What Should The Response Be?

[snoopdog]

Putin said that it would be a catastrophe, so there you go

 

[haase]

The worst thing is that no matter what he does its going to be wrong, never seen someone so hounded and scrutinized in two and a half years as him. But he keeps plugging along.

 

[greybeard]

https://youtu.be/p-KIAsuoMAQ?t=211

 

[haase]

I really think what it comes down to is how much does Russia want to get involved in this, do they really want to throw their wait around in a situation like this. Russia has always had a failing economy and never has had any thing really good going for them, other than the fact that they rank 2nd behind the US in military force, sad thing is not really sure they know how to use it, they failed against the middle east the last time they tried, now their on their side, go figure.

 

[haase]

Guess that's the difference in politics and the real world, General Patton wanted to eliminate Russia back in WW2 and it wouldn't have been much of a problem at all, but political correctness played a bigger part, and look at it now, we still have to deal with that scurvy country.

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

That political correctness isn't as much of a problem as the money involved in war. We been tearing up countries and building them back since ww2. Patton was in the biz of ending wars not dragging them out. If going to fight to win. Get over with and come to the house.

 

[haase]

That's right RedBull, it makes to much sense, and solves problems early, now trying anything with common sense makes no sense at all, drag it out and cost billions of dollars, and we know what group is responsible, I mean really was Stalin really that much better than Hitler?

 

[Red Bull Breeder]

Not Stalin wasn't any better than Hitler.

 

[greybeard]

Stalin by all accounts was a butcher. He ruled with an iron hand and treated his own people worse than the Czars ever did. Particularly true in the Baltic and East European parts of the Soviet Union. Worse than Hitler? No, i doubt anyone can get that bad or on that scale, but Stalin was still very bad.

The economy of Russia today has very little effect on what the Russian military and it's govt can or can't/will or will not do. No matter how economically deprived the Russian people may be, nationalism is still very strong in Russia today. They are very much in support of their nation having a string military and react with pride whenever Putin gets the upper hand in the tit-for-tat goings on all around the world...there is a reason he gets re-elected so easily, tho his ratings have finally begun to drop as of 2018.. His people wanted a leader that would put their country back closer to par with the West and they got one. They may not be there yet, but they are getting closer every year.

Even after raising the Russian federal retirement/pension age to 65 for men and 60 years for women in 2018, his approval ratings are still in the mid 60% range. (was age 60 for men and 55 for women). Nothing like a foreign military endeavor to galvanize the Russian people to stand behind the red flag..when they forcefully annexed Crimea, Putin's approval rating rose to 89%. It rose again when he sent his planes into Syria.

 

[haase]

So if something does start, which I believe that Iran is hoping for, who would Russia back? Are they really that stupid? Or maybe there as desperate as Iran?

 

[Silver]

So if something does start, which I believe that Iran is hoping for, who would Russia back? Are they really that stupid? Or maybe there as desperate as Iran?

There is nothing stupid about Putin, he is scary smart I think. Not a "stable genius", but the real deal. One can only hope that the Pentagon will do what it normally does so well and not get distracted by grandstanding from the oval office.

 

[Caustic Burno]

So if something does start, which I believe that Iran is hoping for, who would Russia back? Are they really that stupid? Or maybe there as desperate as Iran?

Russia makes money if this starts.
If the straits of Hormuz are bottled up oil futures on the commodity markets climb on 90 day delivery.
Exxon doesn't run Exxon oil it buys and sells on the market. Production is a company just like refining. Production is trying to get the highest contract and refining the lowest on the barrel.
US production has depressed oil prices, Russia wants the money.

https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_pri_spt_s1_d.htm

 

[Buck Randall]

So if something does start, which I believe that Iran is hoping for, who would Russia back? Are they really that stupid? Or maybe there as desperate as Iran?

There is nothing stupid about Putin, he is scary smart I think. Not a "stable genius", but the real deal. One can only hope that the Pentagon will do what it normally does so well and not get distracted by grandstanding from the oval office.

