Gentlemen, choose sides...

Russia has violated arms treaty by testing cruise missile: US

Oh well...

"Russia violates arms treaty" when has this ever been news?

Well, if comic books have taught me anything, this matter can only be resolved by having a giant squid monster teleported into Times Square.

Someone has to stop Russia and its army, it'll just cost more lives than a desert war against factions. I've been waiting for America to get involved, no one likes war except for an economy, but sometimes, you gotta get shit done.

well given Russia's track record when it comes to this, I'm not surprised in the slightest. This is only gonna end with nobody winning and a lot of people dying, only for later to politicians to agree to a compromise, patting themselves on the back for a "job well done" .... and eventually we will be back to square one. lather, rinse, repeat.

geekmarine said:

Well, if comic books have taught me anything, this matter can only be resolved by having a giant squid monster teleported into Times Square.

why a gaint squid, why not something cooler like a giant kaiju monster or something?

geo said:

Someone has to stop Russia and its army, it'll just cost more lives than a desert war against factions. I've been waiting for America to get involved, no one likes war except for an economy, but sometimes, you gotta get shit done.

You first. We'll be right behind you.

@Ed
"we"
lol, who is this we? Due to medical reasons, I won't be joining you if a hypothetical war were to break out.

Hor hor hor, it's good to be bad.

geekmarine said:

Well, if comic books have taught me anything, this matter can only be resolved by having a giant squid monster teleported into Times Square.

Obama's not walking around with his wang out, transforming molecules, so that one's doubtful. But fear not, after the super-powers bomb each other to hell, Batman will lead the survivors to glory. On horseback.

I don't see how anyone gets away with complaining about it. Their missile seems to have similar capabilities to everyone else's cruise missiles.

geekmarine said:

Well, if comic books have taught me anything, this matter can only be resolved by having a giant squid monster teleported into Times Square.

Yes, but preferably not during a concert.

Aliotroph? said:

I don't see how anyone gets away with complaining about it. Their missile seems to have similar capabilities to everyone else's cruise missiles.

North Korea pulls this shit all the time and Putin isn't a percent as out of touch with reality as the Kim family.

Is this a nuclear missile? Can't people see that nuclear war is a terrible business decision? It'd be much smarter to develop a virus that only attacks people of a certain genetic code (I say that like it's easy, but I'm positive this has been worked on). That way, you still have the bulidings/weapons/resources after you destroy the population.

Seriously though, I think Putin just needs a hug or something.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutron_bomb

Clonehunter said:

Yes, but preferably not during a concert.

Especially during concerts, a monster attack's fairly tame without mass hysteria and people being trampled under foot by panic stricken mobs.

Doomkid said:

Is this a nuclear missile?

They're probably nuclear capable, otherwise there's little point protesting.

Ed said:

You first. We'll be right behind you.

Oddly enough I'm already battling Russians. Part of my job is hunting down credit card frauds. 75% of which are in Russia. 20% are in Brazil. I've uncovered a lot of other crimes in Russia through investigating and following trails. Mostly for the laughs because even if its part of my job... its not part of Russian police's job to do shit about it. So get behind me.

I'm on the side with the guns.

I'm more worried about the US unleashing an army of Ultrons.

Ed said:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutron_bomb

Yep, I thought so.

GreyGhost said:

They're probably nuclear capable, otherwise there's little point protesting.

I was basically asking if it was a neutron bomb without knowing the actual word for it. (I figured it was a nuclear weapon, though.)

How do you all think this is going to end up? Let's hear some speculation, people. I'm curious because I honestly can't guess - it could go any way at this point, from what I know.

Well, I don't know if it's a neutron bomb or not. I'm sure if the Russians were to strike on American soil, maintaining the real-estate wouldn't be at the top of their list of priorities.

geo said:

Oddly enough I'm already battling Russians. Part of my job is hunting down credit card frauds. 75% of which are in Russia. 20% are in Brazil. I've uncovered a lot of other crimes in Russia through investigating and following trails. Mostly for the laughs because even if its part of my job... its not part of Russian police's job to do shit about it. So get behind me.

I'm on the side with the guns.

Stopping credit card fraud is a far cry from laying in an irradiated trench with 7.62 rounds zipping over your head. I'm on the side of peacefully sun-bathing and eating wild grapes like those albino kids from The Time Machine. Not needlessly sacrificing the one glimpse of existence I have for the sake of a designated patch of dirt with arbitrary borders and a cloth banner.

Wow, how did the neutron bomb turn up and furthermore, associated with the Russians? I thought that only dirty, greedy capitalists were supposed to use it anyway, as its theoretical "landlord bomb" effect would be just what the decadent, corrupt, degenerate bourgeois expansionist imperialists were after: weed out the people, but leave the Sacred Property intact. Ideal for anti-right propaganda purposes ;-)

Ed said:

Well, I don't know if it's a neutron bomb or not. I'm sure if the Russians were to strike on American soil, maintaining the real-estate wouldn't be at the top of their list of priorities.



