State TV says Russia could turn US to 'radioactive ash'

[Zorro]

Source: AFP

A leading anchor on Russian state television on Sunday described Russia as the only country capable of turning the United States into "radioactive ash", in an incendiary comment at the height of tensions over the Crimea referendum.

"Russia is the only country in the world realistically capable of turning the United States into radioactive ash," anchor Dmitry Kiselyov said on his weekly news show on state-controlled Rossiya 1 television.

Kiselyov made the comment to support his argument that the United States and President Barack Obama were living in fear of Russia led by President Vladimir Putin amid the Ukraine crisis.

His programme was broadcast as the first exit polls were being published showing an overwhelming majority of Crimeans voting to leave Ukraine and join Russia.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/state-tv-says-russia-could-turn-us-radioactive-212003397.html

---

Sounds as if Russian state TV is the equivalent of Fox News.

[Rex]

1. Maybe we can get Russian state TV and Foxnews to box it out for victory.

You think Hannity would be game?

[Squinch]

32. I was just thinking that: O'Reilly and this guy in Thunderdome. But it would be more like

Thunder Pen.

[enough]

2. I'm 70 years old. The only thing I see possibly developing here is a mutual agreement between

two overblown "powers" to again become each other's big scary enemy, in order to reap all the benefits such a mutual fear-pact has previously provided. Both these fucking empires were a lot better off when they had each other to hate and fear.

It sounds too absurd to be true. I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it before.

[orwell]

4. +1

Or should I say 1+1=2.

Oh boy, more money and power for the arms pushers...

[Ghost Dog]

10. I'll be 60 in a few months' time. What's new this time around...

... is that both "evil empires"' politico-military-financial establishments appear to have been recently planning within the context of the idea that the use of (¡sólo la puntita!) so-called 'tactical' or 'mini-' nuclear weapons is conceivable without inevitably shortly thereafter going totally MAD.

[olddad56]

14. I'll be 66 this year. I remember the 'nuclear attack drills in elementary school'

like crawling under your desk was going to make a difference.

[dflprincess]

19. I'll be 61 this year - I don't think I can bend myself into the "duck and cover" position anymore

much less get back out of it.

I really have to get back to yoga class.

[Mojorabbit]

24. Same here. :) nt

[NutmegYankee]

53. No need to bother.

With the Hydrogen bombs of today, you'd just get vaporized in an uncomfortable position. Might as well be sitting in a nice chair.

[rickyhall]

69. Im 58 and can get down there but not back up

[Squinch]

33. Nowadays in school they do that about "armed intruders." Still futile.

[Ash_F]

22. And the citizens of both nations, and the third world, get to suffer for it. /nt

[totodeinhere]

35. Well I'm 28 and I don't want to have to live through what you guys lived

through before.

[Dem4ever27]

67. You're smart.

The cold war was the cause of a deep sense of anxiety and dread that underlay all our thoughts and actions. The "end" of the cold war was an enormous relief for all of us. We do not want it back.

[kardonb]

40. agreement

Putin acts just like that baby faced little punk in North Korea , a lot of saber rattling and hot air ,but not much else .

[chrisa]

66. The Cold War was largely laughable for both sides.

The Soviets for their failed image of being a moral, hardworking worker's paradise. In reality, when you weren't sitting around doing nothing in factories that produced nothing, you were living under an authoritarian kleptocracy.

The United States for pushing the meme that Russia could nuke/invade the US at any moment, had this massive army, and was spreading Communism everywhere (and only the US could stop them!).

I'm absolutely certain that these fairytales were invented by profiteers and political bs-artists on both sides for their own benefit. Watch "Red Dawn," for example, for the absolute absurdity of the Cold War.

[orwell]

3. Uh...

...that's essentially correct.

Unfortunately, the entire planet would be little more than a whirling cinder block if a superpower nuclear exchange were to occur.

By all means, let's keep up the male testosterone display.

