F
Flyguy
Guest
....which is to open up and mandate the drilling, transport, and refining of ALL of our oil reserves.
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John Doe
Guest
Flyguy wrote:
Even before Biden, Europe was importing a large part of its oil and gas from
Russia. Europe couldn\'t care less about the spat between Russia and Ukraine.
Even if they wanted to do something about it, they aren\'t, and we are not the
world\'s police.
This \"Russia Russia Russia war war war\" garbage is all about supporting the
military-industrial complex and its political puppets, and the media.
Russia controlled Ukraine and many other countries up until the 1990s. The
only theory for why the Russia-Ukraine conflict might be an effort to
reestablish the USSR is a response to the continuing fall of our
civilization. Otherwise, the same forces that made Russia release those
countries are still in play today.
...which is to open up and mandate the drilling, transport, and refining
of ALL of our oil reserves.
Even before Biden, Europe was importing a large part of its oil and gas from
Russia. Europe couldn\'t care less about the spat between Russia and Ukraine.
Even if they wanted to do something about it, they aren\'t, and we are not the
world\'s police.
This \"Russia Russia Russia war war war\" garbage is all about supporting the
military-industrial complex and its political puppets, and the media.
Russia controlled Ukraine and many other countries up until the 1990s. The
only theory for why the Russia-Ukraine conflict might be an effort to
reestablish the USSR is a response to the continuing fall of our
civilization. Otherwise, the same forces that made Russia release those
countries are still in play today.
F
Flyguy
Guest
On Thursday, February 24, 2022 at 12:46:17 PM UTC-8, John Doe wrote:
The USSR fell apart in the 90s because they went bankrupt and could not compete with the West economically. Countering Russia\'s aggression should be done the same way: economically. And this means reducing their primary source of revenue: oil. Lyin\' Biden is a puppet for the greenies and won\'t do this.
Flyguy wrote:
...which is to open up and mandate the drilling, transport, and refining
of ALL of our oil reserves.
Even before Biden, Europe was importing a large part of its oil and gas from
Russia. Europe couldn\'t care less about the spat between Russia and Ukraine.
Even if they wanted to do something about it, they aren\'t, and we are not the
world\'s police.
This \"Russia Russia Russia war war war\" garbage is all about supporting the
military-industrial complex and its political puppets, and the media.
Russia controlled Ukraine and many other countries up until the 1990s. The
only theory for why the Russia-Ukraine conflict might be an effort to
reestablish the USSR is a response to the continuing fall of our
civilization. Otherwise, the same forces that made Russia release those
countries are still in play today.
The USSR fell apart in the 90s because they went bankrupt and could not compete with the West economically. Countering Russia\'s aggression should be done the same way: economically. And this means reducing their primary source of revenue: oil. Lyin\' Biden is a puppet for the greenies and won\'t do this.
J
John Doe
Guest
Flyguy wrote:
It\'s not just Biden\'s fault. The idiots in Germany destroying their own
nuclear power plants is one obvious other part of the problem. Seems Europe
isn\'t concerned about what our media is alarmed about. There is something
wrong with this picture.
The USSR fell apart in the 90s because they went bankrupt and could not
compete with the West economically. Countering Russia\'s aggression
should be done the same way: economically. And this means reducing their
primary source of revenue: oil. Lyin\' Biden is a puppet for the greenies
and won\'t do this.
It\'s not just Biden\'s fault. The idiots in Germany destroying their own
nuclear power plants is one obvious other part of the problem. Seems Europe
isn\'t concerned about what our media is alarmed about. There is something
wrong with this picture.
D
Dean Hoffman
Guest
On Thursday, February 24, 2022 at 2:05:06 PM UTC-6, Flyguy wrote:
> ...which is to open up and mandate the drilling, transport, and refining of ALL of our oil reserves.
I didn\'t realize the President had the authority to require ordinary people to work. Military?
China just signed an agreement to buy 100 million tons of coal from Russia. India already had an agreement to buy 40 million tons.
<https://www.foxnews.com/world/russia-china-new-coal-deal-state-media>
I remember when Nixon went to China. The U.S. was going to play the Soviet Union
off against the Chinese. Times change.
