All Posts Tagged With: "cold war"
Russian Bear Waging New COLD WAR- like Threats
Putin in clearly banking on the election of an inexperienced U. S. President in Obama he sees as impotent and indecisive.
Russia keeps upping the ante in its retaliatory moves for the greatly expanded U.S. and NATO presence in the Baltic, Eastern Europe, .and Black Sea to support the former Soviet republic of Georgia. On Monday, the two Tupolev Tu-160 Blackjack (White Swan) nuclear bombers it sent to Venezuela Sept. 10 carried out a six-hour patrol over the Caribbean Sea.
Putin in clearly banking on the election of an inexperienced U. S. President in Obama he sees as impotent and indecisive.
The fiercely anti-American communist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was so pleased to host the Tu-160s that he scheduled a personal audience with their crews Tuesday.
RIA Novosti also announced the two bombers would fly back to their home air base in southern Russia from Venezuela’s Libertador Air Base on Wednesday, three days later than their originally announced departure date.
The symbolism was obvious. The United States had infuriated the Russians by sending warships in support of Georgia to the Black Sea, which has been a virtual Russian lake for the past 250 years. So the Russians sent two of their most formidable nuclear bombers over the Caribbean Sea, which has been an American preserve for well over a century.
But the Tu-160 deployments and flights carry a far more ominous message to the U. S. A.: If Russia permanently deploys its Tu-160s in Venezuela, the United States could be at a greater risk than at any time since the darkest days of the Cold War.
The Blackjack is a Mach-2, 1,380 mph, super-long-range Tu-160s can carry stand-off X-555 cruise missiles with a range of 2,000 miles. That means that from a base in Venezuela, they could “loiter” over the Caribbean for 10 or more hours at a time with a capability of firing their Mach 2.8 cruise missiles that are capable of flying around 1,800 mph at sea level and hugging ground contours so their exact flight path could not be intercepted in advance with a range that could hit almost any target in the entire United States.
Since the end of the Cold War, the United States has let virtually all its domestic defenses against manned bomber attacks vanish. The Blackjacks would fly well “under the umbrella” of even Patriot PAC-3 and U.S. Navy Standard Missile-3 anti-ballistic missiles, none of which are designed for manned aircraft interception. The cold fact is that the United States currently has no missile defense system capable of knocking down a Blackjack missile attack or of preventing a cruise missile launch unless combat fighter aircraft — which are only a few hundred miles per hour faster than the Mach-2 Blackjacks — can intercept them.
RIA Novosti described the Tu-160 Blackjack as “a supersonic, variable-geometry heavy bomber designed to strike strategic targets with nuclear and conventional weapons deep in continental theaters of operation.”
The Russian news agency cited a Russian air force spokesman as saying the two Tu-160s were equipped only with dummy missiles without warheads.
But, of course, if Tu-160s were to be based permanently at Libertador Air Base, or elsewhere in Venezuela in the future, the missiles they carried might not always be dummy ones. Unspoken is that those airbases are vulnerable to nuclear and conventional weapons attacks by U. S. Airforce and naval aircraft that could render the threat moot.
Russia is playing for time. High oil prices has allowed it to bank a half trillion dollars but its tock market has collapsed losing 51% in value since May. If a flaccid U. S. president is not elected Putin has a whole new kettle of fish to contend with.
Russian Bear Want Back And Bad
President Eisenhower said America’s Greatest Weapon Against the then emerging Soviet Bear was the Good ol’ U. S. greenback.
MOSCOW, August 27 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dimitry Medvedev has said Russia will have to respond militarily to the deployment of elements of a U.S. missile shield in Central Europe.
The deal to place 10 interceptor missiles in Poland was reached in mid-August, and followed the signing of an agreement on July 8 by the U.S. and Czech foreign ministries to place a U.S. radar in the Czech Republic.
“These missiles are close to our borders and constitute a threat to us,” Medvedev said in an interview with Al-Jazeera television on Tuesday. “This will create additional tension and we will have to respond to it in some way, naturally using military means.”
The Russian president said that offering NATO membership to Georgia and Ukraine, two former Soviet republics, would only aggravate the situation. He added that the Ukrainian people should be asked their opinion in national referendum. Opinion polls have consistently shown that a majority of Ukrainians are against their country joining the military alliance.
Moscow has consistently expressed its opposition to the U.S. missile shield, saying it threatens its national security. The U.S. claims the shield is designed to thwart missile attacks by what it calls “rogue states,” including Iran.
Medvedev’s statement came on the same day that Russia recognized the Georgian breakaway republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The move came two weeks after Moscow concluded its operation to “force Georgia to peace” following an attack by Georgian troops on South Ossetia on August.
Western political leaders have condemned Russia’s decision leading to fears of a renewed Cold War. U.S. President George Bush said in a statement on Tuesday: “Russia’s action only exacerbates tensions and complicates diplomatic negotiations.”
“We are not afraid of anything, including the prospect of a new Cold War, but we don’t want one, and in this situation everything depends on the position of our partners,” Medvedev told the Russia Today international news channel on Tuesday.
