Oh you guys!
What would it take - just hypothetically - to get you to take anything seriously? I can understand that news like this might bring on a few fits of nervous tittering, but why do it in public?
It's very simple. The US government is very pleased with its immense, all-powerful armed forces, and for a few years after the dissolution of the USSR was looking forward to being the world's only "super-power". Meaning that it could do whatever it liked and impose its will on everyone.
But the Russians don't want to become American slaves (again). They tried that in the 1990s and it was utterly gross. Men's life expectancy plummeted by nearly ten years in less than a decade.
Then Mr Putin became president, and Russia regained its pride and independence. All Mr Putin's speech implied (and remember, the bit about weapons was about 5 minutes long) was that Russia should not be treated as a helpless victim, because it has the means to defend itself.
In Western terms, confronted with a murderous gunslinger, Russia has just hitched its coat back a little to reveal the powerful guns at its own belt.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