> ...which is to open up and mandate the drilling, transport, and refining of ALL of our oil reserves.
I didn\'t realize the President had the authority to require ordinary people to work. Military?
China just signed an agreement to buy 100 million tons of coal from Russia. India already had an agreement to buy 40 million tons.
<https://www.foxnews.com/world/russia-china-new-coal-deal-state-media>
I remember when Nixon went to China. The U.S. was going to play the Soviet Union
off against the Chinese. Times change.
A
Anthony William Sloman
Guest
On Friday, February 25, 2022 at 7:05:06 AM UTC+11, Flyguy wrote:
> ...which is to open up and mandate the drilling, transport, and refining of ALL of our oil reserves.
Ask any idiot. It\'s obvious to them.
--
Bill Sloman, Sydney
> ...which is to open up and mandate the drilling, transport, and refining of ALL of our oil reserves.
Ask any idiot. It\'s obvious to them.
--
Bill Sloman, Sydney
A
Anthony William Sloman
Guest
On Friday, February 25, 2022 at 7:46:17 AM UTC+11, John Doe wrote:
On the contrary, Europe doesn\'t like it at all. Putin is starting to sound much too much like Hitler to make anybody happy.
> Even if they wanted to do something about it, they aren\'t, and we are not the world\'s police.
They are going in for economic sanctions. Quite how hard they are willing to go remains to be seen.
> This \"Russia Russia Russia war war war\" garbage is all about supporting the military-industrial complex and its political puppets, and the media.
Really? The lesson from 1990 is that if you wreck their economy, their society falls apart. It\'s expensive, but nowhere near as expensive as a war.
This time around we should put more effort into getting a better quality replacement government in place after the current one falls apart.
That\'s the only theory that John Doe can think of. It\'s nonsense, as you\'d expect.
> Otherwise, the same forces that made Russia release those countries are still in play today.
Russia didn\'t \"release\" those countries. The USSR fell apart, and what was left reconstituted itself into separate countries, some better run than others.
Putin is dreaming of restoring Russian hegemony over the Ukraine. He\'s got enough military o that it might work, but the Ukraine has now got a lot of modern anti-tank weapons. Russia probably doesn\'t have the economic capacity to fight a sustained war, and serious economic sanctions could cut that back hard.
--
Bill Sloman, Sydney
Flyguy wrote:
...which is to open up and mandate the drilling, transport, and refining
of ALL of our oil reserves.
Even before Biden, Europe was importing a large part of its oil and gas from
Russia. Europe couldn\'t care less about the spat between Russia and Ukraine.
On the contrary, Europe doesn\'t like it at all. Putin is starting to sound much too much like Hitler to make anybody happy.
> Even if they wanted to do something about it, they aren\'t, and we are not the world\'s police.
They are going in for economic sanctions. Quite how hard they are willing to go remains to be seen.
> This \"Russia Russia Russia war war war\" garbage is all about supporting the military-industrial complex and its political puppets, and the media.
Really? The lesson from 1990 is that if you wreck their economy, their society falls apart. It\'s expensive, but nowhere near as expensive as a war.
This time around we should put more effort into getting a better quality replacement government in place after the current one falls apart.
Russia controlled Ukraine and many other countries up until the 1990s. The only theory for why the Russia-Ukraine conflict might be an effort to
reestablish the USSR is a response to the continuing fall of our civilization.
That\'s the only theory that John Doe can think of. It\'s nonsense, as you\'d expect.
> Otherwise, the same forces that made Russia release those countries are still in play today.
Russia didn\'t \"release\" those countries. The USSR fell apart, and what was left reconstituted itself into separate countries, some better run than others.
Putin is dreaming of restoring Russian hegemony over the Ukraine. He\'s got enough military o that it might work, but the Ukraine has now got a lot of modern anti-tank weapons. Russia probably doesn\'t have the economic capacity to fight a sustained war, and serious economic sanctions could cut that back hard.
--
Bill Sloman, Sydney
J
John S
Guest
On 2/24/2022 4:28 PM, Anthony William Sloman wrote:
Maybe not, but their buddy China might throw in with Russia.
