Allright. I see I perhaps need to explain a little further:

1. Crimea's proven gas reserves are about 2% that of Russia's.

2. Crimea's gas production was internally consumed by Ukraine pretty much whole before annexation, and none of it was exported to the EU or US.

3. EU and US economies did not rely on Ukraine's gas reserves prior to annexation.

Given 1, 2 and 3 from above, it follows, that the Russian control of the gas reserves located in the Crimea region does not impact in a significant way natural gas balance neither in EU, not in US. Further, it follows, that change of said control to Russia will not form basis for a military action by the NATO to return the control of said fields to Ukraine.

The comparison with Kuwait was to illustrate the difference in scale and importance. EU and US depends greatly on the oil and gas reserves of Kuwait, and therefore will protect them, and should they be threatened or annexed, NATO will be in action in the same way it was when Mr. Saddam decided to lay his hand on this small gulf nation.

Please note that I do not intend to discuss the moral side of the events in Ukraine and Crimea, as I view them as not needing any such discussion. It is, for me, a clear-cut case, and any discussion of it is, in my opinion, a waste of digital ink.

I hope this suffices.

-mm-

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* Wisdom is ability to get important things approximately right most of the time.
* Breakthrough is seeing what everyone else has seen, but thinking what no one else has thought.
* Cogito, ergo sum.

1.

As relations between Russia and the West sour over Russia’s apparent annexation of Crimea, the ties between U.S. and Russian energy companies have never been stronger. The closest partners are ExxonMobil and Rosneft. Not only are they exploring for oil together in the Arctic as part of a $500 billion joint venture formed in 2011, the two companies are planning to frack shale fields in Siberia, drill a well in the Black Sea, and start construction on a natural gas export terminal in eastern Russia. ExxonMobil has such a good relationship with the Russians, that last summer President Vladimir Putin awarded Chief Executive Officer Rex Tillerson the Order of Friendship during an economic forum in St. Petersburg.

2. Crimea's gas production was not internally consumed by Ukraine pretty much whole before annexation, and some of it was exported to the EU. Not to US but Russia as well.
3. EU and US economies did not rely on Ukraine's gas reserves prior to annexation is true.

I think that we are much in agreement. Both of us agree that there is gas in Crimea. Both of us agree that it did not factor greatly in the EU's and US' economies.

Can we agree to agree?

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* Wisdom is ability to get important things approximately right most of the time.
* Breakthrough is seeing what everyone else has seen, but thinking what no one else has thought.
* Cogito, ergo sum.

I think that we are much in agreement. Both of us agree that there is gas in Crimea. Both of us agree that it did not factor greatly in the EU's and US' economies.
Can we agree to agree?

Of course:)

A happy man The life of Boris Nemtsov
https://meduza.io/en/galleries/2015/02/28/a-happy-man

Matti from Finland. "I live near RUS border. Despite the 'threat' russians still keep coming here to buy stuff that Putins sanctions denies them."
Norway Nuclear threat all over Norwegian news.
Denmark. Russian Ambassador threatens Denmark with nuclear attack, if the country adheres to NATO's missile defense.!!!!!
http://www.abcnyheter.no/nyheter/2015/03/21/220445/russlands-ambassador-truer-danmark

Again: time to kick Russia out of UN Security Council!!!!!!!!

Fed up with their planes getting escorted out, they resort to sneaky tactics :-)

Trawler snags sub?

"The Royal Navy has said there were no British or Nato submarines in the area at the time.

There has been speculation in recent months that Russian subs have been operating off the Scottish coast."

Fed up with their planes getting escorted out, they resort to sneaky tactics :-)
Trawler snags sub?
"The Royal Navy has said there were no British or Nato submarines in the area at the time.
There has been speculation in recent months that Russian subs have been operating off the Scottish coast."

Speculations of Russian subs:) Welcome to the club:)
I would be very much surprised if Britain did not have Russian subs.
Maybe even in the Thames lurking with the periscopes looking at the latest fashion in London.

What with Russia in Europe & IS in the Middle East & Africa, it's warming up nicely for part 3 of the "Big Game".

What with Russia in Europe & IS in the Middle East & Africa, it's warming up nicely for part 3 of the "Big Game".

That would be a nice best selling computer game on XBox 360 or Playstation 4.
I wouldn't be surprised if there are such a game already now.
The Gulf War was first a war board game.

