I've tried to stay out of this as long as possible...

OH YES IT CAN!

Russia is now threatening to nuke Poland if the proposed NATO "missile shield" is built. It is apparently being built to defend the continental US from a missile attack from "rogue nations" such as Iran. Lets have a quick look at the geography for a second.

Now, call me stupid, but surely a base a bit further south, say maybe a Greek Island, would be a better place for this to defend against from attacks from the Middle East. But lets be seriously, Iran only have missile capable of firing 2000 kilometres or so - even if we allow for room of improvement in the 4 years since that source, and even say they can double it, they couldn't - quite - hit London.

The location of this barrier is obvious - to anyone with half a brain - is geared more towards Russia than the Middle East. However, another fact that people seem to forget is the fact that the Earth is a sphere - give or take, and if you can't go laterally, lets go longitudinally!

Over the top!

Or underneath, or to the left. The range of missiles these days is massive in the extreme, Britain missiles - the Trident 2 (which is currently planned to be shelved and replaced) - has a range of 9000 miles - almost 3 times further than Iran's "double" estimate I made earlier, and 6 times the source. What makes these "even better" is that they all can be launched from submarines that can - theoretically at least - be anywhere in the world, no where is safe. Add that to maximum speed, of other 18,000 mph, say the missile shield has a "protection arc" of 4000 kilometres, from detection to take down, you would have just over 15 minutes, and that is assuming the interceptor has enough speed to catch up.

This is purely a power play on the side of the American, and Russia responding. I do not agree with their methods - nuking a country is hardly an acceptable act regardless of pretence - but I can appreciate where they are coming from. Couple this with the problems in Georgia, I would be very, very surprised if this doesn't escalate another couple of stages before - hopefully - ending before any more people get killed.

However, there is something about this that is very, very, un-nerving. The next few weeks and months will be key, and we really need to watch out. I don't think this is even a question of "Will we follow the Yanks in if we go to War?" I honestly don't think we will have a choice, it will be NATO Vs Russia, and here comes World War 3. Just the fact that we don't currently have a military that is structured to deal with a major war - let alone 3. The same goes for America, and I can guarantee that they will put everything they can into it, but they have duties in Iraq and Afghanistan to adhere to, if they do of course, is anyone guess.

The only country that is currently "in a position" to do anything like this is Russia - and that is something that should worry a lot of people. Forget China, they are too tired into the West - and hate Russia too much - to fight for them.

It's gonna be a three-way-dance, I can just taste it in the air.

Ahhh, what a beautiful way to start the day.

Scuzzmonkey.