Jokes about nuclear strikes are becoming more common on Russian TV (which is by far the #1 source of information for the people of Russia). For now, it’s all very casual and goes along the lines of, “If we deliver a nuclear strike, they [Americans, obviously] won’t have time to respond. Ha ha.”
Of course, Obama is afraid to send weapons to Ukraine or even mention Nadiya Savchenko in public. Russia is an ISIS that is 140 million strong and waving around nukes. Who wouldn’t be afraid? There is absolutely no telling what the Russians might do.
Have you had the misfortune of seeing a person in a fit of narcissistic rage? Imagine that multiplied by 140,000,000 and armed to the teeth with weapons of mass destruction.
Clarissa's Blog 
But you think Obama shouldn’t be afraid and should send the weapons to Ukraine? That Americans in general shouldn’t be afraid?
If your post is correct, Americans are right to be afraid.
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Russians are already convinced NATO is fighting against them in Ukraine with American weapons. As I keep saying, that boat has sailed.
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\ Russians are already convinced NATO is fighting against them in Ukraine with American weapons. As I keep saying, that boat has sailed.
Isn’t the only important thing what Putin and people behind him believe / know?
Obama is afraid of Putin’s reaction, not of Russians on the street.
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“Obama is afraid of Putin’s reaction, not of Russians on the street.”
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. o O ( keep walking … )
“He’s not even paying attention to us, he must be an American!”
. o O ( KEEP WALKING KEEP WALKING KEEP WALKING )
🙂
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Narcissistic rage? For jaded western tourists who have seen it all, the Megapolis Kurort Company, a high end tourism company based in Moscow, is offering luxury tours to the fighting in Donetsk and Luhansk. A trip of four days in a luxury equipped armored vehicle will cost $2,000 to $3,000 (USD) and comes with complimentary vodka, monogrammed flak jackets and accompanying security guards. Sounds like a joke but isn’t.
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Are you serious? ??
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Yes. Some details here.
http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-31458426
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This sort of thing happened in the Green Zone …
PJ O’Rourke titled a book “Holidays in Hell” where he went out seeking this kind of thing — I suppose there was a demand for it.
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Are those empty threats? What war between Iran and Saudi Arabia?
[a member of the Russian Defense Ministry’s public advisory board who requested anonymity] if the U.S. supplied arms to Ukraine … “We can also encourage Iran, or even back Iran in a fight — a military operation — with Saudi Arabia, so then the prices for oil will skyrocket,” the source said.
http://www.businessinsider.com/russian-official-we-could-help-iran-attack-saudi-arabia-if-us-arms-ukraine-2015-2?IR=T
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I want to clarify myself: I am 100% for my former classmates having normal lives, but can understand Americans who are afraid to send weapons precisely because they see Russia as “a person in a fit of narcissistic rage.”
My country, Israel, decided to take a neutral position, but Pavlo Klimkin talked about
“tremendous assistance in the treatment of wounded Ukrainian military personnel in different Israeli clinics.” While not saying how many Ukrainian soldiers were hospitalized in Israel, he said that “we are talking about a considerable amount of people.”
http://www.jpost.com/International/Ukraine-FM-Kiev-satisfied-with-Israeli-stance-throughout-crisis-379713
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And this is how I know that you never witnessed narcissistic rage. 🙂 It happens for purely internal reasons. There’s nothing you can do to prevent it from happening. It’s not something that occurs in the realm of logic or cause and effect.
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“Have you had the misfortune of seeing a person in a fit of narcissistic rage? Imagine that multiplied by 140,000,000 and armed to the teeth with weapons of mass destruction.”
And you wonder why we are doing with banks what we can’t do with tanks …
Try this out for a horrible scenario: Russia moves ships into the Northwest Passage to “challenge” Canada’s claims to the territory.
If I were in Obama’s shoes, I’d ask what the largest non-nuclear weapon in the American arsenal happens to be and then order two thousand of them to be sent to Ukraine.
If Russia’s tied up with Ukraine, it won’t be tied up with provoking any other disasters, especially in North America, but also elsewhere in Europe.
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I dunno… I tend to have problem with any line of reasoning that directly or indirectly implies that Putin is irrational, or crazy, or out of touch with reality. I agree with Clarissa that Putin is mostly driven by factors internal to Russia, and that the symptoms indeed resemble narcissistic rage, but using this psychiatric terminology supports the Putin-is-crazy narrative that is not conductive of analysis and making predictions.
