[M_B_S]

Armenia accuses Azerbaijan of all-out 'war'
Defence ministry says ceasefire doesn't exist as hostilities over disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region escalate.
22 Dec 2015 17:25 GMT | War & Conflict, Europe, Azerbaijan, Armenia

Armenia says a ceasefire with neighbouring Azerbaijan over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh no longer exists, describing frequent skirmishes at the front line as "war".

Artsrun Hovhannisyan, a spokesman of Armenia's defence ministry, said on Tuesday that Azerbaijan was using "all existing armaments: tanks, howitzers, and anti-aircraft artillery" against Armenian soldiers in the disputed region.

"What we have today is a war," said Hovhannisyan. "We must use the word 'war' as there is no ceasefire anymore."

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/12/a ... 55846.html
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Mary Christmas?......


http://www.worldbulletin.net/news/16768 ... in-tatters
M_B_S

[dissident]

This must be a holiday gift for Uncle Scam, prime warmonger on Earth. Uncle Scam needs to quickly send aid to the Azeris to fight off those pro-Russian Armenians. Erdo-turd-land needs to help as well, to make sure that the Armenian threat is held in check.

[AgentR11]

Anyone interested in this should skip the blame game stuff, and look at the maps, resources, and existing population distributions. Armenia and Azerbaijan probably got the worst possible hand-me-down setup from the break up of the USSR. Its made weirder by the religious and historical claims of genocides and such.

I have no idea how this conflict could possibly resolve other than in the "final solution" variety where one side or the other exterminates the enclave or segregating section. Even more interesting of course is that Russia is allied with very Christian Armenia and the West is aligned with very Islamic Azerbaijan... sorta. lol. Russia also has substantial air defense close to Turkey's border within Armenia! double lol.

I tend to think the Armenians are up to the task of defending themselves, but Azerbaijan has more money to throw at the problem and could hire some Academi thugs or something to make the fight a bit more fair, skill wise.

[ROCKMAN]

For those not geographically inclined: Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia is that narrow "buffer zone" between Russia and Turkey. And "coincidentally the only way for Turkey to access the Caspian Sea is through the Armenian/Azerbaijani region. The Caspian Sea:

EIA estimates that there were 48 billion barrels of oil and 292 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of natural gas in proved and probable reserves within the basins that make up the Caspian Sea and surrounding area in 2012. Offshore fields account for 41% of total Caspian crude oil and lease condensate (19.6 billion barrels) and 36% of natural gas (106 Tcf). In general, most of the offshore oil reserves are in the northern part of the Caspian Sea, while most of the offshore natural gas reserves are in the southern part of the Caspian Sea.

NG that could be transported from Turkey to the EU if they can just find a way to get it thru Armenia and Azerbaijan. IOW there could be more behind this story then Christians vs Muslims. Or Russian Christians vs Turkish Muslims.

[Synapsid]

ROCKMAN,

Happy holiday season, and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline carries Azerbaijani NG through Georgia to Turkey, Armenia being a bit to the south of the route and not involved.

The Trans-Anatolian pipeline is under construction and is to carry NG onward to the EU.

Armenian brandy is said to be very good.

[ROCKMAN]

Syn - That's sort of what I was hinting at: and what if Russian aircraft, trying to protect their fellow Christians in Armenia, "accidentally" hit that pipeline? Collateral damage does happen, ya know. lol. Bottom line: is Turkey going to try to "occupy Russia in 7 days" if the Reds interfere with the NG flowing into Turkey?

After all how long ago did we see Russia take Crimea away from the Ukraine to protect its citizens? And it's not like Russia doesn't already have a bloody history with Georgia right next door. And neither Georgia, Armenia nor Azerbaijan are NATO members. Russia might not f*ck too seriously with NATO member Turkey but they can seriously screw with them by proxy. Besides Putin’s ego (along with the general nationalistic nature of the Russian people) there are $TRILLIONS in oil/NG assets a play in this tiny non-NATO part of the world. Just one more version of the game RISK.

Except, of course, the bodies and blood are real. And so are the potential rewards. lol. I'm not predicting what will or won't happen in this region. But given Putin's recent history just about anything is possible, don't ya think?

[Cid_Yama]

The Bush Administration learned in Iraq that the game Risk doesn't apply to the real world. After you conquer a country, you can't just take your armies and move on to the next.

They need to make an updated version of the game where you don't gain anything from a captured territory, you actually have to pay, and your armies attrition as you sit there.

That would straighten out all those armchair generals out there.

[dissident]

The Bush Administration learned in Iraq that the game Risk doesn't apply to the real world. After you conquer a country, you can't just take your armies and move on to the next.

They need to make an updated version of the game where you don't gain anything from a captured territory, you actually have to pay, and your armies attrition as you sit there.

That would straighten out all those armchair generals out there.

+1000000

People are clueless about history. The Roman Empire over extended itself and faced the consequences. The USA has not invented a new concept of empire and is engaged in the same whack a mole foreign adventures as the Romans. Going from 800 foreign bases to 8000 foreign bases will not make America stronger.