On Friday, February 25, 2022 at 7:46:17 AM UTC+11, John Doe wrote:
Flyguy wrote:
...which is to open up and mandate the drilling, transport, and refining
of ALL of our oil reserves.
Even before Biden, Europe was importing a large part of its oil and gas from
Russia. Europe couldn\'t care less about the spat between Russia and Ukraine.
On the contrary, Europe doesn\'t like it at all. Putin is starting to sound much too much like Hitler to make anybody happy.
Even if they wanted to do something about it, they aren\'t, and we are not the world\'s police.
They are going in for economic sanctions. Quite how hard they are willing to go remains to be seen.
This \"Russia Russia Russia war war war\" garbage is all about supporting the military-industrial complex and its political puppets, and the media.
Really? The lesson from 1990 is that if you wreck their economy, their society falls apart. It\'s expensive, but nowhere near as expensive as a war.
This time around we should put more effort into getting a better quality replacement government in place after the current one falls apart.
Russia controlled Ukraine and many other countries up until the 1990s. The only theory for why the Russia-Ukraine conflict might be an effort to
reestablish the USSR is a response to the continuing fall of our civilization.
That\'s the only theory that John Doe can think of. It\'s nonsense, as you\'d expect.
Otherwise, the same forces that made Russia release those countries are still in play today.
Russia didn\'t \"release\" those countries. The USSR fell apart, and what was left reconstituted itself into separate countries, some better run than others.
Putin is dreaming of restoring Russian hegemony over the Ukraine. He\'s got enough military o that it might work, but the Ukraine has now got a lot of modern anti-tank weapons. Russia probably doesn\'t have the economic capacity to fight a sustained war, and serious economic sanctions could cut that back hard.
Maybe not, but their buddy China might throw in with Russia.
P
Phil Allison
Guest
Flyguy wrote:
==========
** Putin is betting that they won\'t.
He has planned, calculated and timed the invasion of the Ukraine to the minute.
But I wonder how long can he can he hold onto control ?
....... Phil
==========
...which is to open up and mandate the drilling, transport, and refining of ALL of our oil reserves.
** Putin is betting that they won\'t.
He has planned, calculated and timed the invasion of the Ukraine to the minute.
But I wonder how long can he can he hold onto control ?
....... Phil
D
David Brown
Guest
On 25/02/2022 00:43, John S wrote:
China is not Russia\'s \"buddy\". China is nobody\'s buddy but China\'s.
They are currently sitting on the fence, because that means they will be
able to benefit from trading with Russia while others have sanctions in
place. China will certainly not get involved in a military conflict
here, on anyone\'s side - there\'s no profit in it for them.
On 2/24/2022 4:28 PM, Anthony William Sloman wrote:
Russia didn\'t \"release\" those countries. The USSR fell apart, and what
was left reconstituted itself into separate countries, some better run
than others.
Putin is dreaming of restoring Russian hegemony over the Ukraine. He\'s
got enough military o that it might work, but the Ukraine has now got
a lot of modern anti-tank weapons. Russia probably doesn\'t have the
economic capacity to fight a sustained war, and serious economic
sanctions could cut that back hard.
Maybe not, but their buddy China might throw in with Russia.
China is not Russia\'s \"buddy\". China is nobody\'s buddy but China\'s.
They are currently sitting on the fence, because that means they will be
able to benefit from trading with Russia while others have sanctions in
place. China will certainly not get involved in a military conflict
here, on anyone\'s side - there\'s no profit in it for them.
S
server
Guest
Flyguy <soar2morrow@yahoo.com> wrote in
news:b8246585-913b-45cd-878f-c676702fce03n@googlegroups.com:
> ...which is to open up and mandate
That has nothing to do wit a goddamned thing.
> the drilling,
Another zero effect republitard talking point.
> transport,
Now you are mumbling, as usual. What exactly id closed about
\"transport\" you stupid fuck?
They are called reserves for a reason, you stupid fuck.
news:b8246585-913b-45cd-878f-c676702fce03n@googlegroups.com:
> ...which is to open up and mandate
That has nothing to do wit a goddamned thing.
