Russia ready to restore relations with US, says Vladimir Putin

[Linzz]

5 hours ago, Merzik said:

Who cares if you do not believe RT? It is the words of Julian Assange which matter. You can see the interview and hear what he said. He said Russia did not give him the emails.

Assange is not a criminal. He is a whistleblower and has made enormous personal sacrifices to get the truth out. Most of the world sees him as a hero.

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At considerable personal risk too. Joke or not, Hillary asked why they should not send in a drone. Since then he's stopped making announcements from his balcony

Edited November 11, 2016 by Linzz
Add

[Merzik]

3 minutes ago, Linzz said:

 

At considerable personal risk too. Joke or not, Hillary asked why they should not send in a drone

 

[Morch]

12 minutes ago, Merzik said:

 

 

Perhaps, but then again, he doesn't.

If Wikileaks "efforts" were less obviously biased, maybe you'd actually have a point.

[Guest]

2 hours ago, Merzik said:

 

 

If Wikileaks was

releasing Russian secrets

Julian Assange

would have been

death by now...

 

That's the difference.

[Merzik]

 

If Wikileaks was

releasing Russian secrets

Julian Assange

would have been

death by now...

 

That's the difference.

His life has been threatened for releasing American secrets about corruption and he is not even able to show his face without risk of assassination . Given that we have had a constitutional republic since 1776 in the USA and Russia was part of the USSR only 25 years ago; I do not expect them to be up to speed with the West when it comes to being a free society. Yes I know he is not American but he is a whistle blower exposing corruption and crime. This is something the American MSM no longer does much of anymore... unless it is a "groped" woman from 30 years ago or a fat-shamed beauty queen. [emoji2]

.

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[Guest]

I guess Assange was saved due western lack of efficiency to produce and get substances with short half life alpha emitters. Fortunately Russia don't have to go through all the red tape to get things done. 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoning_of_Alexander_Litvinenko

 

[Xircal]

21 hours ago, Gene1960 said:

It is surprising how many people overestimate Russia and it's military might.

And I look at the map and wonder why'd Russia want to invade the Baltic countries. What's purpose? And occupation is so old fashioned and expensive.


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Why would Putin want to invade the Baltic states you ask? Because all three were former Soviet republics. Russia doesn't want NATO countries sitting on its doorstep and for that reason alone it may consider re-absorbing them into Mother Russia. All three are soft targets since none of them has an airforce and have to rely on NATO forces for their security.

 

Playing the appeasement card like Chamberlain did when Hitler invaded Poland won't work here either since Putin would take that as a signal that NATO was too scared to take action and that he could continue his aggression unabated. Ukraine would be next followed by Hungary (another former Soviet republic).

 

Therefore at the first sign that an invasion in any Baltic state was taking place NATO has to come down hard and that means full scale warfare with a country that possesses the biggest arsenal of nuclear weapons in the world.

[Xircal]

9 hours ago, Usernames said:

 

Sorry, Craig, I am unwilling to engage in a nuclear war with Russia over Riga, the Crimea, or even Ukraine.  Nor am I willing to go to war with Russia over Syria.

 

If even a regional nuclear conflict erupts in Europe you won't have a choice. There are many computer models which have analysed what the effects of a nuclear conflict on the world will be should one take place. Here's a scientific summary of one of them: https://www2.ucar.edu/atmosnews/just-published/11155/regional-nuclear-war-would-have-global-reach

 

If Putin were to invade the Baltic states, NATO will be legally obliged to come to their defence in accordance with Article 5 of the treaty which could trigger a nuclear response given that Putin has threatened to use tactical nuclear weapons if attacked.

 

Putin is a sly dog who manipulates people for his own ends and may be doing just that right now with Trump. If Trump can't see through that and allows himself to be talked into lifting sanctions and perhaps even into recognizing Crimea, Putin may take the view that he has Trump's blessing to act with impunity in Europe or anywhere else in the world even if his actions threaten the very existence of humanity.

