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The 2nd Crimean War?
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 ordnance11 Wrote:... Worse he didn't finish the war in Afghanistan! ...To be fair, Rudyard Kipling wrote poetry about the war in Afghanistan. It's unreasonable to expect anyone from the Americas to end that mess any time soon. -- Rob Kelk "Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of the same sovereign, servants of the same law." - Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012 
I found a post over at Jalopnix that has a reason why Russia's intervening in Syria - they, like in Crimea have fleet access to the ports there.
Still, like in the South China Sea near Taiwan, I would not like to be on a non-Russian naval vessel entering, or in, the Black Sea right now, and of cause the USN has parked three vessels in there: USS Mount Whitney (6th Fleet's flagship), USS Taylor (escort of the Whitney, last known to be in a Turkish drydock for propeller repairs from a grounding incident) and now the USS Truxton. I'd expect that there would be a USN submarine or two in there too, but they won't be happy about having to hide in a bathtub. 
LCC20 Mount Whitney? Her sister's homeported in Yokosuka as the 7th Fleet Flag. Her presence is more or less for show - the USN has only two LCC's and for a good reason: they are merely command and communication ships intended to coordinate large-scale amphibious assaults like Operation Overlord. But since it seems we won't be seeing that sort of action anytime soon, they were made into flag ships for the forward deployed fleets.
And of course, since it is an Admiral's Flag, and it has few weapons beyond some CIWS and Sea Sparrows, it has a couple of escorts... Argh... And of course, one is a frigate. *Sighs* Ever since they got rid of the Mk13 'One-Armed Bandits' these ships have, in my mind, ceased to be a credible threat for many bad guys out there. The Destroyer is something I'm a bit more comfortable with, but I'd feel even better if the Frigate was a Cruiser instead. As for the Submarines? *Shrugs* Submariners around the world will take what they can get. They absolutely love being sneaky. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if a few Russian ships suddenly found they had lit flares on their decks in the middle of the night. That's a favorite one for a sub skipper to pull when they're doing war games - surface right next to a ship real quiet-like, get the guy on board with the best throwing arm and fling a lit flare onto their deck. Confirmed kill.
Well, mine the entrance to Sevastapol with Captor mines. We can claim that there are no ships in the area at the time of the sinking. Which would be true.
__________________ Into terror!, Into valour! Charge ahead! No! Never turn Yes, it's into the fire we fly And the devil will burn! - Scarlett Pimpernell ordnance11 Wrote:Well, mine the entrance to Sevastapol with Captor mines. We can claim that there are no ships in the area at the time of the sinking. Which would be true.Mining someone else's harbor without permission is an unfriendly act, though. With the state of affairs in the area, who's going to give the permission? -- Rob Kelk "Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of the same sovereign, servants of the same law." - Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012 Quote:robkelk wrote:A very hoary military axiom...easier to beg for forgiveness than to ask for permission.Quote:ordnance11 wrote:Mining someone else's harbor without permission is an unfriendly act, though. With the state of affairs in the area, who's going to give the permission? Edit1: Captor mines are nifty things. They're programmable. Wait for a certain date..activate them for a set number of days if you want that and then deactivate. Want to go for a certain class of vessel?.Done. And that was it '90s technology. Probably have upgrades now were you can cycle on or off. Emplace them by air, surface craft or submersibles. Could be done by a Seal tm too, but that's a labor intensive job there. __________________ Into terror!, Into valour! Charge ahead! No! Never turn Yes, it's into the fire we fly And the devil will burn! - Scarlett Pimpernell 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26606097
Given Crimea's demographics, that "level of victory" is well into the complete bullshit statistic region.
I just don't understand what is with this phenomena of boycotting elections. I mean, sure, an election can be rigged, but these things have a way of being uncovered. If you oppose one of the choices on the ballot and are in favor of the other, and yet boycott it, then you're just playing into the other guy's hands!
