Putin Promises New Nuclear Missiles

[CHIMO]

Source: The Moscow Times.com

President Vladimir Putin announced Thursday that the defense industry was developing new nuclear weapons as part of a "grandiose but fully realistic" plan to rearm the military.

"We will develop missile technology, including completely new strategic complexes," he said during a televised call-in show.

"Our plans are not simply considerable, but grandiose. At the same time, they are absolutely realistic," he said. "Our armed forces will be more compact but more effective and better able to ensure the defense of Russia."

The clearly populist remarks were worded in a way that the public could easily understand. But the message also appeared to be aimed at the United States, which is determined to build a missile defense shield in Eastern Europe, despite Russia's objections.



Read more: http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2007/10/19/011.html

[zeemike]

1. These assholes in our government

Has started a new arms race. If we do get a sane president in 08 they will have there work cut out for them trying to fix all the fuck ups of the last 7 years.

[hack89]

4. So why is so unreasonable to think that Russia

wants to regain the superpower it had as the Soviet Union? Don't you think that Putin would be doing this regardless of who was in the White House?
This is what authoritarian leaders do - they buy off the military with big budgets and prestige. Putin is not willing to accept being a second rate power and things will be no different if a Democrat was president.

[olddad56]

5. you don't know that. The world didn't hate us when Bill Clinton was President.

[Psephos]

9. Then how do you explain WTC1? Mogadishu? Haiti? USS Cole? Khobar Towers?

Meanwhile, many on this thread think it's pretty reasonable that a thug like Putin is going to throw more gasoline on the fire.

If it's bad for the U.S. to build new missiles (and IT IS), then it's bad for other countries to build them, too. Unless one actually wishes the world to have more missiles, of course.

I would not buy a used car from Putin. Would you?

[Occulus]

13. And this was all intentional.

I have absolutely no doubt about this in my mind. The people we have running our government are doing exactly what they planned to do.

[Andy Canuck]

2. Oh yeah!!

Mine is bigger than yours! Boys playing stupid, destructive, expensive games. Then agan Bush did smirk his way through threatening the world with WWIII yesterday. Jesus, what a f@#king mess.

I am curious what are people's educated guesses on Bushco actually attacking Iran. I am thinking 50/50. What are people doing to take action so this doesn't happen?

[Kaleko]

3. The US Empire is crumbling. Russia teams up with China, protecting Iran

as they taunt our naked emperors and threaten to remove their dance cards. Next thing we'll hear is calls for UN sanctions against America. My guess: Cheney won't attack Iran. Not anymore - unless he also wants to go down with the Armageddon crowd which was never his plan.

[kitty1]

6. So it's okay for Russia to develop nuclear weapons, but not Iran

[Mongrelkoi]

11. You dont think Washington is going to attack someone who can actually fight back do you?

[usregimechange]

7. Dictator syndrome.

[Mongrelkoi]

8. This could be a good thing!

We are closer to nuclear Annhilation now than wea ever were when there were two super powers! I kinda thought that when the USSR fell that the military spending would stop but instead it increased ten fold for the USA.

The USSR was good for the World in three ways.

1: The power elements in the USA, who would rather see all the unions disappear and all of us making .50$ per day like the chinese, don't like the "Alternative" that the USSR offers. The 1917 Revolution stood for the power of the labor and the common good of the people even though it has been corrupted over the past century and turned into Bolshevism and Stalinism and all that other crap. Never the less the now that the Alternative is gone corporations are free to rape the earth with free reign and the full use of the American Military. I think that iraq is a perfect example of that.

2: When the USSR controlled its ICBMs we did not need to worry about Rogue elements getting hold of one. Now that Russia is a mess there are ~60,000 Nuclear warheads out there floating around. Who is accounting for all of those?

3: Russia is a mess. Capitolism has raped the country, Millions are starving and the oligarchs used corrupt politicians, like Gorbachav, to attain public lands and utilities for .001 penny on the dollar for what they were worth. Moscow is the only modern city in Russia and there are more billionares in Moscow than any other place on earth but the rest of the population lives on less than 1 US dollar a day and by 2050 Russia will lose half of it's population because of low birth rate and high migration out of Russia plus poor health and starvation make the death rate higher than any other developed country in the world. Women refuse to get pregnant and if they do they immediately get an abortion by illegal means.

In my opinion the USSR kept a balance to the scales. If you want more information to this fact you can read some of Noam Chomsky's material. Hea has written over a hundred books. You could buy the materials or leech them through torrents.

[Occulus]

14. Welcome to DU!

:hi:

Everything I know about how Russia has developed since the Soviet days, and everything I watched happen as it happened, tell me you aren't wrong. You're stating it rather baldly- as you ought to- and you aren't wrong.

Now, the question becomes: what does all that mean for us, today? We're seeing it unfolding right now, and I don't much like the look of things at the moment.

edit: I do see what you mean when you say "this could be a good thing", as could the contract Iran (and China?) won to build nuclear power plants may demonstrate. Were I an Iraqi, I certainly wouldn't award the contract to KBR or Halliburton.

Is it becoming clear that the world's stability cannot be guaranteed by the presence of one single, dominating superpower? Perhaps so, perhaps no. Only time can tell, and that seems to be something we have precious little of.

[NoGodsNoMasters]

10. Unsettling...

Simply put, my position is Vladimir Putin makes me uncomfortable. i don't think theres' any reason for US to be scared of this guy, but I'm sure glad I'm not a Russian under this dude. (Or a Chechen, or a Ukrainian, for that matter.) He makes Cheney look cuddly by comparison. He's also been making some very Stalinist moves, outlawing opposing parties, trying to assassinate people, etc. There were some interesting points raised, yes, primarily I think he does yearn for the "good old days" of Soviet superpower. Frankly, I think this is much bigger than Putin, I think it's diffused through the whole culture. I see it as kind of like Britain after WWII, the Empire was gone (Except for the Falklands of course.) and I think this had a demoralizing psychological effect, and I think it's more prevalent in russia, and exacerbated by all the other tensions they have.
There is speculation about Russia, China, Iran, etc, forming an eastern alliance which would counter the western powers, academically this is quite interesting, although I don't think it would be a positive development. No need for a red alert, but I do think we should keep our eyes on this fella. And Bush says he's a great guy! Turds of a feather.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

12. Whatever happened to a lump of coal?

:shrug: