I like the quote from the state dept when they sent their warships to venezuela: "where they accompanied by tugboats". Russias all smoke and mirrors and talk.

joe, new haven,

Lebanon requested heavy arms from the US, but Israel objected, so the Lebanese have now turned to Russia. Did the US gain anything in the end?

Arik Silverman, Milwaukee, USA

Armaggedon looms nearer. This is the last place that needs weapons.

David, Newcastle, England

Robert in Bedford-
You're wrong. The MiG-29 is no match for what we have. Germany and Poland used these for a number of years; we know what the MiG-29's weaknesses are. And, the currency/skills of Russian pilots are nowhere near Western levels. They wouldn't last long in any engagement with us.

Rick, New Castle, Delaware, USA

America supplies Israel, Russia supplies Lebanon, whats the problem????

Dilwyn, Dublin, Ireland

The Lebanon have a right to have any aircraft they want without foreign complaining - they are a democratic country for gods sake.

But to those of you who care, fighters are like top end computers - useless without the proper software and peripherals (ie radar infrastructure & top end missiles).

Richard, Limerick, Ireland

you don't play chess do you.
when you put pressure on one part of the "board", by definition you weaken your defense on the other sides. its a "chess " thing. which makes the game so interesting, just outright power will get you checkmated everytime. iraq was a bad idea to begin with, i just hope-

charles kafka, vermont, usa

Its just Russia's way of ensuring some semblance of a balance of power in the region. No need to fret. It should be applauded instead.

Azlan Gordon-Carrie, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

It is better to be the Bully than the one bullied. The rest of the World doesn't have to like us, just respect us, or fear us. I don't get it. I think most of the world hasn't a clue what the USA is about; we don't want to rule the World. We just want everyone to play nice.

Jim, Virginia , USA

The collapse of the USSR was a planned and orchestrated collapse. Catholic prophecy has indicated that Russia will launch a surpise attack against the West - '...the sky is black with missles and planes coming out of Russia' - Planes, missles, and armor that the West never knew Russia had.

Robert, Freeport, USA

Supply Iran with nuke tech, upgrade Iran air defences, supply arms to Lebonon and Syria...yes seems like same old Soviet game to me. After a long absence, this gets their foot back in the door. From warships off the US coast and stoking South American communists to this, its the same. Sorry Georgia!

William, Atlanta, USA

The supply of Mig 29's to the Lebanon is purely symbolic, but should act as a wake up call to Israel,and, indicate that their days of riding roughshod throughout the region are over! Are Israelis more secure than they were 40 years ago? I think they need to reflect on that question!

Kevin Sullivan, London,

Depends on when they were built and whether they are among later upgrades such as the MIG-29 SMT, or whether they have the RD-33 engines that make them still competitive with the aircraft in many air forces today. If they are older, used models, they probably are at the end of their useful lives.

Rick H, Inaka, JAPAN

At $40 per barrel for oil, the Russians won't be in business long...cheap oil was the real reason the USSR collapsed. Trouble is the USA is on the same road.

David, St Louis, USA

1 F18 can take out all 5 of those mig-29's before they even got to fire a shot.
Saber rattling? This is more like plastic spoon waving.

John, DC, USA

Like all of Russia recent military cooperative activies, this poses no real threat to Western power, they are merely trying to gain influence in these regions, and rile American leaders at the same time. Russia, in reality, should also have no concerns about US missle defense in Europe.

Brad, Seattle, USA

The US tried to force a similar deal on us over some missiles, parliament told them where to go.

Turns out we would only be buying the missiles rather than the technology and we couldn't service them.

Mark, Liverpool, UK

Thank you Russia. Do you also have any spare electricty generation plants? We are very short of those too.
Beirut Resident.

Kenda Rehayel, Beirut, Lebanon

The US brought this on us by deliberately antagonising Russia, and/or letting George Soros run amok in the region.
There will be no cold war, Russia showed in Georgia how it plans to tackle US posturing in the area. China too will not be 'cold' if it came to it. The US needs to get back in it's box.

Richard, Leeds, UK

Damn, it is amazing how you americans see the world, you have two big wars in your hands, and selling out yourself like peacekeepers, thats is truly ironical. Also you are going to pur so called missile defence, your perfect Pr GWB have declined all agreements on arms after WWII, so who to blame?

Eugen, Moscow, Russian

america caused this by its global aggression and lack of restraint or understanding of foriegn powers and borders. america should sort this mess out! we need unilateral talks and disarmement negiotiations before we all wipe ourselves out fighting over some unused & cold mountain peak (pakistan!?)

liam, aberdeen, scotland

So why the pictures of SU-27's then ?