Quote:I just don't understand what is with this phenomena of boycottingOriginally, it started as a way of protest in obvious dictatorships where elections are an acknowledged farce that exist only as a fig leaf for the benefit of some foreign patron. In that situation, it makes sense because the rigging is clear from the start and nobody gives a damn about it. But lately it has become a tactic that you use when you know your side has absolutely not a snowball's prayer in hell of a chance of winning or even getting a significant amount of votes in a real election. This way, you didn't "lose" because you didn't "play", and you can claim that a fair, non-rigged election was "invalid" and "unrepresentative" because not all factions participated. Basically, it is now a way to delegitimize democracy when the majority is against you. blackaeronaut Wrote:I just don't understand what is with this phenomena of boycotting elections. I mean, sure, an election can be rigged, but these things have a way of being uncovered. If you oppose one of the choices on the ballot and are in favor of the other, and yet boycott it, then you're just playing into the other guy's hands!I'm told the options were "leave the Ukraine" or "leave the Ukraine and join Russia" - no option to stay part of the Ukraine, so nothing to be in favour of. -- Rob Kelk "Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of the same sovereign, servants of the same law." - Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012 Quote:nemonowan wrote:I wouldn't go quite that far, for this particular case. Here, given that the population of Crimea is identified as 58% Russian speaking, I'd say that there is a non zero chance Russia would loose in a free and fair election. It's unlikely, but not impossible. If they voted, Russia could claim that they had their say. This particular election is sufficiently scripted, that boycotting is a more effective means of protesting against Russia's annexation than voting against it.Quote:I just don't understand what is with this phenomena of boycottingOriginally, it started as a way of protest in obvious dictatorships where elections are an acknowledged farce that exist only as a fig leaf for the benefit of some foreign patron. In that situation, it makes sense because the rigging is clear from the start and nobody gives a damn about it. Quote:robkelk wrote:I heard this too. And even Obama's been saying it's improper, probably illegal.Quote:blackaeronaut wrote:I'm told the options were "leave the Ukraine" or "leave the Ukraine and join Russia" - no option to stay part of the Ukraine, so nothing to be in favour of. -- Sucrose Octanitrate. Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.
Well, Putin has it, but it's going to be an expensive takeover. Figure 3 billion a year for power and water.
__________________ Into terror!, Into valour! Charge ahead! No! Never turn Yes, it's into the fire we fly And the devil will burn! - Scarlett Pimpernell 
What? Putin's gonna go for the whole hog when Ukraine's new government refuses to supply power and water to Crimea.
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.'' -- James Nicoll
Oh sure. It's effective alright. Meanwhile, Putin touts from his ivory tower the landslide victory while the ethnic Russians all do what they love most: party it up and get so drunk they make us Americans look tame.
Right now the situation reminds me of the start of the civil war. Just before P.T. Beauregard had his forces open fire on Ft. Sumter.
__________________ Into terror!, Into valour! Charge ahead! No! Never turn Yes, it's into the fire we fly And the devil will burn! - Scarlett Pimpernell
There is an ongoing war in eastern Ukraine aided and abetted by russia.
One civilian airliner shot down. Kinda obvious who did it, but no one is owning up.to it. And the Ukrainians are winning the war. If the separatists end up losing the war, I can see the Russians coming over the border. We may very end up seeing WWIII, 100 years after WWI. __________________ Into terror!, Into valour! Charge ahead! No! Never turn Yes, it's into the fire we fly And the devil will burn! - Scarlett Pimpernell
Maybe, maybe not. Could just be a repeat of Russo-Ukrainian War, round whatever of x local conflict.
If it goes larger depends on NATO/US preparedness, how far the Russian forces advance across the Ukraine, will Russia's "allies" go for their goals in the same period. Not to mention the big thing: Winter is coming and the French & Germans will be going "frack that!" by November. Of cause if the ball has gone up and Finland's involved on our side..... ordnance11 Wrote:There is an ongoing war in eastern Ukraine aided and abetted by russia.Not now, but there were videos posted to social media at the time by the people who did it - videos which have been removed. Funny how RF troops are not allowed to post to social media since then... -- Rob Kelk "Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of the same sovereign, servants of the same law." - Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
That is the problem. There are people in Russia had never gotten over the breakup of the USSR. Including a former member of the KGB who is now the president. The term "near abroad" has emotional resonance over there. I had noticed that Putin has started putting the screws on any dissent since the start of his current term. I suspect he is not going to relent on Ukraine being back into Russian orbit. Hook or crook.
__________________ Into terror!, Into valour! Charge ahead! No! Never turn Yes, it's into the fire we fly And the devil will burn! - Scarlett Pimpernell 
And how long until Putin becomes "President-for-life"?
-- Bob --------- Then the horns kicked in... ...and my shoes began to squeak.
He isn't already?
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.'' -- James Nicoll
He's already played fast and loose with the presidential term limit by spending some years as Prime Minister, with a dogsbody keeping the chair warm for him.
I meant as an official title.
-- Bob --------- Then the horns kicked in... ...and my shoes began to squeak.
Given that it is simpler to have the trappings of democracy in which there are proforma elections in which the states chosen candidates are elected or reelected eternally, I'd say taking the title of President for life is superfluous.
--Werehawk-- My mom's brief take on upcoming Guatemalan Elections "In last throes of preelection activities. Much loudspeaker vote pleading." |
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