This is such an interesting angle. Anybody that has been to Russia inevitably thinks "how the fuck did these idiots even compete In the Cold War." They certainly seem like a joke, but are they? Their ballistic and anti-air missile/new S-400 stuff is top notch. Their radars have probably caught up with our stealth technology. The new Sukhoi-27 variants are great, but their 5th generation fighter program is way behind, (yet we stopped F-22 production, and the F-35 is a disaster). They have to be somewhat confident using their cruise missile technology, since they know We can track the results. They have also shown the NEW ability to use laser/satellite guided Bombs in Syria, it is limited, but they have a massive surplus of dumb bombs to burn up anyway. I'm been trying to find some stuff on Russian expenditures in Syria. US is around 8-10 million a day. Russia is MUCH cheaper (but this was before the Sinai jet bombing and the escalation/long range Russian bombers involvement) I think PPP (purchasing power parity) Russia spends 18% of the U.S., but they can write off state owned oil expenditures to an extent, they don't have the "free market" procurement issues we have, and they have a decade of built up "black hole" funds in their defense budget, (whereas we spent 15 years stressing And depreciating our equipment, specifically airframes. ) (I think They spend more on "war games" than us, so they supposedly can cover Syrian costs by downsizing war games.) It will be interesting to see how long they can afford this. It sounds like they just completely leveled some of the O&G facilities that we have been selectively targeting to save on rebuilding costs later.
My impressions are mostly based off of their military history over the last century as well as some of their recent videos of guided bombs. It seems as though their accuracy doesn't seem to be on par with what I've seen from western militaries. I still don't believe their military is strong enough to take the us on without using nukes.
Russia will just level shit and kill civilians if it means killing terrorists and if anyone says hey Russia killed civilians they'll just shrug their shoulders and deny it. Russia is exactly who we want doing this stuff. Civilians are going to die because people are too stupid to leave and Russia gives no fucks what the world thinks of them so let them be the focal point, nobody is going to stop them from doing shit anyway.
I absolutely support Russia taking the lead role in the Middle East. I have no interest in seeing our troops over there.
I don't think Russia getting their nose bloodied trying to flex their dicks propping up a dude who used chemical weapons on his own people is going to solve any problems
especially considering the assad regime will likely never get their shit together. i wonder what think tanks are calling this.
Mi-24 dropping bombs in Syria Looks like two FAB 500s from 1400m up? Dumb bombs like those generally have a high CEP. Assuming there was no targeting involved here, but rather selecting neighborhoods based on their ethnic makeup.
China declares war on ISIS after terrorists claim to have executed Chinese hostage 13:26, 21 NOV 2015 UPDATED 15:08, 21 NOV 2015 BY SAM WEBB, MATT CANNON President Xi Jinping has promised to fight terrorist activity after deaths of national Fan Jinghui and European Ole Johan Grimsgaard-Ofstad http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/china-declares-war-isis-after-6862200
Obama with just the most incredible tiptoe out after starting a super brawl... ... It's like Looney Tunes cartoon... Fantastic job.
Terrorists shifting focus to Western Europe, China, and Russia? Obviously, it's much more complicated and devastating than that, especially for the victims of terrorist attacks and for those that have to endure in Syria and surrounding countries... BUT, allowing other countries to fight the the good fight while we assist from a distance. Yes.
Conflict News @Conflicts 7m7 minutes ago 10 militants from “#ISIS-linked gang" killed in anti-terror op in #Russia’s North Caucasus - RT
China is just going to use this as an excuse to crack down on the Uyghers and other Muslims in their west, they aren't doing shit in the ME. Pisses me off how "fighting terrorism" has become an acceptable way to crack down on political opponents (China, KSA, Qatar)
China and Russia are countries that are incapable of doing the right thing. They just can't possibly manage to do anything but the totally reprehensible. They will fuck everything up, but at least it won't be us facing retaliation.
did you guys discuss Weiss (daily beast) being on Charlie Rose at all? Shoutout Fidelio for mentioning this in the paris thread... http://www.charlierose.com/watch/60649878 It's a bit of a frustrating watch because Weiss clearly has more insight into the actual on-the-ground situation in Syria and the various moving parts, while two of the other panelists are mostly wrapped up in their respective emotional responses and being frustrated that Obama hasn't taken an impassioned stance and immediately committed to, you know, more war.
I read that article as well. Those women come off as incredibly entitled and incredibly blase about the torture/killings/etc. they enabled. Not to mention, them waxing nostalgic about their ISIS husbands and then being surprised these guys were volunteering for suicide missions is completely disingenuous. The fact that these women made it out alive, while others didn't, is the thing I regret the most about the situation. They sound like pretty awful people.
I was like sooo mad at my terrorist husband/s that wouldn't give me a child because they rather blow themselves up!
http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/23/middleeast/syria-isis-raqqa-front-line-walsh/index.html For all the heavy lifting the Kurds are doing I hope the powers that be don't hang them out to dry when things settle down.
Was reading about the history of the Kurds and feel bad for them. Great fighters and usually support our agenda then we usually have to withdraw support and screw them over.
Conflict News @Conflicts 3m3 minutes ago BREAKING: Warplane crashes inside #Syria near the Turkish border. Nationality of plane not known. VIDEO: http://m.haberturk.com/dunya/haber/1157674-suriye-sinirinda-ucak-dustu…
CNN Türk ENG @CNNTURK_ENG 5m5 minutes ago #BREAKING Turkish jets downed a warplane violating air space, warplane crashes in Syria, nationality unknown AJE News @AJENews 16s17 seconds ago Breaking: A warplane has crashed over Turkey-Syria border. Conflicting reports whether it crashed or was shot down.
Conflict News @Conflicts 45s45 seconds ago UPDATE: Downed plane appears to be an Su-24 operated by both Russia and Syrian Air Forces
Conflict News @Conflicts 36s36 seconds ago Conflict News Retweeted События дня BREAKING: Russian media confirm that plane shot down by Turkish air force is Russian. Guy Johnson @GuyJohnsonTV 10m10 minutes agoLondon, England 'Hi is that NATO HQ.... it's Turkey here and we just shot down a Russian fighter jet' <Silence>
pfft. Now's the time to show if Russia's bark is worse than it's bite. After violating a lot of shit, pretending their army is 'pro-russian militias' to fuck around in Ukraine, bombing US supported parties, mildly threatening with their submarine surfacing, they got caught violating air space and got shot down. Do something about it.
CNN Türk ENG @CNNTURK_ENG 25m25 minutes ago #BREAKING Military sources present flight analysis regarding the warplane downed in Syria near Turkish border
Oh, so Russsia did what they're saying they didn't do again? I thought the black area on that map was water.
Yeah, that map is confusing. I don't know what the fuck that yellow line is. International airspace or another plane or something
holy shit. https://twitter.com/skiplacombe/status/669155768613015552 crazy asses shooting at the russian pilot as he is parachuting down apparently it was ISIS shooting at them but differing reports out there
@cnnbrk ISIS claims responsibility for today's hotel bombing that killed at least 4 in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. http://cnn.it/1R3PYZT #Contained