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The Russia-Syrian Jet Fighter

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Sale Cancelled:

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The Inside Scoop

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The Russians cancelled the sale of 5 Mig-31 jet fighter-interceptors this month for one primary reason, money, or lack thereof. I bring this up for a simple reason. This cancelled sale illustrates what the real Russia is all about. Unfortunately, there is a misunderstanding within some circles as to what the Russians are all about.

There are several morons running around American, (mostly in the "patriot" movement) who claim to be self-styled experts on Russia and communism. Some of them simply make rounds of appearances on various right-wing talk-radio shows or in some cases even have their own radio talk shows. They love to play the Russian "boogey-man" card indicating that the Russians are out to "get" America -- as in invasion or nuclear war, etc, etc. etc. The story of Russia's proposed sale of Mig-31 fighter jets to Syria is simply one example of what the Russian government is really all about - money. How so?

We've picked up some information from a source with close ties throughout the intelligence world and the Pentagon who informed me that the Russian-Syria 'deal' was cancelled because Syria simply couldn't come up with the money necessary to pay for these 5 jets. The total sale price was around $500 million dollars. Syria simply couldn't pay the bill and President Assad was apparently either hoping that either Iran would pick up the tab or would convince the Russians to extend "easy-payment" terms.

While the Iranians had originally planned to 'assist' in the financing, Iran now has its own "budget' problems now that oil prices are a third of what they were just 18 months ago. Iran figured it would somehow be able to afford the planes. There's even talk that the planes were actually intended to go to Iran with Syria acting as the middle man. Perhaps so. The problem was/is that Syria's cash flow couldn't swing a middle man deal nor could it afford the planes for its own air force.

The bottom line to this story though, is that the Russians simply wouldn't budge on terms of the sale - meaning cash up front, on the barrel-head. No money means no deal, no planes. These days, Russis is all about making money, first and foremost. The proposed sale was never about politics or geo-political influence as many might surmise, because after all, that was the modus operandi of the old Soviet Union. The Russians however  have learned the hard lesson of Soviet economics which was a bankrupt concept.

The Russians will not simply give away war materiel to anyone, no matter what.These days, war is all about making money, not making enemies. That's not to say the Russians can be bullied or not bullied around. It simply means that Russia is all about capitalism and making money, the old fashioned way, by 'earning it.'

This also then explains why the Russians refused to sell the S-300 anti-aircraft missile defense systems to Iran. Iran's financial system is strained to the limit, trying to pay for that expensive nuclear weapons program and its advanced ballistic missiles program.

Thanks in part to economic sanctions, including banking restrictions plus the global economic downturn and the lower oil prices, Iran is hard pressed to pay for any new military acquisitions unless there are easy-credit terms, like no-money down, and zero interest for 5 years - or something similar. Iran simply couldn't swing any new deals with Russia for military equipment unless its cash on the barrel-head, which Iran simply does not have available at this time. It will be at least a couple of years before Iran would have such extra cash, but only if oil prices continue to shoot up sharply over $100 a barrel or higher.

So, for now, Russia simply bides its time and appears to be doing the US and Israel a favor but the reality is that Russia is doing itself a favor by following capitalist principles of money-making. Therefore, one does not need to think the Russian's have any intentions of invading the United States and turn America into a communist society. The Russians really have rejected communism and the sooner the American "right-winger" anti-communists realize what the Russian's really are, the sooner they can quit playing the role of "chicken little" because the sky is definitely not falling.
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