> the drilling,
Another zero effect republitard talking point.
> transport,
Now you are mumbling, as usual. What exactly id closed about
\"transport\" you stupid fuck?
and
refining of ALL of our oil reserves.
They are called reserves for a reason, you stupid fuck.
S
server
Guest
John Doe <always.look@message.header> wrote in news:sv8qqf$glq$3@dont-
email.me:
> made Russia release
Yer an idiot. The USSR agreed to everything that took place after
WWII.
Why the fuck do you think Germany was divided?
email.me:
> made Russia release
Yer an idiot. The USSR agreed to everything that took place after
WWII.
Why the fuck do you think Germany was divided?
S
server
Guest
David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> wrote in
news:sv9vk4$ef1$1@dont-email.me:
+1
Yep... right on the money, there.
news:sv9vk4$ef1$1@dont-email.me:
On 25/02/2022 00:43, John S wrote:
On 2/24/2022 4:28 PM, Anthony William Sloman wrote:
Russia didn\'t \"release\" those countries. The USSR fell apart,
and what was left reconstituted itself into separate countries,
some better run than others.
Putin is dreaming of restoring Russian hegemony over the
Ukraine. He\'s got enough military o that it might work, but the
Ukraine has now got a lot of modern anti-tank weapons. Russia
probably doesn\'t have the economic capacity to fight a sustained
war, and serious economic sanctions could cut that back hard.
Maybe not, but their buddy China might throw in with Russia.
China is not Russia\'s \"buddy\". China is nobody\'s buddy but
China\'s. They are currently sitting on the fence, because that
means they will be able to benefit from trading with Russia while
others have sanctions in place. China will certainly not get
involved in a military conflict here, on anyone\'s side - there\'s
no profit in it for them.
+1
Yep... right on the money, there.
S
server
Guest
Flyguy <soar2morrow@yahoo.com> wrote in
news:808da398-ace7-4785-902a-7e03e0239b4an@googlegroups.com:
The currency of the USSR was not recognized anywhere in the world,
which meant they had to use US dollars for everything, and were
constantly funneling it there any way they could, including using US
anti-patriots like Donald John Trump, and his kids.
news:808da398-ace7-4785-902a-7e03e0239b4an@googlegroups.com:
The USSR fell apart in the 90s because they went bankrupt and
could not compete with the West economically.
The currency of the USSR was not recognized anywhere in the world,
which meant they had to use US dollars for everything, and were
constantly funneling it there any way they could, including using US
anti-patriots like Donald John Trump, and his kids.
D
David Brown
Guest
On 26/02/2022 07:07, Dimiter_Popoff wrote:
Correlation does not imply causation.
He was an actor - he did what people around him directed him to do. To
be fair on the guy, he /did/ have a reasonable (in comparison to many)
group of advisors, and he certainly put up a good show of leading.
(Remember Bush the elder? His must trusted advisor was his wife, and
her advice came from her astrologist.)
Most big things in the world happen as the consequence of long chains or
webs of interconnected events, influences and coincidences. Even the
leaders of the most powerful countries in world seldom have much direct
effect in the big picture. In particular, they seldom have much /good/
effect - but they /can/ screw things up fairly quickly.
The collapse of the USSR was the result of decades of pressure. Regan
contributed his few straws to the camel\'s back, just like his
predecessors. Other than that, he just happened to be the guy in the
office at the time. \"The USSR was put to its knees on his watch\" - he
was watching, he did not put the USSR to its knees.
The USSR was put to its knees on his watch.
Great man.
Correlation does not imply causation.
He was an actor - he did what people around him directed him to do. To
be fair on the guy, he /did/ have a reasonable (in comparison to many)
group of advisors, and he certainly put up a good show of leading.
(Remember Bush the elder? His must trusted advisor was his wife, and
her advice came from her astrologist.)
Most big things in the world happen as the consequence of long chains or
webs of interconnected events, influences and coincidences. Even the
leaders of the most powerful countries in world seldom have much direct
effect in the big picture. In particular, they seldom have much /good/
effect - but they /can/ screw things up fairly quickly.
