Russians move SRBMs to Kaliningrad

[Bengalzona]

Is that you in the picture, Dill?

(12-15-2016, 10:43 PM)Dill Wrote: B-zona, what do you think about the timing? Not much Obama can do about this in a month.
Trump is behaving more like a Kremlin asset than leader of the "Free World."

Looks like a coup for Putin.

Putin is sitting pretty. He has stuck it to the U.S. harder than Trump's son gave it Melania last night.

But seriously, everything this guy has wanted he has gotten in the past couple of years. He bullied Georgia unperturbed. He meddled in the Ukrainian elections, invaded Crimea, and now has the Ukrainians fighting themselves. He meddled with the British vote for Brexit and got what he wanted there. He meddled with the U.S. elections and got what he wanted there. With Trump making overtures to exit NATO, Angela Merkel is now considered the Leader of the Free World. France and Germany have upcoming elections, and the Russians are expected to meddle in those as well. 

Oh yeah. He also came out today as the Great Protector in Aleppo by guaranteeing the civilians safety while evacuating the city (many people willfully forgetting that the Russians have been pretty indiscriminately bombing civilians over there for the past 2 years).

But you mentioned timing. Timing is everything. SSF mentioned in another thread the possibility of disbanding NATO. It was not a bad idea.... 20 or 10 years ago. Now, it is a geo-politically insane idea. The only historical correlation I can draw is what happened in Germany in the 20's and 30's: splitting alliances, intimidating neighbors, re-incorporating sovereign nations based upon historic claims, etc. In that sense, it is almost like history repeating itself. Putin is clearly not a Nazi. Nor is he a Communist. But he has no problem throwing peace aside and playing the brinksmanship game that so many dictators have played in the past. 

My problem with Putin is not so much his goals, however. We are still not sure what his goals are exactly. The similarities with Pre-WWII Germany end with that. My problem is with his means right now. They are not acceptable. IMO, you meet him with toughness, or you bend over and lube up.