First, read this:

MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin (news - web sites) said Wednesday that Russia is developing a new form of nuclear missile unlike those held by other countries, news agencies reported.

Speaking at a meeting of the Armed Forces' leadership, Putin reportedly said that Russia is researching and successfully testing new nuclear missile systems.


"I am sure that ... they will be put in service within the next few years and, what is more, they will be developments of the kind that other nuclear powers do not and will not have," Putin was quoted as saying by the ITAR-Tass news agency.


Putin reportedly said: "International terrorism is one of the major threats for Russia. We understand as soon as we ignore such components of our defense as a nuclear and missile shield, other threats may occur."


No details were immediately available, but Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said earlier this month that Russia expected to test-fire a mobile version of its Topol-M ballistic missile this year and that production of the new weapon could be commissioned in 2005.


News reports have also said Russia is believed to be developing a next-generation heavy nuclear missile that could carry up to 10 nuclear warheads weighing a total of 4.4 tons, compared with the Topol-M's 1.32-ton combat payload.


Topol-Ms have been deployed in silos since 1998. The missiles have a range of about 6,000 miles and reportedly can maneuver in ways that are difficult to detect.


Earlier this year, a senior Defense Ministry official was quoted as telling news agencies that Russia had developed a weapon that could make the United States' proposed missile-defense system useless. Details were not given, but military analysts said the claimed new weapon could be a hypersonic cruise missile or maneuverable ballistic missile warheads.

Second:

Think about it from a strategic point of view... poor Russia, they have no money, the subs are rusting, boo-hoo... they are not a threat anymore. OR is that really true? Think about it. Isn't it possible that we let our guard down with the "terror war"?

I don't really know... but thought it would make for a good OT post.

Just a thought.

Pete

Now THAT's re-assuring

I don't trust the ruskies and I wouldn't if i were any of you either...

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72 W114/M130

RedMeat cartoon

PUTIN was Ex-KGB, supposedly.......I don't think EX should have been used, he's still KGB to the core.

No the cold war wasn't completely over, its more like a lukewarm war now however.

Of course all the dissillusioned peaceniks who want us to totally disarm would leave us vulnerable to the Chinese, the Russians and everyone else with a nuke.

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Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
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Section 609 MVAC Certified
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

Mr. Putin was the director of the KGB before it was reinvented as a *security agency*
Comrade, you are now a certified security agent, now you can kill with the blessing of the FRR(Federation of Russian Republics, is that what we call them this week?) and we will not deny any knowledge of you, but will merely say you where *acting alone*, personally, I still prefer calling them the FSU(Former Soviet Union)
All things considered, the statement about the missile is just a *hard sell* to his own military, where will the money for R&D come from? They have problems meeting the military payroll. We have ex-FSU military guys looking for work around here as training staff or mercernaries, you pay US$ up front and chose the target, they provide the fireworks. I am not joking about this, the INTERPOL has it's hands full with investigations involving ex-Soviet military personnel

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Nachi11744

I think the rest of the world is about to re-arm because of OUR belligerent activities. Our pre-emptive invasion may have caught the attention of many who wish not to be pre-empted. The Russians and the Europeans, after four years of estrangement under Bush, have figured out they really don't need us anymore. The French, the Germans and the Russians are about to form their own alliance. The price we have paid for our "go it alone" policy is the rest of the world is about to let us do just that.

You are right. Even Malaysia is nervous about the US pre-emptive strike policy, so military equipment is being sourced from other countries.
Aircraft=Russia
Navy=British, Italian and German and of course, EXOCETs from France
Army=South Africe and recently Poland
US=

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Nachi11744

Kirk, you may want to be the unarmed guy at the gunfight, but thank god most of us don't.

A little lesson in world politics is a lot like High school. You have bullies, and they like to threaten others....And if you want to be the timid pascifist that hands over his lunch money to the bullies everyday and still gets his butt kicked because he is afraid to stand up for himself, do so......

Luckily that mindset is limited the the BLUE area of the map. If it wasn't for the RED people on the map and people like them, We would not be the USA and today you would be speaking either Japanses OR German .

We have the right and the need to be properly armed to defend our freedom.

