i think you might of been looking for a different word in the bolded part.
nfloorl:Russia is biggest country on Earth, its seeks no territory by conquer. Crimea was not a conquer, its was about history, culture and losing main military base in Black sea in Sevastopol.
- True, in response to Georgia's provocation & Ukraine's involvement
Allegedly, as I was told by a sailor who's been there, the US had 2 Trident SSBNs in the Arabian Sea & was ready use nukes after warning Iraq against using chemical/bio weapons. Putin wants to look clean & unless directly attacked, will most likely provide only non-lethal support while Iran could use its proxies for sabotage, guerrilla style attacks, & own missile strikes if the goal is to make Saudis' loose more in Yemen, Bahrain, or at home & to raise the price of oil. The bigger question is how the new US president, who doesn't like the Nuclear deal, will deal with Iran even w/o all of the above!
That I doubt very much no sailor on a SSBN would ever say that - just saying. It was public knowledge and the US also stated it publicly that chemical & biological weapons were WMD and if used against them the US reserved the right to respond with WMD.
The level of thought and knowledge you bring to this discussion makes Tom Clancy look smart. Take out a map of the world, spend 20-30 minutes considering the structure and state of the Russian military, and then reconsider your scenario.
I'm sorry to say, but that's just BS. I think your mate is being very cavalier with the truth - and I say that with a very very high degree of confidence as I'm pretty aware of what the US response options were if Saddam launched WMD
I'd say that you're being overly generous. It makes Clancy look like Georgy Sukhov or Subodai
As I've explained, Russia is present in Syria and the Mediterranean and seems to be allied with the greatest military powers in the region: Iran, Turkey and Egypt. Saudi Arabia's military does not seem to be very efficient at all, in spite of big numbers on paper. Saudi is also in financial problems and threatened by social unrest because of welfare cuts. Saudi has many enemies in the Middle East and now loses the friendship of the US. Russia has modernized its military for a decade and a half and has recently arranged huge drills on short notice. China and India don't seem interested or present in the region. The West is in disarray politically and has suffered total and humiliating defeat in the region and is hated and despised by exactly everyone in the ME.
I would strongly recommend that you post some reputable verifiable links to substantiate these claims that you make. Unsubstantiated and inflammatory claims break the rules and causes Moderators ban hammer trigger fingers to itch quicker than free rum attracts sailors.
Dear lord, do you know what the word allied means? In what universe is Russia allied to any of those? There's a sketchy case to be made that Russia and Iran have an alliance in Syria but that's about it. Russia just finished removing sanctions from Turkey, and has a decent relationship with Egypt based mainly on strategic trade. Nothing even close to an alliance.
What's this now? Where has Saudi lost the US?
Except for the Gulf Petro states which are very friendly with the US, Turkey, which is in NATO, and Israel which is one of the most powerful military forces in the Middle East.
Taking it with what? Again. Look at the geography. Look at the effort it takes for the VMF and VVS to keep a ~5000 man force in Syria.
Again, those relationships don't exist. Never mind the fact that Russia simply can't deploy sufficient forces.
Sheer idiocy. It was a common enough belief 3 years ago, though even then it was wrong. The past 3 years are clear proof. Russia can survive low oil prices and the weak rouble combined with Chinese help have turned Russian manufacturing around. What depends on the oil is the state budget. As proven by the current budget cuts. Before you make statements, by the way, I suggest checking percentage of GDP created by oil exports for Russia, compared to true petro-states.
Alliance is maybe too strong a word, but they have common interests in different ways. Erdogan of turkey obviously is not interested in working together with the West. No ambition to join the EU anymore, and the demand to have Gulen extradited from the US, which won't happen, will be used as a pretext for cutting ties with the US too. There's a deal to make with Russia and Iran to stabilize Syria, to have the Kurds exterminated and dividing Caucasus between them. Egypt's military regime, inviting Russia for military exercises, is now in trade conflict with Saudi Arabia and being the most populous country of the Arab is interested in taking over the lead of the Arab League. The conflict might be limited to Iran occupying Saudi Arabia's Persian Gulf coast, where the oil and the shia arabs are. The UAE has too much international commercial interests involved, a war there could escalate.
