World War 3, 08/08/08 Is it starting today?

[GodOfRhythm]

You people are fucking SENSATIONALISTS.

Sure, it's frightening to think Putin might want to rebuild some of the former Soviet Empire

but:

1) Nukes being fired around
2) Europe (aka ME, motherfuckers!) being nuked / invaded and destroyed
3) US being invaded?




Not going to happen And if I'm wrong, I'll see you in whatever afterlife there is. I'll be the dude with a beard and a healthy green nuuucuuulllaaaar glow (apparently) .



Neither Russia, China or the US want this to escalate into much more.

And what will save us?

the already (world)widespread CAPITALISM AND GLOBALIZATION


Say what the fuck you want about communism and its strong remnants in China and the hidden red-colored agenda of Russian leaders, but the simple fact of the matter is:

this is BEYOND ideologies now. Commies vs Cappies, NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. Why?


CAPITALISM HAS WON. This means, any 'openly fought' war, without nuclear weapons, would amount to the same thing as if they'd use nuclear weapons. They'd go back to the fucking stone age, because they'd lose all of their MONEY.

It would go like this:

Conflict-->diplomacy-->open war-->nuclear holocaust.

This gets cut off at DIPLOMACY, it won't go a bit further than that. Sure, you'll get some powerflexing, flexing of the muscles, but nothing more.



Do you believe for ONE second that all the highly-corrupt, gigantically rich (through capitalism) politicians and businessmen (LOBBIES) in CHINA and RUSSIA would allow a worldwide conflict to ensue, if that meant the absolute END of their wealth and prosperity? NOT A CHANCE. They want to drive their ferraris, they want their US celebrities, they want their Parisian bohemian commodities. They do NOT want to be cut off, isolated and POOR.

Same thing has been true for the US and Europe for a much longer time. None of them wants war, they want MONEY. Putin might seem dangerous and Soviet with his apparent plans to re-annex Georgia, but in the end, the guys he plays golf with or that hang out with him in his billionaire country club are RICH BUSINESS GUYS that have prospered on corruption since the end of the cold war and the fall of the soviet empire. No way in hell are they going to give that up.


China would be FUCKED OUT OF THEIR TREE if they did ANYTHING close to what was suggested above. Europe and the US are flooded with Chinese products every day, if they lose that, they CRUMBLE. They might have gigantic stockpiles, a HUGE army and whatnot. Simple fact is: everything they've been building up would end to be. Without having fired a single nuke. (not even to mention the two watchdogs INDIA and JAPAN)

[Rsmacker]

You Belgians have more important things to be bothered with, you have your hands full kiddy-fiddling. Don't worry, the BEF will bale you out AGAIN when Fritz the Hun comes a-calling.

A solid gold prediction - future wars WILL be fought over water. It already causes conflict, countries upstream accused of pinching all the water for agriculture and polluting the outflow. One day it will result in some arse-kicking.

I'm buying silver. Then I can make some nice ear-rings. Wibble.

[Endrik]

at least something is being done... many politicians from different countries are going to Georgia to give support... but actually it's more like... hey now we are here... try to attack now Vlad... I hope this helps a bit... Vlad would be fucking insane to attack the cities where the world leaders are in.

[Rsmacker]

Whoops, stray missile, terrible accident, wringing hands, collateral damage etc etc, just like when the Yanks stuck a cruise missile into the Chinese Embassy and flattened the National Broadcaster in Serbia. Oh dear, period of mourning, black armbands, minutes silence etc etc.........

Right, now, where were we? Oh yeah, you naughty Georgians, bend over!!

I think the French foreign minister has an over-inflated opinion of his own importance. I wouldn't want to be anywhere near the place. Not that the Russians would do anything so dastardly as to "accidentally" wipe out some interfering do-gooders from the interfering West. No, no, perish the thought......

[SEEGERMANY]

3) US being invaded?

Uhm, we're being invaded on a daily basis.

[Endrik]

I guess it worked... the battle is over..... for now....

[Ralph E.]

Do you believe for ONE second that all the highly-corrupt, gigantically rich (through capitalism) politicians and businessmen (LOBBIES) in CHINA and RUSSIA would allow a worldwide conflict to ensue, if that meant the absolute END of their wealth and prosperity? NOT A CHANCE. They want to drive their ferraris, they want their US celebrities, they want their Parisian bohemian commodities. They do NOT want to be cut off, isolated and POOR.

Same thing has been true for the US and Europe for a much longer time. None of them wants war, they want MONEY. Putin might seem dangerous and Soviet with his apparent plans to re-annex Georgia, but in the end, the guys he plays golf with or that hang out with him in his billionaire country club are RICH BUSINESS GUYS that have prospered on corruption since the end of the cold war and the fall of the soviet empire. No way in hell are they going to give that up.


