Is another Cold War with Russia inevitable?

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Some of these things I've been reading on the internet these past few weeks, just seems like something is bound to happen sooner or later.


Russian strategic bombers reportedly practice nuclear missile strike against US

A pair of Russian bomber jets reportedly practiced cruise missile attacks against targets in the United States last week, according to a report published on Monday in the Washington Free Beacon.

Bill Gertz, a writer for the Beacon, reported that two Russian Tu-95 Bear bombers were tracked flying over the Labrador Sea last week in the northern Atlantic Ocean near Iceland, Greenland and Canada as part of a recent training mission.

“Analysis of the flight indicated the aircraft were conducting practice runs to a pre-determined ‘launch box’ — an optimum point for firing nuclear-armed cruise missiles at US targets,” Gertz wrote, citing unnamed defense officials he described as being familiar with intelligence reports.

The aircraft, Gertz added, are outfitted with six AS-15 nuclear-armed cruise missiles, each capable of striking targets as far away as 1,800 miles.

Representatives for the US Northern Command and Northern American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, declined to comment to Gertz ahead of his report, and told RT in an email Monday afternoon that they could not confirm the allegations printed by the Free Beacon. On his part, however, Gertz wrote that neither the US nor Canada responded to the alleged incident because it reportedly occurred outside of the North American Air Defense Identification Zone.

According to Gertz, the reported drill occurred last week at the same time that officials from the US, Canada and other allied partners met in Wales for the largest NATO summit of its kind in two years, where on the agenda, among other topics, was the escalating crisis in eastern Ukraine and potential action that could be undertaken to counter perceived Russian aggression. On the heels of that meeting, both the US and the European Union are expected to impose new sanctions against Moscow.

The latest report comes days after Russia’s own recent decision to revise a 2010 military doctrine to identify the US and NATO members as enemies, which “clearly outline the conditions of a preemptive nuclear strike” against partner countries, Gertz wrote. With regards to the alliance, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said during last week’s summit that at least 4,000 troops from various member states will soon form a “spearhead” regiment that will be “ready to deploy within a few days with air, sea and Special Forces support” in the event that the Ukrainian crisis spread into allied territory.

Gertz has previously reported for the Beacon that no fewer than 16 Russian bombers incurred the airspace of either US or Canada during the month of August, and this week’s article comes days after similar allegations were made abroad: late last month, a Dutch F-16 military jet intercepted and escorted a Russian Tu-95 bomber out of that nation’s airspace, as did the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force during a similar incident.

“Clearly, we at the US Strategic Command do monitor the strategic environment,”Admiral Cecil Haney, commander of the US Strategic Command, told Gertz last month following reports that Russian bombers came within 50 miles of California on the US West Coast. "I will say that the business of them coming close to the United States of America, we take very seriously.”



Not sure why those last 3 paragraphs are striked out.

Russia Threatens to Bankrupt Western Airlines by Closing Its Airspace

Russia is threatening a return to Soviet-era airspace restrictions in response to new European Union sanctions, a move that could force Western airlines to cancel flights or improvise complicated and expensive alternative routes.

On Monday, the EU signed off on additional sanctions to punish the Kremlin for incursions into Ukraine in recent weeks. In a statement, EU President Herman Van Rompuy said the sanctions targeting Russian oil companies — though not the gas producers that supply Europe with much of its energy — would take effect in the coming days.

The EU, however, said it would allow the sanctions to be reviewed in the future, pending the result of a ceasefire announced between the Kiev government and Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine's east.

Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said previously that such sanctions would trigger a response that could include blocking Western airlines from flying over Russian airspace. Russia's airspace is the world's largest, covering nine time zones from the Baltic to the Bering Sea.

"We work on the basis of friendly relations with our partners, and that's why Russia's skies are open to flights. But if we are restricted then we'll have to respond."
Watch all of VICE News' Russian Roulette dispatches here.

"If there are sanctions related to the energy sector, or further restrictions on Russia's financial sector, we will have to respond asymmetrically," Medvedev told the Russian news site Vedomosti. "We work on the basis of friendly relations with our partners, and that's why Russia's skies are open to flights. But if we are restricted then we'll have to respond."

"If Western carriers have to bypass our airspace, this could drive many struggling airlines into bankruptcy," said Medvedev.

Prior to the fall of the Soviet Union, Moscow banned most US-aligned countries from flying through its airspace. Under international aviation agreements, sovereign countries have the right to refuse entry to foreign aircraft.

"He's basically threatening to go back to the system that was in place," Robert Orttung, assistant director of the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies at George Washington University, told VICE News. "The Russians feel compelled to respond in ways that are not very productive. It would make Russia more of a pariah state."

It was unclear if Russia would include flights destined for Russia, not just those traveling through the country, in the potential restrictions.

War in Peace: Divided East Ukraine Braces As Ceasefire Crumbles. Read more here.