Yes, Putin is driven mostly internally. But he understands perfectly well the difference between his own propaganda about “NATO legions fighting for Ukraine” and the reality. Or between his own tanks and “volunteers” and Nuland’s cookies. All this BS, including what Russian foreign minister tells outside of Russia is meant 99% for internal consumption and for russophones of the FSU. So unfortunately it will make a difference if NATO really helps Ukraine or not. It may not make a difference in terms of propaganda – this item is already in use, but it will make a difference in terms of actual tactical and strategic decisions.
If I were Putin, I’d up the ante in turn. Remember, I (Putin) believe that West is weak, first and foremost psychologically. Lacks will. Is decadent. Maybe I declare a “symmetric response” of sending more weapons to Donetsk more openly, maybe stir unrest in the Baltic states, maybe indeed encourage Iran. Maybe all of the above simultaneously.
If NATO is to help Ukraine – it should do it quickly and with large amounts of equipment. Otherwise some 100 Javelins will not make much of a difference and will not demonstrate much of western resolve, but will give Putin all kind of pretexts to escalate.
More than one person suggested that Ukraine has to emulate Croatia with its “operation Storm”. I am not sure. Operation Storm worked after Serbia was battered by all kinds of measures including NATO airstrikes. Not going to happen to Russia.
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“If NATO is to help Ukraine – it should do it quickly and with large amounts of equipment.”
“If I were Putin, I’d up the ante in turn.”
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Nuclear strike talk is for internal consumption. I was talking about real external actions. Yes, it it is difficult to separate propaganda war from everything else these days, but I am trying…
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“Nuclear strike talk is for internal consumption. I was talking about real external actions.”
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Not yet. There are many other things he can do before that. I’ll start worrying about nuclear strikes only after he attacks some NATO country. Otherwise he is somewhat a hostage of his own propaganda, with Americans being particularly horrible because they are the only ones who used nuclear weapons in war.
And joking about nuclear strikes is nothing new. Did you have this song in the time of your childhood?
The missiles are slowly disappearing in the distance,
We will never see them again,
and although we are somewhat sorry for America,
The better future is ahead.
The clouds of chloropicrin are spreading
And getting under my gasmask
Everyone, everyone believes in the better outcome,
Maybe some of us will survive…
and so on…
(Sung to the tune of the “blue railway car”… Original song, without missiles:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWLZQ6IHiMw)
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http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/minsk-deal-represents-and-fragile-opportunity-for-peace-in-ukraine-a-1018326.html
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“Morale among Ukrainian troops is not nearly as strong as it is among separatists”? Who is this weirdo???
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Some Germans, I guess, talking statistical averages. I cannot make a sociological study of anybody’s morale, so I have to give various sources benefit of doubt. And even if they are wrong, this is what they believe and what they are using in their calculations.
Maybe you are mistaking “high morale of the troops” with being morally right or “behaving morally”? Think of Germany in the beginning of the WWII. Although the cause was totally wrong, and behavior immoral, the “morale of the German troops” was high…
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“Maybe you are mistaking “high morale of the troops” with being morally right or “behaving morally”?”
I’ve been connecting with people in Ukraine on Twitter for the past couple of days. But it would never occur to me to tell them what is going on or offer prescriptions. I’m there to listen, that’s all. And I’m discovering that there are Westerners who are capable of doing that, too. This is very heartening. 🙂
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Of course, but the article in Speigel was obviously not written to explain something to the people of Ukraine. Me posting this link also was not intended for informing people of Ukraine of something. So I am not sure where does this reprimand of yours come from, beside your indignation at me doubting universally high morale of Ukrainian troops.
Besides, I suspect that troops morale varies widely from one Ukrainian unit to another. So there are enough absolutely truthful facts to support any narrative.
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“So I am not sure where does this reprimand of yours come from, beside your indignation at me doubting universally high morale of Ukrainian troops.”
“So there are enough absolutely truthful facts to support any narrative.”
I’m sorry if I sound aggressive. This is not aimed at you. Zakharchenko is threatening to start an assault on Kharkov and it’s hard not to freak out over that. We all know he doesn’t speak unless he gets orders.
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Both me and you are armchair warriors too…
Sorry to hear about Kharkiv…
—We all know he doesn’t speak unless he gets orders. – But what orders – orders to speak or orders to actually go and assault? And I am not sure these guys are 100% marionettes. They are coordinated from Russia for practical purposes of waging war, but they also trying to carve their own political niches, even if that niche is the governor of Lugansk region of Russian Federation. So tough talk is useful for Zakharchenko anyway.
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“But what orders – orders to speak or orders to actually go and assault?”
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