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The Arms Race Is Back... With A Twist: US Congressman Urges NATO To Purchase French Warship Destined For Russia
The saga of the French Mistral amphibious assault warship which was ordered by Russia years ago, and whose delivery - at least according to Putin - was the reason behind the US record $9 billion DOJ fine of French BNP (which the Russian president called "blackmail" by the US designed to intimidate France and prevent it from completing the transaction) just took a turn for the bizarre.
In a note written in the Atlantic Council's website, Democrat representative for New York's 16th district, Eliot Engel, has proposed that instead of letting France conclude its deal with Russia, now that even the BNP "blackmail" has failed to dent Hollande's intention to see the delivery to its end, that NATO (read the US) should step up and "collectively purchase or lease the warships as a common naval asset."
In other words, with cajoling, threats and even fines failing to make an impression on French weapon delivery intentions, and thus US foreign policy, it is time to start throwing away taxpayer money in order to spoil Putin's party.
Of course, this begs the question: what happens with the next order placed by Russia: will NATO step in and overbid Russia in the final instant (using US bond issuance proceeds to fund the transaction of course - bonds which are largely purchased by China, the Fed and, of course, "Belgium") again, and then again, and so on?
We wonder: are we the only ones who now see this as nothing more than the cold war arms race, in which the two sides would merely stockpile nuclear weapons in an attempt to have the greater "Mutually Assured Deterrence" fear factor, and which ultimately ended up bankrupting the USSR (or so conventional wisdom goes)? If so, who is getting the short end of the stick this time: because just how many useless and unnecessary military vessels can "NATO" accumulate before it finds they have zero impact on how Russia is truly waging New Normal warfare - using European energy flows?
Keep a close eye on this proposal to see if it gains traction.
Full letter by Eliot Engel below:
NATO Should Buy French-built Warships
[L]ast month I wrote to NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, urging a plan by which the alliance would collectively purchase or lease the warships as a common naval asset.
This avenue would give us a win-win-win solution.
First, we deprive Putin of this valuable military asset. Such a step would help reassure nervous allies and partners in Central and Eastern Europe that would most feel vulnerable by this force multiplier in the hands of the Russian military.
Second, we would greatly enhance NATO capabilities at a moment when many of its members have been cutting defense expenditures. There is already ample precedent for NATO to purchase shared assets, including the alliance's fleet of E-3A AWACS aircraft. If Russia does indeed remain an aggressive force, NATO will have to refocus its energy and resources on European defense. The future success of the alliance in turn will depend on all NATO members sharing this burden and commitment. Purchasing these ships would give NATO a much needed shot in the arm.
Lastly, this purchase wouldn't leave France holding the bill. At a time when the European economy remains fragile, we shouldn't allow one of our allies to endure such a heavy financial blow.
Eliot Engel is a member of the US House of Representatives for the 16th District of New York and the ranking minority member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.
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It is my understanding that Eliot Engel is a cunt.
edit: per wiki, his grandparents were Ukrainian, so I guess that's why he has a bug up his ass about Putin...
But I guess he's cool with Nuland et al picking Kiev's bankster regime.
Real salt of the earth, this guy...
It is my understanding that you are absolutely correct.
What a fucking IDIOT!
It's just a fucking transport ship!
It's not like some advanced stealth submarine or bomber the French are building for Russia.
It just goes to show how fucking meddling the U.S. has become now that we fucked ourselves financially.
French... Stealth Submarine... lol
There is nothing an idiotic polititian can do to save the US from the inevitable?
So, now we are going to use our fresh, hot of the press dollars to buy someone elses warships? Lets just buy EVERYTHING then!!!
“picking Kiev's bankster regime”
Suggested edit:
“picking Kiev’s US backed, running dog lackey Nazi banker racketeers”
World war is most definitely coming, unfortunately for us.
Notice the outstanding respect for contracts that the free country of the US has.
OT but I need to rant: Judging by Zerohedge's (owned by ABC media) Review our notice on Racial Discrimination, nearly every damn comment violates the policy. I know I am a year late but WTF!
The policy: Racism, to include any religious affiliation, will not be tolerated in ANY FORM on this site, including the disparagement of people in the comments section.
