Foreign Policy has a reporter at Russia's main "national-security brain trust" and apparently Russia's top leaders are very scared that Clinton will start a war with Russia: https://foreignpolicy.com/2016/09/07/the-kremlin-really-beli... So it's not surprising that they continue to sabre rattle.
Especially considering that creating a 'no-fly zone' in Russia is being thrown around by a number of American politicians and seemed to be a core Hillary position regarding Syria. A US general recently said that doing so would basically involve starting a war with Russia and Syria: https://youtu.be/8mNgElVy7eQ?t=3m20s
I another recently heard on the War Nerd podcast that an influential US foriegn adviser was talking on Twitter (can't find the tweet just now) that we shouldn't be so scared of Russian's air defense in Syria since their S-300 [1] has been around since the 1970s, and surely we know their weaknesses by now. But this weapon is still a serious threat and this isn't even considering the fact S-400 could also be deployed. It's scary to see these threats downplayed by the people who have politician's ears while the military still takes them seriously.
So I really hope the US treads carefully in the future because the world doesn't really benefit from an escalation here. It's sad that Russia is being used as a political gambit rather carelessly. Considering there's almost always a diplomatic avenue that could be taken to avoid war but it takes careful handling which I feel is largely ignored, likely because they don't see a war with Russia as a real possibility so they don't feel the need to hold back their vitriol. But it seems those words are being taken seriously in Russia by the people who matter.
Especially considering that creating a 'no-fly zone' in Russia is being thrown around by a number of American politicians and seemed to be a core Hillary position regarding Syria. A US general recently said that doing so would basically involve starting a war with Russia and Syria: https://youtu.be/8mNgElVy7eQ?t=3m20s
I another recently heard on the War Nerd podcast that an influential US foriegn adviser was talking on Twitter (can't find the tweet just now) that we shouldn't be so scared of Russian's air defense in Syria since their S-300 [1] has been around since the 1970s, and surely we know their weaknesses by now. But this weapon is still a serious threat and this isn't even considering the fact S-400 could also be deployed. It's scary to see these threats downplayed by the people who have politician's ears while the military still takes them seriously.
So I really hope the US treads carefully in the future because the world doesn't really benefit from an escalation here. It's sad that Russia is being used as a political gambit rather carelessly. Considering there's almost always a diplomatic avenue that could be taken to avoid war but it takes careful handling which I feel is largely ignored, likely because they don't see a war with Russia as a real possibility so they don't feel the need to hold back their vitriol. But it seems those words are being taken seriously in Russia by the people who matter.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S-300_(missile_system)