All these issues involving threats of war, hate, fear, envy, etc would be easily solved by electing women to hold positions of power. I can guarantee that money would not be spent in war races, but instead into areas that address humanity and improving quality of life issues. If the "Big 8" where all led by women, all of these concerns would be resolved over a couple weekends of mountain retreats and day spa vacations.

Yeah, you guys may think it's silly and retarded, but we women know the truth. ;)

Putin is a dying breed from the old school of Communism. Gorbachev would've understood this easily.

www.hardcorepolitics.com

"I mean, look at Roosevelt (sp.) during WWII. He was elected three times, breaking U.S. law."

The law limiting a US President to two terms was passed after Roosevelt's tenure to prevent another President from so dominating our politics. There was nothing illegal about Roosevelt's multiple re-elections.

PS ,Maybe It's time we all start working together! Because Global waring is a FACT HEAR ME A FACT! and my point is It does not matter who has all the big GUNS! We will not have a home down the road as we know it now!

why bother defending the Euros with a missile shield anyway? as pacifists, they have no concerns for themselves. then again, if we all should get serious about Iran as a threat, then the russians should be feeling the same threat shouldn't they? So why don't we offer them the same deal as we offered the Czechs and Poles? Putin should jump at the chance.

I agree with Jack from Scottsdale! With the Imperialistic way the US is acting in its uncontrolled and unprovoked attacks on other nations, the Russians have EVERY right to complain about now having such an aggressive nation have first strike abilities without the fear of reprizal. The US is the world's freek'en bully... A tyranny all its own. Just ask the Iraqis...

Also, being very concerned about nuclear war and nuclear winter from my days watching Carl Sagan's Cosmos series over and over, I began to study the effects of nuclear war and was surprised that it is quite survivable - even without the proverbial bunker. Even as powerful as a modern MIRV warhead is (150-300kt vs 15-20kt for the WWII bombs) their devastating effect is limited to within just three to five miles of the blast. From two books on the subject, radiation levels from the direct blast taper off to a mere few rads (not even enough to make you sick after only a three miles. Wind speeds are down to a mere hurricane over similar distances and the heat tapers off after about five miles to second degree burns on completely exposed skin. Even if the US and former Soviet Union where to take all of there weapons and target an area the size of Texas only, there would still be pockets of survivable areas within it. The effects of the blast that travel the furthest is the fallout but that too is much more limited than people think. It only goes in the direction of the wind (not in all directions) and from what I read will only kill you if you are foolish enough to remain where the ash is falling unprotected for a few days. There are also strategic reasons why all such weapons would never be used as they are merely to back each other up incase of a first strike and many are tactical weapons that would never be used if that type of war is bypassed by a strategic one.

All that being said, what worries me more than the scare of "nuclear" weapons and all of the hype surrounding their use is how vulnerable the world's economies are to even just the loss of five to ten of the world's largest cities. Whether it is through a limited nuclear war, a terrorist dirty bomb, Mother Nature, or the bird flu, society just is too interdependent to be stable. Look at how much the JFK airport plot was supposed to have devastated the economy and then think of what the loss of all of NYC, LA, and Houston might be like. Thus, both the Russians and the US know full well that they only need to use a handful of such weapons to totally debilitate the other.

Fortunately, the counter measure to ALL of this and even things like is a little forgotten something known as EFFICIENCY and local SELF-SUFFICIENCY. No matter which type of disaster you list, both of these factors become the critical elements in how far society can go after something bad happens.

BOO! There. Are you scared now?
Good. There's a $100 trillion dollar missle defense system available. (Psst.. It's made in China, and can be drop shipped anywhere from any toy store.)
Ain't capitalism great?
Want health care? Education? Clean environment? Sorry sucker, no money left in the treasury for that! Coming soon from global corporate conglomerations near you, more Cold War, and more limited government.

I don't blame Putin for making such statements and actions. Perhaps Bush has to go back to the American History Textbooks. Perhaps bush do some reading on how our fore-fathers led this country. Or maybe someone needs to define the term neutrality to Bush. First you go to Irag cause ""Saddam has weapons of mass destruction." Now you Jesus, savior of mankind looking to "stop a possible Iranian missile from hitting Europe." I just wish could be impeached. Maybe he is the real Saddam. He has sent our families abroad to get killed and he looks to send more. If anything he should be hanged. This is coming from a 10th grader, a citizen and nationality of the United States who knows his history and keeps on learning.

It's very logical to respond as Putin did,Unfortunately the current US Republican controlled government messed up for a long time,and the President Bush & his cronies lost any credence with this world's intelligentsia,They invented a lousy exuse to illegally invade a weak country like Iraq,and in the process msade it much worse,We lost a lot of money as well as lives there for no reason at all.What about Bin Laden?!,is he been 'forgiven'?,it's appeared more like forgotten.currently Bush isn't much better then Putin,He hsas blood on his hands!,aand so are the Republicans that put him in office,Russia'll improve militarily,and they've a mutual defence compact with the Chinese giant,and both of these countries oppose to the bully US adventures and as a result are dedicated to 'flex their muscles',and that'll most likely won't help the US global domineering ambition,as it's stands now,the US can't even push sanctions against Iran,so the wise thing to do is the be aligned to gether with Russia,and China,and kick the liers out of the government,and to held them responsible for all the wrongs they done,not only to other countries,but their own Citizens,who pay both in money & lives for no more then 'showing off'.U.S. should have long ago been wise to learn from their mistake in VietNam (apparently it's happening again in Iraq),should the situation 'll continue to deteriorate it's very possible that both Iran,Russia,and even China,may decide to help the Iraqis,who knows?!.