To report any form of discrimination, please right click on the comment number, copy the link to the comment, and send the comment link to abuse [at] zerohedge.com.
Any user found to be discriminating against ANY race, religion, or affiliation, will be banned immediately, and have their comments removed from the system.
Definition of Discrimination: treatment or consideration of, or making a distinction in favor of or against, a person or thing based on the group, class, or category to which that person belongs rather than on individual merit
Edit: It's not the comments that bother me. I love the comments. It's the policy that bother's me.
OT too. Perhaps you should remind us who you are so we can decide why it is important for us to care about what you love and what bothers you so much.
Brain dead liberal racist screaming Zombie. Why don't you go masterbate yourself with mein kamf.
"nearly every damn comment violates the policy"
No, we are almost always politically correct because we dearly love the policy of our sincere new leaders.
Sarc/ off
And just in case we fail, we would eat them and you alive.
I have coined the motto 'beware of Tribesmen bearing financial proposals'. It has served me well.
Edit: It's not the comments that bother me. I love the comments. It's the policy that bother's me.
And I think that's a blatant fucking lie. You're a member of the Thought Police, the ones who tend our moral micro climate for signs of forbidden thinking.
as we continue to taper our outright monetization of treasury debt, we are please to announce a sterilized offsetting Outright Purchase of French-made Ships program
this program, in conjunction with MBS, will add real value to the asset side of our balance sheet, and will enable future transfers of merchandise by sea throughout the world
hugs,
misteryellens
"and will enable future transfers of merchandise by throughout the world."
Do you mean we could actually send all of Germany's gold back in one shipment? (That would be one big "accident" when that one sank though wouldn't it? I know even with my small stacks, my canoe seems to get really "unstable" when I am over the deepest part of the lake...)
From my cursory study of failing empires and civilizations (compared to many well-read ZH commentators) it seems that one thing they share in common is that as they are sliding toward ruin, their actions become less rational with each passing year. One more idiot clearing marching us foward to oblivion.
Well, why not?
It worked on the ammunition supplies in the US. Feds bought it all.
Now they will buy all the warships, all the tanks..
Print moar democracy, bitchezz!
The Detroit Police Dept. needs these ships waaay more than the Russians.
Chicago P.D. too for that matter.
And how the hell is Nestlé suppose to defend its right to bottle the worlds water?
WIN- WIN- WIN. Now who's paying?
.
"Skipper, I am detecting an espresso machine on that sub."
"So it's French."
Espresso is actually Italian, not French.
USSA can never have enough ships! Print! Print?
Don't build from scratch and create US jobs. Screw that! Happy 4th!!!
With a big enough deposition printer, you can print a ship.
If the human race actually manages to survive this slightly tight spot here then this is how we will be doing orbital construction. Wake enough people up, throw the NWO fascist hegemons to the curb... perhaps we'll see it.
dup dup
Have you ever owned a French car? The gd thing would probably sink in transit anyway.
And yes, Eliot ( like most of the parasitic sycophants in DC ), is a cunt.
Rhetorically, have you ever owned an English car? With Lucas electrics? How about a GM car?
That ship is french built. It goes faster in reverse.
While a certain other countries ships have auto-pilot built in programmed to steam fast forward to little undeveloped SE Asian countries (some landlocked) that don't have any ship of which to battle.
@Dick Gazinia
In fact this ugly disdain and pitiful jokes come from the firm refusal of the French to join America in Irak, in 2003.
Since France refused to go to Iraq, American warmongers and neo-cons made French army look like cowards – as a punishment.
Yep, nothing at all to do with bailing france out of WW2 or vietnam...
Well, at least they were able to extricate themselves from the tar baby known as Algeria.
About Vietnam :
The French lost Dien Bien Phu because they were screwed by NATO (ie. the US).
They had to specialize in jets while others in Europe had to specialize in bombers.
And when it came to fight Communism (the Viet Cong, massively helped by Soviet Union and China's troops) ... guess what... the US refused the NATO to get involved.
They had to fight the war without bombers, as in 1954 they had very few of these kind of planes.
