Ummm...yes! That the whole idea with nuclear weapons. They are for deterrence, not for use.Yea. They still had staff and "in service" equipment, but they weren't prepared to actually use it. — frank
(Military.com, Jan 2021) The aging Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles that have formed the land-based leg of the nation's nuclear deterrent triad for half a century can no longer be upgraded and require costly replacements, Adm. Charles Richard, head of U.S. Strategic Command, said Tuesday.
"Let me be very clear: You cannot life-extend the Minuteman III [any longer]," he said of the 400 ICBMs that sit in underground silos across five states in the upper Midwest.
"We can't do it at all. ... That thing is so old that, in some cases, the drawings don't exist anymore [to guide upgrades]," Richard said in a Zoom conference sponsored by the Defense Writers Group. Where the drawings do exist, "they're like six generations behind the industry standard," he said, adding that there are also no technicians who fully understand them. "They're not alive anymore."
A war that didn't / hasn't happened is in history naturally unprovable, but when talking about wars, that "maybe" is a good thing. But do note that PRIOR to Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine in 2014 NATO was genuinely focused in everything else but Russia.Maybe.
Then again Greece doesn't have much of a military itself, so a war in that situation would be rather quick and favor Turkey. Of course, if you have alliances then it can become a big problem. — Manuel
Who else would you appease? — frank
It's mind boggling that after Iraq and Afghanistan and the rise of ISIS, people who normally lambast the media for being BS artists, now rely on these same sources as being a good source of info for yet another potential war. Craziness. — Manuel
A careful study of the latest and most authoritative documents dealing with the allied intervention in Russia in 1917-1920 reveals the startling designs of Great Britain and France to bring about the complete dismemberment of the Russian realm for their own political and commercial advantage … France and Great Britain came to an actual understanding and agreed to an actual dismemberment of Russia in L’Accord Franco-Anglais du 23 Decembre, 1917 … ‘The zones of influence assigned to each government shall be as follows: The English zone: The Cossack territories, the territory of the Caucasus, Armenia, Georgia, Kurdistan. The French zone: Bessarabia, the Ukraine, the Crimea … ‘
Or the laugh of the ungodly getting their knickers in a twist over some military manoeuvres. — unenlightened
if America wins, — Apollodorus
propaganda and info wars — Apollodorus
There's has been for a long time a tendency to write off Russia, as it cannot overcome it's real problems. Well, perhaps it cannot find solutions to truly solve and overcome it's fundamental problems, but it doesn't mean Russia will go away or cease to exist. It can simply hang on. Russians are good at that.I think Russia will fall in a couple of years. — Christoffer
As far as NATO is concerned, Russia sees the institution as an extension of the United States, not an alliance based on mutual interest, collective defense, and voluntary association. Moscow continues to view the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Cold War terms, as the equivalent of the Warsaw Treaty Organization that USSR created as a mirror image and coerced Eastern Europe into. Russian officials and commentators routinely deny any agency or independent strategic thought to any NATO member other than the United States. Note, for example, that Russia has not sent any similar documents to our North American neighbor, Canada, challenging its role in European security, despite its membership in both NATO and the OSCE and close ties to Ukraine. Canada and other countries barely exist in Russia’s calculations.
These are even the main starting point of every war. We live in an era full of fake news and disinformation. Spreading a lot of lies can lead the people to follow the wrong path.
This conflict is clearly a good example. There are a lot of information floating around that makes a paranoia feeling when we do not really know if a war would happen in the coming months. — javi2541997
Yes, Germany has it tough in terms of military. France used to have an independent path in world affairs - more or less - and did not join NATO until rather recently. If they so wished, they could theoretically form a kind of military union with the UK, though again, one would have to see what the US says about this.
I mean, I agree, NATO has no reason anymore, to continue as an entity. Alliances between countries should more than suffice. The USSR no longer is a threat, not that was a big threat before - compared to US power anyway. — Manuel
Article 1
1. The Federal Republic shall have full authority over its internal and external affairs, except as provided in the present Convention.
Article 2
1. The Three Powers retain, in view of the international situation, the rights, heretofore exercised or held by them, relating to (a) the stationing of armed forces in Germany and the protection of their security, (b) Berlin, and (c) Germany as a whole, including the unification of Germany and a peace settlement.
2. The Federal Republic, on its part, will refrain from any action prejudicial to these rights and will cooperate with the Three Powers [US, UK, France] to facilitate their exercise …
The Federal Republic shall accordingly [after termination of the occupation regime] have the full authority of a sovereign state over its internal and external affairs.
What do you think? Are we closer to finish this tension? Is it a strategic plan from Putin? — javi2541997
As for the chancellor, he has made himself conspicuously scarce in recent weeks — so scarce that the newsmagazine Der Spiegel described him as “nearly invisible, inaudible” … Mr. Scholz’s team announced that after returning from Washington, the chancellor will pivot to a full schedule that he hopes will shift German diplomacy into high gear … But patience is running thin, and Mr. Scholz will have to bring something to the table …
Wonder who will be waiting in the wings to provide some helpful 'aid money' in return for a bit of 'structural adjustment'? — StreetlightX
The United States has offered a sovereign loan guarantee to Ukraine of up to $1 billion to support the country’s economy as the Eastern European country prepares for a possible Russian invasion any day, the Department of State announced on Monday. ... In addition, The State Department said the Export-Import Bank of the United States plans to free up $3 billion “to facilitate procurement of U.S. goods and services for projects in Ukraine.”
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