 

[Guest]

19 minutes ago, Xircal said:

 

If even a regional nuclear conflict erupts in Europe you won't have a choice. There are many computer models which have analysed what the effects of a nuclear conflict on the world will be should one take place. Here's a scientific summary of one of them: https://www2.ucar.edu/atmosnews/just-published/11155/regional-nuclear-war-would-have-global-reach

 

If Putin were to invade the Baltic states, NATO will be legally obliged to come to their defence in accordance with Article 5 of the treaty which could trigger a nuclear response given that Putin has threatened to use tactical nuclear weapons if attacked.

 

Putin is a sly dog who manipulates people for his own ends and may be doing just that right now with Trump. If Trump can't see through that and allows himself to be talked into lifting sanctions and perhaps even into recognizing Crimea, Putin may take the view that he has Trump's blessing to act with impunity in Europe or anywhere else in the world even if his actions threaten the very existence of humanity.

 

First nuclear detonation against people means that all betts are off. It's simple as that.

If Russia tries to invade my country, I'll do my best to make sure that all the bets are off.

 

  

[Guest]

Let me remind everybody, why nuclear war is such an bad idea. 

 

Even during the deepest cold war , both sides agreed, we all will be killed due nuclear winter.

 

 

[Publicus]

4 hours ago, Merzik said:

His life has been threatened for releasing American secrets about corruption and he is not even able to show his face without risk of assassination . Given that we have had a constitutional republic since 1776 in the USA and Russia was part of the USSR only 25 years ago; I do not expect them to be up to speed with the West when it comes to being a free society. Yes I know he is not American but he is a whistle blower exposing corruption and crime. This is something the American MSM no longer does much of anymore... unless it is a "groped" woman from 30 years ago or a fat-shamed beauty queen.

.

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Assange said when he began Wikileaks that his target was the United States. The transparent rationale is that because USA is an open society it is easier to change than are Russia or CCP China -- or presumably Iran among others.

 

Assange himself identified his target, the USA. So to change USA how would be the next question. By giving a free pass to Moscow, Beijing and all adversaries of the United States. Assange wants to move USA in a different direction, i.e., more like the rulers that populate the Kremlin.

 

Enter Donald Trump as it happens. A drone to the balcony would be perfect.

[Scott]

Off-topic post and reply removed.

[Gene1960]

 

Why would Putin want to invade the Baltic states you ask? Because all three were former Soviet republics. Russia doesn't want NATO countries sitting on its doorstep and for that reason alone it may consider re-absorbing them into Mother Russia. All three are soft targets since none of them has an airforce and have to rely on NATO forces for their security.

 

From my layman's perspective, the Baltic countries are a strategic cul-de-sac, their territory does not add anything to Russia's military capability. To keep them under an occupation is impossible for any lengthy period. The population hates Russia and Russians too much. No way those countries will be absorbed again.

And Russia cannot afford any serious conflict with the west regardless of the opinion of the western Media. The military on both sides know that. In my view MSM are playing games with the public.

[Linzz]

 I believe there are considerable numbers of the population of the former USSR states that want to be re-united with Russia. Therein lies the difficulty and the excuse also to annex.

[Jingthing]

Sure thing, Russia is ready to make a deal with the <snip>! Why wouldn't they? Must be licking their chops. 

 

Quote

But Trump seems post-literate, a man who has made an end run around books directly to the digital age, where nothing is vetted, context is absent and lies proliferate.
...