Another nice lesson from a long list for French morons who believe America is a reliable ally, and even a friend of France. For those who should have any doubt, the reading of French-bashing in ZH is instructive enough …
And guess what... who had to fight in Vietnam war after the US sabotaged French effort ?
Besides that, in 1954, when the French were finally defeated in Vietnam, they had 50,000 troops and their biggest planes were Douglas A26 and C47’s, and Vought Corsairs.
When the US was defeated by the same enemy some twenty years later, they had 550,000 troops, B52’s, napalm, missiles, big helicopters, the works …
@Dick Gazinia
In fact this ugly disdain and pitiful jokes come from the firm refusal of the French to join America in Irak, in 2003.
Since France refused to go to Iraq, American warmongers and neo-cons made French army look like cowards – as a punishment.
They don't call Lucas the "Prince of Darkness" for nothin'.
Actually the best cars I've ever owned ( read most reliable / least amount of upkeep ) were Korean.
Every Hyundai I've ever owned ran flawlessly.
Most "fun" car I've ever owned? A 1967 GT Mustang notchback w/ a 351 Cleveland ( 4-barrel head version ) that made roughly 620hp to the wheels and a top-loader 4 speed. Would turn 11's in the 1/4.
Assuming I didn't miss a shift :p
@xtop23
It just happens that Renault-Nissan Group sold 8.1 million cars worldwide in 2012 - behind Toyota, General Motors and Volkswagen for total volume - but more than Ford (5.67 million cars)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renault%E2%80%93Nissan_Alliance
and no mass recalls …
Which of the two designed the powertrain?
Just curious :)
To satisfy your curiosity: Both
Renault engines are not so bad as you think: Renault is regularly champion of Formula 1 for the motors (at the moment with Red Bull)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Drivers%27_Championship
By the way, Renault is also the supplier for a lot of Mercedes motors: 1.5 DCI 90Ch: Class A, B, CLA - 1.5 DCI 109Ch: Class B - 1.6 DCI: Class C
Yes I have, and you are correct they stay in the repair shop more then on the road. I wouldn't expect anything better from their ships. If it doesn't spring leaks and sink on it's own, which I don't give a very high probability of happening, it WILL probably need major repairs every time it sails. Letting NATO buy it out from under them could be a win, win for both Russia and France.
Eliot Engel - "The whine list s'il vous plaît"
Eliot Engel, Victoria Nudelman. I don't think country of lineage is what the undercurrent here is. I think it's more people working for the US government who perhaps have 2 passports.
Funny how people avoid, or skirt around, the obvious some time.
Not strange at all. Ask Helen Thomas. Or Francis Sawyer.
Are there any dual US-Russian elected pols?
a little dated perhaps but worth a read.
http://jhaines6.wordpress.com/2012/11/14/dual-citizens-in-the-112th-cong...
some might say the deck is being stacked against du3l citizens unless, well, you know..
See Ted "the ex-canadian dirtlump" Cruz.
i hope to see the day when people evolve beyond the notion that allegiance ought to be sworn to a "nation", or a flag.
nations are an unfortunate illusion that most of humanity has endured, and they have no substance in reality, they are merely clubs, organized gangs of men with guns, who hold a monopoly on violence in a particular turf. we should recognize these nation-alists as threats to peaceful coexistence, and work to undermine them at every turn, not aid them or make excuses for them.
Hey Phallic!
Mongo can splain it real easy!
https://www.njdc.org/site/page/eliot_engel
Always remember! When somebodys been up to shenanigans one simply should lift the rock to see "whos" lurking underneath!
Hope that helps!
He is another chosen one. No surprise there.
Just Googled him - that's one of the oddest moustaches I've ever seen. (Not that I spend
any time with hipsters or frequent anywhere they might be found.) His moustache is far
too wide for his face.
If I walked past him in the street my only thought would be "nonce". (English slang for a
pedophile.)
this looks like it could be his brother
http://thefabulousbirthdayblog.blogspot.com/2012/08/august-29happy-birth...
