kabud:
I’ve read your comments with great amusement. Does it really MATTER that Russia has 40,000 nukes and there is only 1,000 positioned in Europe? Do you not think that those 1,000 would destroy all of European Russia? Do you not think that a SINGLE US Navy Ohio class submarine laying undetected in ice off the north coast of Siberia couldn’t target Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and a dozen other Russian cities… if EVERY ONE of the 1,000 European missiles were destroyed pre-emptively? Come on! Why even compare numbers? What’s the point of such madness? The USA could destroy Russia with nukes. Russia could destroy the USA with nukes. No elected President of the USA would ever “push the button” first. As unstable as Kruschev was, he never took it to that level. Putin is emminently brighter… it’s just never going to happen. You just don’t get it: all of those former Soviet satellite republics reaching out to the USA and NATO have done so for a REASON – they’ve already lived (been subjected to) the Soviet/Russian way of life, and don’t WANT a return to that. If there is anything the USA has erred in understanding Russia and its recent stance on Georgia, Ukraine, and Moldova, it is that Putin and Russia will seek to shore up its influence in those regions historically tied to Russia, those regions where ethnic Russians are a significant portion of the population or are of major strategic importance militarily and/or economically. Russia has already paid a terrible economic price for their unilateral military action across a sovereign country’s border, and as they have quickly discovered, reinstilling foreign investment faith in Russia may take years to achieve. Putin and Medvedev stating that Europe would be hurt more by imposing sanctions against Russia than Russia would be hurt by the (essentially) imposed isolation of them was not completely thought out… yes, the EU is quite reliant on Russian oil and natural gas, BUT, foreign investment (most importantly, the USA, which is NOT hostage to Russian oil) in Russia is EQUALLY critical to Russia’s rise as a global economic power. Personally, I have written hundreds of articles and columns espousing the wisdom of a USA – Russia partnership. The tone in the Kremlin today is: “its done” (the Georgian conflict), and “it’s back to business as usual. It’s SAFE to invest here… really! Please invest with us again!” … We all know the day is coming: the USS Ronald Reagan docked in Sevastopol at its new Black Sea berth… get hip dude! Now, you know I’m joking, but there are paranoid neo-Soviets in the Kremlin who wake up with that nightmare every day. Which do you think will happen sooner, that, or the Peter the Great docked at Guantanamo Bay, seriously?