China would be FUCKED OUT OF THEIR TREE if they did ANYTHING close to what was suggested above. Europe and the US are flooded with Chinese products every day, if they lose that, they CRUMBLE. They might have gigantic stockpiles, a HUGE army and whatnot. Simple fact is: everything they've been building up would end to be. Without having fired a single nuke. (not even to mention the two watchdogs INDIA and JAPAN)

+1, Brilliant post.

[SEEGERMANY]

+1, Brilliant post.

I'll give it a +1 for common sense. If a world devastating war errupts, it will be over the new Charvel volume knob. Nothing more, nothing less.

[Endrik]

Russia really wants to get rid of Saakashvili.... Putin hates him

Georgia has been doing pretty well lately... the economy is growing and people have better life even if Russia has blockaded their economy, sent spies, jets and bombs over there etc. over the last couple of years. They hate that Georgia is doing well without them.
I remember that last year Toomas Hendrik Ilves said to G.W.Bush that something needs to be done about the Georgia situation... I guess now everyone sees how bad it is.

[shreddermon]

GOR - you're making the assumption that money (...capitalism, whatever you want to call it) trumps everything else. While money trumps many things, there is one thing that surely trumps money: POWER. And, by "power", I mean the ability to rule over other people at will, by sheer force. That is especially dangerous when there is a "cult of personality" behind a leader who doesn't think twice about weilding such power with little regard for others.

Capitalism ruled the day before WWII, too. Lots of wealthy, rich folks making lots of money before war broke out and spread to engulf the whole world. Wealth brings influence - and a lot of it. But nothing trumps power. And, when war starts, the wealthy often just find other ways to make money during conflict. If you're smart enough, war brings opportunity, too. Don't assume that the wealthy and powerful can't get MORE wealthy and powerful during war.

[442w30]

I generally agree with GOR on this.

Here is a very informed, pointed, and honest writeup to get you up to speed on the history of the conflict - USA/bill Hicks style.

http://exiledonline.com/war-nerd-south-ossetia-the-war-of-my-dreams/

It does play down the seriousness of the things going n - but it seems utterly truthful.
Dark humor, but unfortunately dead on.

[GodOfRhythm]

"Power", yeah sure, I don't believe that. The sovjet empire is gone. They still have POWER, they simply wanted to show that-->

All this was, was the result of Russia being marginalized over the past 20 years. They wanted to affirm themselves as a major player in world politics and re-establish a measure of importance on the world theater. Also, to stop Georgia and Ukraine to join up with the West and seeking further relations with NATO, as that would leave Russia completely surrounded.

As is usually the case in world-politics, a poor(figuratively), little country was used as the stage and scapegoat, in this case: Georgia.

If you follow through that reasoning, it leads to the exact opposite of an outcome like World War III, eventhough relations between the West and Russia have been 'hurt'.

The funny thing is, Russia (as the Kremlin is known for) went too far and used a MILITARY action. That is a great fallacy, military power is only an extremely small portion of 21st century world powers' arsenal/influence. Like I said: MONEY. 'Money' has become a totally globalized phenomenon.

Sure, you got dudes like our little North Korean friend who still enjoy their fine cigars, whiskeys and top of the line ferraris and bentleys, which is the exact reason why he would never dare start anything resembling a war of global importance.

THE EXACT SAME THING AS IS HAPPENING HERE (with parameters changed proportionally): North Korea tests some missiles, causes a little stir worldwide, gets some media coverage, they reaffirmed themselves with a minimal measure of importance, they flexed their muscles. Now he's back to driving his bentleys and enjoying his concubines every night for a couple of years.

What Russia did with its military boasting reeks of the 19th century imperialistic nations and empires and is doomed to failure in the long run. For the time being, though, they accomplished what they set out for: reaffirm themselves as major players in the global theater and seeking a bigger role of involvement in global relations/decisions (using for this purpose: the Ossetia/Georgia thing, as a cover/scapegoat).

[shreddermon]

I agree with absolutely everything that you said above to the current situation. It's dead on.

I'm just pointing out (in general) that the modern dominance of capitalism, at least as a driving "force" for maintaining peace, should not be overestimated. In some peoples' eyes, wealth is less significant than power. And, if you you get that strange, dangerous combination of a strong "popular" leader, backed by a strong military force, and a willpower to exert it for personal or nationalistic gains, that's a strong receipe for war soup that would/could overcome the "peaceful influence" of any wealthy capitalists.

[Bengal]

Fuck it. Let Europe fall. They are all the way on the other side of the ocean, who gives a fuck?

HA! Kidding.

But sometimes it's nice not to have people like Putin a few thousand miles from you with roads that connect your countries.

[GodOfRhythm]

Fuck it. Let Europe fall. They are all the way on the other side of the ocean, who gives a fuck?

HA! Kidding.

But sometimes it's nice not to have people like Putin a few thousand miles from you with roads that connect your countries.

Just gives me another excuse to drink and party all I can!

Obsolete as it may seem, Nato still exists. He wouldn't dare touch 'real' Europe with a ten-foot pole. Not in the least because modern Russia lacks all of the strength the post-WW II Sovjet Empire had.