Ever see him in "Little Murders?"
eliot was huge in the late 70s.
ye sir rebob packs a lot meat that jewish boy.
thank god he is on team zion americas side.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ehxyt5kNrvo
Why all these articles about Russia on ZH. Has the diminutive Putin and his ilk taken over here. I, like the rest of y'all, despise barry o and his progressive friends who are bringing this country to it's knees. But i'm also an American who loves his country, not the government, but the country. I don't mind others stating their opinion, and in fact thats why i read ZH. But more and more i'm finding comments more mean spirited toward the citizens themselves. Some of the comments are from USA hating European, Russian, or other people from other countries who have axes to grind. Our government is shit and the politicians are traitors, but don't attack most hard working Americans. Yes most have their heads buried and don't want to look up and see what's coming but they are scared and don't know what else to do. But give them time and most will know what has to be done. So to all you American haters i say what merle said , " when they're running down my country man, they're walkin' on the fighting side of me "
The problem IS Americans, NOT politicians. Politicians are just a reflection of what Americans believe and what they're willing to put up with (that is being walked all over).
Also... Hard work doesn't mean shit if you have no morality and aren't willing to take on risk to be free. Slaves are hard working... so are evil people. If we use "hard working" as a substitute for being good and free then we are truly lost. I know that is counter to what country singers have been singing for the past 40 years. Maybe that's why people are so confused.
The problem is, people WANT TO BELIEVE the bullshit peddled to them. Stars and stripes, eagles soaring, flags waving, soldiers saluting, guns firing. The education system has been severely compromised, as has the Mainstream Media (every TV station, every newspaper, all of it owned by about 6 companies), let alone the government.
I know... if the old country singers had sung about drinking less, smoking less, and using spare time to free yourself instead of whoring around at the honky tonk they probably wouldn't have sold anything.
This isn't about Russia. This is about an American politician trying to intervene in affairs between two independent nations that are not America.
Now as to negative comments about the citizens themselves... who elected the above politician?
By definition you have to blame the people of America for what America does, country or government. We have a government of/for/by the people. The people make the choices that the politicians carry out. If it were not so the people would elect new politicians but they do not.
The American people are the problem.
No, the problem is the politicians in Congress are NOT Americans.
AINO
Americans in name only.
"The American people are the problem."
And in denial all the way down.
^ Gaius Frakkin' Baltar is right. Absolutely.
Engel is a foreigner. A foreigner with a hostile, primitive, foreign, ideology that it antithetical to the ideas of the Constitution of the United States.
Folks "select" their 'leaders' from a very limited menu: Republicons or Decepticrats! YOU SHOULD HAVE VOTED FOR KODOS!
The problem is that the sheeple let.things decay to the current state because of their ignorance. They can't be bothered with reading a 1000 page book to understand their own country's history. Some are just trying to survive by working multiple shit jobs. But mostly it is because the sheeple are mesmerized by modern day bread and circus; kardashians, George clooney, world cup, etc. Mousilinni was wrong, sports are the real opiate of the masses. And they believe what the gov. apologist msm feeds them. Knowledge is power. It is important to be as informed as you possible can. The sheeple can't grasp that concept. If the people understood how the system has been deliberately weakened from within for over 150 yes, we would never be in the current situation
As an American, I have no problem bashing my fellow Americans. THEY are the ones who elect the scum, THEY are the ones that support the scum, the Feds, more govvie, etc. etc. and refuse to wake up.
By the time "most" realize what has to be done, it will be too late. It probably already is. I was always a rah, rah, USA USA type myself, til I finally woke up and saw what a shithole this country is, not a shithole it is becoming.
So I'll bash my fellow USAers all I want. They can all go to hell, and I'll make my last stand in Texas.
Yeah buddy . . . . . well said!
Bullshit! Your fellow Americans may believe they elect the scum, but they do not. The most they MIGHT do is select one of two possibilities offered them by the real people that APPOINT the scum.
Even those very limited possibilities are primarily affected by how much is spent on TV ads by their respective supporters that plan on being the REAL beneficiaries of taxpayer largess.
FWIW, I support Texas secession and independence and I don't even live there.
Buy them from whom? Russia has already paid for them. He wants to buy ships from Russia? A truly exceptional country, full of fools.
"It is my understanding that Eliot Engel is a cunt."
You misspelled "Ashkenazi."
