Should We Be Worried About This?>>>>>>?

Question

New York Times
October 29, 2006
Russia Led Arms Sales to Developing World in ’05
By THOM SHANKER
WASHINGTON, Oct. 28 — Russia surpassed the United States in 2005 as the leader in weapons deals with the developing world, and its new agreements included selling $700 million in surface-to-air missiles to Iran and eight new aerial refueling tankers to China, according to a new Congressional study.

Those weapons deals were part of the highly competitive global arms bazaar in the developing world that grew to $30.2 billion in 2005, up from $26.4 billion in 2004. It is a market that the United States has regularly dominated.

Russia’s agreements with Iran are not the biggest part of its total sales — India and China are its principal buyers. But the sales to improve Iran’s air-defense system are particularly troubling to the United States because they would complicate the task of Pentagon planners should the president order airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear weapons facilities.

Answer 1

Worried about losing our place as the NUMBER ONE SELLERS OF DEATH-DEALING MERCHANDISE IN THE WORLD? That we might be losing our distinction of being THE WAL-MART OF DESTRUCTION? I don't know; what do YOU think?

Answer 2

Should have thought about that before celebrating the end of detente. There are a lot more countries besides Russia that were part of the Soviet Union that have inherited every aspect of the USSR military including the warheads. And there is no detente. Some nations are new capitalists, some are trying to deter US aggression. But Worried? During all my formative years, madmen were at the controls of enough ordnance to flatten the human world. I don't have a sudden case of the scoots now.
Hope this Helps :-)

Answer 3

If you are worried about hostile relations between global nations, look at your own relations with your family, friends, co-workers. Take a good look at how you view political, religious or cultural groups that you consider yourself separated from or even opposed to. Anything you can do to improve your worst relations there takes just as much effort as it will take larger groups or whole nations to overcome similar divisions that create conflict and war. Whatever happens locally, collectively affects the global and vice versa. Don't feel powerless -- take charge. Take steps to open up discussion to resolve reasons for distrust or disagreement instead of perpetuating conflict. For each person you influence to have a similar change in attitude, collectively this changes the world. Believe in freedom, work for justice, pray for peace.

Answer 4

Arm chair generals and warriors aren't worried because they don't have to fly into that mess.

Equally troubling is the expertise of the Iranians in air defense. They learned from the best, the United States, in the 1970's.

Answer 5

I doubt that the US can clean Iran with conventional warfare; Iran is not Irak. The US could launch a pre-emptive attack with nuclear weapons, but would be condemned by all the nations of the world.
The only civil way to disarm Iran is a counter revolution financed by interested nations.

Answer 6

Oh, probably. But there's very little we can do about it. We gave arms to Saddam, and then toppled him 20 years later. Go figure. Just because they're selling weapons to other countries now doesn't mean they'll be buddies with them in the future.

Answer 7

America can't control the world and it's made alot of enemies you can worry or you can just take life as it comes

Answer 8

No. Not as much as the rest of the world worrying about the nukes the U.S. has.

Answer 9

When is the last time anyone using Russian anything won a battle much less a war?

Answer 10

I'm worried!