Is Russia really our arch enemy?
Just how expansionist are they planning to be?
Are they actually a threat to western Europe let alone us?
Is there a strategic reason that they have to be our enemy?
Trump seems to be the only one who isn't fear and war mongering about Russia.
grampster posted this link up and it reminded me that I wanted to get your guys opinion on Russia.
http://fredoneverything.org/hillary-trump-and-war-with-russia-the-goddamdest-stupid-idea-i-have-ever-heard-and-i-have-lived-in-washington/
Russia is a problem because we have projected weakness and fecklessness. Had we not spent the last 15 years getting worn out by goat humping troglodytes and the last 7 in spasms of impotent violence, Russia would not be menacing the Baltic and would have thought more about Ossetia, Ukraine, and the Crimean Peninsula. (IMO, Russia would have gone for the Crimean Peninsula even if the USA was stronger, given a non-Russia-friendly regime in Ukraine.) Not that the USA's actions dictate Russian re-actions. Russia is not what it once was and only got strategic elbow room because of the USA's geopolitical diminution.
Our ruling class is infected with the tribal hatreds the neocons have toward ethnic Russians as well as a sick crusading mentality to fight World War G and World War T overseas.
In a more sane world where the USA had a sane, non-evil ruling class that looked after the interests of America, Americans, and the West in general, the USA and Russia would be natural allies against the anti-civilizational nations to the south of Europe & Russia. The differences between the American nation and Russians are much less than those between either of them and the forces of evil and savagery to the south. It takes a concerted effort to maintain the antagonism between us.
Russia can not now afford to buy lots of Armata (T-14/T-15) based armor. But their standard up-to-date T-90 tanks and BMP-3 systems are plenty capable. And while the sum totals of our respective militaries favors the USA, Russia has internal lines of commo and can place what they have where they need it PDQ. Meanwhile, the Baltic nations have spent bupkis on their militaries and we have about a single battalion of Abrams back in Europe.
The best way to keep Russia in check is:
1. Quit being impulsively, ineffectually violent in places where American interests are not at stake. The wise & strong avoid needless fights, the foolish & weak are forever fighting for nothing.
2. Open the M-Fing oil spigot. Drill, baby drill! Frack that F-er up. Build the Keystone pipeline and 5 more like it to get Canada doing the same. Drive oil prices to rock bottom. Sell that stuff everyowhere. Without oil revenues, Russia and Saudi and Iran can't afford to be aggressive.
A point that the tofu ferocities of New York might bear in mind is that wars seldom turn out as expected, usually with godawful results. We do not know what would happen in a war with Russia.
This plus eleventy
This is particularly true when the war is a manhood ritual for masculine inadequates–think Kristol, Podhoretz, Sanders, the whole Neocon milk bar, and that mendacious wreck, Hillary, who has the military grasp of a Shetland pony. If you don’t think weak egos and perpetual adolescence have a part in deciding policy, read up on Kaiser Wilhelm.
Looking at wars and hte road to wars as rational activities will leave one astray. Hatred, honor, greed, and such are better guides.
The US has not faced a real enemy in a long time. In that time the armed forces have been feminized and social-justice warriorified
Indeed.
The same danger exists incidentally with regard to a war with China in the South China Sea. The American Navy hasn’t fought a war in seventy years. It doesn’t know how well its armament works. The Chinese, who are not fools, have invested in weaponry specifically designed to defeat carrier battle groups.
China is another kettle of fish. But the thing is, no one knows how well Chinese (or Russian, but especially Chinese) hardware will work. Not just performance specs, but actually just fire off. And of Russia's vaunted numbers of tanks in WWII, half never made it to the battlefield, breaking down along the way.