Is it for real now? Oh dear.

Russian extreme nationalist, incl separatist in Ukraine, seek to cement their support among neo-Nazi's and others.
http://khpg.org/index.php?id=1426778817
Leading members of many of Europe’s far-right parties are about to descend on a Russian conference aimed at creating a pan-European movement “that will uphold traditional values” and “lobby Russia’s interests”. According to Kommersant, its organizers hope to find ‘allies in Europe’ among far-right and neo-Nazi politicians who will support Russia’s ‘conflict with Ukraine’ and seek to get sanctions removed.

Russia (Kremlin) is still in the 20'th centuary
Путин хуйло

Just for Janne

LOL. There you go. They are everywhere:)
Maybe it's a Triton-NN. I you see one, call the police!

Triton-NN, a top-secret Russian mini-submarine that Spetzsnas (Russia's elite unit) have access to, claims Joakim von Braun, Swedish senior security and intelligence expert specialized in Russias Naval forces.
- It acts as an insidious mini submarine when it's submerged. When it's above the water surface, it can act as a Motor Torpedo Boat and run between 35-40 knots, he says.

PLSM hydrofoil submarine


Development of the model began back in the 80s, but when the Soviet Union collapsed, there was no longer sufficient resources to complete the project, according to Joakim von Braun.
- The model was completed in 2008 and arrived in 2009 or 2010 to the marine Spetzsnas.
Among other things, the marine Spetzsnas force in Kaliningrad have been assigned in an unknown number Triton-NN.
The project is surrounded by secrecy, and Joakim von Braun can not answer whether the Triton-NN is a model that is armed with weapons.
- It is possible that they may have torpedoes on board. It has a very smooth structure with different types of slots. What hides behind them is hard to tell, says Joakim von Braun.

It is also not fully established how big it is.
- I would think that in the case of some 20 meters. Piranha submarines that were in the 80s and early 90s was 30 meters long and Triton-NN is a bit smaller than them, if we judge from the pictures.
Submersible vehicles for intelligence is something that is high priority in a rearmamenting Russia. The company behind the Triton-NN is called Lazurit and is located in St. Petersburg. Around the city there are a number of companies and research institutes
- They have huge resources. I believe that their resources for underwater operations for intelligence purposes is larger than the rest of the world's countries combined, says Joakim von Braun. We have assumed that Russia has built around 70 special submarines.

I forgot. Humour:)

Does Russians have humour?
Russian Humor:) https://www.google.se/#q=russian%20humor%20youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=achRM7SnAe8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQtxeNYO1K8

Humour - exactly :-) We shouldn't take ourselves too seriously all the time. That would be a hydrofoil.
I think something got lost in the translation there :-)

Prepositions are very tricky, both in English and Swedish.
They sometimes don't follow logic:)

Anyway. Triton-NN can both act as a torpedo boat and a submarine.

The Russians have started deployment of the Iskander missile system close to NATO countries and in response NATO has started the rapid deployment of Patriot II Anti-Missile defenses in Poland.

Another annoying tactic has been the 'flybys' of TU-22's and TU-95's in traditional Western airspace without warning.

I wonder what Putin's reaction is to these little videos:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/WC8U5_4lo2c?feature=player_embedded

https://www.youtube.com/embed/WC8U5_4lo2c?feature=player_embedded

Keep in mind these videos were made in 2013.........deployed?

One point never mentioned prominently is the fact of G forces on a live pilot. The human body can only withstand 10 gs for a short amount of time before losing consciousness. This limits the radius of a ‘fast turn’ in a dogfight.

A drone is only limited by the structural design and materials. A 30 to 40 g turn is not only possible but built into the control software and the design. Carrying AIM9 or Advanced Sidewinders UCAVs are unbeatable in an air confrontation by ANY conventional fighter jet.

Sending a couple of UCAVs up to shadow the Bears and Badgers would sure get a rise out of the Russian pilots...

Dream on Putin……..

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"Sour Grapes make a bitter Whine." <(0)>

I wonder what Putin's reaction is to these little videos:
https://www.youtube.com/embed/WC8U5_4lo2c?feature=player_embedded
Keep in mind these videos were made in 2013.........deployed?

I Think it's not deployed yet.