Stopping credit card fraud is a far cry from laying in an irradiated trench with 7.62 rounds zipping over your head. I'm on the side of peacefully sun-bathing and eating wild grapes like those albino kids from The Time Machine. Not needlessly sacrificing the one glimpse of existence I have for the sake of a designated patch of dirt with arbitrary borders and a cloth banner.

Too true.

Maes said:

Wow, how did the neutron bomb turn up and furthermore, associated with the Russians? I thought that only dirty, greedy capitalists were supposed to use it anyway, as its theoretical "landlord bomb" effect would be just what the decadent, corrupt, degenerate bourgeois expansionist imperialists were after: weed out the people, but leave the Sacred Property intact.

Hey! Aren't we, Russians, supposed to be stereotypic villains? Sniff. :(

Da Werecat said:

Hey! Aren't we, Russians, supposed to be stereotypic villains? Sniff. :(

In case you missed it, this is exactly what the entire world (well, basically, the USA and its lackeys...) is dead-set on "proving" right now, you dirty, evil "Ivans". It's just that the since the Cold War is over, just calling you "commies" or "evil Reds" and plastering walls with posters of an angry mustached Cossack with a fur cap won't cut it anymore, so they have to resort to Balkanization/Yugoslavian-type conflict tactics.

Edit: or is it still enough? Hmm...

Heh, after doing a little research, it seems neutron bombs aren't nearly as neat and clean as I had once been led to believe. You're still dropping a nuclear bomb on a target, with all the devastation that entails, it's just the ratio of explosion to radiation is different. In other words, you're still blowing a hole in the middle of a major city, it's just the hole is slightly smaller and the number of victims of radiation poisoning is slightly larger. Well, that's kind of a letdown.

Oh well, I'm still going with my mutant squid plan. Actually, if I were really smart, I would've already done it 30 minutes ago. Crap.

Doomkid said:

How do you all think this is going to end up? Let's hear some speculation, people. I'm curious because I honestly can't guess - it could go any way at this point, from what I know.

Probably little different to Germany's re-armament between the world wars, if hectoring and sanctions don't work I expect there'll be an arms race and a return to the status quo of some 30 years ago.

reality 2.0 said:

why a gaint squid, why not something cooler like a giant kaiju monster or something?

Pacific Rim didn't teach you that lesson?

Ed said:

I'm sure if the Russians were to strike on American soil,

I'm living much closer to Russia and we are much worse defended, and you are worried about American soil? Heh.

geekmarine said:

Heh, after doing a little research, it seems neutron bombs aren't nearly as neat and clean as I had once been led to believe.
[...]
Well, that's kind of a letdown.

The Neutron bomb does not fufill my greedy capitalist desires! My dreams of one day owning a nation's freshly cleared out real-estate are ruined.. :(

GreyGhost said:

Probably little different to Germany's re-armament between the world wars, if hectoring and sanctions don't work I expect there'll be an arms race and a return to the status quo of some 30 years ago.

Does this more or less mean we're likely to see WWIII break out some time soon? I'm getting the feeling that hectoring isn't going to work on part of the US, though of course I'm hopeful..

Doomkid said:

The Neutron bomb does not fufill my greedy capitalist desires! My dreams of one day owning a nation's freshly cleared out real-estate are ruined.. :(

You could always try chemical and biological weapons...assuming that they are fast-acting, almost 100% deadly and you have a cure or immunity for yourself, that's the closest as one can get to a "landlord bomb" today.

Doomkid said:

Does this more or less mean we're likely to see WWIII break out some time soon? I'm getting the feeling that hectoring isn't going to work on part of the US, though of course I'm hopeful..

WW III is already ongoing, but you'd be wrong to expect WW I and WW II style total war with mass mobilization, superpowers clashing directly, epic speeches, personality cults, great leaders, large conscript armies, ideological clashes etc.

You'll just see an increase in the current trend of small, dirty wars, guerilla warfare, even more proxy wars, sanctions, lawfare, asymmetric warfare, unilateral actions, unclear affiliations and motivations, murky legalities, informational/mediatic poisoning, terrorism, insurgencies etc., which can be protracted for decades.

The Web may currently be just "Web 2.0", but warfare is already Warfare 4.0.

Fourth generation warfare is defined as conflicts which involve the following elements:

• Are complex and long term
  
• Terrorism (tactic)
  
• A non-national or transnational base –highly decentralized
  
• A direct attack on the enemy's culture, including genocidal acts against civilians.
  
• Highly sophisticated psychological warfare, especially through media manipulation and lawfare
  
• All available pressures are used – political, economic, social and military
  
• Occurs in low intensity conflict, involving actors from all networks
  
• Non-combatants are tactical dilemmas
  
• Lack of hierarchy
  
• Small in size, spread out network of communication and financial support
  
• Use of insurgency and guerrilla tactics
  

Nice tacticool buzzwords, Maes, but wouldn't that rather be the Cold War II? Superpowers testing each others' might by proxy in local conflicts does not a WW III make and open conflict isn't probable, yet.