They have been accused of meddling in our elections here in the U.S., they spiel propaganda to their own people and now they talk about pulling personnel back from the U.S., and then there are the bunker drills back in the homeland.
Do they know something we don’t? All in a day’s work for Russia right, or is it just more propaganda.
Russia launches civil defense drills amid tensions with the US. The Russian Emergencies Ministry has launched a sweeping nationwide civil defense drill set to involve 40 million people. (Associated Press, 2016).
The U.S. has doubled airstrikes against ISIS in Libya in less than a month, and Russia doesn’t like it one bit because it hampers Russia’s long-term plans of essentially running the country. They need the warm water seaports and the land mass so they can stage their weapon systems, and hold the Sword of Damascus over the entire regions head, and oh, by the way, control the oil and gas.
It is all about power, money, and pride and keeping the folks back in Russia yelling for nationalism. Saber rattling is like the flicking tail of a rattlesnake, keep doing what you are doing the United States and you will get bitten. That’s the message they want to convey, but is anyone listening, and can those in charge deal with the looming threat because let’s face it, how do you really prepare for the nearly complete annihilation of major cities using nuclear weapons.
By announcing the so-called bunker drills that involve over 40 million people, Russia is sending a message. They, like most of us know that if they strike the U.S. with a nuclear weapon we will reciprocate in kind, or so we the average American citizen hopes anyway.
Russia is telling us they are ready for a counter strike, which means, of course, they plan to strike first. The message is that their citizens will be hunkered safe in their bunkers, while we here rush out to get our lattes and the latest Apple product all the while oblivious to the fire about to rain down upon us.
Russia never got over losing the cold war, and their civil defense ministry has been full steam ahead for decades. Russia prepares for the worst and is ready to deliver and accept the worst. They never hope for the best because in their minds’ that’s a defeatist attitude, so they have never stopped conducting drills and preparing for the “day”.
Russia would use a nuclear bomb if the conditions were right, but they still live by the “mutually assured destruction” mantra. We don’t here anymore because there is lingering doubt if we would respond in kind and that is what is the scariest, not that Russia would “Nuke” us but that we would let them get away with it. It is almost to the point we have more to fear from within than from others. Russia knows this, so they can win the war without firing a shot, or dropping the bomb as it were.
Russia can and will win if we here in the U.S. do not get better at protecting our government secrets. It’s appalling that the Kremlin knows more about our neighbors’ daily lives than we the ones that live next door to them do. Appalling and dangerous to allow this to happen, given all the money spent on cyber security and weapons systems that we have around the world. We can win any war if there is the will to win.
Gone are the days when soldiers stormed the castle gates. We won’t’ see troops wading ashore to conquer the U.S. by sheer force, but the thought of troops ready and willing to do such a thing is a deterrent to some extent and Crimea is an example of just what Russia is willing to do with its very large army of soldiers.
Instead of facing us head on, Russia or any other country for that matter will soften us up first. They will gather Intel, and the recent hacks of email accounts as presented by WikiLeaks are a prime example of how disruption will be sown.
No one really knows if the Russians are behind the hacking scandal or not, and it really doesn’t matter, what does matter is that the information contained within is damaging to the country and our political process. By chance or by design Russia is fighting a war that Washington simply will not acknowledge. If we ignore it, it will go away appears to be the thinking. Downplay everything so as not to panic the rank and file. Death by a thousand cuts.
Cyber attacks will increase and so will the chances of a complete grid failure or local municipalities will suffer outages here and there to keep the frustration levels high. These will be harassment techniques used by the other side. Identity theft will rise. Cybercriminal gangs that are nation sponsored will get bolder because we seem to be unable to stop the breaches.
Your local bank may go under. Your money lost in space, your 401K could be lost or stolen, savings wiped out and credit card numbers stolen along with your identity. Anything controlled by a computer system is subject to failure, a failure by design if a country wanted to soften us up before the coup de grace.
Russia would not benefit from wiping out America, but Russia would love nothing better than to control the world’s financial markets, the oil and gas markets and have first dibs on any weapons systems bought or sold around the world. In essences, Russia needs us, more than we need them.
Their tactic right now is to sow discontent and it ratchets up from there, depending on who may be elected the next president of the United States.
North Korea, Iran, and other nuclear capable countries are another matter entirely and the next series of articles will focus on the threat posed and what may be the best way to prepare for what would be Armageddon.
Associated Press. (2016, October 05). Retrieved 2016, from http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/10/05/russia-launches-civil-defense-drills-amid-tensions-with-us.html