Since election two countries have told us to go pound sand...thoughts?

[Weizy]

So as of yesterday both Iran and Russia have made threats and comments about the new President and our great country...any thoughts?

President Medvedev speech was on one hand cordial and on another it was downright threatening...same with what is coming out of Iran with their decree that they will shoot down any US aircraft over Iranian airspace...

How is Obama going to handle these two volatile situations?

My opinion is...

1. Obama needs to get our relationship with Russia back on track. Building this missile defense system in Poland is a huge political risk...and our new leader MUST tread carefully. Russia is emerging as a superpower once again and their rhetoric of late sounds eerily similar the first Cold War.

2. We need to meet with the Iranians and shore things up. Everyone knows that they are aiding militants in Iraq and sooner or later something's gotta give here. Hopefully Ahmadinejad will fall off the face of the earth, but he did make history in writing a congratulatory letter to our President. Either way we need to get this situation under control...

[emuler]

Re: Since election two countries have told us to go pound sand...thoughts?

are you some sort of faux news guy?

[Weizy]

Re: Since election two countries have told us to go pound sand...thoughts?

are you some sort of faux news guy?

No, actually I am just trying to start some discussion on this issue...

[runningman]

Re: Since election two countries have told us to go pound sand...thoughts?

Russia is not really emerging again as a superpower. They just have a lot of nukes so you have to respect them. That Satan missile could destroy the entire west coast of North America is one shot. But the US must have a missile defense in space by now using laser technology (Star Wars) the missiles on the ground are nice but the Satan would travel through the atmosphere so ground missiles seem useless. I find it hard to believe that the US doesn't have something up their sleeve when it comes to technology considering nukes are 60 years old. We have come a long way since then. Iran doesn't pose a major threat to the continental US but it definitely can disrupt things in the middle east. I would not meet with the Iranians at all.

[88Mariner]

Re: Since election two countries have told us to go pound sand...thoughts?

I don't trust the russians. Not one bit. Not with Putin, not with Medvedev. It sounds cliche, but they're always working to make back geopolitical power.

[toasty]

Re: Since election two countries have told us to go pound sand...thoughts?

So as of yesterday both Iran and Russia have made threats and comments about the new President and our great country...any thoughts?

President Medvedev speech was on one hand cordial and on another it was downright threatening...same with what is coming out of Iran with their decree that they will shoot down any US aircraft over Iranian airspace...

How is Obama going to handle these two volatile situations?

I'm not overly worked up over either of these things. Both Russia and Iran are known for making provocative statements, so I can't say that I'm incredibly surprised that they would do so in the context of a discussion of the new administration as well, because you have to know they are not going to stay mum. Obviously, both of them will need to be dealt with in their own way, but I don't view either as representing any major change in the way Russia or Iran views us, so I wouldn't expect it to cause Obama to veer off course in terms of the way he intends to deal with the challenges they present.

My. $.02

[Miroslav]

Re: Since election two countries have told us to go pound sand...thoughts?

^^ What he said. Russian and Iranian officials hate us and are always threatening to kill us. Of course they're going to show the new kid that they're no creampuffs. It's also pretty vague to say what will "shore things up" or get us "back on track" with these folks. We have our demands of them and they have their demands of us. Your options for resolution are: (1) a new Cold War, (2) a compromise driven by mutual benefit or disproportionate threat, or (3) an all-out war.

wheee!

[Weizy]

Re: Since election two countries have told us to go pound sand...thoughts?

^^ What he said. Russian and Iranian officials hate us and are always threatening to kill us. Of course they're going to show the new kid that they're no creampuffs. It's also pretty vague to say what will "shore things up" or get us "back on track" with these folks. We have our demands of them and they have their demands of us. Your options for resolution are: (1) a new Cold War, (2) a compromise driven by mutual benefit or disproportionate threat, or (3) an all-out war.

wheee!

Whoa whoa whoa...back up the truck. All I am presenting is that these are two situations which our new administration must address. I am not suggesting that all-out war, a new Cold War or compromise are the only options...

I am hopeful that our new dedication to old-fashioned diplomacy will help rebuild our relationships with Russia and Iran. In the long run we need Russia to be an ally and friend to our nation. In the case of Iran we just need them to stop contributing to our problems in the Middle East or at the very least stop them from undermining our efforts in Iraq.

