|
|
|
 |

March 31st, 2004, 03:35 PM
|
 |
Brigadier General
|
|
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Kleigat Pampercity
Posts: 1,804
Thanks: 5
Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts
|
|
Re: Russia new wonder weapon?
Hahaha... LOL!
__________________
I can only please one person per day, and today is not your day. And tomorrow isn't looking too good either.
Gabriella in Blood 2
Men may control the free world, but women control the boobs.
Brent in Plaver vs. Player
|

March 31st, 2004, 08:10 PM
|
Corporal
|
|
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 155
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
|
|
Re: Russia new wonder weapon?
__________________
-----------------------------
-----------------------------
|

March 31st, 2004, 08:20 PM
|
 |
Sergeant
|
|
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Portland, Oregon
Posts: 268
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
|
|
Re: Russia new wonder weapon?
The new Star Wars plan was only for intercepting 150 missles. Not the big grandiose scheme that Ronald RayGun had planned. This doesn't include the "Theatre Ballistic Missle Defence" that involves upgraded Aegis Cruisers and that 747 with the big laser in back that shoots through a turret in the nose. Son of Star Wars was only suppose to protect us (and hopefully friends) against Rogue States or China .
If Russia wants to develope a missle that zigs and zags then go ahead. If Russia wants to develope a hypersonic cruise missle then maybe a hypersonic SAM would counter that. Don't worry I don't think Russia is our enemy anymore. It's that N. Korean Don King impersonator your gotta look out for.
|

March 31st, 2004, 08:25 PM
|
 |
National Security Advisor
|
|
Join Date: Dec 1999
Posts: 8,806
Thanks: 54
Thanked 33 Times in 31 Posts
|
|
Re: Russia new wonder weapon?
Yef, would you elaborate on your assertion that "Any measure you take to win the population over in this case will inevitable backfire."?
Do you mean that there may be some fanatics whose minds cannot be changed, and who may not rely as much on popular support as guerrillas?
Seems to me though that popular support and changing the minds of people is still critical. As long as one government is perceived by some group of people as hate-worthy, it will continue to inspire more people to engage in acts against it.
So while some people who are already dedicated to violence may have to be killed, populations have to be swayed in order to prevent an endless regeneration of opponents.
No?
PvK
|

March 31st, 2004, 10:18 PM
|
Corporal
|
|
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 155
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
|
|
Re: Russia new wonder weapon?
Quote:
Originally posted by PvK:
Yef, would you elaborate on your assertion that "Any measure you take to win the population over in this case will inevitable backfire."?
Do you mean that there may be some fanatics whose minds cannot be changed, and who may not rely as much on popular support as guerrillas?
|
Well, the problem with the fanatics its not only that they cannot be won over, but that they always manage to radicalize a good chunk of the civilian population. The precense of terrorist tactics in a war tells you that certain line have been crossed, and that line cannot be crossed without support of sizable segment of the population, which in time tells you that a deep rift have occurred within such population that now sees the ones that are not with them as collaborating with the enemy, and thus fair game for terrorist tactics.
In short, guerrillas wants to "save" the population and the country, whether this "saving" its wanted or not (Mao Tse-tung, Che Guevara), while terrorists wants to "save" only a segment of that population (IRA, ETA). This means that the critical mass necessary for a terrorist war to be "succesful" its lower than for a guerrilla war, thus making a guerrilla war easier to win for the counter-guerrilla forces.
But in the end every conflict has its owns characteristics which tend to modify how the war its played out, with the most important modifiers being population density, etnic make out, religion(s), terrain, borders, and even transportation network, which in time define the tactics that would be used by the insurgents.
In the case of Irak, for example, the resistance its using a mix of tactics that goes from full blown guerrilla ambushes, through drive-by-shootings and drive-by-mortaring, to pure terror tactics like car-bombs and suicide bombers.
This mix of tactics force a mix of counter-tactics, which includes the search for terrorists in civilian houses, check points, restrictions on civilian freedom of movement, and so on.
All these have the effect of annuling any progress you may have achieved by investing on the local population's well being, because yes, you gave them food, but then you stop them at a check point and search them out (which is a great offense for an Arab), and then you may even have to break into their houses acting on field intelligence that some terrorist may be hiding in there.
Its a proven fact in counter-terrorist warfare that it takes only one action that can be interpreted as offensive to render void a hundred previous good actions.
In Irak, the civilian population its being used as camouflage by the resistance. They attack the US forces in the middle of populated areas, provoking inevitable collateral damage from return fire, and this in turn provokes hate from the population.
Its almost impossible to convince the population that the resistance its the one responsible for their hardships. When the civilians are under the stress of war, they will always see the side manning the check point as the one responsible for the existance of it.
There is also the fact that the resistance comes directly from the local population, which brings family ties into the equation, and even the foreign fighters that are in the resistance are closer to the locals, for being Arabs and muslims, than the US troops.
Add to that years of anti-American propaganda, zillions of conspiracy theories that are taken for facts, and a harsh reality that doesn't seem to get any better, and you have the recipe for a long drawn conflict with no end in sight.
__________________
-----------------------------
-----------------------------
|

March 31st, 2004, 10:22 PM
|
General
|
|
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Canada
Posts: 4,603
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
|
|
Re: Russia new wonder weapon?
Timstone. I think I disagree with the cold war statement.
Well we will see over the next 20 years.....
Might not be the cold war again as it was then
But the economic conflict is heating up again.
Just this time Europe is in on it on their own side.
And I can see Russia and Europe going parallel and supporting each other on some issues....
Where this leaves England. I do not know.
But if they were smart they would pick up the island and move it a little more towards newfoundland if they keep following their current path. Tough decisions for that nation to make. Europe or USA.
And do not forget the Indian - Chinese economic influences.
What will Japan do ?
__________________
RRRRRRRRRRAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHH
old avatar = http://www.shrapnelgames.com/cgi-bin...1051567998.jpg
Hey GUTB where did you go...???
He is still driving his mighty armada at 3 miles per month along the interstellar highway bypass and will be arriving shortly
|

April 1st, 2004, 01:25 AM
|
 |
Lieutenant General
|
|
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: california
Posts: 2,961
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
|
|
Re: Russia new wonder weapon?
fear! panic! be affraid!
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/...International/
I would not put alot of stock in it, tho. I would not put alot of stock in our missile defense program, either. and even though im an imperialist warmongering dog, i wouldnt pay much heed to At's idea about promptly blowing up any potential threats to the good old empire.
I mean, we're the kings of blowing stuff up. better than anybody in history, as a co-worker of mine is fond of pointing out. if we could solve the worlds problems - or even our problems - by blowing stuff up, there wouldnt be any problems left that needed solving.
__________________
...the green, sticky spawn of the stars
(with apologies to H.P.L.)
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is On
|
|
|
|
|