The collapse of the USSR was the result of decades of pressure. Regan
contributed his few straws to the camel\'s back, just like his
predecessors. Other than that, he just happened to be the guy in the
office at the time. \"The USSR was put to its knees on his watch\" - he
was watching, he did not put the USSR to its knees.
D
Dimiter_Popoff
Guest
On 2/26/2022 10:45, David Brown wrote:
Of course he did not do it single handed and of course he built on
what his predecessors had built.
But 8 years in the White House takes quite a correlation without
having to do with the cause.
He was an actor - like *any* president, this is the major part of the
job.
And he was wiser than most to delegate to competent people instead of
trying to play important.
Great man.
On 26/02/2022 07:07, Dimiter_Popoff wrote:
The USSR was put to its knees on his watch.
Great man.
Correlation does not imply causation.
He was an actor - he did what people around him directed him to do. To
be fair on the guy, he /did/ have a reasonable (in comparison to many)
group of advisors, and he certainly put up a good show of leading.
(Remember Bush the elder? His must trusted advisor was his wife, and
her advice came from her astrologist.)
Most big things in the world happen as the consequence of long chains or
webs of interconnected events, influences and coincidences. Even the
leaders of the most powerful countries in world seldom have much direct
effect in the big picture. In particular, they seldom have much /good/
effect - but they /can/ screw things up fairly quickly.
The collapse of the USSR was the result of decades of pressure. Regan
contributed his few straws to the camel\'s back, just like his
predecessors. Other than that, he just happened to be the guy in the
office at the time. \"The USSR was put to its knees on his watch\" - he
was watching, he did not put the USSR to its knees.
Of course he did not do it single handed and of course he built on
what his predecessors had built.
But 8 years in the White House takes quite a correlation without
having to do with the cause.
He was an actor - like *any* president, this is the major part of the
job.
And he was wiser than most to delegate to competent people instead of
trying to play important.
Great man.
A
Anthony William Sloman
Guest
On Friday, February 25, 2022 at 7:57:56 AM UTC+11, Flyguy wrote:
Imagining that Joe Biden is any kind of puppet for any green faction is the kind of demented lunacy that Flyguy does go in for.
One has to wonder who he imagines leads this imaginary green faction, and how this imaginary leader of this imaginary faction is going to manage to pull Joe Biden\'s strings?
Presumably Flyguy imagines that the US could start exporting enough oil to under-cut Russia\'s oil exports.
<https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/oil-and-petroleum-products/imports-and-exports.php>
While it is true that the US has recently just - barely - become a net exporter of petroleum products, it hasn\'t got the capacity to swamp Russia, and it would take a while to get more oil out of those few reserves that the the US hasn\'t already exploited to the hilt, and it isn\'t going to be cheap oil.
--
Bill Sloman, Sydney
On Thursday, February 24, 2022 at 12:46:17 PM UTC-8, John Doe wrote:
Flyguy wrote:
...which is to open up and mandate the drilling, transport, and refining
of ALL of our oil reserves.
Even before Biden, Europe was importing a large part of its oil and gas from
Russia. Europe couldn\'t care less about the spat between Russia and Ukraine.
Even if they wanted to do something about it, they aren\'t, and we are not the
world\'s police.
This \"Russia Russia Russia war war war\" garbage is all about supporting the
military-industrial complex and its political puppets, and the media.
Russia controlled Ukraine and many other countries up until the 1990s. The
only theory for why the Russia-Ukraine conflict might be an effort to
reestablish the USSR is a response to the continuing fall of our
civilization. Otherwise, the same forces that made Russia release those
countries are still in play today.
The USSR fell apart in the 90s because they went bankrupt and could not compete with the West economically. Countering Russia\'s aggression should be done the same way: economically. And this means reducing their primary source of revenue: oil. Joe Biden is a puppet for the greenies and won\'t do this.
Imagining that Joe Biden is any kind of puppet for any green faction is the kind of demented lunacy that Flyguy does go in for.
One has to wonder who he imagines leads this imaginary green faction, and how this imaginary leader of this imaginary faction is going to manage to pull Joe Biden\'s strings?
