you guys i gotta admit, i'm a bit spooked over this whole Russian/Crimea situation..

[MongGrel]

Ahhhh. The return of the fear we had from the '50s to the ' 70s. The nostalgia is as memorable as it is frightful. Time to remember how far I am from a first - strike target. Dust off them missiles Vlad. Slim Pickens has one just for you. Yee haw!

Was still going well into the 80's actually.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyOPUiJfruY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPycDNG9ibo

 

[OCGuy]

I wonder where those missiles have been aimed all these years, and if that's changing.

Ours or Russia's?

Russia makes up for inferior accuracy with larger payloads. Their SLBMs would hit major population centers along the US coast with .5-1Mt+ air-burst warheads, launched from the Pacific and Atlantic.

Their ICMBs would travel over the Arctic and hit our Minuteman silos and missile defense structures in MT, ND, CA, AK, etc, as well as redundant targets in SF, DC, LA, NY, etc. They have some aimed at China, UK, Pakistan, India as well, but "aiming" isn't exactly difficult to alter should the situation arise.

The US has been shifting targets from the former USSR to China, with an air-burst Triangle-pattern preference to maximize destruction with our smaller warheads.

It is a very interesting subject if one is intrigued by such things.

 

[Fern]

That is my point. The threat has never been gone.

Good ol' drunken Boris Yeltsin saved the world after the 70's. The Russian early warning system detected a US first strike, and his generals told him he had to launch.

He obviously did not.

It is insane how sheltered kids are these days as far as global politics. The flat out dismissal of a full exchange (which is how our race will die eventually) is just as crazy as the idiot in a bomb shelter saying it will happen tomorrow.

Boris Yeltsin in the 70's?

WTH. One of us has a bad memory. LOL.

Edit: I misread your post (the "after") part. My bad.

Fern

 

[Fern]

this is kinda what im talking about itt..

im teetering between...... nothing gonna happen..... and shits on the way to the fan..

that's whats scary to me.

It's neither "nothing gonna happen" or "shits on the way to the fan". Russia is going to take at least the Eastern part of Ukraine and we aren't going to do a damn thing (unless you consider sanctions that neither one of us will ever notice a big deal).

Chill bro.

Fern

 

[zanejohnson]

It's neither "nothing gonna happen" or "shits on the way to the fan". Russia is going to take at least the Eastern part of Ukraine and we aren't going to do a damn thing (unless you consider sanctions that neither one of us will ever notice a big deal).

Chill bro.

Fern

what about after ukraine???

i know, if i was putin... i wouldn't stop..i mean it's HIS chance!!! he has the entire world to gain... and man.. when it comes to that.. most men would sell there wifes ass for that.

 

[theeedude]

Putin will do what is necessary and sufficient to keep EU and NATO out of Ukraine.
When subsidizing Ukrainian government was necessary and sufficient, he was doing that.
Now that destabilizing Ukraine is necessary and sufficient, he is doing that.
If an invasion becomes necessary and sufficient, then he'll do that.
He's not eager to do any of these things, but he'll do them if that's what it takes.

 

[Victorian Gray]

Putin will do what is necessary and sufficient to keep EU and NATO out of Ukraine.
When subsidizing Ukrainian government was necessary and sufficient, he was doing that.
Now that destabilizing Ukraine is necessary and sufficient, he is doing that.
If an invasion becomes necessary and sufficient, then he'll do that.
He's not eager to do any of these things, but he'll do them if that's what it takes.

And all that he's actually accomplished is to make damn sure every other country on Russia's borders will cozy up to western Europe and the US as fast and as tight as they possibly can.

So, good work Putin, you guaranteed that all you neighbours will fear and mistrust you from here on.

 

[theeedude]

And all that he's actually accomplished is to make damn sure every other country on Russia's borders will cozy up to western Europe and the US as fast and as tight as they possibly can.

So, good work Putin, you guaranteed that all you neighbours will fear and mistrust you from here on.

Maybe, but it looks to me like he has his mind made up on this.

 

[rockyct]

And all that he's actually accomplished is to make damn sure every other country on Russia's borders will cozy up to western Europe and the US as fast and as tight as they possibly can.

So, good work Putin, you guaranteed that all you neighbours will fear and mistrust you from here on.

Yeah, I'm not sure what Putin's goal is after trying to acquire the Ukraine. The best case for him is that he annexes a piece of it to save face for Russia and then never does it again. If he continues, his country will feel economic pressure and while it'll be easy to blame the West for their ills, eventually something will give. Secretly invading another country probably isn't going to work next time.

The US is in no way going to put troops on the ground in the Ukraine or really any type of direct military involvement. Even most Republican don't want that now. We just don't have the stomach for war even though Iraq and Afghanistan did not have much effect on the average American.

 

[StinkyPinky]

All of this is completely irrelevant since Russia has nuclear weapons and could move massive amount of troops into Europe in a matter of days. The US will have almost no influence on a real conflict over here. There are 65,000 US troops here and the war would probably be over before the US got enough troops to Europe to make a difference in a conventional war. Our propaganda machine is trying to make a big deal over us moving a whooping 150 troops to Poland but please...

Russia might move 100,000 troops into the Ukraine and then reinforce them later. I can't imagine we'll ever commit troops or risk a nuclear war to stop them. If we're smart we'll simply stop buying their goods. I highly doubt that will happen though since our rich people depend on their rich people and nobody wants to lose money.

You honestly think Russia will send an army into Europe? They would get obliterated. Russia is used to fighting small nations with crumbling armies. Picking on weak baltic states is one thing, picking a fight with the likes of France, Germany, UK, Italy, Spain etc is another thing entirely. They're highly advanced armies and highly trained. On top of that Russia does a massive amount of trade with the EU and would lose hundreds of billions of dollars and face rampant unemployment in a short time.

 

[F1shF4t]

OP I find it funny that you came to that conclusion, but seeing what the media is showing it’s not surprising. It is rarely black and white and the whole situation is much more complicated. You should probably read up on the events of what’s happening before being paranoid.

The problem is the current government in Kiev only represents about half the people (after all the previous president was voted in and removed after the Maidan protests). So it’s of little surprise that the people in the east are revolting. Especially with some of the actions the Kiev government tried to take/took which would of alienated the Russian speaking Russian and Ukrainian community. (This is quite a significant percentage of the population)

Offcourse other countries getting involved is only adding fuel to the fire. One thing is for sure, the average people in Ukraine are the ones who are gonna get screwed in the end once the world powers loose interest in pushing their agendas.

As for Crimea, that was a stupid move. I guess we’ll know in the future what the circumstances were. If there were no violations during the vote then what happened, in light of all things, is probably not a bad thing for the Crimean people.

My stance on the whole matter is everyone needs to GTFO of Ukraine and let them solve it. (Just make sure they don’t start a civil war in the process)