Engel is no Ukrainian. He's a member of the tribe all the way. Why are these crazy tribal members always trying to push us toward war? Why do we tolerate this?
Money-changers.
Lots of "money" changes hands during war.
His Wikipedia entry pretty much conveys that message.
he's also a member of the tribe, isn't that a funny coindence.
Elliot Engel is a loon
wow do these Israel-firsters hate Putin or what?
"Elliot Engel is a loon"
Methinks the term you're looking for is....
"CHEESEPOPE"
"this purchase wouldn't leave France holding the bill"
to make the French whole:
$1B to buy the 2 french ships the USMC doesn't need
$1B to compensate the French for breach of contract penalties
$10B to make up for the BNP "misunderstanding"
(and we'll just discount to 0 the fact that NO ONE would trust the French with a contact for warships in the future)
---
Rape the US taxpayer for $12 billion, which more than 1 Gerald Ford class aircraft carrier costs, and doesn't create a single American ship building job.
Or using a slightly more demonstrative methodology: the US would be buying French scrap metal at over 6 TIMES the price per pound of steel that US MIC currently fleeces the sheeple for. Why not just buy 30,000 Gubermint Motors Suburban SUVs at over $400,000 each? At least some US jobs would created or saved...
loon is too kind a characterization for that disingenuous asswipe
He said it was a win-win-win. Why'd you have to go ahead and do the math?
Didn't you hear the one about the 7 year old school kid who asked the British Education Minister "Whats 7 x 8?" And he wouldn't answer!
Urban Redneck, you've forgotten that the ships should be bought from Russia, since they're already paid for.
Some great idea, guaranteed to get Putin rolling on the floor.
Again.
Future options on this class of warship designate that manufacture is under contract and done in Russia.
France will sell anything to anyone. They loved it when the UN had trade sanctions on Iraq.
With respect, but you are presuming that it was ethical and moral for the DC US and ZATO, with the UN's approval, to be conducting an economic war against the people of Iraq.
"These guillotines are made for cutting...and that is just what they'll do..."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbyAZQ45uww&feature=kp
I thought Mistrals were missiles.
http://www.allmilitaryweapons.com/2011/04/mistral-france-surface-to-air-missile.html
I'm cornfused.
The US will print dollars out of air and buy a ship for NATO. This script gets funnier and funnier.
It's both.
Amphibious Assault Ship:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mistral_class_amphibious_assault_ship
Surface-to-Air Missile:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mistral_%28missile%29
Rehypothecated warships....now this is getting good.
Yes we need more large ships with targets painted on the sides.
What a more-roon!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_Kh7nLplWo
With. What. Money? Can't afford to keep people in Detriot with water, but warships are okay? Seriously...someone needs to go readjust his priorities.
The money they are going to print CP...duh
It will all be ok guys we give these ships to Israel for free after we buy them. There you go what a DEAL.
Mastercard?
After Hurricane Arthur I doubt there will be a server available to process the request.
that thing looks ridiculous
It's French built...comes complete with auto-raising white flag
It is really a troop transport, with some helicopters and tanks, and landing craft.
Similar to LPD, but everything is stored inside. Maybe like a LHD without the large flight deck for planes, but for copters.
Aircraft carriers are probably not allowed on the Black Sea.
FREEDOM FRIES! FRANCE SUX! Rah rah rah, etc
Oh yeah, revival of the Freedom Fries for sure!
But nothing can replace French Porn :)
I am not French and don't really care for them that much, however they did successfully defend Paris in 1914.
More importantly, relatively speaking, raising the white-flag seems to be a more honorable behavior than going around bombing and invading other countries, including their schools and wedding parties, like the DC US does.
An American citizen, not DC US subject.
You are totally right kchrisc !
BTW, World War I cost France 1,697,800 dead and 4,266,000 wounded (of whom 1.5 million were permanently maimed) and 537,000 made prisoner or missing - exactly 73% of the 8,410,000 men mobilized (for a total population of 40 million).
This means that 60% of men between the ages of 18 and 28 died or were permanently maimed.
You can have an idea of what these figures woud represent for the present population of the US: 13,412,000 dead and 33,701,400 wounded (of whom 11,850,000 permanently maimed) and 4,242,000 made prisoner or missing. Can you imagine US reaction to casualties on that scale?
