Just STOP the war mongering -- Russia is a very weak nation [View all]

[uawchild]

Endless media stories about Russian aggression and Russia's sinister resurgence, many of which get linked to here on DU as "Late Breaking News", bombard us non-stop -- trying desperately, it seems, to increase military spending at best or possibly start a shooting war at worst.

It is all just INSANE. Here's a graphic of NATO versus Russia's military spending:



How on God's green earth could anyone look at these numbers and not think calls for MORE military spending is nuts?

In terms of invasions by conventional forces Russia is simply no threat at all and is totally outclassed by the US and NATO. Urging even more spending on the military by the US and NATO is wasting money that could be better used elsewhere solving a whole host of social issues.

The only arena militarily where Russia can hold its own is in nuclear weapons, and lets all hope that circumstance don't conspire that nuclear weapons ever actually get used again. Any first use of nukes by Russia outside of Russian territory itself would just be a death warrant for the entire Russian nation. They know that, and we know that.