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It's hard to blame the Russians specifically for using cluster munitions considering literally every state that spends a serious percentage of its cash flow on defense develops and uses cluster munitions, the US included.
Actually the US, China and Russia are pretty much the only major players left who use them. The UK and I believe all commonwealth countries have signed the Convention against their use and development.
Fate is in heaven, armor is on the chest, accomplishment is in the feet. - Nagao Kagetora
It's hard to blame the Russians specifically for using cluster munitions considering literally every state that spends a serious percentage of its cash flow on defense develops and uses cluster munitions, the US included.
Actually the US, China and Russia are pretty much the only major players left who use them. The UK and I believe all commonwealth countries have signed the Convention against their use and development.
What?! Russia using cluster munitions? There is no proof for that! Only anti-Russian lies and propaganda. Russia would NEVER use cluster munitions. Well, it might be sometimes our bombs suddenly fall apart in the sky, but that is totally nothing the Russian government can do anything about. Cluster munitions are only used by American imperialists, Chechnyan terrorists, Georgian agressors and Ukrainian fascists.
What?! Russia using cluster munitions? There is no proof for that! Only anti-Russian lies and propaganda. Russia would NEVER use cluster munitions. Well, it might be sometimes our bombs suddenly fall apart in the sky, but that is totally nothing the Russian government can do anything about. Cluster munitions are only used by American imperialists, Chechnyan terrorists, Georgian agressors and Ukrainian fascists.
And to no ones surprise, that is the song and dance they trotted out.
I wonder if someone will inform Russian command that a cliche is not the same as a fake, and just because something is cliche (say, Russians massacring civilians) it means it's 'overdone' not, necessarily, 'untrue'.
Also, vehicle owners in Syria beware, as apparently all vehicles are now legitimate military targets. After all, only Terrorists buy Toyotas.
Fate is in heaven, armor is on the chest, accomplishment is in the feet. - Nagao Kagetora
Russia cares a lot about its (ethnic Russian) citizens, just look at how hawkish the Russian government is when it comes to protecting Russians abroad. But in war, Russia has a very different approach to collateral damage than the West. It can be summed up as the goal justifies the means. As long as you take out the terrorist, who is going to care you blew up half the town?
Altough in the case of Nord-Ost, I will argue that the reason for the use of gas was incapability. The Russian Special Forces at that time, only 11 years after the collapse of the SU, were not capable of dealing with this kind of situation without causing massive casualties to their own men and hostages, as shown in Beslan. Therefore the use of gas was the safest way to take out the hostages and save as much people as possible. A less strong gas would have given the terrorists time to kill their hostages.
My understanding is that the gas alone was not responsible for the deaths. Rather, during evacuation many of the unconscious hostages were stacked on top of each other for transport and the ones on the bottom suffocated.
If that's accurate, then the Moscow theater siege actually represents one of the best uses of a novel technology for handling dangerous hostage situations...followed by one of the most senseless losses of life following a successful hostage rescue.
What?! Russia using cluster munitions? There is no proof for that! Only anti-Russian lies and propaganda. Russia would NEVER use cluster munitions. Well, it might be sometimes our bombs suddenly fall apart in the sky, but that is totally nothing the Russian government can do anything about. Cluster munitions are only used by American imperialists, Chechnyan terrorists, Georgian agressors and Ukrainian fascists.
And to no ones surprise, that is the song and dance they trotted out.
I wonder if someone will inform Russian command that a cliche is not the same as a fake, and just because something is cliche (say, Russians massacring civilians) it means it's 'overdone' not, necessarily, 'untrue'.
Also, vehicle owners in Syria beware, as apparently all vehicles are now legitimate military targets. After all, only Terrorists buy Toyotas.
Russia is so predictable. What he means by cliche is that "Russia massacres civilians" is a cliche used by russophobic liberasts to attack Russia. Of course Russia would NEVER massacre civilians, there is no proof. There never were any civilians.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/12/24 20:38:19
Having been intimately involved in the process of target development, and the like, looking at that video, I'm just sitting here wondering how many civilians the Russians just indiscriminately killed there.
djones520 wrote: Having been intimately involved in the process of target development, and the like, looking at that video, I'm just sitting here wondering how many civilians the Russians just indiscriminately killed there.
Well, remember, the Russia solution to hostages and human shields is to fire a heavy machine gun through them. Anyone who was hit was a terrorist.
Russia's defense minister has stated that all vehicles in Syria are valid military targets.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/12/25 22:19:01
Fate is in heaven, armor is on the chest, accomplishment is in the feet. - Nagao Kagetora
Mozzyfuzzy wrote: On an unrelated subject, wasn't your flag Ukrainian for a while Iron_Captain?
