Vladimir Putin: 'I Can Take Kiev In Two Weeks If I Want'

[Deleted]

If he put the collective power of the Russian army to bear on Ukraine, yes he most likely could. Saying it openly then blaming everyone else the conflicts and problems is mindblowingly stupid.

Having a huge ego is usually stupid.

[Wildtree]

As stated, he isn't intending to start anything, he was simply annoyed by a question of "Why are you fighting in Ukraine?"

That would be like someone asking Obama "Why are you fighting in Syria" every day for 6 months. Eventually, he'd snap and say the same thing.

Anyone would.

You making way too much sense, and that doesn't fit the purpose of this thread now.

[Arlon]

Im slightly annoyed at the medias portrayal of Putin. Hes not a boogeyman, despite being the spokesperson of Russia and having vast power, most of the Duma and government officials are behind him voluntarily. Hell, even ordinary citizens approve.(To be fair though, they have been drinking kool-aid for a while now.)

[Noomz]

Last I've checked, your country is very well respected for it's rather neutral and humanitarian/social stance. Since when should this suddenly be negative?

Pro Tip..... There are other countries that let anyone from a Western country happily join their military and get some combat actions lickedy split...
If you're eager to fight... start here : http://todaysmilitary.com/

Since Russia doesn't give a damn. Since we still cooperate with the UN and NATO. Since we're already part of international peacekeeping forces all over the world.
Our neutrality is a lie.

[Ghostpanther]

US has more defense against nukes than Russia. ICBMS are risky to send because they get intercepted in flight, only way to deliver is with stealth bombers and knowledge of radar emplacements.

They would still have some strike back capability and is it worth going nuclear over some non NATO nation in Europe? We take the risk of having a major city hit with a nuclear attack, which could kill millions in seconds. Over a nation which has close ties with Russia and use to be part of them? Would be totally dumb.:P

[lizon]

Thats pretty much impossible due to how they operate, you may get lucky and shoot it down as it is launching but that means having aircraft inside Russian airspace and within range of the Silo's.

That's not how you hit them. You hit them on their way down when they are on a free gravity trajectory and less maneuverable. Not when they are going up. We have a system that we designed with Israel that is similar to the Iron Dome system but was made for ICBM's. Originally it was designed to fight against Iran but it's been modified and tested by the DoD for long range ballistic targets. The last 6 tests have been successful.

[Noomz]

Im slightly annoyed at the medias portrayal of Putin. Hes not a boogeyman, despite being the spokesperson of Russia and having vast power, most of the Duma and government officials are behind him voluntarily. Hell, even ordinary citizens approve.(To be fair though, they have been drinking kool-aid for a while now.)

They "approve" because they have no other choice. They literally have no other choice. And anyone challenging the regime gets completely shut down.

[Ferg]

No, Obama would say "Why am I stil fighting in Syria? Because the american people and the world demand that I follow some rules of engagement and because I have to work with what the Congress allows me. If it was up to me, I would end Syria in one week tops."

Is it a bad thing that Mr. Putin is so secure in faith in his military?

Is it truly a bad thing that he knows what they're capable of? No? Then what's the big deal?

The United States could take over the entire world if we wanted to. Everyone knows that. Someone coming out and saying it doesn't make any difference.

[Xires]

You bitch so much about Russia, without questioning your own countries. What happened to the black box of the Malaysian Airlines plane? Where are the other 200 of the 300 corpses from the same flight? Franch and Itality are still trading with Russia, despite of the EU sanctions. In a few months, Franch will deliver the first of two helicopter carrier and Italy will get their pipeline. Meanwhile 60.000 tons of food are rotting weekly, cause of 1 russian sanction against the EU.

France. Italy. What does the Malaysian airlines have to do with any of this?

60,000. Who cares about the food? We all can adapt to the change. Russia gets 40% of its food through trade. Enjoy being starving I guess.

[Wildtree]

California is the 8th largest GDP in the world by itself. Combined with its population and the advantage of US military technology, absolutely they could flatten Russia. We couldn't occupy it like Iraq, but California would be more than capable of flattening Russia by itself thanks to the advanced US weaponry which makes the Russians military weapons look archaic and dinosauric.

California has no military....
Last I've checked the military belongs to the USA, and not to any of the states. The US military is federally controlled. In any event of need, the states request the support of the National Guard, that's about it.

[justandulas]

Thats pretty much impossible due to how they operate, you may get lucky and shoot it down as it is launching but that means having aircraft inside Russian airspace and within range of the Silo's.

