This is a strategic map from WW II. It is how the Allies measured their success against Axis powers.
This type of 'war rhetoric' by Bush is simply an outrage already. He needs to deal in 'the real world' rather than his 'political world' in regard to Iran and any other threat to the USA. There are lines being drawn. Real world lines which are hugely dynamic in destrutive nature. These 'threats' should never be regarded as necessary. At this point in history every nation should be cooperating to destroy terrorist networks while disarming from nuclear arsenals.
Instead, there are 'up ticks' of tensions year after year in 'direct' reaction to Bush's idiocy and faux and illegal aggressive wars. Mr. Bush needs to be careful in his 'minding' of his war directives because this time, he's facing a burgeoning genocide in Iraq and indeed the USA may very well be more an enemy to civilization than an ally.
On one hand I want to say the Russians are simply having a good time, but, the reality is these maneuvers are real and comprise a measuring of the Russian's ability to engage and sustain a war to victory against those that would seek to attack 'the sovereign Russia.' I have repeatedly stated, Russia will not fight a war at it's borders, but, will defend itself in wars far from a threat to it's sovereignty. Russia is pretty good 'at it.' It is the largest unchallenged geological country on Earth.
Russia is not alone, by the way, in it's muscle flexing over the Arctic Ocean. Canada has responded and currently I believe it is Norway exercising it's right to sovereignty as well.
Russian war games in the Arctic
Fred Wier, Hindustan Times
Moscow, August 10, 2007
First Published: 06:16 IST(10/8/2007)
Last Updated: 06:47 IST(10/8/2007)
Russia is holding extensive war games in the Arctic this week, including cruise missile tests and a flight over the North Pole by strategic bombers.
The military exercises come on the heels of a controversial scientific expedition which last week planted a titanium Russian flag on the seabed 4-kilometres beneath the Pole to signify Moscow's claim to own a big slice of the Arctic.
The RIA-Novosti agency quoted airforce sources as saying that four supersonic Tu-160 strategic bombers and 14 medium-range Tu-22M bombers are involved in the exercises, which will include a flyover of the 1.2-million square kilometre Arctic territories claimed by Russia.
Moscow argues that the Lomonosov Ridge, which underlies the Arctic, is an extension of the Siberian continental shelf and therefore subject to Russian sovereignty.
Two scientific expeditions, including last week's flag-planting exercise at the North Pole, have been sent so far this year to gather data to back up Russia's claim before the United Nations commission that rules on territorial zones.
A third mission, including a nuclear-powered icebreaker and at least one deep-sea submersible, is slated to leave for the Arctic in the coming weeks.
Other Arctic countries have condemned Russia's actions as political theatre that has no legal implications, but the event has nevertheless triggered a flurry of activity from some.
Canada this week announced that it, too, will hold military exercises this week in the Arctic territory near Baffin Island, and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper embarked on a three-day tour of the North.
In the wake of Russia's flag-planting, the U.S. ordered a Coast Guard icebreaker, the USS Healy, to conduct research in the high Arctic near Alaska.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=132dc29d-114c-45aa-b849-0db5f5c9b287&MatchID1=4502&TeamID1=2&TeamID2=6&MatchType1=1&SeriesID1=1122&PrimaryID=4502&Headline=Russian+war+games+in+the+Arctic
This article has nothing to do with the Arctic Ocean. It's real, regardless of the propaganda at Murdocks' FOX News. How do I know it is real without actually witnessing it? Because on September 4, 2007, Bush is conducting a five nation exercise near India for the very first time. China is up in arms about it. Rightfully so. Who needs this mess with the Olympics approaching? These are very real responses from sovereign countries seeking protection from the 'threat' of the USA. Many of these countries, including India, would be better served to concentrate on domestic improvments to their populous, but, they can't because Bush insists on 'military hardware contractor' driven rhetoric.
Russia steps up war games with sortie into Pacific
5:00AM Saturday August 11, 2007
Two Russian bombers took to the skies over Guam. Photo / Reuters
Russia has opened another front in its international show of muscle by dispatching two strategic bombers to the heart of American military power in the Pacific for the first time since the end of the Cold War.
The 3200m flight to Guam, where more than 22,000 American troops are involved in exercises off the island, was carried out by two Russian Tu-95 bombers, a senior air force general said.
Major General Pavel Androsov said when US jets were scrambled, the Russian and American pilots "exchanged smiles".