Before Crimea happened I seem to recall....
Calling the Russian annexation of Turkey now.
Chyort voz'mi! Sergei! The Brits are on to us! Call Moscow and tell them to abort plan!
Nah, don't worry. It is just an unexpected holiday. My dad got sent to Turkey and I got to tag along since I was free from school anyways. If nothing weird happens, we will be back again in a few days. Not sure about Ankara, but Istanbul I just love. There is this awesome ancient market they call a bazaar where they sell all kinds of dried fruits. I haven't had so much fun in years. Everything is very exotic and fun here. I think I actually like Turkey now. I had not imagined the Turks would be such a friendly and polite people. If diplomatic tensions mean I get to be here more often, I hope there will be many incidents in the future
I was thinking more about a certain Syrian terror group, not Russia.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Iron_Captain wrote: Nah, don't worry. It is just an unexpected holiday. My dad got sent to Turkey and I got to tag along since I was free from school anyways. If nothing weird happens, we will be back again in a few days. Not sure about Ankara, but Istanbul I just love. There is this awesome ancient market they call a bazaar where they sell all kinds of dried fruits. I haven't had so much fun in years. Everything is very exotic and fun here. I think I actually like Turkey now. I had not imagined the Turks would be such a friendly and polite people.
If diplomatic tensions mean I get to be here more often, I hope there will be many incidents in the future
Your dad was sent to Turkey? Is he military or something? And you're getting a holiday out of it? Sweet!
The most exotic place I ever went to was Tunisia somewhere on the coast over 15 years ago when I was about 9 or so. I remember going to some market in a port town, and came home with a taxidermied rattlesnake and scorpion. Still have them actually up on my bookcase gathering dust. Also, my dad insists that we visited the cave houses that were used as the location set for the Lars family homestead (Luke Skywalker's uncle and aunt) in Star Wars 4, but I don''t remember it.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/12/26 01:38:32
Iron_Captain wrote: Nah, don't worry. It is just an unexpected holiday. My dad got sent to Turkey and I got to tag along since I was free from school anyways. If nothing weird happens, we will be back again in a few days. Not sure about Ankara, but Istanbul I just love. There is this awesome ancient market they call a bazaar where they sell all kinds of dried fruits. I haven't had so much fun in years. Everything is very exotic and fun here. I think I actually like Turkey now. I had not imagined the Turks would be such a friendly and polite people.
If diplomatic tensions mean I get to be here more often, I hope there will be many incidents in the future
Your dad was sent to Turkey? Is he military or something? And you're getting a holiday out of it? Sweet!
He used to be military, but like most of the Soviet Army in Ukraine, he lost his job after the collapse of the Soviet Union. He now works as a diplomat. There is a lot of diplomatic stuff going on between Russia and Turkey right now, and they needed extra staff familiar with Turkish officials. As far as I can tell, that is how I ended up here. Don't know much unfortenately. He knows better than to tell me stuff. And whatever it was, it is finished now, we are heading back tommorrow Maybe I can cause a diplomatic scandal in some way?
Shadow Captain Edithae wrote: The most exotic place I ever went to was Tunisia somewhere on the coast over 15 years ago when I was about 9 or so. I remember going to some market in a port town, and came home with a taxidermied rattlesnake and scorpion. Still have them actually up on my bookcase gathering dust. Also, my dad insists that we visited the cave houses that were used as the location set for the Lars family homestead (Luke Skywalker's uncle and aunt) in Star Wars 4, but I don''t remember it.
Yeah, there are little obscure shops with the weirdest things for sale here too. I wonder who buys all that stuff... Found some really neat ancient-looking maps. Also got an amulet against the evil eye from a store selling just that. How do you even earn a living that way? Istanbul is hugebtw (14 million people, that is about as much as the entire Netherlands!) I keep getting lost...
State Dept. counts 'bringing peace' to Syria as a 2015 win
The State Department is counting "bringing peace" to Syria as one of its wins in 2015.
A boastful recap of the State Department’s accomplishments, written by spokesman John Kirby, includes the bold subheadline of "Bringing Peace, Security to Syria" above a more modest entry talking about U.S. aid for those affected by the country's turmoil and the U.S. push for a political transition from President Bashar Assad.
While Secretary of State John Kerry has played an integral role in the Syrian peace talks, the country remains embroiled in a nasty civil war and terrorized by the Islamic State.
“The United States and many members of the international community have stepped up to aid the Syrian people during their time of need — the United States has led the world in humanitarian aid contributions since the crisis began in 2011,” Kirby said.
