RUSSIA threatened to NUKE Poland yesterday as the world faced the prospect of a terrifying new Cold War. The chilling threat was issued by a top general of Vladimir Putin amid mounting tensions over the war in Georgia.

Gen Anatoly Nogovitsy lashed out after Poland agreed to help the US create a “missile shield” over Europe. He said: “Poland is making itself a target. Such targets are destroyed as a first priority.”

Nuclear threat ... General Anatoly Nogovitsy

Gen Nogovitsy stressed Moscow was ready to use nuclear weapons “against allies of countries having nuclear weapons if they in some way help them”. Russia is furious Poland has said the US can put an interceptor base and a battery of Patriot missiles on its territory.

President Dmitry Medvedev, ruling under the direction of predecessor Mr Putin, said the missile defences were aimed at Russia.

He branded US claims that they are a deterrent against rogue states “a fairy tale”.

No wonder we need a shield with "buddies" like Putin.

Oh dear ..... may be time to stick your head between your knees.

Russia is only the USSR with the dead wood trimmed away.

It's got it's tail up after the successful invasion of Georgia only brought about a good stiff finger shaking from the rest of the world.

Mind you I couldn't see the US approving of anyone setting up missile bases in it's backyard.

It's got it's tail up after the successful invasion of Georgia only brought about a good stiff finger shaking from...

Maybe my comment/question would be better in the investment forum, but with blood on the streets I see gold and oil price falling - seems the markets don't care about this war.

Mind you I couldn't see the US approving of anyone setting up missile bases in it's backyard.

Absolutely. In this instance, i think the Ruskies are justified in being a tad p1ssed.

Mind you I couldn't see the US approving of anyone setting up missile bases in it's backyard.

Absolutely. In this instance, i think the Ruskies are justified in being a tad p1ssed.

Hi

I wonder what the response would be from the current administration if they were faced with the Kennedy Cuba situation.

The Russians are supposed to accept the Polish missiles without protest. Just as Bush would in Cuba ...I think not. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

Georgia is now nothing but a US puppet and it is quite possible this whole scenario was set up and timed around the US agenda for signing the Polish missile agreement. Seems to have backfired somewhat. The only beneficiary will be the US arms industry replacing all the US supplied equipment destroyed by the Russians.

The Yanks wonder why the rest of the world hates them, well their arrogant, aggressive foreign policy is certainly not winning them any friends.

TBWG

Mind you I couldn't see the US approving of anyone setting up missile bases in it's backyard.

Absolutely. In this instance, i think the Ruskies are justified in being a tad p1ssed.

The Russians are taking advantage of the USA's current weaknesses. But their reaction to a missle defense system being installed in Poland is a little over the top. These aren't offensive missile systems, which would be an entirely different matter.

As their economy recovers, I anticipate that Russia will continue its age-old brinksmanship diplomacy. It is designed to get the nerves jangling. But the Russians aren't idiots either...they know that no one wins a nuclear war.

Mind you I couldn't see the US approving of anyone setting up missile bases in it's backyard.

Absolutely. In this instance, i think the Ruskies are justified in being a tad p1ssed.

The Russians are taking advantage of the USA's current weaknesses. But their reaction to a missle defense system being installed in Poland is a little over the top. These aren't offensive missile systems, which would be an entirely different matter.

As their economy recovers, I anticipate that Russia will continue its age-old brinksmanship diplomacy. It is designed to get the nerves jangling. But the Russians aren't idiots either...they know that no one wins a nuclear war.

The US "weaknesses" are entirely of their own making. With their troops occupied in Iraq and Afghanistan and the administration threatening an imminent invasion of Iran in an attempt to bolster the Republicans chances in the coming election a confrontation with Russia is the last thing they need.

One wonders what would happen if China made a move on Taiwan now. (After the Olympics of course, war should never interrupt sport).

Mind you I couldn't see the US approving of anyone setting up missile bases in it's backyard.

Absolutely. In this instance, i think the Ruskies are justified in being a tad p1ssed.

The Russians are taking advantage of the USA's current weaknesses. But their reaction to a missle defense system being installed in Poland is a little over the top. These aren't offensive missile systems, which would be an entirely different matter.

As their economy recovers, I anticipate that Russia will continue its age-old brinksmanship diplomacy. It is designed to get the nerves jangling. But the Russians aren't idiots either...they know that no one wins a nuclear war.

The US "weaknesses" are entirely of their own making. With their troops occupied in Iraq and Afghanistan and the administration threatening an imminent invasion of Iran in an attempt to bolster the Republicans chances in the coming election a confrontation with Russia is the last thing they need.

One wonders what would happen if China made a move on Taiwan now. (After the Olympics of course, war should never interrupt sport).