Russian bombers play war games with US
By Anne Penketh, Diplomatic Editor
Published: 10 August 2007
Russia has opened another front in its international show of muscle by dispatching strategic bombers to the heart of American military power in the Pacific for the first time since the end of the Cold War. Two Russian Tu-95 bombers made the 3,200-mile flight to Guam, where more than 22,000 American troops are involved in exercises, a senior air force general said yesterday.
Major-General Pavel Androsov said that when US jets were scrambled, the Russian and American pilots "exchanged smiles". He added: "Whenever we saw US planes during our flights over the ocean, we greeted them. On Wednesday, we renewed the tradition when our young pilots flew by Guam in two planes. We exchanged smiles with our counterparts, who flew up from a US carrier and returned home."
The sortie was part of war games being staged in the Russian Far East. It was the third highly symbolic incident within a week during which the might of a resurgent Russia has been on display. First came the flag brazenly planted on the Arctic seabed on 2 August in support of Russian territorial claims.
"The Cold War has come to the North," read the headline in the Russian newspaper Kommersant over the weekend, after Canada and other countries with claims to the underwater Arctic mineral wealth stepped up their own preparations.
http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/article2851460.ece
NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA
MOSCOW SEEKS TO CREATE NEW MILITARY COALITION: General Yuri Baluyevsky, the head of Russia's General Staff, called for the strengthening of military ties among members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization during consultations in the Chinese city of Urumchi on Thursday. A military "megabloc"—consisting of member states Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan—would command more than 4 million troops, outnumbering NATO. "NATO and America's claims of global superiority must have some counterbalances," one Russian military expert said. Other member states, however, are skeptical of the idea.
VEDOMOSTI
AMERICANS THREATENED BY RUSSIA: Americans consider Russia to be among the most threatening countries in the world, according to a poll conducted by Harris Interactive. Of those surveyed, 54 percent said Russia constituted a threat to the United States compared with 36 percent in 2005. The negative attitudes are the result of the negative portrayal of Russia by American media, Valery Fyodorov, the director of VTsIOM, a prominent, state-owned polling agency, said.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/08/10/europe/10russiapress-review.php
Shanghai Cooperation Organization Holds Biggest War Games Ahead of Leaders Summit
By Heda Bayron
Hong Kong
07 August 2007
Some 6,000 troops from China, Russia and four Central Asian states will hold their biggest-ever joint counterterrorism military exercise. Some analysts suggest the group, known as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, is evolving into an anti-West defense alliance and Iran is looking to join. VOA's Heda Bayron, in our Asia News Center in Hong Kong, has more on the security implications.
From left, Uzbekistan's deputy defense minister, and defense ministers of Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, China and Tajikistan pose for family picture during SCO Defense Ministers summit in Beshkek, 27 Jun 2007
At least 1,600 Chinese soldiers, 2,000 Russian military personnel and defense forces from Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan are part of this year's exercises called "Peace Mission 2007" taking place in the Russian Urals and in China's Xinjiang region.
http://voanews.com/english/2007-08-07-voa11.cfm
The Propagandists state:
U.S. Admiral: No Russians Near War Games
Friday, August 10, 2007
By AUDREY McAVOY, Associated Press Writer
PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii — The U.S. Pacific Fleet commander said Thursday Russian bombers never got within 300 miles of Guam this week and didn't fly over the U.S. territory as a Russian air force general claimed.
Navy Adm. Robert F. Willard disputed that U.S. fighters intercepted the bombers. The admiral said the Russian aircraft never got close enough to the Pacific island or the massive U.S. military exercises being held nearby, to warrant such action.
"U.S. planes went to an orbit point in preparation for an intercept that never occurred because the Bears didn't get close enough," Willard said in an interview using a slang term for the Russian planes.
Earlier, a Russian air force general said a pair of Tu-95 bombers reached Guam as part of an exercise intended to demonstrate the Kremlin's resurgent military power.
http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007Aug10/0,4670,GuamWarGames,00.html
5-nation war games in Bay from Sept 4
India to host the biggest ever event joined by US
Diplomatic Correspondent
The largest ever five-nation naval exercise in the region is set to begin on September 4 in the waters of the Bay of Bengal where an armada of warships and nuclear submarines from the US, India and Australia will take part.
Other two nations participating in the exercise are Japan and Singapore.
The 6-day complex naval war games hosted by India titled 'Malabar Multilateral Exercise' will by far be the biggest such exercise held in the strategic location of the Bay of Bengal that is situated among India, Bangladesh, and the western shores of Myanmar, Thailand and Malaysia.
Bangladesh Defence officials, however, refused to make any comment on the five-nation exercise.
