News from Ukraine Conflict

[GDS_Starfury]

consider that we're the only country left with an actual nuclear triad.....

perhaps we should start running up and down some coasts with our B-2 with exactly 1 radar reflector fitted.  >:D
part of me hopes we are without any.

[GDS_Starfury]

AB... if shit goes that bad I expect every sub and silo to be gone in 15 minutes.  their 'bombers' dont stand a chance.  F-22s are always in Alaska.

[LongBlade]

Putin can rattle the nuclear saber, at some point we may need to rattle back, cuz our's is sharper. I wonder how long those Bears flying near North American airspace would last in a real shooting war?

Bingo.

[GDS_Starfury]

fwiw theres nothing from over there that comes over here that isnt intercepted and escorted within 30 minutes.
and while that sounds like a long time keep in mind that they're tracked for far longer and have propellers.   ::)

[GDS_Starfury]

fuck russia

[Staggerwing]

You have to wonder what would happen if we moved some theater-level nuclear assets into Poland (assuming they gave permission) with a lot of hoopla. The Russian media and gov't spokescritters would blow a gasket but Putin might be a little slower to take a gamble. Nothing says "I fucked up, depose me" like losing most of your advancing armies in the blink of an eye.

[BanzaiCat]

I dunno - if we (that is, NATO, specifically the US and Poland) DID have the balls to pull a move like that (putting nukes in Poland), I don't think Putin would be convinced that we'd use them. He knows what a spineless sock puppet our current CIC is.

[Centurion40]

If NATO did nothing it would dissolve the alliance.

They'd have to act.

+1.

Besides, we owe Poland for 1939.

I thought our ancestors got stuck in on their behalf in '39.  It was in '45 when we let them down.

Appreciated.  But what I meant is that had Hitler been called on his bullshit before 1939, then Poland, probably, would have suffered much less over the following 50+ years.

[Gusington]

Totally agree BC. However, nukes in Poland would be like a reverse Cuban Missile Crisis, we'd be shitting in Putin's slippers. Who knows what the response would be.

[pawelj]

So, is Pawel correct?  Should Putin get slapped-down now before there is a re-run of 1939?

Was there ever any doubt?  ;)

[pawelj]

You have to wonder what would happen if we moved some theater-level nuclear assets into Poland (assuming they gave permission) with a lot of hoopla. The Russian media and gov't spokescritters would blow a gasket but Putin might be a little slower to take a gamble. Nothing says "I fucked up, depose me" like losing most of your advancing armies in the blink of an eye.

There are voices in Poland, that it should get/lease nukes of its own.
West should really stop worrying about upsetting Russia. They are, as they always were, a giant on clay legs. They have zero rights beyond their internationally recognized borders. West needs to get really inventive in Georgia and arm Ukraine pronto. That way they won't get to the have to deal with any invasions in the Baltic.
The idea of Ukraine giving up an inch is very bad. West must never accept annexation of the Crimea. It will only invite more Russian aggression.

[BanzaiCat]

I wondered where Belarus stands in all of this. So a little Google-fu results in this:

http://belarusdigest.com/story/russian-nuclear-weapons-belarus-anti-nato-military-bloc-belarus-security-digest-18236

Granted an older article (June 2014), but still interesting. Anyone hear anything else about Belarus? I found some other articles that indicate they have a definitive pro-Russia leaning. Maybe they'd join Russia's little forced collectivization (e.g. Warsaw Pact II).

[mirth]

Interesting article from March on the topic of a nuclear armed Poland

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303824204579421660993452026?mg=reno64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB10001424052702303824204579421660993452026.html

[Gusington]

Belarus is pretty much a Russian satellite. Or soviet, if you want to go old skool.

[LongBlade]

West should really stop worrying about upsetting Russia. They are, as they always were, a giant on clay legs. They have zero rights beyond their internationally recognized borders. West needs to get really inventive in Georgia and arm Ukraine pronto. That way they won't get to the have to deal with any invasions in the Baltic.
The idea of Ukraine giving up an inch is very bad. West must never accept annexation of the Crimea. It will only invite more Russian aggression.

Bush II was the guy who didn't react when Russia went into Georgia.

We can debate whether he inherited his father's blindness to the "vision thang," or whether not acting was a kind of Realpolitik to show unity against the radicals there. Could be all-of-the-above.

One way or the other that lack of action showed a green light for further incursions such as Ukraine.

Certainly the flaccid leadership shown by the current admin demonstrated we weren't prepared to do much when they did move into Crimea, and then eastern Ukraine.