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Credible to sane people, yes.

- Jake

Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.

by JakeS (JangoSierra 'at' gmail 'dot' com) on Sat Mar 7th, 2015 at 08:20:07 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Pending nuclear annihilation tend to concentrate minds.

Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.
by Starvid on Sat Mar 7th, 2015 at 11:49:30 AM EST
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That's the idea, yes.

However, if you are sitting in Russia and watching a regime that just started two land wars in Asia build what could even by a generous observer be mistaken for a first-strike capability right on your border...

... it's hard to blame you for becoming a little nervous.

- Jake

Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.

by JakeS (JangoSierra 'at' gmail 'dot' com) on Sat Mar 7th, 2015 at 11:58:56 AM EST
[ Parent ]
No one could mistake that facility for a first strike option. For the reasons I mentioned previously in the thread.

Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.
by Starvid on Sun Mar 8th, 2015 at 12:24:04 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Those are not arguments for why medium-range missiles on your border is not a first-strike capability, those are arguments for why nobody would want to spend money on putting a first-strike capability on your border.

The problem with the "no sane person would want to do that" line of reasoning is that that is also the reason the first world war didn't happen.

The further, more specific problem with that line of reasoning, in this context, is that the official reason for the facilities in question is not possible. So if you accept the notion that the Americans were building a missile defense system in Poland, then you are already operating under the assumption that the Americans are insane. Now we're just haggling over the flavor of insanity involved.

- Jake

Friends come and go. Enemies accumulate.

by JakeS (JangoSierra 'at' gmail 'dot' com) on Sun Mar 8th, 2015 at 01:18:29 PM EST
[ Parent ]
I don't agree, at all. It's perfectly reasonable to think that the system was not about Russia, but about Iran. Indeed, given the mechanics involved, it looks far more likely that was the reason. Still a stupid idea though.

And really, it only looks like a system built to support a first-strike if you are ready to accept a Russian retaliatory second strike. And I see absolutely no reason why anyone would think in those terms. Maybe I'm misunderstanding you somewhere, because what you're saying is not making much sense to me.

Peak oil is not an energy crisis. It is a liquid fuel crisis.

by Starvid on Sun Mar 8th, 2015 at 01:53:57 PM EST
[ Parent ]

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