The September exercise will undoubtedly be dramatically different, said a highly placed intelligence official on condition of anonymity. He added that Bangladesh will not allow any warship to enter its maritime border during the exercise....
...The American carriers will be carrying their full complement of F-18/A Hornet, F-14 Tomcat and F-15 Eagle fighters, anti submarine helicopters and airborne early warning planes.
Indian defence officials pointed out that the location of the planned naval exercise has been chosen to maintain distance from the arc of the Pacific Ocean, and the borders of Russia and China where such moves could arouse Beijing's sensitivities.
According to media reports, Indian top naval officials said the multilateral exercise is in no way targeted at any country.
China however expressed its concern over the multilateral Bay of Bengal exercise and had alleged a quadrilateral arrangement against it comprising India, US, Japan and Australia.
The US-India military relationship has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years. Since 2002, the United States and India have been partners in more than 30 military exercises.
The defence relationship between the US and India has further reached a new dimension with the recent bilateral agreement for peaceful nuclear cooperation.
http://www.thedailystar.net/2007/08/11/d70811011510.htm
The tensions that bring this concern today has been building for several years. Each year is more organized and more intense than the one before and it is all due to Bush's crony ambitions and rhetorical speechs. No one can set aside the fact he illegally invaded Iraq. That is a reality that will shadow the USA until the point it has disarmed from nuclear capacity. The USA will never be trusted again. Nothing to say advances toward peace can't be made, but, any advancement will be met with huge skepticisms requiring stringent measurable methods.
Dated:
Russia and Central Asian Allies Conduct War Games in Response to US Threats
by Michel Chossudovsky
August 24, 2006
Barely acknowledged by the Western media, military exercises organized by Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan under the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, (CSTO) were launched on the 24th of August. These war games, officially tagged as part of a counter terrorism program, are in direct response to US military threats in the region including the planned attacks against Iran.
The Rubezh-2006 exercise, is scheduled to take place from August 24-29 near the Kazak port city of Aktau:
"It will be the first joint military exercise undertaken by CSTO countries, and will involve 2,500 members drawn from various armed services of member states, with Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan the principal participants. Uzbekistan, which has recently rejoined the CSTO, will send observers, while the two other pact members, Belarus and Armenia, will not be taking part .( IPWR News Briefing Central Asia)
Press reports from the region describe these war games as a response to US military presence and ambitions in Central Asia:
"The growing militarisation is connected with mutual mistrust among countries in the region, say analysts. Iranian media have speculated that the United States is using Azerbaijan to create a military counterweight to Iran on the Caspian. It is possible that the exercise conducted by the CSTO – in which Russia is dominant – represents a response to concerns about United States involvement in developing Kazakstan’s navy. Observers say Russia is leaning more and more towards the Iranian view that countries from outside should be banned from having armed forces in the Caspian Sea."
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=CHO20060824&articleId=3056
China-Russia war games under way
By Nick Childs
BBC World Affairs correspondent
Last Updated: Thursday, 18 August 2005, 07:55 GMT 08:55 UK
The exercises bring together two former ideological enemies
The Russian and Chinese armed forces have begun their first joint military exercises.
Marines will storm beaches and paratroopers will descend in a mock invasion of an imaginary country.
The eight-day operation got underway with consultations between military delegations from the two countries in Vladivostok, in Russia's far east.
Analysts say China and Russia are signalling they are prepared to counter US dominance in international affairs.
The Russian and Chinese military exercises starting this week are clearly a significant step for both countries.
Even in purely military terms, they appear ambitious.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4161660.stm
As a country, the USA has to face it's serious and egregious crimes against Iraqis. They invaded a disarmed country for no valid reason, except, the rhetorical fears of their Executive Branch leadership. As a matter of fact all the facts of the circumstances before the March 20, 2oo3 invasion all pointed to a country with a profound inability to even defend itself, yet alone conduct any attacks or war. The legislative process failed the USA and Iraq because the Chief Executive over stepped, more than willingly, his authority to begin war outside the parameters legislated by the USA House and Senate. With the 'dye cast' there was no turning around in what 'appeared' a danger to the USA due to WMD.
The next leadership to the Executive Branch elected in 2008 will have to be dedicated to a global peace and drastic movement away from nuclear war, otherwise, these countries will recieve no relief from their militarization. Any escalation in tensions globally is "W"rong and ONLY serves the purposes of Bush's skeleton economy built on draining the USA Treasury into the pockets of cronies while disabling the American Dream and demoralizing the citizens of the USA.
In the 'war map' above, the German Deutschmark was nearly worthless as Hilter began his expansionist empire.
