US end diplomatic ties with Russia over Aleppo

[Mcree]

http://news-hl-cm.newsrep.net/h5/nrshare.html?r=3&lan=en_US&pid=14&id=t23a74591vM_us&detail=1&ch=200014&app_lan&mcc=310&declared_lan=en_US&referrer=200620&showall=1

 

this is a little alarming, given that Russia and the US have been getting strained results in Syria, but now we cut ties diplomatically over Syria and we are now supplying more weapon systems to the Syrian militias, we are getting closer and closer to a more aggressive confrontation with Russia possibly. what are your thoughts?

[Almeida]

I think this is very bad, USA and Russia should cooperate somehow, it is sad that History will repeat itself and we are getting closer to another major conflict.

[Mcree]

4 minutes ago, Almeida 1st MRB said:

I think this is very bad, USA and Russia should cooperate somehow, it is sad that History will repeat itself and we are getting closer to another major conflict.

And Putin just ripped up the nuclear disposal treaty......great COLD WAR FUCKING GOOD JOB KERRY FUCK YOU.

[Moffat 1st MRB]

Keep in mind that right before the ceasefire (agreed between US and Russia) went into full effect, the US bombed the Syrian regime, killing about 60 soldiers and ending the truce. The US doesn't want peace, most of their economy is fuelled by war and they want to carve out Syria between factions in order to destroy the Shia government. If there is a country that really putted some effort in ending this war one way or another, it is Russia.

[Beglar 1st MRB]

there are big games that are played nowadays. this is like a god darn chess game!

[Mcree]

More then a chess game, the pieces are real people. A man once said "we are all kings or pawns, and fools" it's been a hundred years since world war 1 and it looks like the world is ready to go into a new modern world war the likes of which civilization as we know it will cease to exist. I am scared that we wont live out the next few years without something going out of control.

[Almeida]

16 hours ago, Moffat 1st MRB said:

Keep in mind that right before the ceasefire (agreed between US and Russia) went into full effect, the US bombed the Syrian regime, killing about 60 soldiers and ending the truce. The US doesn't want peace, most of their economy is fuelled by war and they want to carve out Syria between factions in order to destroy the Shia government. If there is a country that really putted some effort in ending this war one way or another, it is Russia.

Truth must be said: it was Russia who dismantled ISIS October last year bombing the hell out of the radical scum.

 

We are surrounded by propaganda, so it is useful at least to check out the Russian and try to figure out some details in this whole thing. Just search in YouTube some videos of Putin and you will see what he has to say in conferences with american journalists. Examples:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KHCNk9BYy4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYo93v3qJnU

 

[Mcree]

Both sides are in the wrong on this one...just saying nuclear war shouldnt be started over Syria like think about it.

[Armstrong 1st MRB]

I just heard the stakes got raised tonight, apparently. What with apparently talks of a planned counter cyber attack against the Russians and Russia apparently threatening nuclear retaliation.

 

Personally, it looks scary to see, but real politick me is asking: "Why would either of them use Nukes though?" MAAD is still in play as a principle when it comes to Russia and the US with nukes. Unless one has secretly been holding back on disposing of weapons equally (in which case they've also pulled the wool over the eyes of multiple witness nations and the Atomic Energy Commission, not just their opponents), their arsenals are still roughly similar, to the point where they'd still cancel each other out.

 

Moreover, Russia doesn't have that many allies. Nobody in Europe AFAIK would help them, certainly not most members of the Security Council, the UN certainly wouldn't support them, and their list of allies in Asia is slim (China to me, benefits most from a status quo, not a war. Plus, they have the power to crush the US economically without even firing a shot just by cashing in all the debt they have with them. They don't even need to cause a war.)

 

It makes no sense to start a war over this shit, certainly not a nuclear one. Putin's not stupid or crazy enough to do it, and the US isn't stupid or crazy enough to do it.

 

Whoever throws the first war nuke since WWII will become a pariah on the world stage, it is all but guaranteed. And I don't think either of them are willing to take that infamy just to settle something like this.

 

Which then its making me think: Okay, then what is the play here? Why are they both doing this? Part of it is likely old cold war tendencies that haven't died off completely, but another part of it is probably Putin is trying to flex his muscle on the world stage, and the US is flexing back so as not to look weak, and vice versa. This has happened a bunch of times since the "official" end of the cold war. Putin's done it with his jet fly-bys over Euro airspace, and with cutting American pork imports and exports, and with trying to publicly embarrass the Americans or make the Russians look like the pro-active ones on the world stage several times over the years. The Americans have responded with similar types of actions, economic sanctions, cutting diplomatic ties in this case, increasing NATO garrisons, etc.

 

So, optimistic me is thinking that this is just another tirade in the great game of political dancing on the international stage. Mostly show, little actual threat beyond maybe some economic ones. War hasn't been fashionable between the major powers for a while, and most of the powerful nations on the UN want peace. If Russia or the US don't reach an amicable defusing of the tensions themselves, one can bet those others will try to.

 

Part of me also wants to think Putin is trying to influence the US election through fear (I don't believe he had an interest in the US election particularly until now, but now that Hillary is basically using him and his country as a scapegoat, he's making it known that he's not just some toy to flicked about like he's nothing.). Hillary and the US administration are publicly antagonizing him, and he knows given recent events that Trump isn't likely to win on his own unless things change. This is Putin's ace, fear of a new and re-ignited cold war, and anyone smart enough to draw the connections based on recent stuff will see that tensions look only likely to increase if Hillary gets in, at least for the short term.

 

Do I think Putin will back it up? No, because I think he has more to gain through the fear this could generate more than actually launching any attack. But then what do I know?