Those crazy russian generals

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia plans to sell more than $1 billion worth of tactical surface-to-air missiles and other defense hardware to Iran, media reported on Friday

Moscow is already at odds with the West over its nuclear ties with Tehran but has sought to use its warm relations with Iran to be recognized as a key mediator between the West and the Islamic Republic.

U.S. Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns, visiting Moscow, told Ekho Moskvy radio he had raised the issue of arms sales to Iran with Russia's Foreign Ministry.

The Vedomosti business daily cited military sources as saying Iran would buy 29 TOR-M1 systems designed to bring down aircraft and guided missiles at low altitudes.

The paper, calling it the biggest sale of Russian defense hardware to Iran for about five years, said Moscow and Tehran had already signed the contract.

Interfax news agency separately quoted a source as saying the deal, which would also include modernizing Iran's air force and supplying some patrol boats, was worth more than $1 billion.

Israel in particular is nervous about Iran's military potential after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in October that Israel should be "wiped off the map" -- comments condemned by Russia at the time.

Go figure out the Russians. They have an opera house taken over by terrorist where the women are raped and everyone is blown up, They have had at least 6 airliners taken out with bombs during the last few years. They have had a school full of children blown up. They have had villages raided where women are raped and everyone is killed on a number of occassions. They have had apartment block buildings blown up at a very high rate of frequency. They have terrorist also pouring drugs into their nation, etc....and they are selling the means to their enemy to wipe out not only the west but also themselves.

 

$$$ be it US Dollars, Soviet Rubles, Saudi Riyals, or whatever cause's people to do STRANGE things...

Bone

 

we should by them set them to blow up when you hit the fire button and then sell them to iran.

 

Because Chechen rebels =/= Iran?

Russians still don't like us, and they especially don't like the US presence in the Middle East. They don't want another pro-US government in the region.

 

So whats new the arms still get sold :whistle:

De Orc :rolling:

 

Well they are arming and training various tribal fractions within Chechen and the Chechen mafia in Russia itself.

Besides, didn't those russian generals ever noticed the type of weapons that the chechens and middle eastern fighters use against them.

 

Before you fly off and criticise Russia for selling the missiles that will bomb them, consider that the USA sent shoulder fired missiles to the Afghan "Freedom Fighters" in the 1980's some of which went missing and have never been accounted for, they may have brought down several aircrafts in Afghanistan in the past few years.

Consider the Iran-Contra Affair whence the USA under the Reagan administration was supplying missile and aircraft parts to the Islamic Republic of Iran during the 1980's.

Back in the 1970's the USA sold F-14 Tomcats to a "stable" government in Iran, it is only very recently that these F-14's are out of service because they cannot get parts for them anymore.

You see, profiteering happens everywhere, even in the USA :secret:

 

All that is perfectly true, but time changes a lot of things. As Andy points out, the Russians are under attack NOW, maybe worse than us. It really shows how disfunctional and desperate the Russian government is for cash. Islam has been Russia's perennial enemy. I submit that the missile sales are born out of desperation, tinged with vain hope that they won't eventually be used against Mother Russia.

What happened 20 years ago hardly means much anymore given massive political and bureaucratic changes around the world. Selling weapons to the Shah of Iran was probably a good idea. Jimmy Carter and the Democrats selling him out was a very, very, bad idea.

I'll bet that all those unaccounted-for Stinger Missiles have exceeded their shelf-life, otherwise the Muslims would have knocked down more American jetliners.

 

If you visit the USAF Museum in Dayton Ohio, USA, there is an example of a Mig-23 Fighter, in Soviet markings that is alleged to have been illegally exported to Finland and then purchased by the CIA sometime in the past. The story goes that a VVS General sold the aircraft to buy food for those under his command.

Actually Russia has suffered far far more terrorism related deaths at the hands of the so called Islamic militants than the USA has. Think of Beslan where 338 including many children were killed, at the approximate same time two airliners were brought down by Black Widow Chechen women. Whole apartment buildings in Moscow are levelled by bombs. Buses and aircrafts hijacked and all killed. What was truly unfortunate was that security in Moscow airport was bribed by these black widows to let them on the planes without going through security. Otherwise so many people might not have died.

I was in Odesa(Odessa) when 9/11 happened in the USA. Everybody thought then hey, maybe the USA will figure out these idiots are not Chechen Freedom Fighters after all, they are killers. Unfortunately these people are still classed as freedom fighters and not terrorists.

