[Closed] Will we see Christmas?

oh, and russia's accidentally dropped 4 cruise missiles on Iran tonight....

Unless you're planning on a Christmas break in Libya I think you'll be fine.

'Accidentally' gave their friends, Iran, 4 long range cruise missiles, shirley?

I think the idea of not seeing Christmas is a bit OTT, but nevertheless, i saw the news tonight and for the frst time i took a 'gulp' and thought 'Oh shit...'.

It's unlikely that we're screwed but either way there's no point worrying about. You have absolutely zero influence on how any of this pans out.

Americans say 4 missiles dropped on Iran. The Russians and more interestingly the Iranians say they didn't. So even if they did it looks like the Iranians are ok with it.

Funnily enough, i haven't got a scooby doo about who is on who's side and who wants what. I trust neither the UK/US or Russian propaganda and for the first time (possibly ever) i have no idea what is really going on. I think thats the scary part for me as opposed to worrying about the actual bombings, wherever they might be.

EDIT - i dont mean to say that its the first time i dont know whats going on, rather that i feel that i dont know whats going on... probably not explaining it too well!

i dont mean to say that its the first time i dont know whats going on, rather that i feel that i dont know whats going on... probably not explaining it too well!

Do you mean that you sense that some bugger is definitely lying but you have no idea of which one of them it is?

They are probably both lying but one less so than the other 😀 🙂

From what I have seen/read it seems to me like Russia actually have an interest in ending the conflict and have absolutely no problem bombing the s**t out of IS, whereas there is a large presence of extremism in the UK and USA I would imagine that in Russia this isn't the case so/or their government aren't afraid of upsetting them. The yanks especially don't like this as Russia has always been seen as the enemy hence the propoganda from them.

I could be completely wrong however....

...whereas there is a large presence of extremism in the UK and USA I would imagine that in Russia this isn't the case so/or their government aren't afraid of upsetting them.

The number of UK and US nationals combined fighting in Syria is probably (no one actually knows for sure) measured in the low to mid hundreds. The figure I've seen for Russian nationals is somewhere closer to two and a half thousand. Our media and some politicians would have us believe that we are a hot bed of extremism but it's just not the case.

Ah right, in that case my money is on Russia making the yanks look bad

My money is on each superpower wanting to create an ally in the middle east. If Russia can keep Assad in power then then what's left of Syria is going to align itself with Russia. If the rebels seize power and Assad goes then the West might gain an ally* If I.S. seize power then neither Russia nor the Americans gain an ally.

It appears that the west is committed to bombing the crap out of I.S. so with the Russians now bombing whoever else opposes Assad it looks like between Eastern bombs and Western bombs they'll weaken the overall resistance enough for Assad's forces to strengthen their position and either keep him in power or at the very least allow him to leave on his terms.

* Western allies in the middle east have a habit of becoming western enemies after a period of time, we seem to permanently back a wrongun'

Russia are not attacking IS , they are after the rebels opposed to Assad in an attempt to prop up his vile regime.

He has been dropping barrel bombs and using chemical weapons on his own people FFS.

We're all going to die.

Carry on.

Made christmas puds and cake last week, so I really hope we do

I'm not, I'm going to live until at the very least Christmas as I've a holiday booked kitesurfing in Morocco.

Ner ner.

Corbyn said last week that Trident was useless against terrorists so should be scrapped.

Do you think he ever watches the News?

Who do you think we will use it against?

Russia 😆

US-Russian relations are at their lowest since the end of the cold war.
But Russia is not to blame. The US policy hawks/neocons who want to continue a reckless policy of regime change in the middle-east and the former Soviet states are the ones responsible for the geo-political mess we now live in. The US was also complicit in the wide-scale theft of the Russian economy after the fall of the Soviet regime.
The Neocons see the escalation of tensions with Russia as a golden opportunity to start another round of wars by depicting Putin as yet another one of their Existential Threats.
I don't see either side backing down. Depressing.

Corbyn said last week that Trident was useless against terrorists so should be scrapped.

Do you think he ever watches the News?

I presumed that was where he informed his oppinion from.

USA and Russia aren't short of nukes, IS are a problem, they've not used their nukes, QED nukes are useless against terrorists.

It's a giant foreign policy fustercluck largely of our own making. Our politicians should be ashamed of themselves.

Edit: when Trump takes over as president we will really be in trouble.

I blame Blair.

Edukator - Troll
I blame Blair.

Me too.

Fair do's, Putin has played an absolute blinder here. He has totally out manoeuvred the West and now has the upper hand. The West can't do much about Putin now and I wouldn't be surprised if Putin uses this to get what he wants in the ME and the easing of sanctions at home.

Will we see Xmas? I think so and we'll see next Xmas too. The West knows the stakes are high so will avoid any confrontation with Russia (Obama wants out of ME).

