Don’t worry, just a little bump - $70 is just around the corner. Short traders just keep making those margin calls, mortgage the house if you have to. Fortunes await you! PO is for pansies and doomers. At $70 short some more ..... it is going back to $22 .... the world is awash with oil ........ reality has nothing to do with it, its all in those charts!!!!!!!!!!
Joined: May 27, 2007 Posts: 1172 Location: The Post Peak Oil Historian
Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 11:29 pm Post subject: Cold War heats up with a vengence
Venezuela offers to host Russian bases
In an implicit slap at the United States, which traditionally considers Latin America its zone of influence, Medvedev signalled the importance Russia attaches to relations with Washington’s main adversary in the region.
"Venezuela is now the most important partner of the Russian Federation," Medvedev said after his talks with Chavez at a state residence outside Moscow.
"Our relations are a key factor of regional security ... We have one common task -- to make the surrounding world more democratic, fair and secure."
"If Russia’s armed forces want to be present in Venezuela, they will be given a warm welcome," Chavez told a news conference in response to a question.
"We are a peace-loving country, but we are threatened by the United States ... because Venezuela’s oil reserves are the world’s largest," he told the news conference. "And we are forced to defend ourselves."
US general warns Russia on nuclear bombers in Cuba
Russia would cross "a red line for the United States of America" if it were to base nuclear capable bombers in Cuba, a top US air force officer warned on Tuesday.
"If they did I think we should stand strong and indicate that is something that crosses a threshold, crosses a red line for the United States of America," said General Norton Schwartz, nominated to be the air force's chief of staff.
Conducting long-range bomber patrols to Cuba would signal a reawakening of military cooperation by former Cold War allies Moscow and Havana, and resurrects issues that first arose with the 1962 Cuban missile crisis.
The crisis, which brought Washington and Moscow to the brink of nuclear war, ended with an understanding that Moscow would remove its intermediate range missiles from Cuba and not introduce strategic systems in the island.
The Russian moves come amid rising tensions over the US missile defense plans, and warnings by Moscow that it will be forced to counter them militarily.
The possible deployment of Russian strategic bombers in Cuba may be an effective response to the placement of NATO bases near Russia's borders, a former Air Force commander said on Monday.
Russian daily Izvestia earlier on Monday cited a senior Russian military source as saying that Russian strategic bombers could be stationed again in Cuba, only 90 miles from the U.S. coast, in response to the U.S. missile shield in Europe.
"If these plans are being considered, it would be a good response to the attempts to place NATO bases near the Russian borders," Gen. of the Army Pyotr Deinekin told RIA Novosti.
"I do not see anything wrong with it because nobody listens to our objections when they place airbases and electronic monitoring and surveillance stations near our borders," the general said.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Tuesday that he hopes military ties between the countries will strengthen.
Chavez, who is currently on an official visit to Russia, discussed political, economic and defense cooperation with the premier at Putin's residence near Moscow.
On arriving in Moscow, Chavez called for Russia and Venezuela to become strategic partners in oil and defense, something he said would "guarantee Venezuela's sovereignty, which is currently being threatened by the United States."
The Caucasus Republic of Georgia, as nations go, is not apparently a major global player. Yet Washington has invested huge sums and organized to put its own despot, Mikhail Saakashvili, in the presidency in order to close a nuclear North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) iron ring around Russia.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited the capital Tbilisi and made sharp statements against Moscow for supporting the separatist Georgian states of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, in essence blaming Moscow for an imminent war Washington has incited in order to bring Georgia into NATO by the December NATO summit.
Western media have either tended to ignore the growing tensions in the strategic Caucasus region or to suggest, as Rice does, that the entire conflict is being caused by Moscow's support of the "breakaway" republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. In reality, a quite different chess game is being played in the region, one which has the potential to detonate a major escalation of tensions between Moscow and NATO.
Georgia is a strategic transit country for the Anglo-American Caspian oil pipeline from Baku in Azerbaijan through Georgia to the Turkish port of Ceyhan. As well, the Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline has been key to Azerbaijan as an alternative to the control of the Russian state monopoly Transneft in order to convey its oil and gas resources toward the West. The entire Caucasus is part of what can be described as a new Great Game for control of Eurasia between Washington and Russia.
It makes abundantly clear that Washington is aiming its military strategy at the dismantling of Russia as a potential adversary. That is a recipe for a possible nuclear war by miscalculation. Rice's latest Caucasus and Czech visit only added to that growing danger.
