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M84 Oh, bother. from Our little blue planet Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
Oh, bother.
#143976: Oct 14th 2016 at 1:57:43 AM

[up] In other words: "But...but...HILLARY! BILL! FOUNDATION! EMAILS! BENGHAAZZIIII!!"

edited 14th Oct '16 1:58:23 AM by M84

Disgusted, but not surprised
TheHandle United Earth from Stockholm Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
United Earth
#143977: Oct 14th 2016 at 2:26:53 AM

As for Russia's actions now Trump loosing is looking certain, that assumes that Putin wants Trump to win. If this entire thing was a giant bit of trolling/an attempt to give Clinton a divided nation to run so that she can't focus on facing down Russia internationally, than a Trump lose is part of the plan, he just has to get enough votes to cause lots of domestic divisions within the US.

It's a textbook Xanatos Gambit: no matter the outcome, Putin wins something.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Zendervai Since: Oct, 2009
#143978: Oct 14th 2016 at 5:24:35 AM

[up][up] Yeah, it's Carson so this doesn't surprise me. The guy is barely connected to reality at the best of times.

"The fruit salad of your life" anyone?

[up] There's one thing that convinced me Putin wasn't going to use nukes. Putin doesn't want destruction or war, he wants control. The use of nukes is antithecal to establishing control.

edited 14th Oct '16 5:25:40 AM by Zendervai

CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#143979: Oct 14th 2016 at 5:43:14 AM

Putin is clever, but he'a also a gambling man. He's more or less betting everything on the EU collapsing before Russia does. Which is very possible, probable even, but not something you'd necessarily bet your nation on.

I doubt he'd be the first to strike, but playing atomic chicken is entirely in character.

edited 14th Oct '16 5:44:07 AM by CaptainCapsase

LeGarcon Blowout soon fellow Stalker from Skadovsk Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
#143980: Oct 14th 2016 at 5:45:28 AM

Not really. Dude knows exactly how far to push the envelope and knows exactly how to do all the proper posturing. He's an old KGB officer with decades of military and political experience.

He's not gonna genuinely try to nuke anything. Or even directly engage the West.

edited 14th Oct '16 5:45:41 AM by LeGarcon

Oh really when?
CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#143981: Oct 14th 2016 at 5:53:11 AM

Even pushing things as far as the Cold War carries massive risks; there were no fewer than a half dozen or so cases where nuclear war was averted For Want Of A Nail due to a mixture of paranoia, communication errors, and equipment malfunctions. Cold War tensions are unsustainable, and it': only a matter of time before something goes wrong if this state of affairs continues to escalate.

edited 14th Oct '16 5:55:12 AM by CaptainCapsase

LeGarcon Blowout soon fellow Stalker from Skadovsk Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
#143982: Oct 14th 2016 at 5:55:08 AM

Yeah and he and we were all there for that and know how far to go and how to do the whole brinkmanship dance.

Things are fine. With regards to nuclear fire/WW3 at least.

Oh really when?
CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#143983: Oct 14th 2016 at 5:59:31 AM

I'd beg to differ; for one even if Putin knows how far he can push things and doesn't intend to take any risks, he's getting old and the looming Succession Crisis in Russia could produce someone far less able to play the delicate game of modern geopolitics.

The same holds true for American leaders.

edited 14th Oct '16 6:02:51 AM by CaptainCapsase

Rationalinsanity from Halifax, Canada Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: It's complicated
#143984: Oct 14th 2016 at 6:31:04 AM

The Trump campaign is withdrawing from Virginia to refocus on states like North Carolina. Apparently they gave the RNC and the state party little notice.

http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/13/politics/donald-trump-campaign-virginia/index.html

Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects.
TheHandle United Earth from Stockholm Since: Jan, 2012 Relationship Status: YOU'RE TEARING ME APART LISA
United Earth
#143985: Oct 14th 2016 at 6:52:26 AM

Guys, I'm scared.

"I want to be clear to those who wish to do us harm … the United States military — despite all of our challenges, despite our [operational] tempo, despite everything we have been doing — we will stop you and we will beat you harder than you have ever been beaten before. Make no mistake about that."

Milley's comments come during an election year in which voters will decide a new president and commander in chief — and a period of increased military activity of near-peer competitors, including Russia and China.

