Preparing for WW III

[kwicky]

Should we feel worried?

http://www.russianews.net/story/322459

... and all because the USA upped the anti by a decision to site a missile defence system in Poland and Czechislovakia close to Russia.

[Gromit]

There is no point in having weapons if you do not know how to use them. The US and Britain are constantly playing with their toys.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/649960 5.stm

As Russia with her energy wealth become stronger, the a more money it ha sto spend on the military and they have more assets to defend. Such war games are a presentation of a country's strength rather than aggressive acts. As I say, we do the same.

So the United States ripped up the ABM treaty which had effectively stopped the arms race. And somehow, you think that it is the Russian's fault the the US has restarted the arms race.

[kwicky]

I wish they were just exercises but unless someone backs down we may see increased tensions, Admittedly Russia is showing its new found strength but we should not take it for granted.

We are all aware of the cold war in years where those spy planes near to our borders took generations to remove. Now they are with us again.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/eu rope/article1769420.ece

[Gromit]

Kwicky,

I fear you may be over-reacting. The huge country of Russia spends even less on its military than the UK does.

"Yet for all the posturing, Russia still carries a small stick militarily - big enough to impress ordinary Russians at a time when Mr Putin is plotting to retain power behind the scenes after elections this March but too puny to frighten the West just yet."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml =/news/2008/01/22/wrussia222.xml

While the president has sharply increased defence spending and commissioned a new generation of nuclear missiles, Russia's defence budget is a tenth of the United States' and is also smaller than Britain.

[kwicky]

Yes but Russia is not fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan which is draining our defence budget dry. We should withdraw our forces. Tomorrow is not soon enough.

[Gromit]

You can come own of your nuclear shelter kwicky...

"The sheer scale of Russia's land borders makes even a defensive military posture an immense undertaking.
The challenges of carrying out reforms and modernizing have been magnified by difficult economic conditions in Russia, which have resulted in reduced defence spending. This has led to training cutbacks, wage reductions, and severe shortages of housing for other social amenities for military personnel, with a consequent lowering of morale, cohesion, and fighting effectiveness."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Military

[4GS]

The Russians are still licking their wounds after being humped in Afghanistan (1980's) AND by the Chechen rebels recently, they are in no fit state to take on the West in a military show down, it's all sabre rattling for Russian public morale

[kwicky]

The UK abandoned nuclear shelters many years ago and put them up for sale. The reason is they are useless because missiles can penetrate deep underground. The accuracy will mean that no leader of the country would be safe, even in No 10.
Getting back to the original problem do you expect the Russians to sit idly by whilst missiles are being installed in Poland to knock out any missile leaving Russia. The yanks have laid out their cards by this aggressive act so expect some form of retaliation if this goes ahead.

[Gromit]

The stated purpose of the American defence shield is to counter any missiles from rogue countries in the middle east. A missile launched from a short distance over the border in Russia would be impossible to stop in time.

Now if the American missiles were to be used offensively against Russia, the short range would be an advantage.

So, as a defensive weapon against Russia, it would be useless, but as an offensive weapon it would be very effective.