russia

[Downthestretch55]

Originally Posted by pgardn

The system cant be directed. It is an antimissle system which Russia does not like because it might limit their chances of striking back if they get hit first. And since it is "our" system, Russia has every right to ask why Europe does not build on its own.
So I think the real attempt is as stated. You dont want rogue states firing any type of missle, conventional or not, without the slightest bit of worry about a retaliatory strike as they will martyr the whole nation readily.
Israel takes this threat very seriously. Given that Iran has OPENLY stated they seek to destroy Israel... and we take the threat seriously because of alliances. We dont want to have to strike an entire nation of innocent people because of a heaven bent leader.
I dont see this as a joking matter. Israel is already back at it again in Gaza and the West Bank. Lebanon is now falling apart again, big suprise there.

Pgardn,
You pose an interesting thought. Yes, Israel is the one that feels threatened,
and, yes, they have no interest in seeking resolution with the Palastinians nor their proxies in Lebanon.
So, how about this...put the anti missile system in Israel rather than in the Chec Republic? Afterall, if Iran is really the "worry", though they have about ten years to develop a missile delivery system, and at least seven to develop a nuclear capability, it allows plenty of time for the installation to take place.
What do you really think is behing Bush's "saber rattling" at this point in time?
He only has, what 17 months to come up with a legacy, and it needs to distract from Iraq as much as Paris Hilton does. Right?

Originally Posted by Downthestretch55

Pgardn,
You pose an interesting thought. Yes, Israel is the one that feels threatened,
and, yes, they have no interest in seeking resolution with the Palastinians nor their proxies in Lebanon.
So, how about this...put the anti missile system in Israel rather than in the Chec Republic? Afterall, if Iran is really the "worry", though they have about ten years to develop a missile delivery system, and at least seven to develop a nuclear capability, it allows plenty of time for the installation to take place.
What do you really think is behing Bush's "saber rattling" at this point in time?
He only has, what 17 months to come up with a legacy, and it needs to distract from Iraq as much as Paris Hilton does. Right?

Iran already has a missle delivery system in place. Its not in Iran. And Israel has budding missle defense system. But it does not work well because there is not enough time to get some of these missles that are fired closely. The worry is other Countries like Azerbaijan, will go militant also. Lots of ex Soviet south east states are having this problem. This is why we gave Russia so much latitude with their little terrorist problem. Remember Chechnya. These runaway Islamic extremist countries scare them also.

Luckily the missles fired out of Gaza consistently every day now, are not terribly destructive. They just make half of a town of 23,000 civilians leave in Israel. (Imagine if Mexico tried this with our border) The bigger fear is the future of longer range missles. And missle defense systems must be out ahead... and thats very difficult. Given the tricks that can be played. It is much easier to deliver than hit a missle out of the sky. Ever wonder why Iran does not look into missle defense. Its hard. And to be a major player all you need is nukes and delivery. This is where they want to be. They want to be able to keep the "to hell with it card, we will hit you first, it does not matter what happens after that. Go ahead, destroy us, we can still make the world a mess."

I think its fairly apparent we dont want to play that game.

they have no interest in seeking resolution with the Palastinians nor their proxies in Lebanon

What?
Who is Israel supposed to negotiate with? Which authority? DTS cmon... thats just silly.

[Downthestretch55]

Originally Posted by pgardn

they have no interest in seeking resolution with the Palastinians nor their proxies in Lebanon

What?
Who is Israel supposed to negotiate with? Which authority? DTS cmon... thats just silly.

Pgardn,
Israel previously negotiated to initiate a "Palestinian State". It would go quite far to calm things down if they abided by their agreement.
Their recent actions in Gaza only inflame the tensions.

Originally Posted by Downthestretch55

Pgardn,
Israel previously negotiated to initiate a "Palestinian State". It would go quite far to calm things down if they abided by their agreement.
Their recent actions in Gaza only inflame the tensions.

There is no entity to negotiate with DTS. Israel will not negotiate with Hamas, they have vowed to destroy Israel. Yassir Arafat ruined whatever chance there was way back. Still have not found all the money he stole from the Palestinian people.
Lebanon cannot even negotiate with the Palestinians in camps in their own country. Jordan does not want any Palestinians in their country. No Arab country wants anything to do with them except to harass Israel. They have been screwed by multiple factions and Israel is always to blame.

BTW. Nice to have you back.

