of ATS will be disabled while you continue to use an ad-blocker.
GORI, Georgia (AP) -- A top Russian general on Saturday said his country's forces will continue to patrol a main Georgian Black Sea port city even though it lies outside the 'security zones" where Russia claims it has the right to station soldiers on Georgian territory.
Originally posted by -Rugged Shark-
Huh? What are you on about? Not all of the damage is caused by Georgia. Russian tanks did a fair ammount of damage aswell. Some people seem to forget that there was a battle going on in that city between the Georgian army and the Russian army.
To say that Georgia wanted to wipe out SO... where's your proof?
I can say the same about Russia, they deported Georgian families from SO and torched their homes.
I think it isn't wise to choose any side of the conflict at the moment. Only a truely independent investigation can turnout who started this whole mess. But right now we have 2 sides argueing and turning over little to no proof.
• We need to increase defense spending significantly if we are to carry out our global responsibilities today and modernize our armed forces for the future;
• We need to strengthen our ties to democratic allies and to challenge regimes hostile to our interests and values;
• We need to promote the cause of political and economic freedom abroad; [and]
• We need to accept responsibility for America's unique role in preserving and extending an international order friendly to our security, our prosperity, and our principles.
The American peace has proven itself peaceful, stable, and durable. It has, over the past decade, provided the geopolitical framework for widespread economic growth and the spread of American principles of liberty and democracy. Yet no moment in international politics can be frozen in time; even a global Pax Americana will not preserve itself.
[What we require is] a military that is strong and ready to meet both present and future challenges; a foreign policy that boldly and purposefully promotes American principles abroad; and national leadership that accepts the United States’ global responsibilities. Of course, the United States must be prudent in how it exercises its power. But we cannot safely avoid the responsibilities of global leadership of the costs that are associated with its exercise. America has a vital role in maintaining peace and security in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. If we shirk our responsibilities, we invite challenges to our fundamental interests. The history of the 20th century should have taught us that it is important to shape circumstances before crises emerge, and to meet threats before they become dire. The history of the past century should have taught us to embrace the cause of American leadership.
• Defend the American homeland;
• Fight and decisively win multiple, simultaneous major theater wars;
• Perform the “constabulary” duties associated with shaping the security environment in critical regions;
• Transform U.S. forces to exploit the “revolution in military affairs.”
• Maintain nuclear strategic superiority, basing the U.S. deterrent upon a global, nuclear net assessment that weighs the full range of current and emerging threats, not merely the U.S.-Russia balance;
• Restore the personnel strength of today’s force to roughly the levels anticipated in the “Base Force” outlined by the Bush Administration, an increase in active-duty strength from 1.4 million to 1.6 million;
• Reposition U.S. forces to respond to 21st century strategic realities by shifting permanently-based forces to Southeast Europe and Southeast Asia, and by changing naval deployment patterns to reflect growing U.S. strategic concerns in East Asia.
• Modernize current U.S. forces selectively, proceeding with the F-22 program while increasing purchases of lift, electronic support and other aircraft; expanding submarine and surface combatant fleets; purchasing Comanche helicopters and medium-weight ground vehicles for the Army, and the V-22 Osprey “tilt-rotor” aircraft for the Marine Corps;
• Develop and deploy global missile defenses to defend the American homeland and American allies, and to provide a secure basis for U.S. power projection around the world;
• Control the new 'international commons' of space and 'cyberspace,' and pave the way for the creation of a new military service – U.S. Space Forces – with the mission of space control;
• Exploit the 'Revolution in Military Affairs' to insure the long-term superiority of U.S. conventional forces. Establish a two-stage transformation process which:
- maximizes the value of current weapons systems through the application of advanced technologies, and:
- produces more profound improvements in military capabilities, encourages competition between single services and joint-service experimentation efforts;
• Increase defense spending gradually to a minimum level of 3.5 to 3.8 percent of gross domestic product, adding $15 billion to $20 billion to total defense spending annually.
Fulfilling these requirements is essential if America is to retain its militarily dominant status for the coming decades. Conversely, the failure to meet any of these needs must result in some form of strategic retreat. At current levels of defense spending, the only option is to try ineffectually to “manage” increasingly large risks: paying for today’s needs by shortchanging tomorrow’s; withdrawing from constabulary missions to retain strength for large-scale wars; “choosing” between presence in Europe or presence in Asia; and so on. These are bad choices. They are also false economies. The “savings” from withdrawing from the Balkans, for example, will not free up anywhere near the magnitude of funds needed for military modernization or transformation. But these are false economies in other, more profound ways as well. The true cost of not meeting our defense requirements will be a lessened capacity for American global leadership and, ultimately, the loss of a global security order that is uniquely friendly to American principles and prosperity.
Further, the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event – like a new Pearl Harbor
A series of strong explosions have shaken the area around the Emergencies Ministry in the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali. According to reports, the blasts happened at an ammunitions dump storing military equipment confiscated from the Georgians. It comes less than a day after Russian troops pulled out of Georgia.
A Russian army officer accused of spying for Georgia has been arrested in the Stavropol region. The news comes one a week after Russian intelligence announced it had uncovered a Georgian spy network that was allegedly planning terrorist attacks in Russia.
Army officer Mikhail Khachidze, an ethnic Georgian, is being investigated for state treason, Russian news agencies reported, citing a statement from the Federal Security Service (FSB). Details regarding his apprehension were not disclosed.
Originally posted by swesais
It good to see that really not everyone russian is an brainwashed-fashistic-dumbass. No fence, but this come from personal experience.
Originally posted by swesais
About your post,well you are absolutly right, and think that this is a time when you must take a side-american or russian. And it doesnt even matter who is more right or wrong. Everyone will chose for what they stand-Russia or America.
Originally posted by swesais
And its logical that the post soviet country's want to join Americas side, because Russia has made some very nasty things in the past against them,
Originally posted by swesais
and doesn't have done anything to prove themselfs as new, or different state as it was in SU.