Russian Threats Fueled By High Oil And Gas Revenues
America’s adversaries are generally buoyed by the possibility of an untested, inexperienced White House and an internally focused liberal Congress.
The Russia President, aka Putin’s Parrot threatened today to pull away from NATO with all that implies including a slide into another “cold war.” Russian natural gas and oil flowing from the Caspian basin through Georgia and to a Mediterranean Sea terminus and port in southern Turkey is funding its global mischief.
Russia has threatened a renewed “Cuban Missile Crisis” by using the island to refuel nuclear capable bombers that could prowl the Caribbean encouraging America’s enemies like Venezuela and Cuba.
Russian ire is provoked in part by its former slave states Poland and the Czech Republic asserting independence and increasing support for NATO neighbors by installing U. S. supplied anti-missile radars and anti-missile missiles.
Russia’s bluster is funded by high natural gas and oil prices. For each dollar oil prices fall Russia loses millions. The recent pullback from $147 a barrel to $115 has cost Russia billions. Economist point our Russia is spending at a rate of $100 a barrel of oil so a further decline would have profound impacts.
If the U. S. throws the switch on more oil production that would put even more downward pressure on oil prices and Russia while moving America toward oil independence. America’s adversaries are generally buoyed by the possibility of an untested, inexperienced White House and an internally focused liberal Congress.
Is it Rhetoric and Demogoguery, or Chimerical Pragmatism?
In an attempt to show Europe and the world that he has the gravitas, dynamism and commitment to be a world leader and capture the Presidency of the United States, Senator Obama took his campaign to Berlin.
There he delivered an unprecedented speech before a record crowd of more than 200,000, his previous record being 75,000 at a rally in western Oregon during the primary campaign.
He spoke eloquently, aristocratically and audaciously. He touched on every issue of concern, to a wide array of the populace. He spoke about nuclear proliferation, famine, poverty, global warming, the apartheid in South Africa, terrorism, irradiating AIDS, genocide in Darfur and a plethora of other issues. All to the chant of the throng, “yes, we can,” Obama’s mantra. He brought the crowd to a frenzy when he said, “the walls between races and tribes; natives and immigrants; Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down.” The largest clamor came when he said, “and despite past differences, this is the moment when the world should support the millions of Iraqis who seek to rebuild their lives, even as we pass responsibility to the Iraqi government and finally bring this war to a close.”
The biggest lull came when he brought the crowd to a somber silence with this statement. “This is the moment when we must renew our resolve to rout the terrorists who threaten our security in Afghanistan, and the traffickers who sell drugs on your streets. No one welcomes war. I recognize the enormous difficulties in Afghanistan. But my country and yours have a stake in seeing that NATO’s first mission beyond Europe’s borders is a success. For the people of Afghanistan, and for our shared security, the work must be done. America cannot do this alone. The Afghan people need our troops and your troops; our support and your support to defeat the Taliban and al Qaeda, to develop their economy, and to help them rebuild their nation. We have too much at stake to turn back now.” This demonstrates Europe’s resolve to me. A true lack of consideration to confront world evil. An unwillingness to stand shoulder to shoulder with another to make the world a better place and to protect not only their own, but others.
But the preponderant issue for me appears to be the same for many others, as noted in a myriad of periodicals around the world. Obama’s speech was short on specifics and long on rhetoric. Although two statements he made humbled me and gave me pause: “I know that I don’t look like the Americans who’ve previously spoken in this great city. The journey that led me here is improbable. My mother was born in the heartland of America, but my father grew up herding goats in Kenya. His father - my grandfather - was a cook, a domestic servant to the British.
“At the height of the Cold War, my father decided, like so many others in the forgotten corners of the world, that his yearning - his dream - required the freedom and opportunity promised by the West. And so he wrote letter after letter to universities all across America until somebody, somewhere answered his prayer for a better life.” And, “But I also know how much I love America. I know that for more than two centuries, we have strived - at great cost and great sacrifice - to form a more perfect union; to seek, with other nations, a more hopeful world. Our allegiance has never been to any particular tribe or kingdom - indeed, every language is spoken in our country; every culture has left its imprint on ours; every point of view is expressed in our public squares. What has always united us - what has always driven our people; what drew my father to America’s shores - is a set of ideals that speak to aspirations shared by all people: that we can live free from fear and free from want; that we can speak our minds and assemble with whomever we choose and worship as we please.
“These are the aspirations that joined the fates of all nations in this city. These aspirations are bigger than anything that drives us apart. It is because of these aspirations that the airlift began. It is because of these aspirations that all free people - everywhere - became citizens of Berlin. It is in pursuit of these aspirations that a new generation - our generation - must make our mark on the world.”
What is one to think? After extensive research of Senator Obama’s record and accomplishments during his tenure, all the ducking and dodging about various controversial issues that have arisen henceforth, and not to mention the lack of specifics apropos issues he espouses, I believe this speech is nothing more than what he has been doing his entire campaign, demagoguery. After all, he is the quintessential demagogue isn’t he?