Ivan Drago

Very interesting commentary Big Duke, thanks! May I ask on what basis you find yourself in Georgia observing this conflict? So far my favorite part of this whole mess is seeing all the talking heads here in the States like Lou Dobbs and Bill O'Reilly look all puffed up and constipated about Russian military aggresion and 'adventurism' (love that one!), yelling about how we must step in and put them in their place while all the commentators and experts they talk to say 'Um, sorry, we're kinda castrated right now - may we suggest bending over and using some K-Y-Jelly instead?' Oh, it must be a tough thing for the neocon to absorb...

Any interesting anecdotes from the Russian troops besides the alleged dead black Green Beret? Do they have strong opinions about being in Georgia? From the photos we see at least in the media they appear to be in good spirits/morale.

That's the beauty in these geo-political games - you can make it look almost believable, have just enough facts behind you to have some people go 'hmmm...' and that's sometimes enough to divide opinion and prevent unification of the enemy. The Western Europeans are incidently much less critical of the Russians on this whole thing then the United States and the former Soviet vassal states. It's interesting to see one thing the Russians probably knew would be a possible consequence played out against them: Poland just signed the deal to build the missile shield on it's turf http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/2559818/Poland-and-US-agree-deal-for-missle-defence-shield.html "We feel at the moment a greater concern for our safety," said Bogdan Klich, the Polish defence minister, evoking fears of a resurgent Russia, widespread in the former Eastern Bloc. "That's why every installation of the Western world on the Polish territory has its meaning, because it anchors Poland more deeply to the West." - Isn't that what the Georgians though?

I agree Judo doesn't seem to be very interesting - no punching or kicking? wtf? I'd like to see the victor take on this rowdy little fellow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwVYtFBRtrE Fedor is the true beast from the east, though actually born in Ukraine he identifies himself as Russian. Doubt we'll see MMA in the Olympics any time soon though...

In light of shocking new video-evidence, I now blame everything (as always) ON THE JEWS!!!! AAARGRGRGRGRGRGR :mad: :mad: http://www.wakeupfromyourslumber.com/node/7724

The REAL winner in all this is the Military Industrial Complex! Gooooooo Horriblycorruptcorporationshappilysellingtoolsofdeath!! Yaaay!

Even the American military couldn't totally supress rebels in Iraq very quickly, though I hear the surge might be working for the moment - guerrilla wars take years to end. If Russia decided to conquer Georgia it probably could, but I would definitely expect a partisan army to rise up. Russia knows this and thus probably won't involve itself to that degree.

Well...not being a military analyst closely working with the Putin administration...I can only guess, same as everyone else. It seems pretty obvious though - Russian funded South Ossetians seperatists provoked Georgia's military response at a time when Russia correctly estimated the US would not be able to offer much support. Seems to be 'expansionist', or at least a reaction to the other America-Russia confrontations like those over Iran, Kosovo, the missile shield in Poland & Czech Republic, etc. I live in San Francisco now actually, and even though I have family in Russia I doubt everyone's of the same opinion. A lot of people are rather pleased with Russia's actions, some are horrified. Sort of like US-public's opinion on Iraq when it first started I suppose...

Not only my fellow Russians, but millions of Ukrainians, Belorussians and Georgians. It's not 'feck Georgia' though, since Russians have always loved visiting Georgia during the Soviet days as an exotic land. Georgians as an ethnic minority have also had a love/hate thing in the general Russian public, sort of like I guess American whites have for American blacks. They're 'different' and often 'cool', but don't let them too close to our girls There's definitely not the sort of animosity that Russians have for say, Chechnians, who are pretty much despised. As for 'Why?' Hmm, well, power on the state level translates into better living conditions and prosperity for the citizenry. Even the corrupt and inefficient system of the USSR was preferred by many to the chaotic poverty of the post-collapse Eastern Europe. Of course, many Russians despise Putin and think (quite rightly, given the fact that he's still a politician after all, that most scum-sucking of all scum sucking professions) that given the chance he'll bankroll all his buddies and bail, with the country in ruin - and that might happen too. For now, he's still considered by the majority Russia's best bet for a prosperous and powerful future.