After all, it's worked so well up to now...

What could possibly go wrong?

[jakeXT]

5. Merry Christmas from PM Rogozin

?itok=5J-V8DmO

http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/24445/55/


I guess he's right, until the US finishes it's ABM shield and it's working, or China builds enough nuclear weapons.

The US intelligence community predicts that by the mid-2020s, Beijing could more than double the number of these warheads that threaten the US to more than 100.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2013/11/20/2003577276

[joshcryer]

43. SBIRS is up and running.

The US shield is probably a lot more advanced than is let on. The US military space budget is more than NASA. It's insane and probably why so much emphasis is placed on intelligence to the point the US scrapes every piece of human submitted data on the internet.

[jakeXT]

45. I would love to know more about stuff like kinetic weapons

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

But nobody even bragged about old stuff like Astro Spies

[joshcryer]

48. I was reading the ABM wiki article earlier.

Got lost in Wiki and landed on the "Multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle" page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiple_independently_targetable_reentry_vehicle



Chilling.

Thanks for that NOVA doco link, I'll add to watch later (Sunday night shows are calling though!).

[blackspade]

6. This Kiselyov is an idiot

A nuclear exchange results in global annihilation.

What a dumbass.

[BeyondGeography]

7. The Pentagon is getting so drunk tonight

[Turbineguy]

8. Perfect!

A Murdoch station over there and one over here. WWIII is almost guaranteed to come from a stupid fest.

Remember guys, in the contest of who's a bigger asshole, the object is to let the other guy win.

Now we may return to our regularly scheduled programming.

[freshwest]

9. Newscorp got any shares? RT's AJ, FNN and the GOP work for the Koch JBS crowd.

Half those guys love Putin, the other half want to nuke 'em. It's a winner either way for them. They make me

[Capt.Rocky300]

11. I can still remember Khrushchev banging his shoe..........

on the table and saying the USSR would "bury" us.

[warrant46]

13. I remember that

Then I got to go to Viet-Nam and see it up close

[olddad56]

15. I don't think anything we saw in Vietnam had anything to do with Russia.

[warrant46]

16. Were you there ?

Didn't think so ---Who do you think was running the air defense system over Hanoi and firing the SA-2 Guidelines ? To shoot us down

[iamthebandfanman]

25. Yeah,

the Russians had their hands in both the Korean war and the Vietnam war...
but most direct help (soldiers and weapons) was from china in vietnam, was it not? I know the Russians definitely helped with technical support .. logistics and training .. that sort of thing.. but physical troop involvement was way lower than in korea.
In the Korean war a lot of Chinese and russians came and fought for the north Koreans because a lot of Koreans had helped the communists with their revolution inside china.

sorry ya had to go over there..

my step dad was in the artillery and had to witness misfire/backfires that killed buddies of his on a couple of occasions.. and from his description of events the military was pretty heartless when addressing said events occurring..

but he does have some fond memories of supposedly shooting back and forth with our navy for fun :p

[7962]

41. I suspect they were flying some of the NV aircraft as well.

[NutmegYankee]

51. Hell, who supplied them with MIGs?

Proxy wars...

[Capt.Rocky300]

21. A friend of mine was a POW.......

He learned to read and speak Russian from a Russian "advisor" to the Vietnamese guards at the Hanoi Hilton.

[HereSince1628]

23. In the south we fought the Russian's proxies, but as the story goes

that the Russians were on the ground. Russia Today covered reunions of advisors who served there.

[greiner3]

62. "I don't think anything we saw in Vietnam had anything to do with Russia."

From Wiki;

" Machine guns, mortars and interchangeable ammo. Also of key importance to communist units was the interchangeability of the 7.62mm ammunition between the AK-47 and other types of weapons. The 7.62mm round not only chambered in the SKS carbine but also could be used in the Soviet RPD light machine gun, another standard infantry weapon of the VC/NVA, capable of 650 rounds per minute. Heavier machine guns were sometimes used but often in set piece assaults, or in fixed mode such as anti-aircraft weapons, due to their weight. Communist units also employed mortars frequently, with the Soviet 82mm and its Chinese variants being the most common. French 60mm mortars also saw some use.

