Not sure if it came across in the email, but for the record: I love Russia, always have. Growing up in the cold war, I never figured out why we were supposed to fear them. I loved the USSR Military hardware, admired how well it worked, the elegant simplicity. The MIG-29 Fulcrum was astounding. My favorite plane though was the F-15.
-----Original Message----- From: Timo Schoeler [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, September 06, 2007 6:17 PM To: Joel R. Helgeson; full-disclosure@lists.grok.org.uk Subject: Re: [Full-disclosure] What do you guys make of this? thus Joel R. Helgeson spake: >> There was a time in foreign policy where no country, no diplomat would make >> a foreign policy decision without first asking "what does Russia think of >> this?". > No. It was 'Soviet Union', not 'Russia'. So what, America, USA, you know what I'm talking about >> Well, Russia is no longer a super power, > Well, actually, it is. It has thousands of nuclear warheads, it has more > advanced fighter jets and bombers than the US, it has more advanced > space technology and ICBMs, submarines, education & healthcare... > It has _plenty_ of ressources the US has to go to war for (natural gas, >oil, etc). Overly simplistic thinking. Nations don't go to war over natural resources anymore. In the 1930's, yes, a country was the sum total of its natural resources - including people which were used for manual labor. Now, it is the PEOPLE who create value now. >> the fall from which left >> Putin feeling excluded. He's always wanted to get Russia back to superpower >> status, he wants his Mother Russia to be significant again. >Propaganda. LOL, no, it's called reality. >> For years, the Russian economy was cash strapped. >No. It suffered from a few people that stole what the people's was. It had no exports, no economy. The tax system was crazy so people simply did not pay. This bankrupted the government. >> Just recently Putin >> revamped the entire tax system and implemented a 12% flat tax. For the first >> time since the collapse, the tax revenues are POURING in. They now have >> enough gas to fuel a plane, and now they want to get back into being viewed >> as a superpower, to be 'feared', they desperately want to matter again, to >> be important. I see you have no response to this. >> So, they're acting out in an aggressive manner - using tried and true cold >> war era tactics. It comes across to me as childish, throwing a fit just to >> get attention. > If _that_ is childish, what is the US's behaviour then? Oh, sorry, I > forgot: Children usually don't rape, kill and spread war^H^H^Hdemocracy. America is doing what it has always done. Fighting for the freedom of others. War is always ugly, but not as ugly as standing by and letting evil flourish. >> It is not propaganda, Russia is just trying to say "We're BAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK! >> And this time, we've got 31337 H4x0rz!" > Blah. Blahblah. :) > Joel Helgeson > 952-858-9111 9/11? Yup _______________________________________________ Full-Disclosure - We believe in it. Charter: http://lists.grok.org.uk/full-disclosure-charter.html Hosted and sponsored by Secunia - http://secunia.com/