I don't want to alarm you, but we've been able to shoot down icbm's mid flight since the 80's. See Reagan's Star Wars plans. Why do you think we have so much oceanic superiority? One of their jobs is to target and bring down potential icbm's and they can do that with everything from kinetic forces, to explosives in air, to new age lasers that fry the missile in a matter of seconds.

As a liberal, I don't like that my military dumps a trillion into defense every year while the rest of America crumbles, but the one thing we are is prepared for a conventional war.

[Kalis]

California is the 8th largest GDP in the world by itself. Combined with its population and the advantage of US military technology, absolutely they could flatten Russia. We couldn't occupy it like Iraq, but California would be more than capable of flattening Russia by itself thanks to the advanced US weaponry which makes the Russians military weapons look archaic and dinosauric.

California has about one quarter the population of Russia, and how much of US military is stationed there that they could take out Russia by themselves?

You're going to need to backup your claims, or we'll put it down to idle boasting.

[justandulas]

California has no military....
Last I've checked the military belongs to the USA, and not to any of the states. The US military is federally controlled. In any event of need, the states request the support of the National Guard, that's about it.

That wasn't my point. My point was that Russia isn't as big or as bad as they think they are. I believe if push came to shove and California had the advantage of US weaponry, that the state of California alone could flatten Russia

[Jackmoves]

Feels like he want countries to join NATO. Sweden is considering it, for example. Our military is almost non-existent because of peace loving hippies living in their own little flowery world.

Hey at least they have fun ;P

Sweden is not in NATO? Hmm...how is your russian minority, they may need saving.

Neither is Finland, Finland is the meat wall. A russian invasion of Sweden could only happen by sea or air. Damn you Frenchies for selling them those Mistrals. lol

Sweden and Finland are negotiating for a host member status as we speak though. I believe both countries are part of the Partnership for Peace (PfP) programme, Sweden is for certain, it's one of the more active nations on that account, the armed forces got representatives at the International Special Forces Command/Center in Tampa(I believe Sweden and Australia are the only none NATO countries) etc as well.

[justandulas]

California has about quarter the population and Russia, and how much of US military is stationed there that they could take out Russia by themselves?

You're going to need to backup your claims, or we'll put it down to idle boasting.

I did say with the advantage of US weaponry. Our weaponry is nearly 20 yeArs ahead of the next best country according to the UN. I feel bad for the country that tries to go conventional war with the US. We have this bloated military that's been aching for a conventional war for 60 years now.

[Wildtree]

Since Russia doesn't give a damn. Since we still cooperate with the UN and NATO. Since we're already part of international peacekeeping forces all over the world.
Our neutrality is a lie.

I don't agree with this conclusion...
Switzerland is neutral, Austria is neutral. Yet they still too interact with others like the UN.
It's actually the classic case of UN peace corps to have them formed by neutral forces, to eliminate the suspicion of a biased agenda.

[Ghostpanther]

California is the 8th largest GDP in the world by itself. Combined with its population and the advantage of US military technology, absolutely they could flatten Russia. We couldn't occupy it like Iraq, but California would be more than capable of flattening Russia by itself thanks to the advanced US weaponry which makes the Russians military weapons look archaic and dinosauric.

Ever heard of nuclear subs? Russia has those too.:P No sane person would even contemplate a nuclear strike at a nation with the capability of strike back with nuclear weapons. Even sub par North Korea would be a huge mistake to attack them. There would always be a chance they could get one nuclear strike back and we are not talking about a A bomb used in WW2 on Japan. That would like comparing a firecracker with a stick of dynamite. :P

[Kalis]

I did say with the advantage of US weaponry. Our weaponry is nearly 20 yeArs ahead of the next best country according to the UN. I feel bad for the country that tries to go conventional war with the US. We have this bloated military that's been aching for a conventional war for 60 years now.

That would be the US then, and not California, just launching the attack from California...so it was an idle boast. Thanks for clearing that up.

[Arlon]

They "approve" because they have no other choice. They literally have no other choice. And anyone challenging the regime gets completely shut down.

That's true for the average citizen, but it's a whole different story for the government itself. You don't delegate the control of the whole country if there are no people that are in agreement with you. Otherwise there would be a coup.

[Wildtree]

That wasn't my point. My point was that Russia isn't as big or as bad as they think they are. I believe if push came to shove and California had the advantage of US weaponry, that the state of California alone could flatten Russia

And that's where you miserably fail...
Firstly you compare apples with oranges...
Secondly you lack any concept of a military conflict...
Third, you appear to have another lack in regards of geography....
Fourth. your nationalism is extremely unhealthy...