[Downthestretch55]

Originally Posted by pgardn

There is no entity to negotiate with DTS. Israel will not negotiate with Hamas, they have vowed to destroy Israel. Yassir Arafat ruined whatever chance there was way back. Still have not found all the money he stole from the Palestinian people.
Lebanon cannot even negotiate with the Palestinians in camps in their own country. Jordan does not want any Palestinians in their country. No Arab country wants anything to do with them except to harass Israel. They have been screwed by multiple factions and Israel is always to blame.

BTW. Nice to have you back.

Pgardn,
I'm just going way back to the Camp David accord. At this point, all the wall building and the bombing of refugee camps isn't helping to resolve a very complicated and dangerous situation.
And, thanks for the welcome back. I've tried not to post so much "political stuff" as I know this is a horse racing board and some of my views upset others. So, I tried to "cool it" for a while, and the training one of my 2yo fillies is taking some time, but she should be good.
DTS

[Downthestretch55]

Originally Posted by pgardn

Iran already has a missle delivery system in place. Its not in Iran. And Israel has budding missle defense system. But it does not work well because there is not enough time to get some of these missles that are fired closely. The worry is other Countries like Azerbaijan, will go militant also. Lots of ex Soviet south east states are having this problem. This is why we gave Russia so much latitude with their little terrorist problem. Remember Chechnya. These runaway Islamic extremist countries scare them also.

Luckily the missles fired out of Gaza consistently every day now, are not terribly destructive. They just make half of a town of 23,000 civilians leave in Israel. (Imagine if Mexico tried this with our border) The bigger fear is the future of longer range missles. And missle defense systems must be out ahead... and thats very difficult. Given the tricks that can be played. It is much easier to deliver than hit a missle out of the sky. Ever wonder why Iran does not look into missle defense. Its hard. And to be a major player all you need is nukes and delivery. This is where they want to be. They want to be able to keep the "to hell with it card, we will hit you first, it does not matter what happens after that. Go ahead, destroy us, we can still make the world a mess."

I think its fairly apparent we dont want to play that game.

Pgardn,
I've been searching to try to find substantiation of the claim you made in your first sentence. No luck.
So, where exactly does Iran have their missiles sited?
I have been unable to find any mention of long range testing. If you know a site where testing has been documented, please supply.
Here's something I found on the topic presented, and it seems to back my earlier statements regarding Iran's nuclear development and missile program.
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut?pid=203257

[GPK]

Originally Posted by dr. fager

Pretty intersting counter proposal by Putin

"Putin told Bush he would not seek to retarget Russian missiles on Europe if the United States agreed to put the radar-based system in Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic bordering the Caspian Sea."

It ain't gonna happen...so I aint holding my breath. Just an offer to appease.

[dr. fager]

Originally Posted by GPK

It ain't gonna happen...so I aint holding my breath. Just an offer to appease.

Oh I know buddy, I'm just the reporter. I refuse to battle in the "area"

[GPK]

Originally Posted by dr. fager

Oh I know buddy, I'm just the reporter. I refuse to battle in the "area"

I know bro....I just find it comical the media feels the need to make a big deal over this whole offer by Putin. The chances of it happening are slim and none.

For one thing...the system that is there is soley an early warning system and not the actual X band radar that is used to guide the anti-missle intercepter. Another thing, Russian does not own the radar system, they lease it from Azerbaijan.

[dr. fager]

Originally Posted by GPK

Azerbaijan.

I think that's the sound I make when I sneeze

[GPK]

Originally Posted by dr. fager

I think that's the sound I make when I sneeze

Bless you.....

Originally Posted by Downthestretch55

Pgardn,
I've been searching to try to find substantiation of the claim you made in your first sentence. No luck.
So, where exactly does Iran have their missiles sited?

http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut?pid=203257

Iraq, Lebanon, Gaza strip.

They leave the labels on the things so its pretty darn obvious. Oh yes, these are the ones that have been fired. Not the ones transported and not fired. You dont remember Lebanon DTS? You dont remember the Iranian made rockets fired across the border?

Well you will remember, again... Its going to happen again as the Lebanese government is losing control.

Originally Posted by GPK

I know bro....I just find it comical the media feels the need to make a big deal over this whole offer by Putin. The chances of it happening are slim and none.

For one thing...the system that is there is soley an early warning system and not the actual X band radar that is used to guide the anti-missle intercepter. Another thing, Russian does not own the radar system, they lease it from Azerbaijan.