What you are stating is very obvious Genga. We all know about the USA's weaknesses. China is not going to attack Taiwan because relations are currently stronger than they have been in years. It would also be a great mistake for Russia or other super powers to try to bite off more than they can chew. The Russians are still mired in a nasty situation in Chechnya. And if they decide to hang around Georgia for too long, the Georgians will follow a similar strategy to bleed the Russians too. And one last thing Genga...never underestimate the military power of the United States when it gets involved in a conflict using conventional weapons.

Is this story from the Sun perhaps? I can see how his comments taken out of context could be turned and made to look like a threat.

Ah yes I just googled it, it's the Sun. Could tell straight away from the headline.

RUSSIA threatened to NUKE Poland yesterday as the world faced the prospect of a terrifying new Cold War.

A bit more context from The Telegraph.

The stand off between the two cold War powers was underlined by Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, who dismissed US claims that the silo is a deterrent against 'rogue states' like Iran as "a fairy tale".

He told reporters at the Black Sea resort of Sochi: "The deployment of new missile defence facilities in Europe is aimed against the Russian Federation."

Well it's difficult to lay the blame on the US theses days without getting bashed, but I think he's got a point.

What (continues) to irk me, is that even watching the news today, very little is being said about the fact that Georgia started this !

South Ossetia has been (more or less) autonomous since the early 90's, when it fought to separate itself from Georgia. It's independence has never been internationally recognized though.

Georgia sent it's troops in as the Olympics started, to "crush the separatist" movement. Russia responded. Russia gave Georgia a good spanking, and has been doing what it can to reduce the ability of Georgia doing the same thing again anytime soon.

So why all the rhetoric about Russia ? Oil. The west prefers that Georgia controls the oil (pipelines) and is apparently willing to overlook Georgia's own aggression if it means their proxy maintains control.

As for the missile shield situation. It was rightly pointed out that the US stringently objected to the Russians positioning missiles in Cuba. The Cuban Missile Crisis was perhaps the closest the two sides came to going to war throughout the "Cold War".

The Missile Shield is (arguably) a violation of the MAD (Mutually Assured Destruction) principle that both sides (and other nuclear nations) have been operating on for years.

You fire missiles at me, I fire missiles at you, we both get wiped out, nobody wins. MAD. Better that nobody fires missiles. Simple enough.

However, this missile shield is designed to to allow a certain nation to fire it's missiles with little worry about the response. I fire my missiles at you, then shoot down the missiles you fire at me. You get wiped out, I win.

(Pity the country underneath all the shot down missiles though.)

The US has considered Canada to be a kind of "missile shield" for decades. The idea being to shoot down Soviet bombers and missiles while they were still over Canada, to prevent them from landing in the US. All the fallout lands on Canada. No big deal (in American eyes at the time).

The kicker is, if Russia were able to come up with a similar system, and announce plans to station them in neighbouring countries (and places like North Korea, Cuba, etc), the US would be screaming mad.

It seems that what's good for the goose, isn't also good for the gander in some places.

Mind you I couldn't see the US approving of anyone setting up missile bases in it's backyard.

Absolutely. In this instance, i think the Ruskies are justified in being a tad p1ssed.

The Russians are taking advantage of the USA's current weaknesses. But their reaction to a missle defense system being installed in Poland is a little over the top. These aren't offensive missile systems, which would be an entirely different matter.

As their economy recovers, I anticipate that Russia will continue its age-old brinksmanship diplomacy. It is designed to get the nerves jangling. But the Russians aren't idiots either...they know that no one wins a nuclear war.

The US "weaknesses" are entirely of their own making. With their troops occupied in Iraq and Afghanistan and the administration threatening an imminent invasion of Iran in an attempt to bolster the Republicans chances in the coming election a confrontation with Russia is the last thing they need.

One wonders what would happen if China made a move on Taiwan now. (After the Olympics of course, war should never interrupt sport).

What you are stating is very obvious Genga. We all know about the USA's weaknesses. China is not going to attack Taiwan because relations are currently stronger than they have been in years. It would also be a great mistake for Russia or other super powers to try to bite off more than they can chew. The Russians are still mired in a nasty situation in Chechnya. And if they decide to hang around Georgia for too long, the Georgians will follow a similar strategy to bleed the Russians too. And one last thing Genga...never underestimate the military power of the United States when it gets involved in a conflict using conventional weapons.

I'll agree absolutely that the US has better conventional weapons than anyone else; and what the Russians would be most wary of is American air power, which was used to clear the way for the ground troops in both gulf wars and Afghanistan.

What I said about China and Taiwan was in jest, though you obviously never caught it, the Chinese constantly tell me that Taiwan is an errant child which will come back to the fold uncorrected. They are Chinese first, last and always.