Rockets and RPGs. The VC/NVA also made extensive use of the excellent Soviet designed anti-tank grenade launcher, the RPG. Originally designed to fight against armor, it was adapted for anti-personnel use to good effect. They also made use of the Soviet/Chinese 122mm rocket which was used effectively against populated areas and large installations such as airfields. While inaccurate compared to more sophisticated weapons, the 122mm rocket made an effective terror weapon when deployed against civilian targets. Other rocket types included tube-launched Chinese 107mm and Soviet 140mm variants.

Anti-aircraft missiles and batteries. The VC/NVA relied heavily on heavy machine guns and standard Soviet designed anti-aircraft batteries like the ZPU-series for air defense functions. In the latter year of the conflict, field units of the VC/NVA deployed hand-held Soviet designed anti-aircraft missiles that presented a significant challenge to US air dominance, particularly helicopters. For strategic aerial defense, the North deployed one of the densest and most sophisticated air-defense systems in the world based on Soviet surface-to-air missile missiles and radar batteries.

Tanks and artillery. Fighting a mobile guerrilla war much of the time, the VC/NVA could not deploy large quantities of heavy artillery or tanks. Exceptions were the set piece siege battles such as at Khe Sanh or heavy artillery duels against US batteries across the DMZ. It was only after the shift to conventional warfare in the 1972 Easter Offensive, and the final conventional campaign in 1975 (when US airpower had vacated the field) that tanks and heavy batteries were openly used in significant numbers. When using heavy artillery, the VC/NVA relied on high quality Soviet-supplied heavy 122mm and 130mm guns that outranged American and ARVN opposition.
"

And the list goes on and on.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viet_Cong_and_Vietnam_People%27s_Army_logistics_and_equipment

We supplied troops and a lot of weapons and the Russians and Chinese supplied weapons, sometimes much better than the Americans, their rifles vs our infamous M-16s, and 'advisors', observers and training.

I can't remember that movie and subsequent sequels of the 80s showing Russian 'advisors' still in Vietnam doing 'bad things' to American POWs and the lone American goes over there and kills Brazillions of Vietnamese troops and saves the POWs; anyone?

[warrant46]

70. +1

[lostincalifornia]

31. I was told that the context of what Khrushchev was referring to in that speech is USSR

would bury the U.S. economically.

Regardless, one thing that was viewed at the time by both countries was the context of peaceful coexistence, "mutually assured destruction"

However, it did not stop the Cuban missile crisis from occurring, which was actually precipitated by our missiles in Turkey.

The fact remains, "mutually assured destruction" still exists, and it is even worse with China, Pakistan, India, and others in that club.

God forbid if a country actually thought winning a nuclear war was feasible.

If those missiles actually started flying, it would come from everywhere, Europe, India, China, Russia, and the US, and the result would be the end of civilization as we know it.

This is just their propaganda machine at work as you pointed out from the cold war reference, which almost seems like an instant replay

[840high]

39. I'm 75 - remember

watching his motorcade go by.

[freshwest]

73. That was at the UN, wasn't it? I remember seeing that as a kid. And the Cuban missile crisis.

They taught all of us to get under our desks and kiss our ass good bye. Issued us dog tags at the school and told us in so much words we were all gonna die since we'd be one of the first targets.

Those were the days of people putting bomb shelters in their backyards, weekly air raid drills and sirens. One week a plane from the nearby air force base fly low over the school while we were under our desks for the full effect.

The only thing worried me was not seeing my family again, as they figured out distances and said that only the kids in our elementary school within a close range would be allowed to run home to say goodbye. I was on the list to die at school.