Russia is at war with the world, and the world has been slow to catch on. This article is a couple years old already, but it does a good job of outlining what Russia has done to Ukraine and the groundwork they're laying in other countries, including the US.

https://www.wired.com/story/russian-hackers-attack-ukraine/

There have been more examples recently of Russian meddling in other countries' affairs. A lot of recent international political events start to make more sense if you ask, "What would Putin want?"

 

[Redgully]

Guess that's the difference in politics and the real world, General Patton wanted to eliminate Russia back in WW2 and it wouldn't have been much of a problem at all, but political correctness played a bigger part, and look at it now, we still have to deal with that scurvy country.

Wow! Sure you're not Japanese?

 

[greybeard]

Russia doesn't need the money any more than any other country does, and especially not compared to our own country. They have very little debt .. about 25% of their GDP compared to US having over 100% of our own GDP in debt.
Our total external debt (what we owe other nations) is way higher too.
United States $19,765,887 million
Russia owes other countries only $468 million

Their big export is natural gas and their biggest buyer is Europe which is one of the reasons they wanted ukraine back in the fold. The big pipeline from Russia to EU runs thru Ukraine. EU is over 60% dependent on Russia for nat gas and no easy way out of it. Russia produces more nat gas than any other nation..#2 is (you guessed it) Iran.
Under Putin, they have positioned themselves pretty good on the world economic stage. Gasoline prices at the pump are cheaper in Moscow than they are in Houston Tx.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Russia doesn't need the money any more than any other country does, and especially not compared to our own country. They have very little debt .. about 25% of their GDP compared to US having over 100% of our own GDP in debt.
Our total external debt (what we owe other nations) is way higher too.
United States $19,765,887 million
Russia owes other countries only $468 million

Their big export is natural gas and their biggest buyer is Europe which is one of the reasons they wanted ukraine back in the fold. The big pipeline from Russia to EU runs thru Ukraine. EU is over 60% dependent on Russia for nat gas and no easy way out of it. Russia produces more nat gas than any other nation..#2 is (you guessed it) Iran.
Under Putin, they have positioned themselves pretty good on the world economic stage. Gasoline prices at the pump are cheaper in Moscow than they are in Houston Tx.

As the Baptist say we will agree to disagree.
Investopedia
"The price of oil and Russia's economy have the opposite relationship. When oil prices drop, Russia suffers greatly. Oil and gas are responsible for more than 60% of Russia's exports and provide more than 30% of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). The effect of the 2014 oil price collapse on Russia's economy was fast and devastating. Between June and December 2014, the Russian ruble declined in value by 59% relative to the U.S. dollar. At the beginning of 2015, Russia, along with neighboring Ukraine, had the lowest purchasing power parity (PPP) relative to the U.S. of any country in the world. Declining PPP lowers living standards, as goods purchased using the home currency become more expensive than they should be. Moreover, Russia receives less economic benefit from lower pump prices than the U.S. does, as Russians consume much less oil and gas than Americans. Less than 30% of Russia's oil production is retained for domestic use, while the remainder is exported.

Oil prices also affect imports for Russia, as was seen in 2014. Because the country is a net importer of goods like soybeans and rubber, the sharp increase in import prices caused by a falling ruble touched off major inflation, which the Russian government attempted to tamp down by raising interest rates as high as 17%. As the U.S. discovered in the early 1980s, a sudden and significant interest rate hike can precipitate a deep recession.

Fending off dual threats of sharp economic contraction and rampant inflation is a tenuous proposition for policymakers in any nation; for Russia, it is an unfortunate reality when oil prices decline."

 

[cowrancher75]

i know some russians.. and they do not like putin.

the reason he wins reelections is because he kills any competition or simply rigs the election. everyone is scared of him there. some radio dj said some stuff about him on air and he was dead the next day.