Russian troops on high readiness in South Ossetia

[c1ue]

Re: Russian troops on high readiness in South Ossetia

I think the key is to look where stories are coming from.

I've been in Russia for several weeks - Putin is in the news every day.

What has he been doing?

1) Visiting a beluga whale researcher at Lake Baikal/wildlife research center (he also asked how 'his' tiger was doing)
2) Visiting a 'Young Inventors' fair in Tver - saw this in person
3) Laid flowers at a memorial for a WW II Fighter Ace in Siberia somewhere - I think it was Vasilovich
4) Visited a factory somewhere in Siberia and hammered out a part on a forge

This was just in the past 3 days or so.

As for bare chested fist pounding - which nation's leaders are the ones who have sent more troops into combat in the past 6 months? 1 year? 5 years? 10 years?

:rolleyes:

[D-Mack]

Re: Russian troops on high readiness in South Ossetia

Great find and a funny tribute to Ricardo he had a fine career. But the original is a work of art.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRnSn...eature=related

But on a serious note since this is a thread about the Machoing of Putin. Do you think Obama is shouting PUUUTIN!

Russian Subs Patrolling Off East Coast of U.S.

By MARK MAZZETTI and THOM SHANKER
Published: August 4, 2009

WASHINGTON — A pair of nuclear-powered Russian attack submarines has been patrolling off the eastern seaboard of the United States in recent days, a rare mission that has raised concerns inside the Pentagon and intelligence agencies about a more assertive stance by the Russian military.

The episode has echoes of the cold war era, when the United States and the Soviet Union regularly parked submarines off each other’s coasts to steal military secrets, track the movements of their underwater fleets — and be poised for war.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/05/world/05patrol.html

They bragged with an undetected launch

Russia outwitted U.S. strategic defenses with missile test

13:3315/07/2009
Multimedia
Photo:

Strategic Missile Force Day
Photo:

Russia marks Missile Force and Artillery Day

MOSCOW, July 15 (RIA Novosti) - The United States was unable to detect the presence of Russian strategic submarines in the Arctic before they test-launched two ballistic missiles, a Russian intelligence source said on Wednesday.

Russia carried out test launches of two Sineva intercontinental ballistic missiles from two Delta IV class nuclear-powered submarines, located near the North Pole, on July 13-14.

"The American radars certainly detected the missile launches but their location took them by surprise," the source said.

The first missile, flying a ballistic path, hit its designated target at the Kura testing grounds on the Kamchatka Peninsula, while the second, fired with a flat trajectory, destroyed a target at the Chizha testing site on the White Sea.
http://en.rian.ru/mlitary_news/20090715/155530936.html

The nuclear option is the only thng Russia has, and they are afraid of stuff like Conplan 8022 and the missile shield.

[flintlock]

Re: Russian troops on high readiness in South Ossetia

In any case, he's tough as leather.

Anyway, more Putin shenanigans.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090805/...russia_us_subs

Subs off the US coast? What, the cold war is back on now? Putin is trying to portray himself as a loose cannon. Usually leaders do that when they are feeling weak otherwise. Of course what if he really is a loose cannon?:eek:

Edit, sorry I see someone already posted that link. Anyway, is this all just posturing? The Iran connection bothers me.

[don]

Re: Russian troops on high readiness in South Ossetia

And all this time I thought it was those fake doubloons on the fenders that everyone was lusting after...:cool:

Fake?

Oh my.....:eek:

[ASH]

Re: Russian troops on high readiness in South Ossetia

oh, that? back-up plan... in case the fiscal stimulus fails again... like in the 1930s.

I sure hope you are not right. I live 10 minutes from launch:mad:. Print Ben Print!

I think Russia's domestic need for chest-thumping is inversely proportional to its military capacity. Now that oil prices are recovering -- and provided they stay high -- I think Russia will soon be flush with cash again. If the good times roll again, Russians will be content, the Russian state will be strong, and Russia will be able to reconstitute its military capacity much more rapidly. I would still expect Russia to be assertive of its security interests in that case, but there would be less of a domestic need to drum up nationalistic sentiment. I would expect less showmanship at home, but more substance abroad.

As for the American need for chest-thumping... the America of 2009 isn't the America of 1938. Culturally, a national security justification was required for the massive deficit spending of WWII. Today, we don't need a war to justify deficit spending; we "stimulate" as a matter of course, and the public expects their government to do so. (And, it should not be forgotten, today our ability to borrow and spend is more likely to be constrained by the ire of our creditors than the ire of our voters.) The other economic function of WWII -- destroying productive capacity around the world and expending vast resources -- isn't on the table. Now as during the Cold War, a shooting match serves no one's purposes because the destruction would be too comprehensive. So if we don't need a defense threat to justify stimulus spending, and if an actual shooting war would be rather too effective at destroying physical capital, the main purpose served by American chest-thumping is as a distraction from economic misery. This administration has branded itself as conciliatory on the international scene, and a champion of economic recovery through large-scale spending on non-military projects. It is unlikely to rebrand itself as a nationalistic flag-waver. Instead, we should worry about the next administration doing so.

[metalman]

Re: Russian troops on high readiness in South Ossetia

I think Russia's domestic need for chest-thumping is inversely proportional to its military capacity. Now that oil prices are recovering -- and provided they stay high -- I think Russia will soon be flush with cash again. If the good times roll again, Russians will be content, the Russian state will be strong, and Russia will be able to reconstitute its military capacity much more rapidly. I would still expect Russia to be assertive of its security interests in that case, but there would be less of a domestic need to drum up nationalistic sentiment. I would expect less showmanship at home, but more substance abroad.

As for the American need for chest-thumping... the America of 2009 isn't the America of 1938. Culturally, a national security justification was required for the massive deficit spending of WWII. Today, we don't need a war to justify deficit spending; we "stimulate" as a matter of course, and the public expects their government to do so. (And, it should not be forgotten, today our ability to borrow and spend is more likely to be constrained by the ire of our creditors than the ire of our voters.) The other economic function of WWII -- destroying productive capacity around the world and expending vast resources -- isn't on the table. Now as during the Cold War, a shooting match serves no one's purposes. So if we don't need a defense threat to justify stimulus spending, and if an actual shooting war would be rather too effective at destroying physical capital, the main purpose served by American chest-thumping is as a distraction from economic misery. This administration has branded itself as conciliatory on the international scene, and a champion of economic recovery through large-scale spending on non-military projects. It is unlikely to rebrand itself as a nationalistic flag-waver. Instead, we should worry about the next administration doing so.

makes more sense than my idea. thx.

best story on bare chested putin yet...

Gay Russians claim bare-chested Putin as one of their own | Mail ...

Aug 23, 2007

When Vladimir Putin stripped down to the waist for the cameras, his muscled torso made headlines around the world.

And one week on, the ripples are still being felt in Russia, where he has become a sex symbol, the inspiration for men to start pumping iron, and the new darling of the gay lobby.

Few could have predicted the explosion of gossip and speculation that followed the publication of the pictures, taken while the president holidayed with Prince Albert II of Monaco in the Siberian mountains.