Other than that, I really couldn't have cared less. I realized by then the world was being run by idiots.

[freshwest]

12. Go nuke scares! Sell more survival bunkers and freeze dried food! Call Infowars now for details!

http://www.infowarsshop.com/Survival-Seed-Vault_p_927.html

They somehow neglect to say that with a nuclear winter, they won't have enough sun to grow plants. This happened in past events that were non-nuclear. So, FAIL.

And how are they going to watch the DVDs when we're all back to trading chickens for medical care and all of that stuff? There won't be electricity in their post apocalyptic utopia. They think that's great, because they wanna Go Galt. Yes, they are Libertarians, the faux intellectuals of the RWNJs. FAIL.

Besides, how are they gonna get a fair price for their gold? Oh, waot, the guns and ammo will take care of all the shortages! That'd be a FAIL when the inevitable occurs:

[T. J. Kong]

30. Ah... actually, Americans cannot afford those luxuries anymore.

Though, I'm sue it will be real good for the MIC...





and so it goes...

[T. J. Kong]

47. Uhm...

I thought I was agreeing with you, I probably didn't express myself well, and I apologize.

The point I was trying to make, poorly, was that yes... I agree... and that as a matter of fact we have been there, done that, and that this kind of saber rattling is to primarily benefit the MIC.

[T. J. Kong]

52. Absolutely! And I am sooooooo thankful that those right-wing THUGs did not get the helm!

But I am still very concerned that they may have a chance to get in, as they are working hard to create crisis, both faux and real, to get weak minded people, who are looking for 'strong' leaders to follow.

That is their only hope for success, crisis, and that is what scare me about these very dangerous, extreme, reTHUG, politicians, that they will do anything, even harm US to regain power

BTW: no worries, as a newbie I still don't have my 'sea-legs', so to speak, and thanks for the heads-up about your journal, I will check it out

[yuiyoshida]

17. Someone should give Dmitry Kiselyov

A shoe to bang on the table... His statement isn't emotional enough!!

[Dem4ever27]

68. He didn't say this without clearance at the highest levels.

The head of the state news agency did not say this offhandedly or without approval from above.

[Alhena]

18. *sigh* Is this the best human history can do?

Didn't we already go this crap for several decades? I'm really starting to wonder whether this species and long-term survivability go hand in hand.

[iamthebandfanman]

20. What a moron.

I kinda hope Russian leadership is as 'strong' and full of 'strength' as some folks suggest.. cause it definitely lacks any and all intelligence

[T. J. Kong]

36. Agreed!

These kind of politicians are truly frightening

[DinahMoeHum]

26. Neah neah-neah neah neah booga booga booga. . .

This ain't nothin' but cock-wagging by a big mouth with a teeny weenie.
Silly little schmuck.

[freshwest]

72. ROFLMAO. I think you got it. n/t

[hrmjustin]

27. There goes the planet!

[T. J. Kong]

28. Time for Realism and Common Sense on Ukraine

Editoral @ TheNation

Hat-tip to mazzarro for the link.

[blkmusclmachine]

29. At least they didn't ruin the Olympics.

[Eleanors38]

34. Ash is sufficient. Why the radioactivity? Sheesh.

[Lint Head]

37. Not possible.

[krispos42]

38. Yeah, and we're the only country that can glass Russia.

So maybe we had better not start down that particular path, m'kay?

[Nanjing to Seoul]

42. All I can think of is Tom Lehrer and his WW3 song.

This year we've been celebrating the hundredth anniversary of the Civil War and the fiftieth anniversary of the beginning of World War I and the twentieth anniversary of the end of World War II. So all in all, it's been a good year for the war buffs. And a number of LPs and television specials have come out capitalizing on all this nostalgia, with particular emphasis on the songs of the various wars.

I feel that if any songs are gonna come out of World War III, we'd better start writing them now. I have one here. Might call it a bit of pre-nostalgia.