Aviation experts say a flight ban would cause hundreds of cancellations in the short term and over time could hold severe consequences for European-based airlines, especially ones that operate flights directly to East Asia.

"A lot of the flights we fly now didn't exist during Soviet times," R. John Hansman, director of the MIT International Center for Air Transportation, told VICE News. "For direct flights from Northern Europe to Japan, for example, you'd have to go south all the way to Afghanistan and cut across China, or you'd have to fly all the way over the North Pole to Alaska and turn back."

By Hansman's estimate, a route over the Arctic Circle could lengthen flight times by as much as 70 percent, effectively making them impossible logistically and financially — unless an Alaskan city such as Anchorage takes on a role as a transcontinental hub.

Airlines with hubs along southern routes to Asia, such as Emirates, could possibly stand to gain from increased ticketing due to the restrictions.

A flight ban would ratchet stakes to levels reminiscent of the Cold War, when the USSR shot down several civilian airliners that entered its airspace.
But mutually assured economic pain could preclude the use of airspace as a weapon for very long. Should Western countries and the US respond by ending flights to Russian cities — as they almost surely would — the Russian economy, already feeling the sting of existing US and EU sanctions, could be devastated.

Ceasefire Threatened After Ukrainian Positions Shelled Outside Mariupol. Read more here.

Following Russia's annexation of Crimea in March, the US, many European nations, and several other allies began levying sanctions that target individual companies and financial transactions in Russia. In April, the US expanded sanctions against Russia to include billionaires in President Vladimir Putin's inner circle. On the list were Igor I. Sechin, head of Rosneft, a Russian state-owned Rosneft oil company, and Sergei V. Chemezov, the director general of Rosetc, another state-owned company that oversees tech development.

Russia responded by imposing its own sanctions on high-ranking Western politicians, and banning imports of many US and European agricultural goods.

The existing sanctions have already hurt the Russian economy. In August, the Kremlin was forced to inject $6.6 billion in two state-owned banks. The government also cut projected 2016 revenues from state-owned energy giants Gazprom and Rosneftegaz by $18 billion.

A flight ban would ratchet stakes to levels reminiscent of the Cold War, when the USSR shot down several civilian airliners that entered its airspace. But Orttung believes Putin's gambit in Ukraine has extended him to the point where he cannot easily retract, making a flight ban not out of the question.

"He sees this as an existential issue, driven by domestic politics," said Orttung. "He's working very hard to maintain his popularity, but it's not getting any easier for him."

Cliffs
- Russia keeps coming close to US and Canadian airspace with nuclear bombers
- Russia considering going back to soviet airspace plan
- US will run military exercises in Western Ukraine next week
- Russia and China signing multi billion dollar energy deals
- Russia might next look to invade Estonia or other baltic states that are members of NATO

Is something bound to happen within the next few years?
 
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Russian plane overflies Canadian ship in Black Sea

Ottawa (AFP) - A Russian military plane circled over a Canadian frigate on a NATO mission in the Black Sea, a maneuver Ottawa denounced Monday as "unnecessarily provocative."

The Russian aircraft "did not in any way pose a threat to the Canadian ship," said Canadian Defense Minister Rob Nicholson.

However, "their actions were unnecessarily provocative and risk escalating tensions even further" in the region, he said.

The HMCS Toronto left Canada's Atlantic coast at the end of July with 250 sailors and Sea King helicopters on board to join the NATO mission.

"The participation of HMCS Toronto in NATO's reassurance measures in the Black Sea demonstrates Canada's steadfast commitment to peace and security in Eastern and Central Europe," the Canadian defense minister said.

These measures have been undertaken "as a direct result of the Putin regime's military aggression and invasion of Ukraine," he said.

Canada and NATO forces are sending the message that "Russia's reckless actions must stop," he added.

Earlier Monday, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird had indicated that Canada was ready to impose fresh sanctions against Russia aimed at pressuring President Vladimir Putin over Moscow's role both in eastern Ukraine and Crimea.

http://news.yahoo.com/russian-plane-overflies-canadian-ship-black-sea-010608116.html
 
Russia Fires Nuclear Missile, Hits Target 3,500 Miles Away


Russia successfully tested its latest Bulava intercontinental nuclear missile Wednesday amid rising tensions with NATO over the conflict in Ukraine. The nearly 37-ton missile was launched from Russia’s new submarine, the Vladimir Monomakh, as part of its sea trials. Deputy Defense Minister Yuriy Borisov said a total of five test launches are planned.

The Vladimir Monomakh, named after a medieval prince, fired the inter-continental ballistic missile from the White Sea near Russia’s border with Finland and hit its target nearly 3,500 miles away on the Kamchatka peninsula north of Japan. The Russian Navy's head, Adm. Viktor Chirkov, was aboard the Vladimir Monomakh for the launch.