Realists know that while the balance of power is not a panacea, maintaining an advantageous balance of power with rivals is generally in a nation’s interest. Russian President Vladimir Putin has upset the balance of power from Central Europe to the Middle East, something that we need urgently to rectify, at the very least for the sake of a stronger negotiating position with Russia. Trump appears to have no understanding of this. Indeed, rather than being realistic, his benign statements about Putin are dangerously naive.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/on-foreign-policy-donald-trump-is-a-fake-realist/2016/11/11/c5fdcc52-a783-11e6-8042-f4d111c862d1_story.html?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-a%3Ahomepage%2Fstory

Edited November 12, 2016 by Moderator01
inappropriate reference to the US President elect

[craigt3365]

11 hours ago, Merzik said:

His life has been threatened for releasing American secrets about corruption and he is not even able to show his face without risk of assassination . Given that we have had a constitutional republic since 1776 in the USA and Russia was part of the USSR only 25 years ago; I do not expect them to be up to speed with the West when it comes to being a free society. Yes I know he is not American but he is a whistle blower exposing corruption and crime. This is something the American MSM no longer does much of anymore... unless it is a "groped" woman from 30 years ago or a fat-shamed beauty queen.

.

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Russia has been around way longer than the US.  Many who were part of the USSR are now part of the Russian government.  No changes in the way they operate either.  Propaganda, no freedom of speech, repression of the people, only a few get rich.

 

Not everything released was related to corruption and crime.  Like the personal details of women in Turkey.  How would you like that if your mother, daughter, wife, etc, had their personal details released publicly.  Don't think you'd like it.

 

Please read this.  Good article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/05/opinion/what-were-missing-while-we-obsess-over-john-podestas-email.html

Quote

Whistle-blowing, as Mr. Ellsberg did, is a time-honored means for exposing the secret machinations of the powerful. But the release of huge amounts of hacked data, with no apparent oversight or curation, does the opposite. Such leaks threaten our ability to dissent by destroying privacy and unleashing a glut of questionable information that functions, somewhat unexpectedly, as its own form of censorship, rather than as a way to illuminate the maneuverings of the powerful.

 

[craigt3365]

4 hours ago, Linzz said:

 I believe there are considerable numbers of the population of the former USSR states that want to be re-united with Russia. Therein lies the difficulty and the excuse also to annex.

There are considerable numbers of ethnic Russians in these former states because of the draconian tactics used by the USSR after they were occupied.  Local elites and resistance members were shipped off to Siberia, and replaced with ethnic Russians.  But I think the majority still does not want to be reunited.  At least that's been my experience when traveling through these places.  Belarus and Kazakhstan being the exceptions, but still don't think they want to be re-united.  Though very close politically to Russia.

[Publicus]

1 hour ago, craigt3365 said:

There are considerable numbers of ethnic Russians in these former states because of the draconian tactics used by the USSR after they were occupied.  Local elites and resistance members were shipped off to Siberia, and replaced with ethnic Russians.  But I think the majority still does not want to be reunited.  At least that's been my experience when traveling through these places.  Belarus and Kazakhstan being the exceptions, but still don't think they want to be re-united.  Though very close politically to Russia.

 

Thx for the nuanced post.

 

Especially from someone who's been there (for whatever period of time) and is politically attuned, astute, inquisitive.

[zydeco]

3 minutes ago, Publicus said:

 

Thx for the nuanced post.

 

Especially from someone who's been there (for whatever period of time) and is politically attuned, astute, inquisitive.

 

The use of population transfers was typical across the entire Communist world.  Done so in order to undermine nationalist sentiment and resistance.  The same, for example, was done throughout Yugoslavia, which in that case was used to undermine Serbian nationalism and resistance to Tito.  But Bill Clinton and the US supported the dismemberment of parts of Yugoslavia that were traditionally Serbian but had been overwhelmed with population transfers, such as in Kosovo. So, if that argument was good for Kosovo, it should be good for Crimea and eastern parts of Ukraine, shouldn't it?

[craigt3365]

1 minute ago, Publicus said:

 

Thx for the nuanced post.

 

Especially from someone who's been there (for whatever period of time) and is politically attuned, astute, inquisitive.

One of the benefits of travel.  You get to see things first hand.  Like this museum in Vilnius (there are many similar to this in the countries I've visited). The basement where they executed people was insane.  Mass executions.