Kirby wrote that the Syrians have “borne a heavy load” but that under Kerry’s stewardship the United Nations passed a U.S.-sponsored resolution to create a road map for Syria going forward.
The apparent declaration of a win echoes comments from President Barack Obama, who has been heavily criticized for calling the Islamic State a "JV team" in a January 2014 article and for calling the group's territorial expansion efforts "contained," just days before the Paris attacks.
Kirby also explicitly touched on the Islamic State, also called ISIL, saying that the U.S. is “winning [the] fight against violent extremists.”
“Although challenges remain, we have made positive strides over the last year, including in our fight against ISIL,” Kirby said. "This forward progress will only continue as more countries pledge resources to the anti-ISIL effort and as citizens around the world increasingly reject ISIL's misguided ideology.”
Kirby cited the White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism, hosted in February, which he called “monumental.”
Other things the State Department is counting as wins: re-establishing ties with Cuba, protecting the Arctic, clinching the Iran nuclear agreement, stopping the Ebola outbreak, committing to U.N. development goals, securing a free trade deal, preserving ocean health, and reaching the climate agreement.
So, mission accomplished, right?
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2015/12/29 07:18:46
Some pretty heavy spin on that article. The actual list is here and you can judge for yourself whether this is a list of "wins" or simply things they have been working on.
lord_blackfang wrote: Respect to the guy who subscribed just to post a massive ASCII dong in the chat and immediately get banned.
Flinty wrote: The benefit of slate is that its.actually a.rock with rock like properties. The downside is that it's a rock
Ouze wrote: Some pretty heavy spin on that article. The actual list is here and you can judge for yourself whether this is a list of "wins" or simply things they have been working on.
I guess "Bringing Peace, Security to Syria" have different definitions? I mean, they could've just said "we're bombing the gak out of that place, yo... and letting the Russkies in on the fun!" and it'd be a more accurate description.
Peace and Security™ is far from what's happening in Syria.
The *spin* is heavy on that page Ouze... but, that's okay because really, what else would you expect from the State's Department? "Yo, we fethed up. Better luck next time?" At least they would be honest about it.
What I find hilarious and hugely depressing at the same time, is how our Canadian CF-18's have played a vital role in helping the Iraqi ground forces liberate and recapture IS held territory, but our leadership is still blindly determined to pull the jets out of the fight.
It may only be six fighter jets we're contributing, but the past 5 days or so have shown just how crucial they are to helping contain and destroy this menace to all of civilization.
But then that's the Liberal way - let everyone else do the fighting for us while we run away and hide, because... "Peacekeeping!"
SkyNews reported "ISIS scientists" from "Jihad university in Rakka" created cooling accumulator for MANPADs and AA missiles, allowing to re-use thousands of outdated missiles. Well, technically it is not complicated and strange nobody did it before, but it is major blow to efforts to limit this missiles spread
http://news.sky.com/story/1617197/exclusive-inside-is-terror-weapons-lab
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2016/01/06 23:27:45
Can't help but think of this video clip each time I see these idiots running around in their black pyjamas
Thousand Sons: 3850pts / Space Marines Deathwatch 5000pts / Dark Eldar Webway Corsairs 2000pts / Scrapheap Challenged Orks 1500pts / Black Death 1500pts
Well that's a worrying way to celebrate - shooting at the new year.
Thousand Sons: 3850pts / Space Marines Deathwatch 5000pts / Dark Eldar Webway Corsairs 2000pts / Scrapheap Challenged Orks 1500pts / Black Death 1500pts
I read somewhere that they can kill on the way down but it depends on the angle. If I recall, falling straight down just hurts, firing at 45' it comes down with enough speed to kill - something like that
Thousand Sons: 3850pts / Space Marines Deathwatch 5000pts / Dark Eldar Webway Corsairs 2000pts / Scrapheap Challenged Orks 1500pts / Black Death 1500pts
Waiting for my shill money from Spiral Arm Studios
If the bullet travels in a ballistic arc it will maintain lethal force. If its steep enough it loses its ballistic power and falls to earth at terminal velocity, which won't do more than give you a bruise.
Self-proclaimed evil Cat-person. Dues Ex Felines
Cato Sicarius, after force feeding Captain Ventris a copy of the Codex Astartes for having the audacity to play Deathwatch, chokes to death on his own D-baggery after finding Calgar assembling his new Eldar army.
Russia is so predictable.
Mordant 92nd 'Acid Dogs'
The Lost and Damned
Inquisition
Maybe I can cause a diplomatic scandal in some way? 
Thousand Sons: 3850pts / 
Scrapheap Challenged Orks 1500pts / 
Black Death 1500pts