America could +never+ take Russia - it is just not feasible.   America could not realistically take China, for God's sake.

While there is no reason why America would ever start a war with Russia, it's laughable to think that Russia is anywhere close to equal to America in military might or in any significant category of military technology.

hi jim

before i answer, let me first establish my underlying position.  i've looked at your posts;  you are obviously informed, astute, and probably patriotic.  believe me, so am i.  i refer to the patriotic part.  i think america is the greatest nation on the planet.  its citizens are fine people.  i've met, talked to, and fraternized with a diverse array of people from the usa.  and while i myself am not american, i'm not far off.  i am most certainly not an 'america basher.'  if any country were to take over the planet, my preference would be america, not russia or china or venezuela.  ;)

that said, you should not dismiss russian military prowess.  i think you know that nuclear power coupled with detection and sophisticated delivery means substantial adversary.  america can build all the capital-intensive 'floating war platforms' it wants, but those only work against enemies without the capability to disrupt their function.  one radar-evading nuclear missile nullifies that advantage.  but then, only a rare handful of states possess that ability.  russia is one of them.  i presume this is the rationale behind the russian's publically stated strategy of 'smarter' countermeasures, not brute force of quantity.  remember, nukes change the ballgames.  competent delivery levels the playing field, no matter how many sluggers one side has.

i hope russia and the usa become allies, not foes.  your commonalities are now more apparent than ever.  russians admire the american way of life.  but like any other 'peoples', they are not ready to concede their dignity. 

thanks,

cosmo.

The fact of the matter is the average Russian(and Chinese) probably thinks Americans are a fine people.  But, the U.S government has betrayed Russia after the Soviet collapse.  It's one thing to give lip-service about democracy and freedom, but it's quite another to treat a fallen great power with respect and dignity.  And that is something that the U.S  has failed to do with Russia, or with us for that matter.  Instead of helping Russia after they became a democracy, the U.S stripped them of all honor, and took away their vassal states.  You cajoled(is that the right term?) them to shrink their strategic weapons, while you building up a missile defense at home.  In the mid-90s, the Russians followed the advice of U.S economic delegates to that country.  When that bankrupted the Russian economy, the U.S condescendingly treated the Russians like paupers.  Is it any wonder that Russia's government system has transformed into what it is now(an authoritarian oligarchy with handpicked elections)

Now from a Chinese perspective, it's all very depressingly similar to the treatment we received from the U.S at the end of the cold war, where we were chucked out as an expendable pawn.  All of the economic/military agreements between our two nations were simply cancelled with the U.S keeping all the funds that China paid for them.  Do you realize that both Moscow and Beijing used to be the seat of vast Eurasian empires that dominated the world?    The Russians can't forget the power they had, and neither can we.  Russia is now committed into an alliance with China.