Ah, in that case I can solve all further discussions on military politics for us by 'revealing' that the ultimate cause here is the same as always in matters of war - lust for power, of which no nation is not guilty of at some point in their history. So what? It's human nature after all. If I'm down and you're up, it's only natural for me to feel envious of your position and try to better my own, possibly by toppling you. Been going on forever, probably not going to stop until we're all either a) dead, or constantly stoned on LSD to the point where the most aggresive action we can muster is to gather in a circle and play drums. Some nations, through their unique geography/culture/etc. will naturally be more able to express and act on this lust for power then others - like the United States and Russia today. Interesting. Please let me know which of the causes presented you view as obsolete views. Now as for Russia's military. As well funded, trained and equipped as the United States? No, not yet Does it matter? Nope! For all it's capabilities, the US military is stretched thin and even had it not been, there is no way the American public would support a confrontation with Russia. Even with the most optimistic, pro-Western, anti-Russian lens, only a fool would expect such a confrontation to be easy for the United States. And Americans have no stomach for blood, unless the cause strikes very close to home. Most Americans probably couldn't find Georgia on a map, much less care to die for it. Your general opinions remind me with some amusement of how some of the editors of The Exile had commented on 'The Economist' magazine's constant criticism of Russia throughout the last few years. Basically along the same line 'Their economy ain't that great!' 'Sure they're getting stronger but not that strong!', 'Putin's a thug and murdering Chechnians!' etc. Basically the Exile editors (Americans living in Russia, btw) mocked the Economist as really trying hard to play down Russia's resurgence all the while knowing that American influence, economy and military was doing the complete opposite due to the Iraq war. All the while Russia's economy kept improving, the military kicked the crap out of the remaining Chechnians and now - well, here's Tom with the weather Of course, you MIGHT be right - only time will tell how this will play out, but I don't think Putin is dumb enough to sacrifice YEARS of work building up to this moment if he wasn't quite confident that the best the West could muster would be a limp-wristed whimper. Once again, we will see. Say what you want about Putin, but he ain't stupid. While I don't have a comment on the Serbian war criminal, I do not think that the Russian Empire is back on full throttle - 1/3rd throttle perhaps, but certainly not full yet. These events do mark the stages of resurgence though, as this war would not have been possible a few years ago.

I dunno, SSGT said it could be appreciated by only those of below average intelligence and would get an F as an essay, which to me sounds like he doesn't agree with it. That's fine, I'd just like to know why. Well US humanitarian aid is OK - though Georgia's pres immediately said that the US was sending military aid, when in fact that seems not to be the case. I think Saakashvili is so terrified at the moment, with Russian armor within 40 miles of his capital, he will say anything publicly that will make it look like he isn't up **** creek without a paddle. Russia wouldn't attack American aid workers obviously, but they can still continue the occupation of Georgia while saying there's a cease fire and in fact all operations have come to a halt - which is precisely what they've been doing ever since Sarkozy thought he'd solved the situation with the cease fire agreement on Monday (or was it Tuesday?). Bush is of course the very reason this shift in power has occured. Rather ironic considering how conservatives thought they were actually making America's influence stronger by supporting him.

I'm assuming you are commenting on this article, originally posted by Kettler, and not on one of Kettler's own opinions/posts: http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/russo_georgian_war_and_balance_power If so, please do explain the factual errors present - I guess my IQ is inferior to yours (must be those superior Finnish genetics), since I found the article well written and seemingly accurate.

Hey, when do we expect that counteroffensive to finally come through and 'smash Russia'? I bet poor Pooty-Poo & Medvedev are hiding under their desk right now, holding each other tight, teeth clattering, shaking in fear of the inevitable retaliation from the mighty...oh wait, I forgot, the EU and the US are full of hot air and not much else. Awww...too bad for Georgia. The whole situation strikes me as funny. I've been expecting Russia to begin flexing it's muscles sooner or later, now that the US has as much military and political credibility as a junior high school bully who just got his nose smashed in by the little kid in the horn-rimmed glasses. Maybe I'm just biased, as a Russian, but I don't see this whole thing as 'wrong' on the geo-political level (because there is no right or wrong on the geopolitical level, imo), even though the whole 'civilians dieing by the thousands' never looks quite right on the moral compass. Why SHOULDN'T Russia try to expand as it becomes stronger? Isn't that what every country has been doing whenever it got half a chance since the beginning of civilization? Isn't that what the US has been doing, albeit more with an economical domination approach in recent times as opposed to military domination? Isn't that why we're at the top of the pile - because we ****ed over the blacks, the Native Americans, the South Americans, the Middle Easterners, the etc., etc.? Plus one can argue that within those former Eastern Block nations, like Ukraine and Georgia, many are still divided on which side they want to ally themselves with - the West or the East. The reason they had been left-leaning so far is of course the fact that Russia didn't have much strenght of influence in the past two decades, allowing the US to install West-leaning politicians through 'elections' - how the times have changed. Moreover I can't bring myself to care too much how it plays out, because in the end, we're all kind of ****ed when the resources start running out in a few decades. National boundries and flags won't mean much when there's no food or fresh water. A thermonuclear appocalypse almost seems like the preferred way to go out when you have mass starvation to look forward to.

Humans by their very nature are violent, aggresive super monekeys with no hair that like to wage war on each other, sort of like what chimps do, but with lazer-guided weaponry. It's better to simulate it on a computer then act it out in real life, that's for sure. Three cheers for wargaming!

That longevity is what keeps so many of your customers loyal! If the CM series wasn't as good as it was, I'd never even consider spending another $30 on a game I've already bought, and subsequently used to much that the CD is too badly damaged to re-install. I'd just steal the game from some hacker website, or play something else instead. Thanks goodness for CM!