Russian Navy going back to the Med

Putin now with his sham election is finished is back to military power
moves. In the context of Arms sales to US foes like Chavez, Bear bomber
back in the air, and talk of ending conventional force treaties; this
guy is worth keeping a eye on.


Yahoo! News
Russian navy to start sorties in Mediterranean

By Guy FaulconbridgeWed Dec 5, 4:16 PM ET

Russia said on Wednesday it would start the first major navy sortie into
the Mediterranean since Soviet times, the latest move by an increasingly
assertive Moscow to demonstrate its military might.

"The aim of the sorties is to ensure a naval presence in tactically
important regions of the world ocean," Defense Minister Anatoly
Serdyukov told President Vladimir Putin, who wished the sailors well.
The rest of the meeting was closed.

Serdyukov said 11 ships, including an aircraft carrier, would take part
in the sortie and be backed up by 47 aircraft -- including strategic
bombers.

Buoyed by huge oil revenues, Russia under Putin has been boosting
military spending while at the same time using diplomacy to broaden
Moscow's influence.

Earlier this year Putin announced that long-range strategic bombers
would resume patrols around the world and Russia's long-range nuclear
forces have test-fired new missiles.

But analysts say the navy, once the focus of national pride and symbol
of the Soviet Union's military might, is still reeling from more than a
decade of underfunding.

A series of accidents -- such as the sinking of the Kursk nuclear
submarine in 2000 -- have hurt the Russian navy's reputation at home and
abroad.

Serdyukov said the navy's flagship aircraft carrier, the Admiral
Kuznetsov, and anti-submarine ships had set out for the Mediterranean on
Wednesday from the Northern Fleet's base in Severomorsk, in the Arctic
Circle.

Black Sea fleet ships and aircraft support would meet them in the
Mediterranean. He said military exercises would be held during the
sorties and that the group would visit six foreign states. He did not
name them.

He also said Northern Fleet would make sorties into the northern Atlantic.

Russia has long been talking about reviving a permanent naval base in
the Mediterranean. During the Cold War, the Soviet navy had a permanent
presence on the Mediterranean, using the Syrian port of Tartus as a
supply point.

(Editing by Elizabeth Piper)

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"Tiger" wrote in message
...
Putin now with his sham election is finished is back to military power
moves. In the context of Arms sales to US foes like Chavez, Bear bomber
back in the air, and talk of ending conventional force treaties; this
guy is worth keeping a eye on.

it was trying to keep up militarily last time that bankrupted the old
union.
people aren't going to like being in long lines again for goods because the
military is soaking up all the assets of the state.

On Dec 6, 12:01 pm, "Ray O'Hara" wrote:
"Tiger" wrote in message

...

Putin now with his sham election is finished is back to military power
moves. In the context of Arms sales to US foes like Chavez, Bear bomber
back in the air, and talk of ending conventional force treaties; this
guy is worth keeping a eye on.

it was trying to keep up militarily last time that bankrupted the old
union.
people aren't going to like being in long lines again for goods because the
military is soaking up all the assets of the state.



That's right. Just ask the American poor.

"Mr.Smartypants" wrote in message
...
On Dec 6, 12:01 pm, "Ray O'Hara" wrote:
"Tiger" wrote in message

...

Putin now with his sham election is finished is back to military power
moves. In the context of Arms sales to US foes like Chavez, Bear
bomber
back in the air, and talk of ending conventional force treaties; this
guy is worth keeping a eye on.

it was trying to keep up militarily last time that bankrupted the old
union.
people aren't going to like being in long lines again for goods because
the
military is soaking up all the assets of the state.



That's right. Just ask the American poor.


american poor are better off than canadian poor and american indians are
better off than frostback indians.

Mr.Smartypants wrote:




That's right. Just ask the American poor.


Ah, the guns vs butter debate. Only problem is, in America we can and
have lots of both. While Poor exist. We have had untold billions
earmarked for dealing with the problem. Job aid, food aid, housing,
education, energy aid, etc. Anyway, this is way way off topic......

"Ray O'Hara" wrote in message
...

it was trying to keep up militarily last time that bankrupted the old
union.

Yes, but now they are going to try it with their coffers full of
petrodollars. It should work better that way.

Vaughn

On Dec 6, 1:01 pm, "Ray O'Hara" wrote:
"Tiger" wrote in message

...

Putin now with his sham election is finished is back to military power
moves. In the context of Arms sales to US foes like Chavez, Bear bomber
back in the air, and talk of ending conventional force treaties; this
guy is worth keeping a eye on.

it was trying to keep up militarily last time that bankrupted the old
union.
people aren't going to like being in long lines again for goods because the
military is soaking up all the assets of the state.

Well, he got the money, he got the political environment, he got the
power, I would do the same thing if I were Putin. Accusing Putin of
sham election reeks of ideological prejudice. As if any elected non-
western oriented leader must be a product of election fraud. I'm no
expert, but comparing to Russia under Yeltsin, Russia in 2007 is much
richer, much stronger and much more respected, or feared if you would
like to call it that way, Chechnya is largely pacified(human right
violation or not, he did it, while freely elected George Bush could
not even think about lowering Iraqi violence to the level of
Chechnya), I would vote for him if I were a Russian voter.

On Dec 6, 3:57 pm, "Ray O'Hara" wrote:
"Mr.Smartypants" wrote in message

...

On Dec 6, 12:01 pm, "Ray O'Hara" wrote:
"Tiger" wrote in message

...

Putin now with his sham election is finished is back to military power
moves. In the context of Arms sales to US foes like Chavez, Bear
bomber back in the air, and talk of ending conventional force treaties;
this guy is worth keeping a eye on.

it was trying to keep up militarily last time that bankrupted the old
union.
people aren't going to like being in long lines again for goods because
the
military is soaking up all the assets of the state.

That's right. Just ask the American poor.

american poor are better off than canadian poor

Well, thats ignorant, as 100% of Canadian poor people HAVE full
Medical
Insurance... 100% of US poor folks do NOT.

So, you're wrong. Deal with it.

and american indians are better off than frostback indians

Lewis Black well explained that USians who proclaim that theirs is
the greatest nation on Earth, *without* even having left it once,
are...

idiots.

Andre

In article ,
says...

Serdyukov said the navy's flagship aircraft carrier, the Admiral
Kuznetsov, and anti-submarine ships had set out for the Mediterranean on
Wednesday from the Northern Fleet's base in Severomorsk, in the Arctic
Circle.

Black Sea fleet ships and aircraft support would meet them in the
Mediterranean. He said military exercises would be held during the
sorties and that the group would visit six foreign states. He did not
name them.

I guess the USN should warm up the water distillation plants again....

Andre Lieven writes:


Lewis Black well explained that USians who proclaim that theirs is
the greatest nation on Earth, *without* even having left it once,
are...

idiots.

And that goes pretty much for any nation. Some of course have to be
right, though, even if they don't know it! :-)
--
BOFH excuse #175:

OS swapped to disk