Turkey is the key IMO. If something happens to Turkey's interests/forces in the region or an out of control Russian cruise missile lands on a Turkish city then things might get out of control. Turkey has the 10th most powerful army in the world, has a proud military history that is being supplied by the West and bank rolled by the Gulf States/SA. The Turks don't like Assad or Russia and then add in the Sunni v Shia rivalry and that's where the flashpoint will be. Turkey is a Nato member and if attacked, Nato will have to defend Turkey.

I'm wondering how many days I'll manage to open in my lego advent calendar.

not really.

It's a giant foreign policy fustercluck largely of our own making.

Anyway, it will all be over by Christmas. It always is.

Chaos in the middle east will do wonders for oil prices which would be nice for Russia.

I blame Blair.

Lionel Blair?

Whats happening now then? I don't pay attention to the news about the region, as I remember being reliably informed that this whole middle east business had been sorted once and for all....

[img] http://citizenbrand.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341c728253ef0120a772f33a970b-pi [/img]

Is this not the case then?

It doesn't matter what Obama wants, the lads outta there.

I never thought I would warm to Putin, but the thought of him vs Trump in a cage fight makes me wonder.

Just wait until uncle Kim kicks off again...
[img] [/img]

Anyway, we all were meant to die in a post nuclear holocaust all the way through my childhood....

I blame Blair.

I blame Lance

Can't we just ally with Switzerland and forget all about this shit??

Hope not, because Christmas is a foolish nonsense, much loved by fools and folk with no sense.

just5minutes - Member

oh, and russia's accidentally dropped 4 cruise missiles on Iran tonight....

Well it's up to you if you decide to believe an unnamed anonymous US source. Iran has denied the claim and it serves US interests for the claim to be believed.

The brilliant thing about the alleged malfunction of the Russian cruise missiles is that apparently all 4 malfunctions by pure coincidence occurred over Iran, so the unnamed anonymous US source doesn't have to provide any evidence at all.

If just one had malfunctioned over Iraq, which was also under the cruise missile flight path, then the unnamed anonymous US source might have been expected to perhaps provide some vague evidence.

So that was lucky then.

Hmm, not sure but as I'm in Russia on business at the end of the month, I'll let you know if troops are massing on the border!

Well it's up to you if you decide to believe an unnamed anonymous US source. Iran has denied the claim and it serves US interests for the claim to be believed.

The brilliant thing about the alleged malfunction of the Russian cruise is missiles is that apparently all 4 malfunctions by pure coincidence occurred over Iran, so the unnamed anonymous US source doesn't have to provide any evidence at all.

If just one had malfunctioned over Iraq, which was also under the cruise missile flight path, then the unnamed anonymous US source might have been expected to perhaps provide some vague evidence.

So that was lucky then.

They spoke to a guy on R4 this morning who said there were (IIRC) four unaccounted missiles based on the number fired verses the number of known impact spots so the missing ones must have ended up somewhere.

I don't see the problem though since missiles do malfunction. I think R4 guy said based on this usage the malfunction rate was about twice the rate of US cruise missiles which doesn't seem terrible to me.

I'm a bit worried TBH ....

Ever seen [url=

It starts with a war in the Middle East 😯

Christmas is tedious commercial nonsense. Humbug. Let the missiles fly.

the missing ones must have ended up somewhere.

The unnamed anonymous US source was very specific that all 4 malfunctioning missiles landed in Iran. Rural Iran apparently, so quite specific.

To be fair Russia has a great record of propping up regimes in Islamic countries with direct military support, what's that example I'm thinking of.

Anyway, I hear there's been great succes in the last decade or so of foreign powers using military might to make everything just spot on in the Middle East. I'm sure a lightweight highly motivated opposing force that's prepared to die for their cause won't stand a chance.

I reckon it was 007 escaping from a mission in Russia hiding inside a cruise misslie with a very attractive Russian double agent called Katya lotacoch

**** knows what any of the bombing will achieve, Yemen is being starved and bombed into dust by the Saudis and their Airforce of British bombs and planes (twice the size of our own)
The number of people forced to flee Syria will only increase , and lead to unimaginable hardship as winter arrives
The surge in violence in Israel will probably lead to Israel killing another 1000 civilians in another bombing campaign.

And the circle of arms sales, bombing, radicalisation and terror continues

Anyway, I hear there's been great succes in the last decade or so of foreign powers using military might to make everything just spot on in the Middle East. I'm sure a lightweight highly motivated opposing force that's prepared to die for their cause won't stand a chance.

The Russians aren't stupid, they are providing logistic/air support to the Syrian army, Hezbollah, and the Iranian-backed Shia militias. ISIS can of course be defeated and the people to do that are the peoples of the Middle East. And I suspect they are more "highly motivated" than a bunch of foreign imported psychopaths.

According to [url= http://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/ ]this cheery website[/url], I'm sufficiently far enough away from Mancheser and Leeds to avoid incineration or 3rd degree burns 🙂 That's assuming there aren't any more strategic targets closer to Todmorden.