And the French DID NOT SURRENDER (All these stupid Jay Leno's style jokes are really not funny) … In fact, these jokes reflect the hate of american warmongers against France. It remains still there, well alive, even in ZH.
They have not forgiven the offence of the firm refusal of the French to join America in Irak, in 2003, and their stale hate still show through "innocent good jokes" about the “surrender monkeys”.
You are totally right kchrisc !
BTW, World War I cost France 1,697,800 dead and 4,266,000 wounded (of whom 1.5 million were permanently maimed) and 537,000 made prisoner or missing - exactly 73% of the 8,410,000 men mobilized (for a total population of 40 million).
This means that 60% of men between the ages of 18 and 28 died or were permanently maimed.
You can have an idea of what these figures woud represent for the present population of the US: 13,412,000 dead and 33,701,400 wounded (of whom 11,850,000 permanently maimed) and 4,242,000 made prisoner or missing. Can you imagine US reaction to casualties on that scale?
And the French DID NOT SURRENDER (All these stupid Jay Leno's style jokes are really not funny) … In fact, these jokes reflect the hate of american warmongers against France. It remains still there, well alive, even in ZH.
They have not forgiven the offence of the firm refusal of the French to join America in Irak, in 2003, and their stale hate still show through "innocent good jokes" about the “surrender monkeys”.
Must have been 3:30 when they were finishing the tip so they just called it "finished" and left.
The other parts are being built elsewhere and being fully assembled there.
Proxy war against Russia is in full swing. This usually reliable Russian site has a picture of the crack US troops sent to Kiev to train the Ukranians.
http://ru.fishki.net/picsw/072008/24/american_army/011_american_army.jpg
that guy with his ass in the air better pray that no one is shooting back.
Looks like he is, if the vapor-trail is any guide.
He better not fart when the gun is fired. The burning powder spewing out he muzzle just may ignite his farts. That would really give away their postion not to mention the propellant effect would drive him into a much tighter man hug.
This was during an Obama viewing of the troops.
They had and kept his attention.
Don't ask, don't tell.
Wouldn't getting a blowjob while firing your rifle be distracting?
Yes but climaxing and pulling the trigger at the same time would be the epitomy of great timing.
So this is why the push for more gays in the military?
They should paint that thing yellow and slap some feathers on it, you know what I mean?
Zing!!!
Looks like the days of the US being the schoolyard bully able to intimidate the other kids into submission are drawing to an end. Everywhere we look these days, someone is giving Obama's foreign policy the finger. When even the French tell him to f*ck off you know the winds of geopolitical change are blowing strong.
I mean, if you can't intimidate the French, the list of countries you can intimidate has got to be pretty short.
Even countries we took over with our military we can't intimidate. Just look at the Afghans.
lunatic desperation...
this country is beyond fucked...
as a side note, and in line with what i said yesterday regarding the only 2 forms of real money...
first it was the slam down on the open in NY...
and then as i said the close in London...
transpose the 3 day charts and what do you see...
perfect alignment....is there any further doubt?
http://www.kitco.com/charts/livesilver.html
no...there is not.
I bet there is a SWAT team in the USA that wants it....lets arm our own first..
Tier 1 Lake Patrol. "Pick up that floating trash Citizen!"
Ask Larry Ellision, he might be interested. It's an awesome yacht and will not attract any pirates. Plus, there should be lots of space for samurai stuff.
That French thing should have two bows, front and back, to retreat faster.
Yes..lots of White Flag storage..
So just to get this straight
Getting yourself killed or maimed for an idea called "my country" is a good thing right ?
FFS
You must have missed the part that it backs up to the beachhead....
Not a very good business model for the French. If they back out of this order then who would want to place another? Russia would then have to turn to the Chinese, who probably already have detailed plans of the French ship.