The Borei-class Vladimir Monomakh can carry up to 16 Bulava missiles, which can each carry up to 10 nuclear warheads. The Bulava missiles have a range of 5,000 miles and can reportedly cause a blast 100 times larger than the atomic bombs the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The Bulava system has been plagued with troubles, including at least eight unsuccessful test-fires. Borei-class submarines have to successfully test fire Bulava missiles to be accepted by the Russian Navy.

NATO leaders have accused Russia of invading Ukraine and stirring unrest in the ethnic Russian Ukrainian population. Pro-Russian separatists in the east have been battling the Ukrainian military for more than five months, hoping to secede from Ukraine and join its larger neighbor.

Meanwhile, President Vladimir Putin took control Wednesday of Russia's Military Industrial Commission, the body in charge of making defense orders and ensuring the implementation of those contracts. Putin wants to shift defense-related production and development to the domestic market.
 
I'm sure they know they would be annihilated if they were to launch anything at the U.S. 
 
Likely not if nuclear weapons were being used. 

What about Russia and Chinas nukes?

It took us 10 years to fight an amateur army in Al-Queda, and wasn't even really successful.....how would we fare against mega powers?

They could wipe us off the map just like we could to them.
 
This isn't what Russia wants. But it's mind boggling because their actions suggest otherwise. They clearly don't give a damn about increased sanctions, and they believe it could only boost their economy. Their actions in Ukraine clearly shows that they will lie. Russian gov't claims to have no influence over Separatist in Ukraine, but they show signs of pulling out once a cease-fire agreement is within reach.

This deserves a lot of attention
 
This isn't what Russia wants. But it's mind boggling because their actions suggest otherwise. They clearly don't give a damn about increased sanctions, and they believe it could only boost their economy. Their actions in Ukraine clearly shows that they will lie. Russian gov't claims to have no influence over Separatist in Ukraine, but they show signs of pulling out once a cease-fire agreement is within reach.

This deserves a lot of attention

I think we have to watch what happens next week, September 15th, when the US will be running military exercises in Western Ukraine. Putin is not happy about that one bit.
 
 
Likely not if nuclear weapons were being used. 
What about Russia and Chinas nukes?

It took us 10 years to fight an amateur army in Al-Queda, and wasn't even really successful.....how would we fare against mega powers?

They could wipe us off the map just like we could to them.
Right. It's called mutually assured destruction.
 
Maybe if we would keep our noses out of Ukraine elections and their democratically elected government. Pisses me off that this isn't talked about more.
 
Likely not if nuclear weapons were being used. 

What about Russia and Chinas nukes?

It took us 10 years to fight an amateur army in Al-Queda, and wasn't even really successful.....how would we fare against mega powers?

They could wipe us off the map just like we could to them.
America could destroy the planet if it wanted to. The war in the Middle East was started to have no ending. It's a war for resources. Cue the pic of soldiers guarding the poppy farms.
 
Possible, yes, likely, no. China is more of a focus in the coming future if they're economy keeps growning, though they do have alot of holes to fill such as most of rural China being poor, corruption in local governments, and the capitalistic nature of some Chinese companies.
 
russia is practically a third world country

all posturing. they ain't about that life
 
You clowns. America got ran out by militants in Iraq. You think China, Russia and Pakistan couldn't hold their own?

Do you understand military tactics? Our hands were tied. We barely used 1/4 of our Air Force or other technical items that makes us superior. Given no red tape or us having to hold back, we can turn the Middle East into an empty parking lot within 48hrs.

For every 1 jet Russia has, we have fifty. For every 1 tank they have, we have thirty. You win wars against the U.S. via the news and international perceptions. Why do you think both the Taliban and the North Vietnamese use guerilla tactics and hide amongst the public and used them as human shields? The minute CNN shows the dismembered leg of some child that was mistakenly caught in a drone strike, the American public gets a conscience and calls the Military monsters and we have to hold off. We are then relegated to fighting the war on their term. Why do you think that Cleric in the UK can openly say that the U.S. and the West are criminals and that we deserve to die? We have to live by this higher moral obligation and our enemies know that. They can capture, torture, rape, and murder our troops; but the minute you interrogate an enemy combatant, we are called monsters. Did some of it go too far? Yes, it did. But when you have people who have information and they aren’t afraid or scared of spending the rest of their lives in a black hole to protect the cause, you have to have leverage. This isn’t Call of Duty, war and warfare is extremely ugly. Leaders have to knowingly make calls and decisions where they know that their orders will cause some of their men and women to either get harms or die. It is part of the job, and most if not all of the service members who go to warzones know this. The American public has this false pretense of what war and warfare really entails.

I don’t think you guys underestimate what the US military is fully capable of. We have learned from WW1 and WW2. We will overwhelm you. Why do you think we have bases all over the world? Why do you think we are so heavy in Europe and Asia? Why do you think the Navy is refocusing manpower in Asia and Southwest Asia!

Speak on what you know, don’t assume.
 
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