Presumably Flyguy imagines that the US could start exporting enough oil to under-cut Russia\'s oil exports.
<https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/oil-and-petroleum-products/imports-and-exports.php>
While it is true that the US has recently just - barely - become a net exporter of petroleum products, it hasn\'t got the capacity to swamp Russia, and it would take a while to get more oil out of those few reserves that the the US hasn\'t already exploited to the hilt, and it isn\'t going to be cheap oil.
--
Bill Sloman, Sydney
J
Joe Gwinn
Guest
On Sat, 26 Feb 2022 09:45:38 +0100, David Brown
<david.brown@hesbynett.no> wrote:
While it is certainly true that there were decades of pressure, the
containment policy, Reagan did give the Soviet Union the final push,
by bankrupting the SU.
Their economy basically did not work, and their military was quite
expensive. Star Wars basically pulled the SU into a spending contest
with a far richer opponent, as did expanding the Navy to 600 ships
(target, not quite achieved), and the Army, etc, with no end in sight.
Size of economy does matter.
Joe Gwinn
<david.brown@hesbynett.no> wrote:
On 26/02/2022 07:07, Dimiter_Popoff wrote:
The USSR was put to its knees on his watch.
Great man.
Correlation does not imply causation.
He was an actor - he did what people around him directed him to do. To
be fair on the guy, he /did/ have a reasonable (in comparison to many)
group of advisors, and he certainly put up a good show of leading.
(Remember Bush the elder? His must trusted advisor was his wife, and
her advice came from her astrologist.)
Most big things in the world happen as the consequence of long chains or
webs of interconnected events, influences and coincidences. Even the
leaders of the most powerful countries in world seldom have much direct
effect in the big picture. In particular, they seldom have much /good/
effect - but they /can/ screw things up fairly quickly.
The collapse of the USSR was the result of decades of pressure. Regan
contributed his few straws to the camel\'s back, just like his
predecessors. Other than that, he just happened to be the guy in the
office at the time. \"The USSR was put to its knees on his watch\" - he
was watching, he did not put the USSR to its knees.
While it is certainly true that there were decades of pressure, the
containment policy, Reagan did give the Soviet Union the final push,
by bankrupting the SU.
Their economy basically did not work, and their military was quite
expensive. Star Wars basically pulled the SU into a spending contest
with a far richer opponent, as did expanding the Navy to 600 ships
(target, not quite achieved), and the Army, etc, with no end in sight.
Size of economy does matter.
Joe Gwinn
D
David Brown
Guest
On 26/02/2022 19:28, Joe Gwinn wrote:
Crediting Regan with the final push (or crediting him with picking the
staff and advisors that did this) is reasonable. Making it sound like
he single-handedly brought down the USSR is not.
\"Star Wars\" was quite successful, in its way - not bad for a bigger work
of fiction than George Lucas\'s version!
On Sat, 26 Feb 2022 09:45:38 +0100, David Brown
david.brown@hesbynett.no> wrote:
On 26/02/2022 07:07, Dimiter_Popoff wrote:
The USSR was put to its knees on his watch.
Great man.
Correlation does not imply causation.
He was an actor - he did what people around him directed him to do. To
be fair on the guy, he /did/ have a reasonable (in comparison to many)
group of advisors, and he certainly put up a good show of leading.
(Remember Bush the elder? His must trusted advisor was his wife, and
her advice came from her astrologist.)
Most big things in the world happen as the consequence of long chains or
webs of interconnected events, influences and coincidences. Even the
leaders of the most powerful countries in world seldom have much direct
effect in the big picture. In particular, they seldom have much /good/
effect - but they /can/ screw things up fairly quickly.
The collapse of the USSR was the result of decades of pressure. Regan
contributed his few straws to the camel\'s back, just like his
predecessors. Other than that, he just happened to be the guy in the
office at the time. \"The USSR was put to its knees on his watch\" - he
was watching, he did not put the USSR to its knees.
While it is certainly true that there were decades of pressure, the
containment policy, Reagan did give the Soviet Union the final push,
by bankrupting the SU.