There is no other choice but to confront the new energy bully in the world- Russia. The 'new' Russia wants everyone to believe that they are allies in a free world; yet their behavior over the past few years has been to promote nuclear technology with terrorist-linked states, and to shut off vital energy when a state doesn't follow Russian wishes. This new Russian regime is like its predecessor wanting to dominate; the only difference: they have learned to use energy and politics more effectively. It's time to force their hand and see where they fall, for if we wait to find out later they could inflict much more pain to Europe and America.

Hey look folks, if you think the US and Russia will fire nukes on each other, think again. Say you have a shotgun aimed at me; and me likewise, have one aimed at you. Knowing that even if you shot first, I would still be able to fire at you after being hit....why would you fire? Your a** is going to be just as dead shortly afterwards. Nuff said. Honestly, I know nukes are the ultimate demolition scare but I think they also put enough fear in both sides so as to just be expensive deterent devices. Nothing more. Neither side has the balls to fire first. The Cuban Missile Crisis proved it. Then, we had far more nukes than the Soviets, but did not use advantage and take them out first, with little response - albeit a very bad little response. Now they have almost, if not as many nukes. The Russians may not live and party as good & hard as USA, but clearly both Nations want to still be here to be livin la vida loca. I am a Vet and is taking this somewhat lightly. If I'm wrong, no one will be here to tell me I was wrong. GO NAVY!!

Putin is doing nothing wrong by any means. He's looking out for his countries safety and well being. I don't really agree with him fully on the whole "let's extend the years per term, but limit the number of terms." It seems it would just be more sensible for him to say "Let's do three terms and keep them at 4 years each." That way, the citizens have more say in if they want the president in office.
I mean, look at Roosevelt (sp.) during WWII. He was elected three times, breaking U.S. law. And Putin has yet to do something bad for Russia, so, why not?

Anywho, i'm getting off topic again.

Right now, America wants more control of Europe and the surrounding area. So why not place missle bases in nuetral countries? It's a smart thing, and then using the excuse of "Iran is going to kill us all" also works right now, but, it wouldn't work if the world was just sensible.
So now Putin is worried about America attacking him. So its only natural to buff himself and his country up by saying that he's going to aim his missles at Europe.

That's just what I think though, feel free to argue the point with me or something.

prayers is the key to all unwanted nuclear warheads going on in this world.why are we fighting ourselves?

Thank you Mr. Windrem for reminding us of the numbers. The Russians still have a nuclear warhead that can be delivered for every fatality we've suffered in this Iraq confrontation. Unless they learn in Russia to love free enterprise and some form of democracy, all will revert back to suspicion and mistrust. I wish that Adlai Stevenson was still alive to work effectively on this issue!

What about those suitcases containing small nukes, that are supposedly floating around Russia and other nations that had been part of the Soviet Union?

Having served on a "Boomer" Sub, in the Navy; I would like to bring attention here, to a problem people are likely not aware of. Over the last 15 years, while Russia has been improving the versatility & accuracy of its "Nuclear Triad", we have been letting ours degrade - BADLY ! We have 'mothballed' our only Peacekeeper missile wing & are converting our VERY old Minuteman wings to single warhead, vice MIRV - capable launchers. The Russians are obviously deploying new missiles, that are MIRV capable & much more accurate than their predecessors. The Russians never had a large Bomber fleet, but; now - neither do we ! Our B - 52's are incapable of engaging any 'modern' air defense grid & our B - 1's are no longer Nuclear "Combat - coded". All we now have are the 21 B - 2's ( Which are NOT as 'stealthy' as people think ! ). Many of them are now being used by the Central Command, for conventional bombing; w/ the rest sitting @ one base ( Whiteman AFB, Missouri. ), where they can be easily targeted. We do have 14 Missile Submarines left, but; they are deployed to only 2 targetable bases ( One on each coast. ), where the Russians can concentrate what attack Submarines they have left ( Which also carry land - attack Cruise Missiles ! ). We ASSUMED the 'Cold War' was over 'for good' & thought we could let our "Triad" fall apart !

Inspecting cargo makes a lot of sense, but the business community does not like it as it would slow things down and hurt profits (the only thing that really matters in this country).

A missile defense shield is a huge and expensive boondoggle, easily circumvented or foiled, that scores of military contractors will reap enormous profits from. So of course it will be built.

Since the Bushies flushed the ABM treaty down the drain and now wants to push Russia further into a corner, who can blame them for deploying more missiles?

I can't help but wonder if this is Putin and his administration "having a temper tantrum" to make world headlines...are they similar to the French in that they suffer from an inferiority complex (thus, the "need" to flex their jaw muscles) ? Not that I think the French are inferior people.
Seems to me that we will all be better off when BOTH Putin + Bush are out of office - the days aren't ticking by fast enough.

As frightening as the Cold War was, the new reality is even scarier. I'm sure the US govt longs for the days when the world was neatly divided in two and the two superpowers kept everything under control. Much as Putin and Bush might like to recreate that reality, I don't see it happening. Feels like desperate bluster to me.

You are an idiot if you trust the russians.
These other countries all want the U.S. to look bad.

I thought the Cold War was supposed to be over.

At the time of the "break-up" the USA offered to buy all of the former USSR's nuclear arsenal. Just imagine where we would be had they said OK. My guess is that there would be abou 500 US bases in Russia, all their Oil in the hands of the "Texas-Mafia" and several thousand Peace Corp volunteers teaching them "democracy". In addition I am of the opinion that this adminsitration is creating this "crisis" in order to hide the failures of the war.

It seems to me like the missile shield is a red herring in terms of our defenses. I am much more concerned about bombs coming into the country with much less sophisticated technology (like on a boat or a truck).