 

http://genocid.lt/muziejus/en/

The museum is situated in the former KGB building, where the crimes of the Soviet regime were planned and executed for fifty years. Visitors can visit:

• the former KGB prison,
• the premises where death sentences were implemented,
• modern exhibitions telling about the loss of independence in the middle of the 20th century, repressions by Soviet authorities, and the self-sacrificing and persistent fight for independence.

 

I also visited this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hill_of_Crosses

Quote

The site took on a special significance during the years 1944–1990, when Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union. Continuing to travel to the hill and leave their tributes, Lithuanians used it to demonstrate their allegiance to their original identity, religion and heritage. It was a venue of peaceful resistance, although the Soviets worked hard to remove new crosses, and bulldozed the site at least three times (including attempts in 1963 and 1973).^[4] There were even rumors that the authorities planned to build a dam on the nearby Kulvė River, a tributary to Mūša, so that the hill would end up underwater.^[5]

 

Some people fail to understand what these people went through.  Thus, their desire to not be part of Russia again.

[craigt3365]

1 minute ago, zydeco said:

 

The use of population transfers was typical across the entire Communist world.  Done so in order to undermine nationalist sentiment and resistance.  The same, for example, was done throughout Yugoslavia, which in that case was used to undermine Serbian nationalism and resistance to Tito.  But Bill Clinton and the US supported the dismemberment of parts of Yugoslavia that were traditionally Serbian but had been overwhelmed with population transfers, such as in Kosovo. So, if that argument was good for Kosovo, it should be good for Crimea and eastern parts of Ukraine, shouldn't it?

It's never good.  But I don't think Clinton was personally responsible for moving people around.  Like the Soviets did.  Not to mention the movement of locals to Siberia, etc.  Huge difference. 

[Publicus]

32 minutes ago, zydeco said:

 

The use of population transfers was typical across the entire Communist world.  Done so in order to undermine nationalist sentiment and resistance.  The same, for example, was done throughout Yugoslavia, which in that case was used to undermine Serbian nationalism and resistance to Tito.  But Bill Clinton and the US supported the dismemberment of parts of Yugoslavia that were traditionally Serbian but had been overwhelmed with population transfers, such as in Kosovo. So, if that argument was good for Kosovo, it should be good for Crimea and eastern parts of Ukraine, shouldn't it?

 

Putin the Czarist-Chekist is driving to follow through on USSR obnoxious policies of a Russian ethnic empire.

 

Soviet Russian population takeovers were the Marxist-Leninist reincarnation of those by the dynasties of the Czars who had extended Russia to the Pacific as well as south to the Crimea. USSR focused instead out to Eastern and Central Europe due to the exploitation of the area's vulnerability during and post WW II. 

 

Putin's engine of expansionism is motivated and driven by ethnic factors above all else. Ethnic dominance to include of course language. It is very old and necessarily destructive ethnocentric policy making and war making. Eurasian in this instance, right out to the North Atlantic and down to the Med.

 

Putin is a relic. Trump is his new road builder.

[Merzik]

 
Assange said when he began Wikileaks that his target was the United States. The transparent rationale is that because USA is an open society it is easier to change than are Russia or CCP China -- or presumably Iran among others.
 
Assange himself identified his target, the USA. So to change USA how would be the next question. By giving a free pass to Moscow, Beijing and all adversaries of the United States. Assange wants to move USA in a different direction, i.e., more like the rulers that populate the Kremlin.
 
Enter Donald Trump as it happens. A drone to the balcony would be perfect.

Who is giving Russia or China a free pass? China is far worse than Russia though I understand Russia needs to change as well. I do not want war with either of them however and we have allies which are far worse than Russia. Putin's Russia is Disneyland compared to Saudi Arabia for example. The Soros/Obama coup in the Ukraine is not the type of foreign policy which is going to help Russia move in the right direction however. Quite the opposite.

Assange is doing the job the American MSM should be doing. I would be delighted to see someone do the same to Russia and China as Assange has done with the USA. The burden for whistleblowing should not be placed only on him.