US troops conduct exercises in potential conflict zone with Russia
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili praised a joint military training program involving more than 1,000 U.S. Marines and soldiers at a former Soviet base, amid heightened tensions with Moscow.
Marine Captain James Haunty, 30, commander of Lima Company, 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines, said Friday that he was keeping an eye on the simmering conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
"I'm not concerned about anything serious happening as long as there are U.S. troops here in Georgia," Haunty said, shortly before 50-caliber machine gun bullets began peppering a hillside at the Vaziani training complex, about 10 kilometers east of the capital. "But we still will monitor the situation."
Russian military exercises continue across border from where US marines train Georgian troops
Large-scale anti-terrorist exercises that began on July 15 are continued in a second stage on Monday. In this stage of the exercises the joint group of troops will conduct a special operation, Assistant Commander of the North Caucasus Military District Lieutenant-Colonel Andrei Bobrun told Tass.
“Under the scenario of the exercises international terrorist groups are attempting to create a number of bases and compounds in mountainous areas in North Caucasus with the aim to destabilize the situation in the south of Russia and train militants."
The overall number of troops involved in the exercises is around 8,000.
Russian paratroopers arrive in North Ossetia for combat drills
Paratroopers from Russia's 76th Airborne Division arrived Wednesday in North Ossetia to participate in the active stage of large-scale military exercises in the North Caucasus.
The exercise, dubbed Caucasus 2008, involves units of the North Caucasus Military District, mainly the 58th Army, the 4th Air Force Army, Interior Ministry troops, and border guards.
"The personnel, equipment and ammunition are being unloaded at the town of Mozdok" in North Ossetia, a spokesperson for Russia's Ground Forces said Wednesday.
The paratroopers will make a forced march to the assigned zone of operation in the mountains, where they will conduct a series of tactical exercises, including live-fire drills.
The Pskov paratroopers will be later joined by units from an air assault regiment based in the Volga region, which will be transported to the Krasnodar Territory by rail and conduct a forced march to the exercise zone.
Lt. Col. Andrei Bobrun, an aide to the commander of the North Caucasus Military District, earlier said the exercise involves some 8,000 military personnel, about 700 combat vehicles and more than 30 aircraft.
The main goal of the exercise, according to the Russian military, is to work on interoperability between federal troops, Interior Ministry troops, border guards, and the Air Force in special operations against militants and in the defense of Russia's state borders, and to practice support of Russian peacekeepers in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Russia conducts naval exercises off Georgian coast
Warships of the Russian Black Sea Fleet and the Caspian Flotilla are giving the support to the troops of the North Caucasus military district on the Caucasian coast during the Caucasus-2008 exercises, Assistant Commander of the North Caucasus military district Lieutenant-Colonel Andrei Bobrun told Itar-Tass on Wednesday.
“Warships that put out in the high seas from the Novorossiisk Naval Base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet will train artillery shooting at sea, land and air targets and will practice the prevention of piracy, poaching and contraband at the sea,” he said. “On Thursday during a training operation marines with armored vehicles will land on the coast in a mock area of combat actions. Warships headed by Commander of the Novorossiisk Naval Base Vice-Admiral Sergei Menyailo will give the fire support to the landing party,” Bobrun said.
Bobrun recalled that marines landed from warships of the Caspian Flotilla on the Caspian coast with the support from the troops of the North Caucasus military district.
link _________________ In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
- George Orwell
Last edited by Cid_Yama on Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:37 pm; edited 1 time in total
Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 11:52 pm Post subject: Re: Cold War heats up with a vengence
I say it's all posturing. The Russians know that they don't get an early warning if we use our stealth bombers, that we're maintaining about three times as many operational warheads and that we have a lot more nuke subs in the water than they do. (If I were them I'd also suspect that all those "missile interceptors" were actually short ranged nuclear missiles, but then again, I'm a bit paranoid.) Cold war is over, the US won, and I would expect the US to be very aggressive about defending that win. I imagine the US has many more options for backing Russia into a corner than the other way around. (All the START treaties are about to expire and it looks like we're bringing the nuclear manufacturing facilities back online. The Russians most likely can't afford to do that. Of course that may be part of the reason for all this recent posturing on their part...)
Joined: May 27, 2007 Posts: 1172 Location: The Post Peak Oil Historian
Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 12:11 am Post subject: Re: Cold War heats up with a vengence
Russian ICBM's are now mobile. While the US was considering the MX program and putting them all on underground rail and playing shell game with them, The Russians just put them on mobile launchers and move them about the countryside.
