Data shows Russia supporting North Korea; NK threatens "merciless blow" to US - Polidicks

[quote=CNBC]Russia is showing increasing signs of propping up the regime of North Korea, according to a new report. At the same time, North Korea vowed Tuesday to "strike a merciless blow at the heart of the U.S." amid a report the regime was prepping for a new missile test. Also, the U.S. indicated it would conduct another test of its anti-missile technology known as THAAD, which is the same technology the U.S. supplied to South Korea for defense against the North's missiles. As for Russia, [b]some experts believe Moscow's economic support for North Korea is likely to continue as Russian President Vladimir Putin uses it as leverage to squeeze concessions from Washington on Ukraine, Syria and other hot spots.[/b] That comes despite an ongoing effort by the Trump administration to use international sanctions to force Pyongyang to abandon its ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs. A Tuesday report from South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo said [b]Russian exports to North Korea essentially doubled in the first five months of 2017,[/b] according to data from the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, a South Korean government-supported organization. About 90 percent of the exports were energy related. Russia exports coal to North Korea as well as jet fuel, trucks and other goods. Moscow also helps Pyongyang by employing about 50,000 laborers from North Korea, who work in timber and construction jobs in Russia. That is a source of hard-currency income for the regime led by Kim Jong Un and helps fund its weapons programs.[/quote] [url=https://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/25/north-korea-threatens-merciless-blow-to-us-as-data-shows-moscow-aiding-regime.html]Source: CNBC[/url] Emphasis mine. While the NK threat is probably a bunch of hot air, the Russian support of NK is very much not a good thing.

uhhhh seriously what can we do about russia?

Well that's quite antagonistic of them. I can understand using leverage in terms of getting some advantages and such. But this seems quite counter-intuitive in regards in keeping the Korean peninsula stable. I wonder what China thinks about this.

Vladimir's been playing with fire for the last twenty years, and putting his country in an ever more precarious position. I have to wonder whether Russia's going to simply crash and burn when he finally bites the big one.

[QUOTE=archangel125;52522246]Vladimir's been playing with fire for the last twenty years, and putting his country in an ever more precarious position. I have to wonder whether Russia's going to simply crash and burn when he finally bites the big one.[/QUOTE] I've been asking myself the same question. I've also been wondering if he doesn't give a shit, and would be happy to let it all burn Emperor Palpatine-style as long as he got his.

It seems improbable, and certainly now with Russia's increasing involvement, but I sincerely hope to see the end of the North Korean regime happen in my lifetime. The way the North Korean people are treated is utterly beastly to say the least.

As long as Trump is in power in the United States, the country's response to Putin will be ineffective. Once a competent leader once again takes the seat in the White House, operations can be properly launched and sustained to help Putin's political opponents and start undermining his authority. The sanctions themselves have the aim of hurting Russia's economy and making the people displeased with their leadership, but mostly it just makes Russians hate the US even more. Seriously, though. If Vladimir wants to play ball, the States has a big bat and a very, very long arm. All that we need to do now is get someone competent swinging it again.

I mean to be honest there's no way they could have made this much progress on the nuclear front without foreign help.

[QUOTE=Kazumi;52522207]But this seems quite counter-intuitive in regards in keeping the Korean peninsula stable. I wonder what China thinks about this.[/QUOTE] Putin benefits from instability and isnt too keen on China anyway.

[QUOTE=Saturn V;52522156]uhhhh seriously what can we do about russia?[/QUOTE] Turn China against Russia :evil:

[QUOTE=Swebonny;52522346]Turn China against Russia :evil:[/QUOTE] WHATS THE WORST THAT COULD HAPPEN!

[QUOTE=archangel125;52522303]As long as Trump is in power in the United States, the country's response to Putin will be ineffective. Once a competent leader once again takes the seat in the White House, operations can be properly launched and sustained to help Putin's political opponents and start undermining his authority. The sanctions themselves have the aim of hurting Russia's economy and making the people displeased with their leadership, but mostly it just makes Russians hate the US even more. Seriously, though. If Vladimir wants to play ball, the States has a big bat and a very, very long arm. All that we need to do now is get someone competent swinging it again.[/QUOTE] I honestly doubt that the states will elect a competent leader that will challenge Russia meaningfully next term though, it's a genuine possibility that Trump will get a second term.

All I wanted was cheap AK's and Russia is messing it up by being big meanies

[QUOTE=Rossy167;52522403]it's a genuine possibility that Trump will get a second term.[/QUOTE] If you had said this to me three months ago, I'd sadly agree with you. I'm hoping that by now enough people see how much of a disaster this presidency has been and won't be stupid enough to reelect him.

[QUOTE=Rossy167;52522403]I honestly doubt that the states will elect a competent leader that will challenge Russia meaningfully next term though, it's a genuine possibility that Trump will get a second term.[/QUOTE] while possible, conventional wisdom would suggest him having to run against his agenda will not turn out the voters he did in 2016

[QUOTE=Flicky;52522408]If you had said this to me three months ago, I'd sadly agree with you. I'm hoping that by now enough people see how much of a disaster this presidency has been and won't be stupid enough to reelect him.[/QUOTE] Unfortunately I lack that level of faith in the voting public, Brexit and Trump are these two major clusterfucks that are only harming people and yet people are still glad they voted for them. The majority is still in favour of both, even after facing the very real consequences of them. I do not think that Brexit and Trump will be the last of democratic countries voting against their own best interest and then being in favour of that vote even after it's been unequivocally proven it was against their own best interests.