Their economy basically did not work, and their military was quite
expensive. Star Wars basically pulled the SU into a spending contest
with a far richer opponent, as did expanding the Navy to 600 ships
(target, not quite achieved), and the Army, etc, with no end in sight.
Size of economy does matter.
Crediting Regan with the final push (or crediting him with picking the
staff and advisors that did this) is reasonable. Making it sound like
he single-handedly brought down the USSR is not.
\"Star Wars\" was quite successful, in its way - not bad for a bigger work
of fiction than George Lucas\'s version!
J
Joe Gwinn
Guest
On Sat, 26 Feb 2022 20:03:55 +0100, David Brown
<david.brown@hesbynett.no> wrote:
Well, we do tend to give the person who actually got to done the
credit, versus endlessly studying and talking about it.
Well yes and no.
There is a long history: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Nike>
While it was certainly beyond the technology to make an impervious
shield, it was not impossible to very much complicate things for the
opponent.
Basically, if one neutralized say 90% of the incoming missiles, the
cities would still be toast. But it would be impossible to reliably
destroy hardened targets. Like the missile silos in North Dakota. So
a surprise first strike could not prevent a full counter strike, so
the attacker\'s cities would also soon be toast.
This greatly reduced the pressure to launch on warning, before the
incoming missiles arrived and destroyed the silos, versus waiting and
counting explosions. This makes panic-driven misjudgments far less
likely - always a good thing.
Joe Gwinn (whose father worked on the Nike-X program)
<david.brown@hesbynett.no> wrote:
On 26/02/2022 19:28, Joe Gwinn wrote:
On Sat, 26 Feb 2022 09:45:38 +0100, David Brown
david.brown@hesbynett.no> wrote:
On 26/02/2022 07:07, Dimiter_Popoff wrote:
The USSR was put to its knees on his watch.
Great man.
Correlation does not imply causation.
He was an actor - he did what people around him directed him to do. To
be fair on the guy, he /did/ have a reasonable (in comparison to many)
group of advisors, and he certainly put up a good show of leading.
(Remember Bush the elder? His must trusted advisor was his wife, and
her advice came from her astrologist.)
Most big things in the world happen as the consequence of long chains or
webs of interconnected events, influences and coincidences. Even the
leaders of the most powerful countries in world seldom have much direct
effect in the big picture. In particular, they seldom have much /good/
effect - but they /can/ screw things up fairly quickly.
The collapse of the USSR was the result of decades of pressure. Regan
contributed his few straws to the camel\'s back, just like his
predecessors. Other than that, he just happened to be the guy in the
office at the time. \"The USSR was put to its knees on his watch\" - he
was watching, he did not put the USSR to its knees.
While it is certainly true that there were decades of pressure, the
containment policy, Reagan did give the Soviet Union the final push,
by bankrupting the SU.
Their economy basically did not work, and their military was quite
expensive. Star Wars basically pulled the SU into a spending contest
with a far richer opponent, as did expanding the Navy to 600 ships
(target, not quite achieved), and the Army, etc, with no end in sight.
Size of economy does matter.
Crediting Regan with the final push (or crediting him with picking the
staff and advisors that did this) is reasonable. Making it sound like
he single-handedly brought down the USSR is not.
Well, we do tend to give the person who actually got to done the
credit, versus endlessly studying and talking about it.
\"Star Wars\" was quite successful, in its way - not bad for a bigger work
of fiction than George Lucas\'s version!
Well yes and no.
There is a long history: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Nike>
While it was certainly beyond the technology to make an impervious
shield, it was not impossible to very much complicate things for the
opponent.
Basically, if one neutralized say 90% of the incoming missiles, the
cities would still be toast. But it would be impossible to reliably
destroy hardened targets. Like the missile silos in North Dakota. So
a surprise first strike could not prevent a full counter strike, so
the attacker\'s cities would also soon be toast.
This greatly reduced the pressure to launch on warning, before the
incoming missiles arrived and destroyed the silos, versus waiting and
counting explosions. This makes panic-driven misjudgments far less
likely - always a good thing.
Joe Gwinn (whose father worked on the Nike-X program)