The Northrop Grumman X-47B is a demonstration unmanned combat air vehicle (UCAV) designed for carrier-based operations. Developed by the American defense technology company Northrop Grumman, the X-47 project began as part of DARPA's J-UCAS program, and is now part of the United States Navy's Unmanned Combat Air System Demonstration (UCAS-D) program. The X-47B is a tailless jet-powered flying wing capable of semi-autonomous operation.
The X-47B first flew in 2011, and as of 2015, it is undergoing flight and operational integration testing, having successfully performed a series of land- and carrier-based demonstrations.

Way to go US:)
btw your links to the George W Bush aircraft carrier where the testing of X-47B are taking place are the same.
Very nice video though:)

Speaking about aircraft carriers.

Swedish Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist (S) and the Swedish defense HQ together with the Swedish Supreme Commander Sverker Göranson was today on the world's largest battleships, the US aircraft carrier "USS Theodore Roosevelt."

Sweden has long been had a partnership with NATO in which we participate in a wide range of activities, we are currently involved in a program that involves a more developed cooperation with NATO context. I see this as part of cooperation, not as a matter of membership. It is not unique in any way that we are here, I have previously visited the US aircraft carriers, said Hultqvist during a brief chat with the DN on the bridge.

Earlier in the day DN got an interview with Admiral Mark Ferguson, director of the US naval forces in Europe. He pointed out that the visit should not be seen as an American intervention in the Swedish and Finnish NATO debate.

- We are pleased and proud to demonstrate our fighting ability of our European guests. And there is no doubt that the security situation in Europe has changed in recent times. But obviously the case that the issue of membership is entirely up to each country's government. We can not have any opinions about it, says Admiral Ferguson.

Way to go US Admiral Ferguson:)

March 15: 2nd ship to trials. France will soon have a second built-for-Russia Mistral class helicopter carrier on its hands. The first, the Vladivostok, is biding its time while France waits for a period during which Russia does not appear to be acting war-like against European allies. The second, the Sevastopol, should start sea trials external link later this month.
http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/russia-to-order-french-mistral-lhds-05749/

Democrats and neo-Nazis in Saint-Petersburg (Russia Europe)!

Interesting lineup at "Russian conservative forum" in St Petersburg: Nick Griffin was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2009 to 2014. He served as chairman and then president of the far-right British National Party (BNP) from 1999 to 2014, when he was expelled from the party.
And MEPs from Golden Dawn (Greece) & NDP (German neo-Nazi) and others.

Belkovsky explains that support for far-right, fascist and neo-Nazi parties in Europe is an integral part of the Kremlin's strategy. Putin is expecting such parties to come to power or at least disrupt Western democratic processes and is building alliances with them and funding them, so that when the time comes, they will support him in turn.
The Holiday Inn kindly makes its premises available for Putin's neo-Nazi project.

Oops Forgot to tell how Belkovsky is....
http://m.gordonua.com/english/news/exclusiveenglish/Belkovsky-Death-toll-makes-no-difference-to-Putin-He-is-advancing-Ukraine-is-just-space-for-trading-with-the-West-for-him-63040.html
Stanislav Belkovsky: Putin is sure that patience of the Russian people and their being used to financial troubles will help Russia to withstand the sanctions!!!

Besides, its not like the Russians treated German POW's all that much better. Plenty of German POW's have died in Russian labor camps.

And they are not in the number of German losses of WW2 because it was mainly after WW2. Also, about 14 % of German POWs died in Soviet camps in comparing with the 57 % died Soviet POWs in German camps.

A POW is still a waste of manpower for the Russians, regardless of what the Germans did with them afterwards.

Soviet POWs, who died in German concentration camps, about 3,3 million, they died not in battles, it's incorrect to say "waste manpower like they did in WW2", it's other case.

And I don't know where you got that ratio from, but it seems nonsense to me. The Germans lost 4.4 million soldiers in the entire war, while the USSR lost somewhere between 8.7 million to 13 million soldiers during the war.

The Germans lost somewhere between 4,3 million to 5,5 million soldiers. But not only the Germans was on the Eastern front, you forget about the Italians, Hungarians, Romanians, Finns, etc., about one million deaths. And the Soviet citizens in the German military also, about 200,000 deaths.

AND will in the future.

It is 'Their Way'.

Not yours, nor ours.

It's disinformation.