Stuart, Reykjavik,

Chris fromvancouver.It seems that you are the only one on thid block that sees what is about to take place.Soon we are out of here

benna, Springbok, south africa

I'm with Joe Mamma of Dearborn: Rolls-Royce Merlin = goosebumps (though I'd prefer a Spitfire to even a P-51 AND a Ford)

Paul, Norwich, UK

What a one sided retort! Americans slagging off Russian military capabilities... no wonder more than half the world despises USA. The US shouldn't brag about its state of the art weaponry when they cant even win a war in the gulf...and how they got whipped in Somalia....tut tut

Raj, Nairobi, Kenya

They are better engineered and built than anything the Americans could design or build, not to mention the superiority of their pilots, they may even give the Euro-Fighter and pilots a run for the money.

Robert, Bedford,

The Meg Fighter Jets are old fashioned, and they will be used for internal combat only, and they will never make any difference in power balance with Israeal or Syria, moreover, these fighters are not equiped with advanced tech, think of the number, only 10 Jets with 100s owned by Israeal and Syria.

Peter , Beirut , Lebanon

And the Americans don't think their economy depends on the price of oil? Interesting. Shell oil prediction of $250+ per barrel starting in 2010. MAY YOU LIVE IN INTERESTING TIMES.

wxalexander, Delta, Canada

MiG 29s are actually capable of delivering nuclear payloads.
According to Germany they are worth 1 euro each (they sold theirs to Poland in 2004).
Overall they are thought to be capable fighters and Israel has a good right to be concerned.
It is interesting to see the political growth of Russia.

Tom, Leeds, UK

I think the reaction seen in the west to this sort of stuff is hysterical.Surely the west has much more hardware spead over the globe.

Hipocracy?

10 mig-29's is hardly an invasion force, and lebenon's government need all the help they can get to prevent the country becoming a rogue state

Ronan, Dublin, Ireland

People, read Ezekiel chapter 38 and 39.... you'll see where this will end up..

Chris, Vancouver, USA

Will Obama be in a position to do anything about these displays of aggression or will he just talk the talk. This is the test the messiah will face upon his inauguration. Now nobody will care if he is black. They will wonder if he has the skill to overcome this challenge.

rick, miami, usa

I guess they're selling them at market value.

Davy, Los Angeles, USA

Rod, they are Mig 29's; an excellent aircraft in its day, but a little old fashioned for air combat superiority these days. This is nothing more than a symbolic gesture and will make no difference to the balance of power!

James Edward, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire

I once knew a fellow who worked for a national direct fastening tool company. The equipment fired fasteners with a 23 caliber shot.
He would give away the tool. The user had to buy the shots from him.
wiseowl

George, Somers, U.S.A.

Russia's entire economy depends on the price of oil. They have little else at this point. If the price remains below $60/bbl their global influence will continue to be severely limited no matter how much they posture.

SamIam, NY, USA

the Russians are desperate for the price of oil to go back up... this is just currying favour with OPEC members to get them to vote to reduce the flow...

pcooke, Gloucester,

To all the people that think that russia is going to charge for maintenance and other stuff, I'll tell you that this is not the deal here, this is not george bush trying to rip off people.. Russia has a bigger plan for the world, and right now, money does not matter as much as their plan.

elias, Beirut, Lebanon

Well, is will last no more than 10 years. They will all be either crashed, broken down in disrepair or shot down by their enemies.

The real question is who is going to fly them.

Jim, Gig Harbor, WA, USA

The MiG-29 is outdated and the F-15 is more than a match for it. It is cannon fodder for the F-22. I don't see a big deal here. Perhaps it will assist the lebanese in keeping their country under control for a time.

Matt, St. Louis, USA

I would rather have a North American P-51 Mustang with the Rolls-Merlin treatment in the engine department. But that's the kind of guy I am.

Joe Mamma, Dearborn, USA

Maybe these are the jets the US Army found buried in the Iraqi desert...

M., Midwest, USA

It's all about influence. The Russians are making a statement that they are back in force. With their ships visiting Panama, Venezuela and Nicaragua and now planes to Lebanon, along with Syria and Iran, they will be testing the Obama administration, as they see it as weak.

Big Tom, Middletown, NJ, USA

Anthony from Austin - and they say americans dont have a sense of irony......

Trevor, Belfast,

Russia continues to soil trouble in everyway it can. They know darn well that the middle east is a troubled area, yet they continue to supply the radical states with arms. When will Russia become a stabilizer instead of a destabilizer. They need to concentrate on there own sorry state of affairs.

Anthony, austin, USA

Cold War Part 2 here we come!

Russia will be in worse financial situation than us in 5 years time and will fall over again - mark my words!

Lee Martin, Cheltenham, UK

They just want to sell Lebanon the service plan!

Erik, Denver, CO, USA

Dear Lebanon here are 29 Mig planes free of charge, however any repair parts your might need will be charged at a premium and training your mechanics and pilots will cost you a piece of land so we can place spying equipment. Oh by the way you still have to pay for the delivery of everything.

Rod Blagojevich, Chicago IL, USA

I would rather have a Ford Mustang with the Carroll Shelby treatment in the engine department. But that's the kind of guy I am.

robert, Amarillo,Tx, USA