Your comment about a drone strike on Trump is revolting. As much as I despise Obama and Clinton I wish nothing but a fair trial and jail time for their war crimes...not their assassination.



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[derator01]

A link to a conspiracy theory website has been removed from view.

[Merzik]

 
Deflection. Not even a very good or subtle one.
Guess no point in expecting a direct answer as to when Obama threat war with Russia.

The highest ranking military officer in America General Dunford said before Congress recently that Clinton's proposed no-fly-zone over Syria would mean war with Russia. Obama tried the same policy back in 2013 but backed down when there was hard push-back from General Dempsey. ( per former NYT reporter Syemour Hearch ) Fortunately the military is more cautious than the civilians in power today.


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[Publicus]

1 hour ago, Merzik said:

 

Who is giving Russia or China a free pass? China is far worse than Russia though I understand Russia needs to change as well. I do not want war with either of them however and we have allies which are far worse than Russia. Putin's Russia is Disneyland compared to Saudi Arabia for example. The Soros/Obama coup in the Ukraine is not the type of foreign policy which is going to help Russia move in the right direction however. Quite the opposite.

Assange is doing the job the American MSM should be doing. I would be delighted to see someone do the same to Russia and China as Assange has done with the USA. The burden for whistleblowing should not be placed only on him.

Your comment about a drone strike on Trump is revolting. As much as I despise Obama and Clinton I wish nothing but a fair trial and jail time for their war crimes...not their assassination.



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Assange is doing the job the American MSM should be doing

 

Putin gave Assange a television talk show based in Moscow and broadcast throughout the Soviet Russia.

 

Assange's final show from Moscow occurred the day he was apprehended in London at the request of the Swedish government.

 

Wikileaks had already revealed Sweden collects everything on the Russian internet and forwards it to Washington.  (Sweden is not in Nato btw.) Meanwhile, never anything about Russia, CCP China, Iran, Beijing's best buddy Mugabe, North Korea and a long list of other tyrannies. 

 

Assange is Putin's whore. A drone to the balcony is exactly right.

[Morch]

42 minutes ago, Merzik said:

 

The highest ranking military officer in America General Dunford said before Congress recently that Clinton's proposed no-fly-zone over Syria would mean war with Russia. Obama tried the same policy back in 2013 but backed down when there was hard push-back from General Dempsey. ( per former NYT reporter Syemour Hearch ) Fortunately the military is more cautious than the civilians in power today.


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Yeah, with been over this exact tidbit a couple of days ago, my reply stands.

If anything, your post implies Obama did not threat a war with Russia.

[Merzik]

 

Yeah, with been over this exact tidbit a couple of days ago, my reply stands.

If anything, your post implies Obama did not threat a war with Russia.

Obama tried in 2013 and Clinton proposed only a few weeks ago a policy that our top military officers say would result in war with Russia. Their words not mine. That is the bottom line.

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[nausea]

Somebody needs an enemy to fight. No way Russia is gonna take on the US, except under extreme provocation. 

[Merzik]

 

Assange is doing the job the American MSM should be doing

 

Putin gave Assange a television talk show based in Moscow and broadcast throughout the Soviet Russia.

 

Assange's final show from Moscow occurred the day he was apprehended in London at the request of the Swedish government.

 

Wikileaks had already revealed Sweden collects everything on the Russian internet and forwards it to Washington.  (Sweden is not in Nato btw.) Meanwhile, never anything about Russia, CCP China, Iran, Beijing's best buddy Mugabe, North Korea and a long list of other tyrannies. 

 

Assange is Putin's whore. A drone to the balcony is exactly right.

There are still some honest liberals in the world...though not many are American it seems. The "Assange is Putin's whore" charge is as absurd as your charge that "Trump is Putin's puppet." Hyperbole. Counterpunch gets it right:

http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/09/09/libeling-leakers-julian-assange-wikileaks-and-the-russian-connection/