Did world war 3 just start?

[avboiler11]

Just Russia testing response times/ reactions. They did this recently in Finland, if my memory serves me.

They're not probing...they'll trolling.

There is a difference.

 

[Phil502]

Nice job Barry, cut the missile program for Poland and now bring 600 guys in that you can pull out as soon as trouble starts. How can any country trust this bastard?

 

[printcraft]

Nice job Barry, cut the missile program for Poland and now bring 600 guys in that you can pull out as soon as trouble starts. How can any country trust this bastard?

Well, he does have a Nobel Peace Prize and they don't just give those out to someone that hasn't done anything to earn them.

 

[ArcadiaGP]

I like how the US is sending troops to Poland because Romney was so dumb for calling Russia our top geopolitical foe.

 

[BogWalker]

Well, he does have a Nobel Peace Prize and they don't just give those out to someone that hasn't done anything to earn them.

You see, there's your problem. They don't have a Nobel Warfare Prize. A fellow who would win that is the guy we need to handle this.

 

[9mmfan]

The Russians are just looking for a chance to respond to a NATO country shooting down one of their aircraft or sink a Russian ship. He'll roll right into Eastern Europe and Obama will just be watching it on tv with his mouth open.

 

[Phil502]

Well, he does have a Nobel Peace Prize and they don't just give those out to someone that hasn't done anything to earn them.

he should send a pic of himself holding his Peace Prize with Michelle next to him making her mean face....Putin would crap himself and catch the first ride east.

 

[ArcadiaGP]

Wow.

https://twitter.com/mfa_russia/status/459393482457874432

Russian Foreign Minister:

"They say the situation in Ukraine depends entirely on us. We’re flattered, but surely a “regional power” cannot achieve that much?"

 

[avboiler11]

Russia is pretty dern "regional" with Ukraine.

 

[Kutnupe14]

I like how the US is sending troops to Poland because Romney was so dumb for calling Russia our top geopolitical foe.

Romney was dumb. Our to geopolitical foe is China by a landslide. Russia is just trying to recapture lost glory, but have neither the economy nor the conventional military to do so.

 

[Kutnupe14]

Nice job Barry, cut the missile program for Poland and now bring 600 guys in that you can pull out as soon as trouble starts. How can any country trust this bastard?

He shouldn't have sent the Spartans X2 to Europe. He should have cut the Polish missile program. We have ZERO obligation to those hard bread eaters unless they are attacked; and even in that, we shouldn't be doing that much.

 

[T.Lex]

It is undeniable that some portion of the motivation for the actions in Ukraine/Crimea is based on nostalgia. Certain people were better off in Soviet times, and they miss that.

It also brings up the resource issue. I remember the Ukraine being described as the breadbasket of the Soviet Union. Some on here may be familiar with the statistics that the midwest - "flyover country" - of the US is the most efficient and most productive within the US. The Ukraine held similar station in the USSR.

Various sources (including the CIA - take that for what you will) estimate that the Ukraine supplied 25% of the agricultural production of the entire Soviet Union. That's a staggering figure given the size and scale of that nation.

So, times change in the last 25 years, but the reality is that the Ukraine still has great natural resources and has the top 3 most important qualities an invader would want: location, location, location. I'm not saying Russia will invade, but a slew of commentators are saying it won't happen. I am not nearly as convinced.

 

[Phil502]

He shouldn't have sent the Spartans X2 to Europe. He should have cut the Polish missile program. We have ZERO obligation to those hard bread eaters unless they are attacked; and even in that, we shouldn't be doing that much.

Says you, he's done a lot more for a lot less of an Ally, and I doubt if he's out there to secure Poland. More like a political move to make him look like less of a chump and it's not working. Probably told the Poles some bs lies to get them to let him do it.

 

[Kutnupe14]

Says you, he's done a lot more for a lot less of an Ally, and I doubt if he's out there to secure Poland. More like a political move to make him look like less of a chump and it's not working. Probably told the Poles some bs lies to get them to let him do it.

Outside of NATO, Why should we care about Poland?

 

[Dead Duck]

Outside of NATO, Why should we care about Poland?

Because they have invented most of the world's jokes.

 

[T.Lex]

Outside of NATO, Why should we care about Poland?

haha

I never figured you for a neo-isolationist!

Framed another way, outside of the US, what do we care about democracy? Freedom? (Hell, do we even care about these things inside the US?!)

Plus, NATO is a pretty big "other than." For a different spin, try, what do we care about our treaty commitments? Are they simply matters of convenience or does the USA honor her promises?

 

[hornadylnl]

haha

I never figured you for a neo-isolationist!

Framed another way, outside of the US, what do we care about democracy? Freedom? (Hell, do we even care about these things inside the US?!)

Plus, NATO is a pretty big "other than." For a different spin, try, what do we care about our treaty commitments? Are they simply matters of convenience or does the USA honor her promises?

I've been scanning the news waiting to hear about the mass exodus of Americans headed to Ukraine to join their army.

....Crickets....

 

[T.Lex]

I've been scanning the news waiting to hear about the mass exodus of Americans headed to Ukraine to join their army.

....Crickets....

haha

Funny you should mention that. Indy has a relatively significant Russian-speaking population, including a bunch from the Ukraine (especially the northside). I know a successful Ukrainian expat who is making contingency plans to go back and fight if it does break out.

Having said that, there weren't that many volunteers before Pearl Harbor, either. My grandfather volunteered the summer of '41 and beat the rush.

 

[Kutnupe14]

haha

I never figured you for a neo-isolationist!

Framed another way, outside of the US, what do we care about democracy? Freedom? (Hell, do we even care about these things inside the US?!)

Plus, NATO is a pretty big "other than." For a different spin, try, what do we care about our treaty commitments? Are they simply matters of convenience or does the USA honor her promises?

Oh yeah, I'm cut from the Wilson-Tokugawa school if isolationism. Seriously though, NATO is dumb. It's gotten so large that eventually they'll probably start fighting each other (I'm looking at you Germany and the massive debts you want paid back from other EU members). I think we should pull out, and have a handful of treaties with other nations, NONE of which are in eastern Europe.

 

[T.Lex]

Why not Eastern Europe?

You fancy the notion of "spheres of influence" and give up that one to Russia?

There is some precedent for withdrawing from NATO. France did it, and I'm not sure they ever went back in.

Having said that, I actually think NATO is more important now than 10 years ago. Russia is actively seeking to reinstate the hegemony of the Warsaw Pact. I see the risk of NATO action as one of the key obstacles that Putin is strategizing around.