Russia threatens to block NATO routes

reply to post by Drunkenparrot


None of those countries apart from the US and the UK haven't really had any real long-term wars though. The money spent on defence goes towards the long-term occupation of Iraq etc. If I remember correctly China nor Russia have used their resources on such a whim like the US have. The money spent of defence in 2009 doesn't really mean anything.

reply to post by Tea4One


The primary defense budget and the overseas contingency operations budgets are separate. If you add on operational costs then the number even goes higher.

The reason our defense is so high is primarily due to:

The US Air Force is greater in terms of both combat power and airlift than both Russia's and China's combined. In terms of 4th gen fighters, the US has almost as many F-16s (Over 1,200) as Russia and China combined have modern fighters in their air forces and navies. The US Air Force also maintains over 600 F-15s. Lastly the US operates over 170, 5th gen F-22s.
We maintain a large number of strategic bombers, including 20 stealth bombers.

The US Navy is larger than China's, Russia's and the EU's combined.
That includes 11 carrier strike groups, each with 70 combat aircraft, 12 expeditionary strike groups, each carrying thousands of US Marines. Plus over 50 nuclear attack submarines

The US Army and Marines maintain the largest number of modern (3rd gen) main battle tanks of any military, almost 9,000 M1 Abrams tanks. (Russia operates about 700 T-90s and 4500 T-80s, China operates 2500 Type 96s and 200 Type 99s)
The US Army also maintains the largest number of modern gunships of any military, over 700 AH-64 Apaches. (Russia operates 26 Ka-50 type Hokums, 44 Mi-28 Havocs, and 360 Mi-24 Hinds, while China operates 100 CAIC WZ-10s).

In terms of firepower, we have the operational capability in full mobilization to not only fight Russia and China at the same time, but rapidly achieve aerial and naval supremacy. The only trump card they have is the nuclear card and even then they could lose that in a decade.

reply to post by alchemist2012


Since when does Russia get to dictate foreign policy of European nations?

reply to post by Xcathdra


it does not, it is concerned about the actions of those nations and sees it as a threat to their own security, therefore it wants its concerns addressed so it knows where it stands and what action to take next.

they are not dictating anything. they are asking for their concerns to be addressed more than likely to avoid a confrontation or poor relations if they are not addressed.

Originally posted by Vitchilo
Good. America needs to stop their crap and hopefully Russia forces NATO to get the hell out of Afghanistan. That's what Afghans want, that's what Americans want, that's what Pakistanis want... that's what everyone wants except the warmongers... Screw the warmongers.

You're darn right!! Damn NATO.....damn them all to hell....

Because you know as well as I that Russia only has good thoughts for Afghanistan.

Are there any other sources? Just for the sake of adding even more legitimacy to this article?

Not that it is not legit. I was just thinking.Isn't Press TV, Iran's propaganda station? If so, not exactly an unbiased source,but then again, I can't really think of a source that is unbiased.

But I digress.... I honestly would not doubt Russia is doing this. This story just keeps getting deeper and deeper and is starting to remind me of the cold war Chess game we had going on.... It makes me wonder... perhaps the cold war never came to a real end...Perhaps it just went "underground" for a bit and is starting to resurface.

Who knows. I honestly don't think we will be getting into ww3 or a war with Russia, like some have implied in similar threads... Just think of it like a never ending game of Chess. Each side trying to make the best move possible to give them an advantage...

That is what it is. A war with out killing each other. " Oh you moved missiles here? Well, then I will block Nato routes."

Neither of us wants a check mate really...Just to constantly have the other in Check.

reply to post by lifeform11


Medyev just stated if countries dont deal with the complaints Russia has about ABM, Russia would take more direct action. Thats not forcing?

The only thing present are the radars.

Other countries cant take action to strengthen their security? Especailly those countries who fell behind the Iron curtain who had first hand expereince with the Soviet Union?

Russia, just liek the US, could destroy the world 20 times over and still have more to go. The ABM system is not advanced enough to engage ballistic missiles in large quantities as well as being ineffective against mutliple warheads.

reply to post by Xcathdra


asking for concerns to be addressed is not forcing anything, they want dialouge from what i can gather.
if there is not dialouge then their concerns are not being addressed thus it will take matters into their own hands.

by adressing something it does not mean that whilst adressing it every country must do exactly what russia says.
russia are only trying to force addressing it, which means talks.

i have also not heard russia say anything i have not heard from other nations 1,000's of times, yet alot of people had no problem with other nations trying to 'dictate' to other nations in those instances.

i suppose people just love the one rule for them and for us mentality. it is not a problem untill somebody else does it.

can i ask you if you think iran should be allowed to protect itself and it's security?

reply to post by Drunkenparrot


The fact that the US spends so much on its military only proves that the American war machine is held together by money. It doesn't mean that it is more capable than others simply because there is more money thrown at it. In fact, a less-funded military with a strong will to fight will improvise beyond economic means, making them less vulnerable to the demands of funding. Rebels don't have funding or top of the line weapons, yet they can hold down entire nations.