[QUOTE=Rossy167;52522463]Unfortunately I lack that level of faith in the voting public, Brexit and Trump are these two major clusterfucks that are only harming people and yet people are still glad they voted for them. The majority is still in favour of both, even after facing the very real consequences of them. I do not think that Brexit and Trump will be the last of democratic countries voting against their own best interest and then being in favour of that vote even after it's been unequivocally proven it was against their own best interests.[/QUOTE] The majority are in favour of Trump? According to whom? He didn't even win the election by a majority, and he's lost many of his fans since then.

[QUOTE=archangel125;52523315]The majority are in favour of Trump? According to whom? He didn't even win the election by a majority, and he's lost many of his fans since then.[/QUOTE] It's more a matter of where the voters are as opposed to how many. A large amount of his supporter base comes from the Midwest, where people either have or are in the process of losing their jobs to automation and outsourcing. The US federal electoral system is based on each state possessing a certain number of electoral votes rather than each individual person's vote being counted. While more largely populated states have a higher number of electoral votes, the system disproportionately favors the larger number of more sparsely populated states as opposed to the smaller number of densely populated states with major cities. So much so that, for example, a single person's vote in Wyoming is worth the same as 6 people's votes in California. In principle, this is to allow smaller states to have a say in what goes on in the country. In practice, it means that a minority of voters can rule over everybody else.

The Soviet empire died only in name and government, it's power and influence is still here and is greater than ever.

[QUOTE=Daniel Smith;52523382]The Soviet empire died only in name and government, it's power and influence is still here and is greater than ever.[/QUOTE] I'll say modern Russia is a joke compared to the powerhouse the Soviet Union was in the 70s.

[QUOTE=Saturn V;52522156]uhhhh seriously what can we do about russia?[/QUOTE] I suppose fund some sort of world-spanning missile-defence satellite grid? That'd be a start. Make it so that, as it once was, two powers cannot conceivably annihilate one-another in the blink of an eye. That way, if shit does actually escalate, there will still be a world left when the dust settles.

[QUOTE=Kazumi;52522207]Well that's quite antagonistic of them. I can understand using leverage in terms of getting some advantages and such. But this seems quite counter-intuitive in regards in keeping the Korean peninsula stable. I wonder what China thinks about this.[/QUOTE] Russia has always been the antagonist.

[QUOTE=Swebonny;52522346]Turn China against Russia :evil:[/QUOTE] They've hated each other since when Khrushchev was in power. Krush wanted to gain favor amongst China's communist party by giving them artillery and other assorted armaments but the party basically went "lol thanks bye now fuck off" and well... Lets just say there would be no hesitation between both countries when a government in Asia needs thrown under the bus.

[QUOTE=Shirt.;52524205]They've hated each other since when Khrushchev was in power. Krush wanted to gain favor amongst China's communist party by giving them artillery and other assorted armaments but the party basically went "lol thanks bye now fuck off" and well... Lets just say there would be no hesitation between both countries when a government in Asia needs thrown under the bus.[/QUOTE] Yes,we see it in Russia as betrayal because we gave them so much and in the end they wanted to take our islands by using their army.We also have too many chinese in Far East and they have their own bands,Chinese government paid cents for our land(thx Putin) and now they spoiling it with toxic fertilizers. [QUOTE]As long as Trump is in power in the United States, the country's response to Putin will be ineffective. Once a competent leader once again takes the seat in the White House, operations can be properly launched and sustained to help Putin's political opponents and start undermining his authority. The sanctions themselves have the aim of hurting Russia's economy and making the people displeased with their leadership, but mostly it just makes Russians hate the US even more. Seriously, though. If Vladimir wants to play ball, the States has a big bat and a very, very long arm. All that we need to do now is get someone competent swinging it again.[/QUOTE] It's not Trump,You had Obama,Bush and Clinton and all of them were inneffective.Putin violated even our constitution,don't forget about human rights,his friends now own 99% of our media and it all began in 2003 and not Bush nor Obama didn't do anything.USA and Canada and EU didn't care about Russia untill Crimea and even if Putin will return Crimea to Ukraine and withdraw its forces from Donbass nothing is going to change in Russia,you will lift your sanctions and his elite will be happy but we,ordinary provincial russians will only win a right to eat your products because they are all banned by Putin for now and our local food is shit and too pricey.60% of ordinary Russians "hate" USA but it's more "dislike" rather than hate,it's not the same hate that you can see in arab countries though,ordinary russian have two government canals with endless political "talk-shows" which are more like"who shout louder shows" so it's hard to form your opinion about USA,especially if you never visited it since we have very low wages to travel there.You need to lift your visa restrictions against Russia so many of us will have a chance to visit you,even with our tiny wages.

[QUOTE=GrizzlyBear;52523548]I'll say modern Russia is a joke compared to the powerhouse the Soviet Union was in the 70s.[/QUOTE] To be fair, they seem to be playing way, way dirtier

[QUOTE=J!NX;52524320]To be fair, they seem to be playing way, way dirtier[/QUOTE] They have to. The situation is much more asymmetrical now compared to the First Cold War. We haven't declined all that much (I mean yeah, we don't have anywhere near as many maneuver brigades as we should, but we still have the potential to fuck things up, and we've gotten semi-decent at leveraging allied militaries), while Russia is a shadow of what they used to be. They've simply adapted to the situation.