The Army has struggled to rebuild its readiness after more than a decade of extended combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The service has significantly cut the size of its force since the Cold War and decreased its modernization budget in the last decade, Milley said.

"While we focused on the counter-terrorist fight, other countries — Russia, Iran, China, North Korea — went to school on us," he said. "They studied our doctrine, our tactics, our equipment, our organization, our training, our leadership. And, in turn, they revised their own doctrines, and they are rapidly modernizing their military today to avoid our strengths in hopes of defeating us at some point in the future."

Milley also quoted a senior Russian official as saying publicly, "The established world order is undergoing a foundational shake-up" and that "Russia can now fight a conventional war in Europe and win."

The general warned that future warfare with a near-peer adversary will "be highly lethal, unlike anything our Army has experienced at least since World War II."

"Our formations will likely have to be small; we will have to move constantly," he said. "On the future battlefield, if you stay in one place for longer than two or three hours, you will be dead."

Despite the challenges, Milley said the Army will adapt to survive such a dangerous battlefield.

"It's a tall order for sure — to project power into contested theaters, fight in highly populated urban areas, to survive and win on intensely lethal and distributed battlefields and to create leaders and soldiers who can prevail. Tough? Yes. But impossible? Absolutely not," Milley said.

"Make no mistake about it, we can now and we will … retain the capability to rapidly deploy," he said, "and we will destroy any enemy anywhere, any time."

What's going on? I keep seeing quotes from his speech on Facebook. He's saying that an extremely deadly conflict with Russia is almost a certainty, and emphasizes the US's First Strike Capability.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
LeGarcon Blowout soon fellow Stalker from Skadovsk Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
#143986: Oct 14th 2016 at 6:55:10 AM

Full of shit, the Russians have cracked a lot of our doctrine and we're slipping in the R&D race but they can't fight a conventional war with the West and win.

And the idea that the Chinese or the North Koreans are even relevant as military entities is ridiculous.

Oh really when?
Krieger22 Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018 from Malaysia Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: I'm in love with my car
Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018
#143987: Oct 14th 2016 at 6:58:13 AM

It's ultimately more saber rattling on all sides. "We" (in the sense that it's the US military) learn, they learn. It's been like that since all parties had a standing military and always will be.

And RussiaHmm  being capable of fighting a land war in Europe and winning isn't really anything beyond business as usual as far as worst case scenarios are concerned, NATO only truly stood a fighting chance against WarPac forces only shortly before the fall of the Iron Curtain thanks to Assault Breaker. And a non-insignificant part of WarPac forces are now on NATO's side...

I have disagreed with her a lot, but comparing her to republicans and propagandists of dictatorships is really low. - An idiot
Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#143988: Oct 14th 2016 at 7:11:30 AM

I'll bet the isolationists (*ahem* anti-interventionists) are totally happy with the idea of withdrawing our military influence and letting Russia re-annex Western Europe.

In other news, A U.S. warship fired cruise missiles at Yemeni rebels yesterday in retaliation to an unsuccessful cruise missile attack by those rebels. The rebels successfully attacked a United Arab Emirates warship last week. Meanwhile, Iran, which sides with the Houthi rebels (that lovely Sunni/Shi'ite thing again), has sent its own warships to the area. Here's hoping cool heads prevail.

edited 14th Oct '16 7:21:19 AM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Memers Since: Aug, 2013
#143989: Oct 14th 2016 at 7:18:39 AM

The US Army has been considering themselves to be 'weak' in readiness for real large scale conflicts for years now. This is probably an attempt to raise that to at least 'marginal' but that would require a bigger budget.

They consider themselves to be 'marginal' in trope numbers and capability too.

Fighteer Lost in Space from The Time Vortex (Time Abyss) Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
Lost in Space
#143990: Oct 14th 2016 at 7:19:14 AM

in trope numbers
Quick, we need more tropes! To Trope Launch Pad! [lol]

Also, I don't know what "weak" means in this context... manpower? Ships? We have thousands of surplus tanks sitting in storage depots across America.

edited 14th Oct '16 7:20:23 AM by Fighteer

"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Memers Since: Aug, 2013
#143991: Oct 14th 2016 at 7:21:06 AM

Ohh FFS you know you visit this place too much when you spell 'Troop' and auto correct comes up with 'Trope'.