Russia won't hang around Georgia too long, the South Ossetians will be in the process of setting up home rule now. Eventually they will vote to join Russia while the Georgians gnash their teeth in vain.

Russia has learned the hard way about the cost of maintaining armies of occupation in puppet states, they have learned that economic control is just as effective and much cheaper. You mat have noticed how the Ukraine squealed like a penetrated virgin when Putin did clever things with the price of gas a while ago.

The Russians are supposed to accept the Polish missiles without protest. Just as Bush would in Cuba ...I think not. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

Surprise, surprise, you and the Ruskies are twisting the situation. The Polish "missiles" are part of a missile defense system to protect us from nuclear weapons. What we are worried about in Cuba are offensive weapons. I'm sure we would not be too happy about Russia having such a system, but it is far different from weapons designed to kill millions of human beings.

When the Berlin wall came down and the USSR broke apart the West thought they had won !!

However, another perspective could be that those clever chess playing Russians, just got shot of their weakest elements. No need now to pay for the central Asian Republics drug habits, no need to field an increasingly obsolete military machine made thin by it's massive commitments to pacifying Eastern Europe etc etc. They have consolidated and are now ready to take back the bits that will make them stronger. Scary times.

Yep those Ruskies sure are coming back with avengance. Nationalist and streamlined, no political infighting, no dependant states to administer.

Massive natural resources as well as human resources and Nukes of course.

It would be beneficial for Europe to stear a course toward partnership with Russia and perhaps this will cause yet another schism between 'old' Europe and the US.

It would be beneficial for Europe to stear a course toward partnership with Russia and perhaps this will cause yet another schism between 'old' Europe and the US.

If Europe wants to whore itself, why not just bend over for China?

Sadly with modern weaponary, we don't have the luxury of the usual two year wait for Uncle Sam to "join in" the next big one................We'll all be dead by then.

It is going to be very interesting to see how Russia acts when there is a change of leadership in the White House in the USA in January, 2009. I don't envy the conditions that the new President will find himself in when he is sworn into office. Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Poland, Georgia, Israel...and God knows what other flash points will be on the stove in five months. You know that whomever is voted into office, they will be tested immediately by legitimate governments, outlaw regimes and terrorist organizations. I have often wondered what Al Gore would have done if he had been President when 9/11 occurred.

Don't forget the recession officially starts on the 20th of January as well.

It is going to be very interesting to see how Russia acts when there is a change of leadership in the White House in the USA in January, 2009. I don't envy the conditions that the new President will find himself in when he is sworn into office. Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Poland, Georgia, Israel...and God knows what other flash points will be on the stove in five months. You know that whomever is voted into office, they will be tested immediately by legitimate governments, outlaw regimes and terrorist organizations. I have often wondered what Al Gore would have done if he had been President when 9/11 occurred.

At least Obama is starting to talk a little tough. "All you Need is Love', won't always get it in the Oval Office!

It would be beneficial for Europe to stear a course toward partnership with Russia and perhaps this will cause yet another schism between 'old' Europe and the US.

If Europe wants to whore itself, why not just bend over for China?

You ain't gonna catch much with bait like that UG, the worst Europe has to fear from the Chinese is the re-heated rice you get with your take-away.

Very short term thinking. Give them a few years.

Sure UG whatever.

The topic is Russia's reaction to America's plans to place a missile system in Poland.

Yep those Ruskies sure are coming back with avengance. Nationalist and streamlined, no political infighting, no dependant states to administer.

Massive natural resources as well as human resources and Nukes of course.

Sounds like America right after 9/11. It won't last long.

A very good article here summing up the current crisis. http://www.lewrockwell.com/margolis/margolis120.html

The Bush' led USA wants to have a missil shield system on Russia's doorstep, and they don't understand why the russians are pissed off

Me thinks that says it all.................................

We do understand why they don't want us to be able to protect ourselves against their nuclear missles, but we are going to protect ourselves anyway.

The Russians are supposed to accept the Polish missiles without protest. Just as Bush would in Cuba ...I think not. What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

Surprise, surprise, you and the Ruskies are twisting the situation. The Polish "missiles" are part of a missile defense system to protect us from nuclear weapons. What we are worried about in Cuba are offensive weapons. I'm sure we would not be too happy about Russia having such a system, but it is far different from weapons designed to kill millions of human beings.

You don't really believe the US would sit idly by if the situation was exactly the same in reverse. You're just going into your usual 'patriot' mode again.

We do understand why they don't want us to be able to protect ourselves against their nuclear missles, but we are going to protect ourselves anyway.

Thanks UG .............you just confirmed what I stated above!