Moreso given that 50% of these ships were constructed in Sint Petersburg and sailed to France for completion with the other 50% build by the French. These boats are also part Russian.
no matter what happens all governments around the world ALWAYS have money for weapons . just this fact should tell you , nomatter where you from , enough about the nature of governments around the globe regardless of the brand of -isms. education, healthcare , sciense, infustucture , forget it. weapons is what matters. you dont have to be a historian or a deamn chomsky just this one fact should be enough to realise the opressive nature of this world
ROTFLMFAO! Who funds NATO? The U.S. taxpayer. And fucking Detroit needs U.N. money to pay for it's water.
make me some french toast you fuckers
I like this forward and brilliant thinking; What we also need is something like U-nuke - nuclear bomb rental and Ryder ICBMs - rent a missile [$10K a mile]....
That would be an excellent way to get some return on America's nuclear arsenal.
"If we massively outspend them on defense then the cold war will be over."
Where's the peace dividend? Oh, that's right, don't ask.
John Kerry tried to help out with this matter. He told the Russians that he only buys yachts from New Zealand and then "docks" them in Rhode Island to avoid paying taxes in Massachusetts where he has a place in Boston proper and on the Vineyard or is it Nantucket or both.
I regret that I have but one up arrow to give.
You have to give Kerry some credit for refusing to support the fascist state with his own (or his wife's) money.
you have a point, but the thing is, the credit is subsumed by the fact he's all about increasing taxes and deficit spending generally, and he also has an excess of money he did nothing to earn, and he's also fucking the very state that employs him and that he represents [okay formerly] out of taxes...
The wasp side of his family owns a few of those little islands off wood's hole...
very eird - gosnold a town of 52 people and like a dozen islands...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gosnold,_Massachusetts
I think they assembled and brought Kerry to life in a castle on Nashawena Island....
Don't tax me. Don't tax thee. Tax the man behind the tree.
Lets see.
So instead of building more US carriers (which are getting stretched out years anyway), we need to buy other's Navy's ?
I guess we should buy some other military hardware we don't need or use...crazy dudes in Con-gress.
Why can't the US buy US stuff and defend our own borders ?
"So instead of building more US carriers (which are getting stretched out years anyway), we need to buy other's Navy's ?"...
Forget what represents $1.5 billion and growing of a depreciated currency (better value it in rubles) for 55,000 tons of steel...
A truly bigger show of desperation is the very blatant and public deal to block the South Stream through Bulgaria in exchange for its "debt"!!!
How fucking stupid are the Bulgarians ready to make a deal with the U.s. to purchase their debt in exchange for more of Our debt!!!!!
Yes indeed. What a wonderful "circle jerk"specticle it is!
The USA is like the girlfriend that was dumped (ie dollar dumped) and now in a jealous fit of rage seeks to wreck anything and everything.
Hey! Let's cut to the chase and buy the Entire Russian Armed Forces!
Can you say embarrassingly desperate?....
I knew that you could!
Get Bob Barker and Animal Planet to buy that big assed troop carrier. I'd love to see it on "Whale Wars".
We are at the point where Purchasing anything is worth while as long as the USD is accepted by the Selling entity. There is an endless Supply of FIAT USD's and less and less countries willing to accept them, so go ahead and Buy, as long as France or any other accepts
BTW. I read yesterday here the BRICs are ready to fall hard on the USD. I guess if more politricks are played this week, next week might see some major USD shrinkage.
Will become the incredible micro-funded economy.
Haha, the Microdollar, our new currency.
As the grandson of Russians (who were slightly Jewish)(and who had the sense to get the fuck out of Kiev in 1913) it never ceases to amaze me that American Jews particularly the NYC Brand of Jew bend over backwards to support Nazis, I believe that deep down inside they would prefer to wactch their wives and daughters go thru this than align themselves with Christians. https://scontent-b-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/t1.0-9/p526x296/1046260...
And that is exactly what it looks like, a woman in Kiev in 1940 being chased thru the streets by the Maidan fascist kids on her way to be tortured and eventualy killed and dumped in a ditch.
How can you tell from the picture that the woman was "jewish"? I don't see a star of David on her chest. Maybe she was a Gypsy, or someone who voted White Russian or perhaps just someone on "the other side".
Thanks to the NSA protecting us from tearism, we'll all have our loyalties (and virtual stars of David) stored in a giant database in Utah and there won't be any question about why our neighbors (or we) are being tortured and killed in the future.