Balcony Flag - Jim

Noah Smith is not only a bigot, he’s also very poorly informed bigot. In the past 20 years, Russia has more than doubled the size of the Moscow Metro; built Europe’s longest bridge; built 8 of Europe’s 10 tallest skyscrapers; completed the Trans-Siberian Highway, something the USSR itself never fully managed; launched the world’s most advanced fleet of nuclear icebreakers and built a brand-new cosmodrome in the Far East. It's also currently constructing Europe's fastest high-speed railway between Moscow and St Petersburg and it has overhauled cities like Rostov-on-don, Vladivostok, Nizhy Novgorod and Sochi. That's just off the top of my head. Also, you can dislike the Russian government without descending into vulgar "barbarians squatting in ruins" rhetoric. Imagine if someone said the same about the US, or indeed, Israel?

ARM THE IRANIAN PEOPLE IMMEDIATELY! I've been calling for this for weeks on radio.  One thing we can do, which Reagan did in Afghanistan, Angola, and Nicaragua, is ARM THE PEOPLE in Iran so they are no longer butchered by these monsters without the ability to fight back!  They will rise up as a real fighting force, but they need weapons!  And it must be done IMMEDIATELY, especially if we are talking about ending our military operation in a few weeks!

It is absurd that anyone thinks we need to offer concessions to Moscow. We owe Russia nothing. They owe us for shattering their agreements and committing genocide in Europe. It is time we start making the demands. Russia is in no position to dictate