Mr. B, you have touched on, well a little more than a touch, something I've been harping on before and after the Soviet Union. Russia doesn't need the smaller satellite countries to be a dangerous force in the World. When Khruschev said that they would bury us, that was a promise. As far as I know, no Russian leader has withdrawn that threat. I think that Russia will hold their water until the timing in World affairs is right. China doesn't figure into the Russian desire to be the sole superpower in the World at all. The only deterrent of an all out nuclear strike on America and Europe, is the intel on the arsenal in and outside America. They try constantly, using the UN and Non Proliferation Treaty, along with those dupes in the International press who demand to know the extent of the US nuclear capabilities, to extrapolate the damage that could be done to Russia. They are ready and willing to lose a few million people. When they see a vulnerability, it's adios compadres.

As I let go of my feelings of guilt, I am in touch with my inner
sociopath. I have the power to channel my imagination into
ever-soaring levels of suspicion and paranoia.
- "Life Affirmations that are Attainable"

Just because you're paranoid does NOT mean they aren't out to get you.

American soldiers I have served with and alongside in the past, were never this paranoid, is this a recent development in America bulldog?

It's not paranoid when someone IS out to get you. It's paranoid when there is absolutely NO PROOF to show that there is a REAL THREAT against you or your country.

I believe that 9/11 qualifies as proof of a real threat don't you. Unless the AlQaeda have repealed their jihad against the despotic governments of the west, then any democratic country is on their hit list.

We all know that since the breakup of the former USSR, there is an unaccounted nuclear wasteland where all sorts of nuclear substances are just waiting for a terrorist to obtain it for a "dirty" bomb. Why is it the every time that this topic comes up they assume this material is wanted for a "nuclear weapon" of the Hiroshima or Nagasaki yield.

A dirty bomb that spreads material with a half-life which is measured in thousands of years over a broad area would be almost as dangerous as an air burst of a conventional nuclear weapon. The main thing that would be missing would be the sunburst fireball with it's associated initial radiation.

Don't be fooled by all of the "information/misinformation", the terrorists of today and tomorrow will continue to scramble around in search of just the right kinds of nuclear materials for their terrorist attacks and when they have obtained the required material, we had better hope that the people that are tasked with stopping these kinds of attacks are better at their jobs than those that were "asleep at the switch" prior to 9/11.

THE TWIN TOWERS WERE A DROP IN THE BUCKET IN COMPARISON TO A SUCCESSFUL DIRTY NUCLEAR BOMB ATTACK.

Originally Posted by Welshwarrior

American soldiers I have served with and alongside in the past, were never this paranoid, is this a recent development in America bulldog?

Nothing new from my perspective. Cold War had us paranoid about Russians and Cuban missiles and Sandanistas and now its the muslim world and the evil spectre of terrorism. Difference is the guys in combat arms are usually pretty fatalistic if they have any sense. We used to joke that us medics were nothing more than "bullet sponges armed with band-aids". And I spent my high school years living a couple miles from NORAD and we all were pretty accepting of our fate that given a breakout of hostilities we had 11 minutes once we heard the air raid sirens before we were all vaporised.

I know I spend most every minute of my day when outside of my house a bit paranoid... profiling anyone who is coming within striking range as I trust no one. I don't think I'm nuts, I use the word cautious and prepared. I never enter into a building without knowing where the exits are and so on. I just don't talk about it to everyone, its like an instinct now and I do it without really thinking about it consciously.

I think what happens in here, online in this forum is that the thoughts I have I may not always tell everyone in my "real world" setting I air them out for comment with my cyber-friends. But if you and I were sharing an office or a fox hole I probably would never bring it up... don't want ya thinkin I'm a nutta eh?!

But that's just me I dunno bout the rest of the gang.

Chief, I am not disputing that 9/11 and threats from terrorists are not real in any sense, I was commenting (very badly) about the paranoia amongst the young posters on here that see a real threat from, Russia, Iran, China, North Korea, Syria to name but a few. it seems from my viewpoint that the days of the reds under the bed, better dead than red, and McCarthyism has returned to the USA.
The children who post on here , God forbid, might be in charge of your military one day and that scares the hell out of me! Where are they getting the ideas from that criticism of some of your governments policies is a personal attack on their way of life and the response should always be to drop a nuclear bomb on their critics?
I also agree with you about the lack of control on nuclear material in the Russian Federation is worrying, but for a poster to make disparaging comments about the Russians attempts to clean up their act was hypocritical especially when his own country had lost a number of nuclear devices. I have just read that the US authorities are even now carrying out radiological surveys on mosques and monitoring private phone calls of its citizens, it sounds like paranoia to me.

bulldogg
Just for info - it's been over 40 years since Vietnam and I still can't sit with my back to a door. You're not paranoid, just informed about the fact that there ARE crazies out there.

Weshwarrior
I tend to agree with "some" of your comments about our young posters. They DO have some strange ideas about the dangers that are threatening us in the post 9/11 era.

THEY WILL GROW OUT OF THOSE KIND OF IDEAS - WE DID.

Originally Posted by Welshwarrior

The children who post on here , God forbid, might be in charge of your military one day and that scares the hell out of me! Where are they getting the ideas from that criticism of some of your governments policies is a personal attack on their way of life and the response should always be to drop a nuclear bomb on their critics?

WW, I could write the exact same post about my conversations with Chinese mainland teenagers. This is not endemic to just the US.

But then it is still in my memory uttering similar melodramatic and utterly ridiculous statements about Russians and homosexuals as a teenager so I think it is also just a function of being a wet-behind the ears, idiot who thinks they know-it-all and with possession of a digital soapbox.

Then again it is disturbing to hear.

I suppose it must be a characteristic of all militaristic societies. But I do remember as a young man (back in the dark ages) being of the opinion that you could achieve world peace by emigrating to San Francisco and wearing flowers in you hair. I still dream of doing that.