Have you heard of that guy, now what's his name, oh yeah: Donald J Trump?
Newsflash! Anothjer guy you've never heard of, Erdogan, has turned Turkey into a islamistic tyranny. Still member of NATO on paper, but that doesn't stop them from waging war. A few decades ago they even waged war against Greece, also a NATO member. I don't think they will be active in a war on Saudi Arabia, but they will quietly let it happen and not stop Russian shipping from the Black Sea for example. What has Israel got to do with this? They have stayed out of direct conflict during this "Arab spring" and do well to continue so.
Saudi's east coast is near Iran, they are certainly capable of marching their huge army into it.
Those relationships may very well exist under the table. Defeating the corrupt and incompetent Saudi forces might turn out to be very easy.
It's not as if the Molotov-Ribbentrop alliance was made public either. I speculate based on the interests, capabilities and recent actions of the countries involved. Saudi Arabia's policies have obviously failed very seriously.
Even speculations have to be based upon facts and supported. Follow the rules and you will be fine. That's all we ask.
Erdogan is busy trying to convince the US that he could somehow still be allowed to participate in anti-ISIS efforts in Iraq. Hardly the behavior of one who has no desire to work with the west. And the best deal he could strike with Russia involves tepid relations based, once again, on strategic trade and geopolitical interests. A relationship that could easily go sour again any time Erdogan decides his zone of control in Syria is too small, or that he wants Assad gone after all.
He's done nothing so far. Assuming he will do one thing or another without solid grounding is silly.
NATO membership hasn't stopped the US from waging war either. Are they also one of Russia's allies in the upcoming invasion of Saudi Arabia.
They stayed out? You mean they're not supporting the rebels in southern Syria, and don't have under the table ties with Russia? Interesting. And they're totally not bombing Hezbollah targets inside Syria. You're so right. They're practically isolationists.
Where does Russia come in? Iran and Saudi Arabia have been at odds for quite some time, but what makes you think that Russia would be backing, or orchestrating it?
1. You're confusing exports with the economy as a whole.
There is one limping AC, two aging ASW destroyers, one semi-modern frigate, and an undisclosed number of subs (1-3). And Russia doesn't have an Atlantic Navy.
Air support. And nuclear deterrence to keep other nuclear powers out. Iran doesn't really have a functional air force and could hardly take on Saudi themselves. A gradual Russian response to any Western hostile escalation could be to occupy defenseless isolated Sweden. It wouldn't insult NATO, compare it with Georgia and Ukraine, but it would shut up Merkel, and make the UK start thinking about possible Russian landing operations in Scotland. Russia's negotiation strength vis-a-vis the rest of Europe would improve quite a bit, geomilitarily. And by the audacity of occupying a so called democratic EU-member without meeting any kind of resistance.
Yeah, but what does Saudi Arabia have to fight it with? They've been fooled to buy a lot of fancy gadgets, but they don't seem to know how to use them. I think that the Russian aircraft carrier is there to protect the missile cruiser and the subs that will launch the cruise missiles. Russian bombers could hit Saudi from Russia proper and from bases in Iran, Syria, Egypt, Yemen.
That sailor wasn't a submariner but was told by others who knew the bigger picture. Also, another 1 from Sea Bees told me that nuclear weapon storage facilities were built in Saudi Arabia during the Desert Shield. I have no reason doubt them- tactical nukes and SLBMs were in the theater to deliver overwhelming blows in case the US Army got in serious trouble there.
There are a whole pile if reasons as to why a retaliatory nuke strike was off the cards.
Tell me about this Turkish attack on Greece. Which part of Greece was attacked? Or were Greek ships attacked in international waters, or Greek aircraft in international airspace? When did it happen? Please tell. And I'd very much like to know your sources.