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
---------------------
Section 609 MVAC Certified
---------------------
"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

BRAVO, BRAVO!!!

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I'm not too sure I can buy the whole, "We are a poor nation and can't pay our bills" routine that comes out of the USSR (They will always bee the USSR to me. -- that's just me) I think they can, do, and will pay for such a program.

I don't doubt what you're saying, but I think the $$ *IS* there for these projects.

Pete

Not sure this is really all that comforting anymore. We had months and months to concentrate our satellite surviellance capabilities on Iraq and pinpoint those WMD, especially if they were being shuffled around as some have suggested, to hide them from those buffoons, the UN inspectors. But we came up empty. Personally I would not rely much on our intelligence gathering and processing capabilities right now.

And boneheaddoctor, go back and read your posts to get some frame of reference for how you are being perceived. Like this one:

"Quote:
Originally Posted by KirkVining
I think the rest of the world is about to re-arm because of OUR belligerent activities. Our pre-emptive invasion may have caught the attention of many who wish not to be pre-empted. The Russians and the Europeans, after four years of estrangement under Bush, have figured out they really don't need us anymore. The French, the Germans and the Russians are about to form their own alliance. The price we have paid for our "go it alone" policy is the rest of the world is about to let us do just that.



Kirk, you may want to be the unarmed guy at the gunfight, but thank god most of us don't.

A little lesson in world politics is a lot like High school. You have bullies, and they like to threaten others....And if you want to be the timid pascifist that hands over his lunch money to the bullies everyday and still gets his butt kicked because he is afraid to stand up for himself, do so......

Luckily that mindset is limited the the BLUE area of the map. If it wasn't for the RED people on the map and people like them, We would not be the USA and today you would be speaking either Japanses OR German .

We have the right and the need to be properly armed to defend our freedom."

What does your response to Kirk's post, which you quoted to make us all aware of what you were responding to, I suppose, have to do with Kirk's post?

For example, where does the analogy to the school yard bully fit in? In a preemtive strike, you are being the bully. You are attacking not because someone attacked you, but because they have something you want to physically wrest from them. It can be lunch money or oil. Pick the prize.

Also, where did Kirk's post suggest he was advocating an America without a strong military? Having lived in Europe for more than a decade, I experienced first hand the relief Europe felt that America had a very strong military, and we were very willing to use it to help them fend off the Russians. Their trust in us was based on our actions after WWII, when, had we been a nation of thieves and criminals we would have treated them like property, taken their land, possessions and enslaved them. Instead we treated our Allies like equals, and the conquered like humans. We helped them all get back on their feet. Our response after WWII was unique in human history. We did the same for the Japanese.

This earned us a loyal following in those countries that has begun to fade on its own, just because those present at the time have aged and are now in the vast minority. The following generations have not been willing to grant the US the same allegiance on faith. Our opportunity to demonstrate what America is occurs every day. But in the last 4 years we have elected to tell the Europeans we only value their allegiance if they shut up and do as we tell them. We don't even pretend to treat them as equals anymore. Which has made them learn to be self sufficient. And that is the first step toward becoming an equal, something we should not have welcomed so readily.

Step back and look at the present situation not as a set of problems to be resolved in a year or two so things can return to what they were. That doesn't happen. Look at everything we do as how it sets America up for being what we want her to be in the next century. And the one after that. If it is not apparent we cannot maintain our role of leadership with guns, bombs and cowboys for Presidents who got their foreign policy from western movie scripts, you have not really tried. Jim

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Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)

Are those the same birds we use to locate mobile chemical weapons labs?

Funny how some things work out, eh?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/frontpage/story/0,,2091131,00.html

The cold war was really nice compared to what we have now. Lots of good defense industry jobs, a single enemy. Yeah wars are to damn complex now.

Before you lined up your army, the enemy lined up his and whoever was left standing won. These days its hard to figure out who the enemy is, even more who to shoot.

Life was simple...

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2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

You installed a missile defense shield. Assuming it works, it makes you more impervious to missiles. What did you expect them to do?

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01 Ford Excursion Powerstroke
99 E300 Turbodiesel
91 Vette with 383 motor
05 Polaris Sportsman 800 EFI
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