Originally posted by alchemist2012


Why are we as American citizens behind the curve concerning the events between Russia and the U.S..The Russian president has allready addressed his nation about what the Soviet Union plans to do.

Why did you call them the Soviet Union?

Ultimately, I always see folly in these confrontations (diplomatic or otherwise) because in truth they are the machinations of the power elite, NOT the actual people of the world (whose lives are more focused on survival and peace of mind.)

In the end, each nation has it's "rulers" pretending to be "governors" or "servants of the people."

They may find thousands of reasons to call for fear and hate, they may abuse ideological disconnects between their "politics" or "religions" ... and if that doesn't work, they will not hesitate to "create" a conflict or national tragedy upon which to hang their 'control' of the people. Worse still, they get to pretend they are laboring to secure the continuity of their governance all the while ensuring that in reality it is the continuity of their control (or the control of their so-called "party.")

Russia is doing what it can to make things difficult for the NATO combine; and many of us blithely assume NATO has something to do with 'defending' people when they are in the business of securing increased revenue streams for the military industrial complex while engendering opportunistic commerce everywhere they leave their footprint.

Jaded? Me? Maybe a little.

reply to post by alchemist2012


This makes Russia sound weak and desperate.

reply to post by Dimitri Dzengalshlevi


The only time such "rebels" hold down nations is when politics allows them.

When a power doesn't care about politics, guerilla forces can be easily crushed. Look at the US military campaigns against the Native Americans in the 1800s, against Philippine insurgents in the early 20th or the British Empire against the Boers.

Its all about the will to fight and win. If the superior power has the determination and isn't hampered by politics, no guerilla force can stop it.

This is hilarious coming from Russia. The same Russia who started this Afghanistan proxy battle. The same Russia you now cheer as heroes. You all either have short memories or don't know history. Russia has been just as bad as the US. SO has China read a book and stop hating just to do so.

Originally posted by Dimitri Dzengalshlevi
reply to post by Drunkenparrot

 

In fact, a less-funded military with a strong will to fight will improvise beyond economic means, making them less vulnerable to the demands of funding. Rebels don't have funding or top of the line weapons, yet they can hold down entire nations.

I will concede that it is a difficult point to argue face to face with the MANPADS kitted Mujahedeen in your Avatar.

That is a great picture, it speaks volumes.

The business end of an FIM-92C Stinger fire team tracking their target in a textbook lag pursuit framed across the cold mountain skies through the sights of one of the few overnight game-changers in the history of modern weaponry.

In a perfectly choreographed ambush, the freedom fighters chosen position, a carefully selected narrow track where the mountains funnel the air-traffic towards a common center.

Perhaps three or four kilometers upwind of the approach to the Soviet fire base, near where the air traffic pattern base leg transitions ninety degrees onto final and at a high enough altitude that the MI-24's and Mi-8's need all of their available power to maintain a controlled approach.

Not an ounce to spare for last moment evasive maneuvers in the thin air.

The operator uncages the seeker head which in turn returns a low continuous growl...

Check and mate...

Score one for the asymmetrical battlefield



Stinger in Afghanistan

I'll still stick with the wonder kids at Darpa and a 1.4 Trillion dollar defense budget.

Funny Russians.

Originally posted by alchemist2012

Originally posted by jerryznv
I fear the U.S. is doomed at this point...no matter what happens.

Our leaders have screwed things up beyond repair and the outcome is going to be bad!

Russia, China, Iran...etc...who else can we expect to emerge and tell us to get bent?

Yes I feel the same way,But i do think the even if the rest of the world is hostile to us we should be fairly safe here in the USA

Safe in the US? Don't count on it. My gut tells me there are a lot of potential terrorists already in US waiting for the signal and homeland obscurity would not have a clue. As far as nukes I doubt they will fly because we both have automatic retaliation on major cities. I would not feel very safe at home if USSR declared war.

Either way it is OUR FAULT for letting things get this bad. If we are attacked it might spur people to forget about their differences and focus on repairing our nation.

reply to post by onecraftydude

Kind of seems like what may happen given the riff between parties and country right now

reply to post by alchemist2012


I think it is too late. All that debt and heaps of weapons to show for it. That just about sums it up.

Originally posted by Drunkenparrot

Originally posted by Tea4One
Someone needs to put a stop to the imperialist nature of America/NATO. If its Russia or China so be it. The war has gone on long enough, lets hope our Shepard warmongers aren't arrogant enough to truly think they can defeat Russia on the ground.

Yes because the current Russian Federation wields such great power and might....

Sorry but the wishful U.S. bashing gets old, the Soviet Union is vanished into the dustbin of history and the Russian Federation is not a superpower. It is by most modern standards a junkyard.

The current bout of rhetoric over the THAAD deployment in Europe is very telling of Russian strategic insecurities.

The Math doesn't lie...

edit on 29-11-2011 by Drunkenparrot because: (no reason given)

Defence spendoing has nothing to do with how effective a military force is, it's about the training they recieve. Look at Australia, second to the bottom, and the Australian Defence Force is one of the best, up there with the poms and Americans