 

You are correct. The American Congress and media portrayed a very favorable image of the Chechens. I am not sure that it is the case anymore. Again, time passed and education.

The United States has whole squadrons of Mig and SU aircraft. I have seen them flying in the California Desert, and even saw one fly down the coast of California at cliff-top height. I was fishing from a bluff south of Point Arena and looked at the pilot at almost eye level. The U.S. uses these Russian aircraft to train our pilots. The U.S. obtained these planes in various ways. I am sure many of you remember when a disgruntled Soviet pilot flew his stolen Foxbat to Japan many years ago. Now, practically anyone can simply purchase Russia's finest war planes.

The Soviets designed their old bomber fleet in the 1950s from a B-29 that was stolen from USA during the later part of WWII. They reverse-engineered a complete B-29. We later sold the Soviets the plans to our Space Shuttle. Clinto more or less sold nuclear devices and rocket technology to the Chinese for political contributions. It never ends, does it?

My biggest military (and survival) concern is the abundance of Soviet nuclear weapons. Russia, Belarus, Ukraine are just too unstable to possess thousands of nuclear warheads. I wish the West would do more to dismantle Soviet and American nuclear devices. There has been an ongoing US program to do so, but I have heard very little from spokespersons of that program lately.

 

sorry no migs but...


http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/L39C...ewItemQQcategoryZ63678QQitemZ4595144636QQrdZ1

 

hahahaah and for a day at the beach


http://cgi.ebay.com/inflatable-jet-...017452617QQcategoryZ34056QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

Don't sell these Russians short, they are great chess players and may be thinking 4 moves ahead to senarios that have not occured to us .

 

Ukraine and Belarus do not have nuclear weapons, and haven't had them since the early 1990's when they were all packed up and shipped back to Russia.

Curious little notation on the reverse engineered B-29 Bomber. It spawned the TU-4 bomber, then also a couple of airliner spinoffs, the TU-70 and continued on through the TU-114. the TU-4 type was exported to China, where they made their own spinoffs, some of which were flying into the 1990's as air tankers and recon aircraft.

The Mig-25 that was flown to Japan by Viktor Belenko was examined thoroughly by the USA and Japanese authorities, but after about 30 days with the USSR navy continuing to harass Japanese fishing vessels and board them, the plane was boxed up and returned to the USSR.

 

Built in the Czech Republic, not USSR. There are dozens of these in the USA now, they were the USSR's main trainer, their equivalent of the T-5 in the USA.

 

Selling arms that can not hurt you to an enemy to continue a war against another enemy and hope for a bloodout was a very good idea that the leftwing media just didn't understand, they don't serve or fight for the most part, or didn't care for it was spinned into something it wasn't. Funny how when the Iran-Contra Affair is mentioned in this country people omit that a war between Iraq and Iran was going on. Never mind the attempt to overthrow the communist power in Nicaragua that was slaughtering the native american indian population. Funny how American leftwingers have limited vision.

Now I agree with you about the Chechens and I am angry at my own government for not supporting Russia in its attempts to fight this big time drug dealing Saudi/Iranian sponsered terrorist army of clans. The only thing that I could figure for the most part is that the Saudi lobbiest have spread alot of money to alot of elected officials to take a non-stance or a anti-russian stance on this matter and lets face it most of the voters in my country still view Russia as a threat and no nothing about what the Chechens are. That is a shame for in the even larger picture if we did support Russia in the chechen matter then we might truly have a war against terrorism which would include billions of aid to russia and no money to Iraq for we would be both fighting in their together. And of course that would mean no nukes for Iran. For a fist full of muslim dollars the whole human race is in danger of being destoryed in a religious war.

By the way it has been along time since I have come across any of the Chechen mafia, 1980's. Do they still like to walk around in addias sweatsuits when they are indoors or the weather is warm.

 

"most of the voters in my country still view Russia as a threat and no nothing about what the Chechens are."

dude i saw rambo 3. i KNOW whats goin on. dd:

 

Yeah I think Bin Laden was Rambo's funny sidekick in that one. I couldn't believe that movie when I saw it and never finished it nor would I attempt to view it now.

 

Did you mean to say T-38? The past/current main training aircraft of the U.S.. You might have confused it with the fighter version of the T-38 known as the F-5 which is considerably different than it's trainer version. And yes, both versions are sold to any country that pays the price since they are very out-dated.

 

but dude hes "your worst nightmare"