Russia

[TGHusker]

29 minutes ago, Cdog923 said:

 

So I wonder if Putin will interpret that as USA getting involved - who knows what that madman will threaten us with.  

[Archy1221]

3 hours ago, JJ Husker said:

I don’t disagree with much of what you say. However there are two things. Biden and the dems will likely be routed in upcoming elections but it will be due to the economy and not much else. Doesn’t matter which party is in charge, with this inflation and gas prices where they’ll be, those perceived in charge will pay for it in the election booth. The 2nd thing is, I think it’s a bit premature to claim anyone has brought down Russia. They are still killing scores of innocent Ukrainian people and appear headed towards achieving their objective. It remains to be seen if the sanctions will do much more than cause suffering for the Russian people.

I think you are spot on here.  The Independent voters will punish whoever’s in charge at the time and some partisan voters of the party in charge will stay home as a protest “vote”.  Same thing would happen in R’s were in charge.  

[Stumpy1]

3 hours ago, VectorVictor said:

 

We only get 1-2% of our oil from Russia, so it shouldn't have a 7-8% impact on the market. That's just panic and price gouging by those in control. 

 

Of course, the Brandon supporters have no f****** clue how reality works, so they'll just blame Biden. 

Last year, almost 10% of our imported oil came from Russia.   Canada is our largest oil supplier and then Mexico, The Middle East and Russia are all about the same.

[TGHusker]

Here is the darker side of some thinking as to why that 40 mile convey has stalled outside if Kiev.  Some sour cheese to chew on.

 

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/putin-threatens-to-nuke-the-world-opinion/ar-AAUMdF3?ocid=entnewsntp

 

Quote

 

Many analysts say nuclear weapons have no utility in Ukraine, but that assessment does not take into account Putin's maliciousness. One use of tactical nukes would be to avoid high-casualty, street-by-street battles in Kyiv and other cities.

Why is the now-famous Russian 40-mile tank column not entering the Ukrainian capital? Mud, fuel shortages and enemy attacks may not be the only reasons. Russia could be thinking of employing weapons of mass destruction—chemical or nuclear—before trying to capture Kyiv.

As Russian forces have encountered unexpected resistance, Russia's threats have come at a fast pace. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday that World War III would be nuclear.

 

More:

Quote

 

For three decades, Americans did not think seriously about nuclear weapons. Instead, they resorted to slogans, such as the one President Biden adopted just last June in a joint statement with Putin: "A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought."

Moreover, Biden could be going beyond mere sloganeering. Up until the Ukraine invasion, many expected his administration would announce in the Nuclear Posture Review the adoption of a No First Use or Sole Purpose policy. Both policies, radical departures from the one in place since the 1940s, would prevent the U.S. from using nukes to protect allies from non-nuclear attacks.

"This gives the enemy the initiative, should they wish to go nuclear under an escalation-to-win strategy, and seriously undercuts the extended nuclear umbrella deterrent that we provide to our NATO and western Pacific allies," Huessy told Newsweek last year, referring to Biden adopting such policies. "This would be a huge gift to China and Russia," noted a "European official" to the Financial Times.

China, Russia's "no limits" partner (the pair adopted the phrase in the 5,000-word joint statement last month), has formally adopted No First Use. And Beijing is keenly watching what happens in Ukraine.

If Putin's nuke threats prevent others coming to Ukraine's rescue, he will undoubtedly employ similar warnings to grab the Baltic States, Poland and other areas. The ambitious Russian leader wants to reassemble the Soviet Union, but it looks like he also harbors even grander ambitions, such as incorporating all the territories of the old Russian Empire. He may even be looking for more than that.

China is also demanding "lost" territory. To grab it, Beijing has periodically made unprovoked threats to incinerate American population centers. And beginning last July, Chinese propaganda talked about lobbing nuclear weapons into Japanese and Australian cities.

Beijing's primary target remains Taiwan. Former Chinese disarmament diplomat Sha Zukang once issued a public warning that China would nuke the island republic.

"As Russian nuclear forces have already deterred President Biden from sending troops to Ukraine and deterred NATO from giving more combat aircraft to Ukraine, so China has long ago decided to use nuclear blackmail to keep the U.S. out of its future murder of Taiwan's democracy," said Richard Fisher of the International Assessment and Strategy Center to Newsweek. "But that's not all. For the last decade, China and Russia have been building a military entente that has long included cooperation in 'strategic defense,' or defense against U.S. nuclear missiles. It is highly plausible that China and Russia already have decided to cooperate in 'strategic offense,' or the coordination of their nuclear forces to blackmail or even to destroy the United States."

President Biden, when asked on February 28 whether Americans should be worried about a nuclear attack, gave a one-word response: "No."

The correct answer was "yes."

On the day after Putin raised nuclear forces to high alert, the U.S. Strategic Command put its "doomsday plane," the E-4B, into the air. The craft is designed to protect the president, senior civilian officials and top military commanders in the event of a nuclear attack.