[up] a quick summary TLDR in 2013 'the Army started falling behind in its efforts to recover from recent operations and prepare for the future, a challenge that will grow as necessary funding continues to be reduced.' which actually has been snowballing for a while now.

edited 14th Oct '16 7:27:45 AM by Memers

LeGarcon Blowout soon fellow Stalker from Skadovsk Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
#143992: Oct 14th 2016 at 7:26:09 AM

A lot of those surplus tanks aren't actually fit for service. While the Russians can't fight a conventional war in the West we really are not ready for one either.

We haven't fought anyone even remotely at our tech level in decades. It's gonna hurt when we do.

Oh really when?
Krieger22 Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018 from Malaysia Since: Mar, 2014 Relationship Status: I'm in love with my car
Causing freakouts over sourcing since 2018
#143993: Oct 14th 2016 at 7:26:21 AM

That's more of a problem with the procurement process the US military (and many NATO countries) have.

I have disagreed with her a lot, but comparing her to republicans and propagandists of dictatorships is really low. - An idiot
megarockman from The Sixth Borough (Experienced Trainee)
#143994: Oct 14th 2016 at 7:29:33 AM

From 538: How Evan McMullin could win the presidency by Doing Well But Not Perfect.

edited 14th Oct '16 7:30:01 AM by megarockman

The damned queen and the relentless knight.
AngelusNox Warder of the damned from The guard of the gates of oblivion Since: Dec, 2014 Relationship Status: Married to the job
Warder of the damned
#143995: Oct 14th 2016 at 7:34:03 AM

The more I think about the smear campaigns promoted by the Republican opportunism, right wing news channels and the Alt-Right malicious manipulation along Wikileaks neutral data releases against Clinton, the more I am sure they worked.

As much as I know that social medias are filled with stupid and uneducated people, even in circles that should have Hillary as a more positive figure, the belief that she is crooked beyond redemption still strong, regardless of all those "facts" about her being proven to be hoaxes, or the investigations and hearings concluding that she didn't do any real wrongdoing or that the things she has done over the years are simply a politician's work.

And it doesn't matter anymore because you can't correct anyone without being called SHILL or being asked How much is CTR paying you?.

[up][up][up] Even the worst predictions, that is without nuclear escalation, predict that a Russian onslaught in Western Europe would be stopped at Germany's border while the best ones has the Russians being at Warsaw, both because the Russian's would be overstretched and due to the logistical burden of pushing further into Europe. Concluding with the Nordics and Finland would also facing the Russians and the ex Soviet block countries being sent back to Russia's influence.

But I think any aggression war by Russia would be a pyrrhic victory for them, for whatever gains they had in the war wouldn't last for long until the problems caused by it to catch up.

edited 14th Oct '16 7:54:09 AM by AngelusNox

Inter arma enim silent leges
LSBK Since: Sep, 2014
#143996: Oct 14th 2016 at 7:48:34 AM

[up]Reminds me of John Olivier and Samantha Bee being accused of being sellouts or forced by the networks to go easy on her because they didn't act like Sanders had the election stolen from him and that the scandals aren't really that big a deal.

CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#143997: Oct 14th 2016 at 7:56:07 AM

The US is still overwhelmingly powerful compared to the rest of the world. But, if it intends to remain that way, it's going to have to turn into an even more hypermilitaristic society than It already is. The alternative is picking and chosing it's battles rather than trying to be strong everywhere.

LeGarcon Blowout soon fellow Stalker from Skadovsk Since: Aug, 2013 Relationship Status: Gay for Big Boss
Blowout soon fellow Stalker
#143998: Oct 14th 2016 at 7:59:39 AM

What?

Oh really when?
nervmeister Since: Oct, 2010
#143999: Oct 14th 2016 at 8:01:40 AM

Maybe the world just needs a new form of weapon or defense tech that makes nuclear bombs obsolete.

CaptainCapsase from Orbiting Sagittarius A* Since: Jan, 2015
#144000: Oct 14th 2016 at 8:08:20 AM

[up][up] "He who defends everywhere defends nowhere" , which I believe is from the art of war. The US is currently spread relatively thin, and while the sheer power of the American economy masks that, with less than 5% of the global population and a gradually diminishing share of the global economy, we can't realistically hope things will remain that way.


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