I am sorry if this has been discussed before, but I have not seen it! Could this be why our fearless leaders are not worried about Y2K but about heading for their bunkers? Scarey...

Yeltsin Puts Nuclear Missiles on 'Red Alert'

NewsMax.com December 14, 1999

Still furious over United States criticism of Russia's war in Chechnya, President Boris Yeltsin has placed his most deadly intercontinental nuclear missiles on "combat alert."

The Moscow bureau of the London Express is reporting that, on his orders, 10 of Russia's newest, most sophisticated weapons  capable of striking the U.S.  have been deployed in full readiness.

This unprecedented dramatic warning has Western observers nervous about the possibility of an inadvertent launch at a time when it is known that Russia's missiles are not fully reprogrammed to avert all millennium-year computer failures.

Russia just recently sent computer and missile experts to Washington to work with American specialists in averting Y2K glitches.

Yelstin's hawkish missile deployment is just the latest move of a laundry list of recent military developments in Russia.

In October, Yeltsin's Prime Minister announced Russian government plans for a massive military build-up, with plans to raise the military budget by 50 percent.

Last month, the Russian Navy fired two intercontinental ballistic missiles from a submarine. They struck a target range more than 3,000 miles away on Russia's Kamchatka peninsula. Since the Kosovo war, Russian military and civilian leaders have made clear that their war game exercises are preparation for a conflict with the U.S.

Toronto's Globe and Mail reported the most recent missile test firing was the first time Russia has launched an ICBM from a nuclear submarine in four years and the third time in a month it had fired off missiles.

The paper called it "an intimidating wave of test launches."

At the same time, Russia has been deploying subs and planes on cat-and-mouse surveillance with U.S. ships and jets, which the Toronto paper said is "the first time in years that the Russians have played such Cold War games."

TOPOL-M DEPLOYMENT

Yeltsin's deployment for combat of the missiles  the Topol-Ms  is the most serious military development yet. With a striking range of 6,200 miles, the Topol-Ms are based in the Saratov region, 400 miles southeast of Moscow.

According to the Express:

Although the West was advised in advance, as required by nuclear treaty commitments, the rarity of this move can be regarded only as a deliberate and serious show of force to underscore Yeltsin's outrage.

It coincided with his return to Russia after a trip to China, where he warned Clinton and other Western leaders to stay out of Russia's business in Chechnya.

Yeltsin brandished Russia's still great missile threat by thundering, "Russia is a great power that possesses a full nuclear arsenal. It is we who will dictate."

Recently, Gen. Vladimir Yakovlev, the Russian missiles-forces commander, also bragged, "Of the five nuclear powers, none of the others will match these weapons in the next few years.

"Topol-M is able to breach any anti-missile system that exists in the world and any which will be built in the near future."

Also troubled by the missile alert are Russian politicians and analysts who regard Yeltsin as too ill to have his finger on the trigger of the world's second largest nuclear power.

Britain's leading independent nuclear expert, John Large, said, "There was an unwritten agreement for both Russia and the U.S. not to deploy nuclear weapons before the Y2K period.

"Even if the weapons themselves are OK  which I very much doubt, since their testing system has been effectively down and out for three years  they would have to work within the strategic defense system there, which is full of Y2K glitches.

"There is no real need for it  it is a risk they don't need to take.

"I am not suggesting that these nuclear bombs will go off on their own, but we do expect to see the defense systems playing up a bit." http://www.newsmax.com/articles/?a=1999/12/14/122134

This is a fake address, so please respond on group. Thanks.

-- Lurker (Lurker@Idaho.com), December 26, 1999

Answers

Lurker...check out what General Lee Butler, former head of Stratcom, has said about the likelihood of accidental nuclear war. It's scary and I'm afraid-- WWIII through miscalculation or error, coming soon.

-- tooworried (Alsofake@Fear.com), December 26, 1999.

Watch out folks, Comrad Klinton is hungry for a lasting stay at the White House, and WWW3 is a small price for him. A sitting president will remain a sitting president if a war is in progress. He needs one desperatly for that purpose. He has given the chinese all our secrets to bring their powers up to ours, he has destroyed our military, and ne has now given away the Panama Canal so that they have a foot on our land. Just the right moment and all will be set for the fuse to be lit. All our navy is now a sitting target, and he has aggitated the powers against us. What more is needed. A person of that type of mentality considers the destruction of most of the world as a very small price to pay to stay in office. Since midnight crosses Russia before it does here, and they have an accidental launch, we would never see the dawn of the new millennium.

-- Notforlong (Fsur439@aol.com), December 26, 1999.

Too bad newsmax isnt a real newspaper, its something I would prefer to use to wipe my ass with rather than more expensive toilet paper.

Same goes for WorldNetDaily.

-- hamster (hamster@mycage.com), December 26, 1999.

Lest we forget, El Presidente was the one who changed U.S. Military doctrine from a response of launch on warning to one of no launch until confirmed detonation on U.S. soil. One of these days, Clinton's policy of appeasement/politically correct martyrdom is going to get us all killed.

-- chairborne comando (what-me-worry@armageddon.com), December 26, 1999.

Lol Hamster! I am inclined to agree... with the kind of reporting ethics and credibility they have, they might as well just admit that they are tabloids like the National Enquirer. The only thing they are missing is the stories about human babies born with Martian heads!

Notforlong, I'm not sure where you're getting these delusions from, but it would be wiser to seek truth. The type of student you are here in this school of life on planet Earth will determine the quality of your experience in the afterlife. If you flunk, you just have to come back and do it all over again. Hopefully you still have a few years ahead of you to improve, because right now it looks like you're getting about a D minus. :-)

-- Hawk (flyin@high.again), December 26, 1999.