The Russians know we cannot take out their retaliatory capability.
They are not willing to allow the US to deploy an anti-missile system to take away that retaliatory capability.
We are right back to Reagan pushing the Pershings into Europe.
The Russians backed down then, they won't do it again. _________________ In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
- George Orwell
Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 12:31 am Post subject: Re: Cold War heats up with a vengence
The link you posted and many other arguments against missile defense always assume that we would depend on our missile defenses to stop a first strike by the Russians.
If we thought things were going to go that sour, I would imagine that we would strike first. Using today’s ground penetrating satellites, we pretty much know where the Russian missiles are +/- a few KMs. If we initiated the war, it would probably come in the form of a massive strike using subs and stealth bombers hitting all of their nuclear weapons so that there would be no launch signature for their early warning satellites to pick up. Like I said before, they only have about 1/3 of our operational nuclear armaments, so even if they were able to fire off a few shots, there would be damage in the US, but no more Russia. That's what it means to have won the cold war. Even France could "hurt" us in a nuclear exchange, but in either case, the US would be the only combatant left standing.
MAD didn't mean we would get hit too... it meant that they had enough in their second strike to completely destroy us. That hasn't been true since the 1990's.
Joined: May 27, 2007 Posts: 1172 Location: The Post Peak Oil Historian
Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 12:54 am Post subject: Re: Cold War heats up with a vengence
The Russians believe the US is seeking first strike capability on them. To them, they see the anti-missile program as confirmation.
That was the point of the the 1972 anti-ballistic missile ban treaty.
If neither side could block a retaliatory strike, neither would chance launching first.
The US won nothing, except time while the Russians regrouped. The Russians still have the capability to totally wipe out the US in a nuclear exchange.
Don't kid yourself. Before START both sides had the capability to end all life on this planet many times over. They still do. Just not as many times over as before.
Bush's attempt to install an ABM shield on Russia's borders will push the Russians back into a "use them or lose them" position.
Trust me, many of us have experienced first hand the edge of total annihilation on earth from nuclear armageddon.
We don't want to go there again.
When Reagan was pushing the Pershings into Europe it was like pushing his entire stack of chips into the middle of the table and hoping he didn't get called.
We had bug-out bags by the door and in our vehicles just in case.
Those of us aware of the implications at the time, experienced a level of apprehension no one should have to experience. Our lives went on hold.
Most people at the time were unaware. Kind of like now with peak oil and global warmng and the threat of worldwide famine. Now you can add nuclear armageddon back on the list. _________________ In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
- George Orwell
Last edited by Cid_Yama on Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:46 am; edited 3 times in total
Joined: Oct 18, 2004 Posts: 1717 Location: kiwibush
Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 12:57 am Post subject: Re: Cold War heats up with a vengence
Viper wrote:
The link you posted and many other arguments against missile defense always assume that we would depend on our missile defenses to stop a first strike by the Russians.
If we thought things were going to go that sour, I would imagine that we would strike first. Using today’s ground penetrating satellites, we pretty much know where the Russian missiles are +/- a few KMs. If we initiated the war, it would probably come in the form of a massive strike using subs and stealth bombers hitting all of their nuclear weapons so that there would be no launch signature for their early warning satellites to pick up. Like I said before, they only have about 1/3 of our operational nuclear armaments, so even if they were able to fire off a few shots, there would be damage in the US, but no more Russia. That's what it means to have won the cold war. Even France could "hurt" us in a nuclear exchange, but in either case, the US would be the only combatant left standing.
MAD didn't mean we would get hit too... it meant that they had enough in their second strike to completely destroy us. That hasn't been true since the 1990's.
What would you define as "things going sour"? Russia stationing itself beside the US in response to US manouvering in Europe? _________________ Bugger me, I hear oil's runnin out mate!
Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:27 am Post subject: Re: Cold War heats up with a vengence
One would need to be a lunatic or stupid to the core to think that a nuclear confrontation between US and Russia would have a winner at the end of that exchange. IMHO that is.
But then there is plenty of people who think that the shield in Europe would intercept Iranian missiles sent flying to the US. _________________ Men argue, nature acts !
Voltaire
"...In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way to protect savings from confiscation through inflation."
Joined: May 27, 2007 Posts: 1172 Location: The Post Peak Oil Historian
Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:28 am Post subject: Re: Cold War heats up with a vengence
All the START treaties are about to expire and it looks like we're bringing the nuclear manufacturing facilities back online. The Russians most likely can't afford to do that.
