Gimpy wrote:Turkish news has reported that Turkmen forces shot the pilots as they were parachuting down.

pacino wrote:In this Marco Rubio dark money thing, Norman Braman is listed as one of his biggest fans:

And Rubio's closeness with donor and billionaire auto dealer Norman Braman is even more remarkable. As the New York Times's Michael Barbaro and Steve Eder chronicled, Rubio fought hard to win state funding for both a cancer center and a genomics center that were named after Braman. Afterward, Rubio went to work for Braman's company as a lawyer for a few months, Braman gave $100,000 to fund Rubio's teaching salary at Florida International University, and Rubio's wife, Jeanette, became a paid adviser to Braman's charitable foundation despite little experience in philanthropy. This year, Braman gave $5 million to Rubio's Super PAC.

Soren wrote:This is WWIII though right?

When you ask Russia experts why Moscow would send its warplanes buzzing NATO airspace in Europe, they'll often point out that Russia's military is much weaker than America's and NATO's — and Moscow knows it. And indeed this military imbalance is something you hear Russian defense officials bring up constantly; this fact of their relative weakness is world-shaping for them.

So one way Russia has dealt with its relative weakness is by being more provocative, by demonstrating its willingness to raise the stakes and toe ever closer up to the line of outright conflict. The intended message of such flights isn't that Russia will deliberately start a war with the West — it won't — but rather that it is more willing to take on risk, so if the West doesn't want the headache it should just back down.

Soren wrote:Honestly I don't even know who lines up where if a war breaks out. Do we side with Turkey against Russia? Does NATO come to Turkey's aide? Where do various Middle Eastern states fit in?

Like, The US, NATO and Iran fighting Russia and also ISIS who Russia is also fighting?

Soren wrote:Why would Iran side with Russia though? Iran has much, much more to gain by improving its relationship with the West.

Soren wrote:Why would Iran side with Russia though? Iran has much, much more to gain by improving its relationship with the West.

The Crimson Cyclone wrote:and Trump is threatening to run 3rd party election if the GOP gangs up on him

http://news.yahoo.com/trump-lawyer-warn ... _container

pacino wrote:

Soren wrote:Why would Iran side with Russia though? Iran has much, much more to gain by improving its relationship with the West.

it is in their regional interest to back Assad and keep a stronghold there that is opposed to Saudi Arabia.

SK790 wrote:

pacino wrote:

Soren wrote:Why would Iran side with Russia though? Iran has much, much more to gain by improving its relationship with the West.

it is in their regional interest to back Assad and keep a stronghold there that is opposed to Saudi Arabia.

do the other muslim nations near-by side against the Shia led countries or try to stay out of it as they don't care for either the Shias or the west?

pacino wrote:

SK790 wrote:

pacino wrote:

Soren wrote:Why would Iran side with Russia though? Iran has much, much more to gain by improving its relationship with the West.

it is in their regional interest to back Assad and keep a stronghold there that is opposed to Saudi Arabia.

do the other muslim nations near-by side against the Shia led countries or try to stay out of it as they don't care for either the Shias or the west?

Iraq and Iran are majority Shia and thus aligned. Yemen is also aligned but is to the south of Saudi Arabia. Jordan is by far majority Sunni. Lebanon uses the confessional system of shared governance between the Shia, Sunni and Christian communities.

Unhinging Iraq, inserting Maliki unleashed a huge underlying Shia/Sunni conflict in Iraq and the region.