 

 

[Notre Dame Joe]

7 hours ago, BigRedBuster said:

 

If it wasn't bad enough that we ended a 50 year policy of never allowing China and Russia to be closer to each other than to US, we now have Europe not really coming along.

 

Quote

Scholz cautioned that such a move could put Europe’s energy security at risk, and that energy imports from Russia were currently essential to citizens’ daily lives.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2022/mar/07/markets-slide-surging-oil-price-stagflation-ftse-russia-sanctions-business-live

[commando]

lol

 

 

[Notre Dame Joe]

Biden Admin backs off plan to transfer Polish MIG jets to Ukraine.

 

Quote

A senior administration official told POLITICO that the U.S. intelligence community and the Defense Department have been opposed to the transfer of the Polish planes to Ukraine, due to the complications in getting them over the border and into the hands of Ukrainian pilots. The Polish government also didn't consult with their U.S. counterparts before making the announcement.

 

A statement by Defense Department spokesperson John Kirby reflected that deep concern late Tuesday, saying “we do not believe Poland’s proposal is a tenable one,” and it is “simply not clear to us that there is a substantive rationale for it.”

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/poland-transfers-mig-fighters-u-192255421.html

[knapplc]

They're going to have enough for their own military parade soon...

 

 

 

 

 

[TGHusker]

 

[BigRedBuster]

I'm a little confused as to what Poland proposed.  This report claims they were offering to fly the jets to Germany and give them to the US.  OK...what would we do with them?  Why is it looked at as they would be giving the planes the the US?

 

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-surprised-polands-decision-give-it-fighter-jets-ukraine-2022-03-08/

 

 

[knapplc]

3 minutes ago, BigRedBuster said:

I'm a little confused as to what Poland proposed.  This report claims they were offering to fly the jets to Germany and give them to the US.  OK...what would we do with them?  Why is it looked at as they would be giving the planes the the US?

 

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-surprised-polands-decision-give-it-fighter-jets-ukraine-2022-03-08/

 

 

 

It didn't make a lot of sense, and it's sounding more like this was a half of a thought that some apparatchik said out loud before any actual plans were made. There weren't any US/Poland/NATO discussions about this.

 

 

[VectorVictor]

17 hours ago, Stumpy1 said:

Last year, almost 10% of our imported oil came from Russia.   Canada is our largest oil supplier and then Mexico, The Middle East and Russia are all about the same.

 

https://afdc.energy.gov/data/10621

 

The latest official figures through 2019 show Russia is ~5% at best, so I don't know where 10% is coming from. You are correct that Russia is on par with Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and OPEC countries. 

 

It's also why the US has begun discussions with Venezuela and we've seen a good faith gesture on Venezuela's part (release of an imprisoned US citizen). I'm not excited about getting in bed with Venezuela to replace our Russian imports...but when we're so dependent on oil we do what we must. 

 

Another reason that the sectors of our economy that *can* go green, including transportation, *should* go green ASAP. With the economy as red hot as it is, now is the time to introduce market disruption while the market can take the hit. 
 

 

 

[suh_fan93]

 

[TGHusker]

Intelligence says Putin bluffing on nukes.  So, what does NATO do - roll the dice and call his bluff.  This game of chicken has some pretty high stakes.  

For my part, I think he is bluffing unless he has some martyrs' syndrome - of course no one would be around to honor his martyrdom if he isn't bluffing. 

Of course if NATO gets involved, it doesn't have to be a nuke war, Russia may attack Poland or the Baltic states and create a ground war that spreads through Europe.  That also is suicidal for Putin.   I think we should call his bluff - start small.  Support Poland if they send the air planes directly to Ukraine. Putin's economy and the Russian people won't support an enlarged war.  Of course, Putin cares little about his own people - just his legacy which is becoming more Hitler like each day. 

 

I think we parachute a bunch of these  over Russia  - the Russian people will revolt when we tell them they can't have any more until they kick Putin out of office. 

 

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/us-intelligence-accuses-putin-of-bluffing-over-nuclear-threats/ar-AAUOD4q?ocid=entnewsntp

[Cdog923]

32 minutes ago, TGHusker said:

Intelligence says Putin bluffing on nukes.  So, what does NATO do - roll the dice and call his bluff.  This game of chicken has some pretty high stakes.  

For my part, I think he is bluffing unless he has some martyrs' syndrome - of course no one would be around to honor his martyrdom if he isn't bluffing. 

Of course if NATO gets involved, it doesn't have to be a nuke war, Russia may attack Poland or the Baltic states and create a ground war that spreads through Europe.  That also is suicidal for Putin.   I think we should call his bluff - start small.  Support Poland if they send the air planes directly to Ukraine. Putin's economy and the Russian people won't support an enlarged war.  Of course, Putin cares little about his own people - just his legacy which is becoming more Hitler like each day. 

 

I think we parachute a bunch of these  over Russia  - the Russian people will revolt when we tell them they can't have any more until they kick Putin out of office. 

 

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/us-intelligence-accuses-putin-of-bluffing-over-nuclear-threats/ar-AAUOD4q?ocid=entnewsntp

 

Or, tell them they get breakfast runzas when they overthrow Putin.