You are obviously unaware of Russia's rebuilding of it's millitary or the fact that they are currently swamped with oil and natural gas income while the US is the largest debtor nation in the world on the verge of default.
This from 9/1/07:
Russia To Deploy New Intercontinental Missiles
The 22-metre Topol-M is an intercontinental ballistic missile carrying a single warhead. It was first developed during the 1990s after the collapse of the Soviet Union and was later upgraded. It can be launched either from silos or from mobile launchers which can be camouflaged and hidden in forests.
Along with the multiple-warhead RS-24, to be deployed in the next few years, it will form the backbone of Russia’s nuclear armoury and help bolster armed forces eroded over years of post-Soviet decline.
President Vladimir Putin said Russia permanently resumed long-distance patrol flights of strategic bombers on Friday which were suspended in 1992 after the collapse of the Soviet Union. After 15 years, once again we are on the brink of nuclear annihilation.
Russia tests largest non-nuclear bomb in the world
Russia has tested the world's most powerful vacuum bomb, which unleashes a destructive shockwave with the power of a nuclear blast, the military said on Tuesday, dubbing it the "father of all bombs."
Joined: May 27, 2007 Posts: 1172 Location: The Post Peak Oil Historian
Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 2:00 am Post subject: Re: Cold War heats up with a vengence
Really, I'm trying not to post here unless it's something really big. Unfortunately, these days it seems there is something really big every week. That in itself is a bad sign. _________________ In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.
- George Orwell
Joined: Jun 15, 2008 Posts: 40 Location: Somewhere in the cold north
Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 3:19 am Post subject: Re: Cold War heats up with a vengence
Honestly I can understand that Russia is getting pissed off. NATO is totally encircling them and leaves them without much options. Imagine Canada and South America being in a military union against the US. Wouldn’t you feel pretty uncomfortable as well? In that way it makes sense for them to increase military cooperation with Cuba and Venezuela. Just evening out the odds.
Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 4:56 am Post subject: Re: Cold War heats up with a vengence
Viper wrote:
I say it's all posturing. The Russians know that they don't get an early warning if we use our stealth bombers, that we're maintaining about three times as many operational warheads and that we have a lot more nuke subs in the water than they do. (If I were them I'd also suspect that all those "missile interceptors" were actually short ranged nuclear missiles, but then again, I'm a bit paranoid.) Cold war is over, the US won, and I would expect the US to be very aggressive about defending that win. I imagine the US has many more options for backing Russia into a corner than the other way around. (All the START treaties are about to expire and it looks like we're bringing the nuclear manufacturing facilities back online. The Russians most likely can't afford to do that. Of course that may be part of the reason for all this recent posturing on their part...)
This is the kind of delusional, apple pie up my ass American hubris that has gotten the U.S. to the treacherous position in which it now lies.
The U.S. is not holding any cards any more.
We run around threatening everybody everywhere for every reason under the sun.
It's the Scarlett O'Hara effect, people - when you try to control too many things, those things ineluctably blow up in your face.
What the U.S. needs to do is recognize that our time at the top is over, and we need to stop trying to control the world.
The U.S. is like a McMansion. It looks fine from the outside when you do a drive by - big, shiny, newish.
But upon a thorough analysis, you see that it's poorly built and in need of huge amounts of energy to support.
It's over. We'll hang on by projecting military power for a few decades, but it's ridiculous to think that, with the home economy on the verge of death, tax revenue about to fall off a cliff, open war fronts in two countries, an insane military budget, and a population ready to pop - that we'll be able to keep this up longer.
We've been treading water awhile.
Now we're treading water vigorously, trying not to let the other side see that we're going under.
I say that what we need now is a little home cooked patriotism, and not faux-patriotism through stick waving.
Bring 'em home - all of them. It's time for us to get the hell out of everybody's business and, instead, take care of our own business, which is in sore need of attention, and more so every day. _________________ Massive Human Dieoff must occur as a result of Peak Oil. Many more than half will die. It will occur everywhere, including where you live. If you fail to recognize this, then your odds of living move toward the "going to die" group.
Joined: Jun 26, 2007 Posts: 740 Location: The Canada of America
Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 5:49 am Post subject: Re: Cold War heats up with a vengence
Viper wrote:
...it looks like we're bringing the nuclear manufacturing facilities back online. The Russians most likely can't afford to do that.
Why not? After all, these days, they have money. You guys are borrowing from Japan and China. At least, as long as they let you... _________________ I can has cheezburger?
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