Russia to respond to threats from US system: military

[Purveyor]

Source: AFP

MOSCOW (AFP) - Russia will respond to any threat from the US missile defence system to be deployed in central Europe, the Russian army's chief of staff said on Monday.

"If we see that these installations, which could be set up in Europe, represent a threat, then we will definitely plan actions against them," Yury Baluyevsky told reporters in Moscow, Interfax news agency reported.

Russia will take "corresponding measures" if the US missiles and radar are deployed in Poland and Czech Republic as planned, Baluyevsky was quoted as saying, without giving further details.

Moscow, which has been increasingly vocal in its public criticism of US policy in recent weeks, says the shield poses a strategic threat by undermining its own missile deterrence capabilities.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070507/pl_afp/russiausdefense_070507135413

[cliss]

1. High-stakes gamblers in Washington

Those arrogant fools in the White House are not getting the message: Moscow is drawing a line in the sand.

Bush & Co. are ignoring the signals.

If they thought they were in a crisis with Iraq, I just can't imagine what they would do with a new Cold War.

[MGD]

3. Russia is in a much better position to wage a second cold war than the U.S.

Iraq has left us vulnerable and our debt is, more than ever, an albatross hanging from our neck. Russia's oil exporter status gives them a degree of independence and flexibility which is unavailable to us. What's more, thanks to the leadership of people like George Bush and Dick Cheney, the world no longer sees democracy as being that much better/different than communism, not the way it used to at least which makes the winning of popular support much more difficult than it used to be and at a time (peak oil) when it is much more necessary. Also, China is much stronger and much more closely allied with Russia than during the past cold war which makes our position in a second east/west cold war nearly hopeless. Furthermore, Europe no longer perceives us as the benevolent power and ally as they did in the first cold war. the NATO alliance simply is not what it once was. This administration has left us in a position of serious weakness and disadvantage all over Iraq, a country that we now know posed no threat to us in 2003 when we attacked. They have failed us miserably and should be held accountable for their gross incompetence. Impeachment is too good for them. Imprisonment would be more appropriate. We must leave Iraq and repair the damage that has been done.

[KansDem]

5. Food for thought

...thanks to the leadership of people like George Bush and Dick Cheney, the world no longer sees democracy as being that much better/different than communism

It used to be a classic struggle between good and evil, with the US the "good guys" because we extolled "democracy" as a way of life. Yeah, I know...it's sounds "corny," but we could always point to ourselves as the model for other countries. We supported freedom, liberty, and civil rights. And human rights; evident as it became the foundation for President Carter's administration as well as the basis for his endeavors after he left office. But now, with Bush and Gonzales, the US has turned its back on human freedom and dignity. Bush trashed the Geneva Conventions and the US Constitution: torture is o.k., no more habeas corpus, and personal privacy is a thing of the past. So why would an emerging "democracy" want to emulate us? There goes whatever influence we might have had in the world community.

Bush and his gang of thugs and cutthroats have alienated us in the world community and made us a global pariah...

[MGD]

6. That's exactly right. At one time, we were clearly the lesser of the two evils. It isn't so anymore

America has embraced the ideals that we were once opposed to. Friedrich Nietzsche once said: "He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster." Such is clearly the case for George Bush's America. And, to put a finer point on the problem, John Quincy Adams said: "America does not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy." George Bush must not have heard that one. Really I think George Bush sums it up best when he himself said: "You know, when I campaigned here in 2000, I said, I want to be a war President. No President wants to be a war President, but I am one." George W. Bush, Des Moines, Iowa, Oct. 26, 2006

[The Doctor.]

7. Well, the US would stand in the way of a grand

Oligarchy.

I'm beginning to think that this banking consortium push is for real.

[acmavm]

2. Hey, isn't Condi an 'expert' on Russia? Or is this another area

that she's faking.

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

4. Soviet Studies....

... was Condosleeza's major field. An obsolete one at this point, too.