This is the song that some of the boys sang as they went bravely off to World War III:

So long, mom,
I'm off to drop the bomb,
So don't wait up for me.
But while you swelter
Down there in your shelter
You can see me
On your TV.

While we're attacking frontally
Watch Brinkally and Huntally
Describing contrapuntally
The cities we have lost.
No need for you to miss a minute of the agonizing holocaust. Yeah!

Little Johnny Jones, he was a US pilot,
And no shrinking violet was he.
He was mighty proud when World War III was declared.
He wasn't scared, no siree!

And this is what he said on
His way to Armageddon:

So long, mom,
I'm off to drop the bomb,
So don't wait up for me.
But though I may roam,
I'll come back to my home
Although it may be
A pile of debris.

Remember, mommy,
I'm off to get a commie,
So send me a salami
And try to smile somehow.
I'll look for you when the war is over,
An hour and a half from now!

[OmahaBlueDog]

46. Man, I miss the good old days when "Stratcom" was "SAC"

Back when Offutt AFB had a squadron of nuclear armed B-52s ready to fly off to their fail-safe points at a moment's notice.

Take us to DefCon 2....

[mindwalker_i]

49. They obviously don't read DU

or they wouldn't bother.

For all of those who have their panties in such a twist that it would give a Calabi Yau space an aneurysm, yes, I'm joking

[jtuck004]

54. First we have to get 316,000,000 desks to hide under. Then we fight. n/t

[delrem]

55. yah well, the US could, twice over and not even seriously deplete its stockpile.

Perhaps it's nothing but blather, because it seems that that the US is intent on putting a nuclear threat in the Ukraine....

[3catwoman3]

56. Like many here...

I was a kid in the 50s and 60s, and remember well all those damn "duck-and-cover" drills. Even as a 10 yr old, I wondered what good hiding under my desk would do if a nuclear bomb got dropped anywhere nearby. It was scary. I'd eally rather nothave to go thru that shit all over again.

[DeSwiss]

57. K&R

- Yeah, you stupid fuck that'll solve all the problems.

K&R

''...a consecutive struggle against four great rackets, namely the exploitation of the fear of the unknown, the exploitation of violence, the exploitation of the monopolization of cultivable land, and the exploitation of money. ~Ezra Pound, Pound Money Pamphlets

[hatrack]

58. So, does this mean Kristol/Giuliani/Palin et. al. go on fellating Putin for being so "manly"

Gee, I hope so!

[politicman]

59. beware of escalation.

The issue is not the U.S or Russia launching a nuclear attack straight off the bat.

The worry is that if a conflict develops between these 2 nations, a military conflict I mean, then that can escalate to the side that is losing deciding to use tactical nukes as a way to come out on top in a certain battle, and it just escalates from there.

We need to understand that these countries view economic warfare as the same as actual warfare, I cannot see Russia being hit economically and not responding by either threatening or actually punishing the west by invading more countries.

After all, Russia knows that its arsenal of nukes will stop the west from using military means to directly confront any new invasions.

[jsr]

60. And cockroaches will rule the earth.

[tabasco]

61. Well, it's true.

But he forgot to mention that Russia would be a molten, radioactive asphalt pit if that ever transpired.

[Beacool]

63. Ditto, Putin, ditto.

[Arkana]

64. Yes, yes, we've heard this story before.

They do know they'd get turned to radioactive ash just as quickly, right? Seriously, they're not still buying into that "THE WEST IS DECADENT AND CORRUPT" BS from the Cold War, are they?

[Orsino]

65. Because Fukushima is turning out so well.

Sure, they could nuke the US...and live on what planet afterward?

[treestar]

71. And so would they too right afterward

What a dumbass thing to say. Sounds like they have their version of Fox anchors.

[snagglepuss]

74. It is worse than FOX. There is no secret that all Russian TV is an arm of Putin.

The opinion expressed comes directly from Putin.