Its not the deal itself but the fact that Putin toned down the rhetoric. They are now going to talk about this stuff. Instead of:
Bush: Antimissles system in.
Putin: Missles aimed at Europe and US.

Then end.

[Downthestretch55]

Originally Posted by pgardn

Iraq, Lebanon, Gaza strip.

They leave the labels on the things so its pretty darn obvious. Oh yes, these are the ones that have been fired. Not the ones transported and not fired. You dont remember Lebanon DTS? You dont remember the Iranian made rockets fired across the border?

Well you will remember, again... Its going to happen again as the Lebanese government is losing control.

Thanks Pgardn,
Yes, I remember.
Katushas (sp) are hardly capable of delivering a nuclear warhead, no?
And yes, Iran supplies ied's and other nasty armaments to sympathetic constituancies in Iraq. Russia is not a factor, hence, Putin's "calling the bluff".

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by Downthestretch55

S2S,
You might have something there.
Did you know that Russia is now the leading producer of oil? They passed the Saudis recently. Who do you think they're selling their oil to?
Think Europe.
Why would they seek to target the counties that are supporting their market?
Bush, as usual..playing aggressor-in-chief, again shows his ignorance.
Oh well. And so it goes.

I think you are lacking understanding of the Russian oil market. First of all Russian oil production is down as they have "nationalized" the big private oil companies which in turn has slowed production. Secondly the oil in Russia is mostly in remote areas and southern areas where there is a lot of unrest. The fact that it's refineries are a long way from its customers leads to higher production costs but because they lack a centralized market (which NYMEX is helping them with) they are selling oil at lower than market prices. Also much of their oil pipelines must pass through other countries such as Belarus which recently had a fued with Russia over supposed Belarussian siphoning of the pipeline. The biggest market for Russian oil sits to the Southeast in China. A booming and developing economy is starving for oil and the Russians have a ton of it in a location that is much better suited to serve China than anywhere else. However Putin is terrified of a strengthing Chinese military power on his border and as such has not pursued the issue verymuch. Because the price of oil has risen so much, mostly due to a tremendous increase in demand by rapidly developing economies in China and India, Russia has been able to "get back on its feet" so to speak in regards to regaining status as a superpower. The fact that they are "nationalizing" the oil industry in an effort to add to the states coffers and Putins seemingly indiscriminate use of oil as a political pawn is the real issue here. That he flippantly talks of aiming missiles is a sure sign that the price of oil is about to go up.

Sure Russia's biggest customers are Europeans but they need the oil more than the russians think they need the European customers. Not to say that they are going to bomb them but there are emerging markets hungry for cheap oil that can replace Europe. However it remains to be seen how long until the russian production mechanism starts to deteriorate without the private companies who brought back seeminly dead fields with new technology and research. Putin is bold because he is flush with oil cash, seemingly is nearing the end of his reign and has the perfect foil in Bush whose international popularity has made hero's out of those who oppose him. But I bet you if given the choice, the leaders of Europe, eastern especially would love to duck under the cover of the missile defense umbrella rather than go back to the fear and actuality of Russian rule.

[Cannon Shell]

By the way the Russians passed the Saudis years ago but the reason is that OPEC has strict controls over its members production to keep the price of a barrel of oil high, while Russia pumps away as fast as it can to raise as much cash as possible.

Originally Posted by Downthestretch55

Thanks Pgardn,
Yes, I remember.
Katushas (sp) are hardly capable of delivering a nuclear warhead, no?
And yes, Iran supplies ied's and other nasty armaments to sympathetic constituancies in Iraq. Russia is not a factor, hence, Putin's "calling the bluff".

The point is they (Iran) is ready and willing to cause all the problems they possibly can. And they clearly want conventional and nuclear capability upgrades. They are a problem. A big problem. And they clearly put people in office that will sacrifice the entire country. I have no doubt the madman in office now will play any card he has, at any cost.

[somerfrost]

Originally Posted by pgardn

The point is they (Iran) is ready and willing to cause all the problems they possibly can. And they clearly want conventional and nuclear capability upgrades. They are a problem. A big problem. And they clearly put people in office that will sacrifice the entire country. I have no doubt the madman in office now will play any card he has, at any cost.

I heard on the news today that Israel has floated an olive branch to Syria indicating they would move out of the Heights if Syria renounced ties with terrorism...didn't hear any details but a positive step??

[Danzig]

making a deal with syria is like making a deal with the devil.
whatever israel does, short of disappearing completely, won't be enough. so no matter what they say or do, it's won't get their hostile neighbors off their back.