C'mon Miroslav you can't pigeonhole me...I am just trying to get some dialogue going here

[WaveSculptor]

Re: Since election two countries have told us to go pound sand...thoughts?

Russia is not really emerging again as a superpower. They just have a lot of nukes so you have to respect them. That Satan missile could destroy the entire west coast of North America is one shot. But the US must have a missile defense in space by now using laser technology (Star Wars) the missiles on the ground are nice but the Satan would travel through the atmosphere so ground missiles seem useless. I find it hard to believe that the US doesn't have something up their sleeve when it comes to technology considering nukes are 60 years old. We have come a long way since then. Iran doesn't pose a major threat to the continental US but it definitely can disrupt things in the middle east. I would not meet with the Iranians at all.

I think the Star Wars missile defense is still a science fiction dream. After all, we don't have the capability to stop a giant commercial jet from crashing into a critical financial building in a heavily populated urban area, nor the nation's central military command structure (if that was a plane), much less a smaller, faster missile.

Although consumer technology continues to grow in leaps and bounds, Physics has not really moved forward since the death of Albert Einstein in 1955. The two reasons Russia will not use nukes on us are simply deterrance, and the international treaties that would automatically unite the rest of the world against any nation to launch a preemptive nuclear strike.

I think the threats/comments/etc. ammount to little more than political posturing, and wouldn't be all that concerned about them. No matter how radical or backwards a nation may be, they could not possibly fail to realize that a unilateral assault on the US, even for a superpower, would be utterly suicidal.

Of course this doesn't mean that either side would come away unscathed. In fact both would likely sustain heavy losses, which is why we should keep diplomatic channels open and do what we can to mitigate these political tensions before they widen pre-existing rifts and create deeper tears in the global social fabric.

[Miroslav]

Re: Since election two countries have told us to go pound sand...thoughts?

C'mon Miroslav you can't pigeonhole me...I am just trying to get some dialogue going here

no no, not trying to do that at all to you... I really do personally think that those are the only three options: compromise, cold war, or real war. unfortunately.... The good thing is that, with conventional national powers, the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction still generally applies - unlike with transnational terrorist organizations that we also face these days...

[Weizy]

Re: Since election two countries have told us to go pound sand...thoughts?

no no, not trying to do that at all to you... I really do personally think that those are the only three options: compromise, cold war, or real war. unfortunately.... The good thing is that, with conventional national powers, the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction still generally applies - unlike with transnational terrorist organizations that we also face these days...

but what the hell is going to happen with this missile defense base we are putting up in Russia. if we go through with this the Russians will definitely do something severe to ratchet up the tension, right?

Mutually Assured Destruction definitely applies...no doubt.

[Dzone]

Re: Since election two countries have told us to go pound sand...thoughts?

I don't trust the russians. Not one bit. Not with Putin, not with Medvedev. It sounds cliche, but they're always working to make back geopolitical power.

This is really fun as you need to ask yourself why the rest of the world would trust the american ?!

[bobjuice]

Re: Since election two countries have told us to go pound sand...thoughts?

This is really fun as you need to ask yourself why the rest of the world would trust the american ?!

Exactly - what would happen to an Iranian plane flying over Usa ? Don't the same rules apply?

As for Russia, yes they are a superpower again (as are China) but they are not directly threatening right now - just protecting themselves.. If they were to build a similar base near to the Usa (somewhere like Cuba perhaps) then the American reaction would be at least as confrontational IMO. No?

[Localizer]

Re: Since election two countries have told us to go pound sand...thoughts?

Well when Russia can develop a navy that doesn't have subs sinking all the time, maybe I'll take them seriously. Regardless, I'm pretty sure the increasing momentum by Putin and Medvedev to bring control back into the government is going to destroy the spirits of the Russian people. On top of that, Medvedev wants to extend the presidency to 6 years.

[88Mariner]

Re: Since election two countries have told us to go pound sand...thoughts?

^ it's thier ground forces that I think we should be concerned about. sad about thier navy. I just have a bad feeling about being drawn into a war that we didn't start or had nothing to do with. entangling alliances and all that...