It's nice to see that leftists in other countries are as nuts as our own: "'This [American troops deployment to Colombia to support counter-drug missions] could turn into a war that has nothing to do with us,' Senator Armando Benedetti told reporters. ...'It could be a prelude to World War Three,' [an ELN insurgent commander] said." Venezuela couldn't beat Colombia if Colombia tried to lose. And who thinks Russia would go to war for Maduro? Idiots on so many levels.
China's SSBNs and SLBMs continue to make progress.
South Sudan, Rwanda, and Burundi are sending troops into the Democratic Republic of Congo (old Zaire). The violence-wracked place defies solutions that seek to maintain a unified government there. Will this renewed interest in intervention renew Africa's Great War in the 1990s?
Yes, I wish people would stop fantasizing about a civil war in America. I think that worry is overblown, but it would be horrible if it happened. And the horrors would extend abroad as evil forces held in check by America take advantage of our inward focus. I worry that just increased polarization will focus us inward enough to tempt aggressors. But remember that the heated rhetoric largely comes from a small portion of activist social media a-holes on a medium that attracts a small portion of our people--unfortunately including the press which then expands the reach of that irrational hatred and intolerance.
France is trying to reset their coalition to fight jihadis in West Africa.
This is a commentary on critical thinking: I heard a Democratic operative on TV reject the prospect of Trump executive orders on police issues. The operative said whatever it will be pales in comparison to the fact that Trump canceled consent decrees that governed how cities operate their police forces before the recent riots and looting. So does that operative realize he is saying that predominantly Democratic-run cities require Trump to prevent their police forces from abusing minority citizens? Fascinating.
Russia accused one of its scientists of "treason" for passing information to China. Treason? Against a friend and ally? Not just "espionage?" Maybe Russia is finally getting tired of hiding their appeasement of China at the expense of relations with the West.
Last week I was troubled by the comments of retired General Mattis concerning Trump. Victor Hanson is quite troubled as well by imagery of several generals doing the same or worse.
Divisions in CHAZ/CHOP/CHUD are appearing already. The Dignified Rant has acquired exclusive video from inside the people's utopia:
This isn't political commentary. It's making fun of sad morons.
Three American carriers are at sea in the Pacific at the same time.
China's policy toward Taiwan is edging toward use of military force.
This is 2020, Kim Jong Un is going to have to break through the noise in a bigger fashion than blowing up a DMZ liaison building if he wants attention. This isn't even bigger than murder hornets. Yawn.
I just don't see how America has botched the Xi Jinping Flu response. This charge is related to a disturbing tendency to identify a problem America has or did have and then automatically assume that the problem is a unique American sin rather than being a universal problem that America has, in fact, handled better than other people. A combination of loathing your own country and ignorance is a dangerous combination.
China's airborne armored vehicles, capable of being airlifted or air dropped.
The Air Force has kept the skies above American ground troops clear since about 1944. But the threat is no longer just being bombed by planes. The threat includes missiles that planes aren't optimized to stop. So the Army wants ground-based air defenses after a post-Cold War holiday.
Patients with underlying medical conditions are 12 times more likely to die from the Xi Jinping Flu coronavirus than healthy people. My question is whether those age brackets for risk of death are from age or from increased chances of having underlying medical conditions because of age? That is, is a 70-year-old person with no underlying conditions no more vulnerable to death than a 25-year-old? Or so close as to make age not the factor?
Well that's problematic symbolism.
P-8s watch China's navy closely.
FYI, Trump does not run New York City or its police force, or write its local laws.
North Korea has threatened to "beef up" their forces along the DMZ? Why? North Korea can't invade South Korea with any hope of success; and this would just make it easier for China to invade North Korea.
I certainly hope that America will continue to support Afghan forces who kill jihadis.
Will somebody please break this news to Senator Warren? Tip to Instapundit.
Throw the book at him.
Turkish forces have begun an offensive into northern Iraq to fight Kurdish forces there. Iraq protested Turkish and Iranian incursions into Iraqi territory.
Despite all the talk of reducing American troop strength in Germany there is still no actual facts to discuss. Will the troops just go elsewhere in Europe or come home? Don't know. And that's a big difference.
Oh FFS.
Ukraine received more American weapons, including Javelin anti-tank missiles. As I understand it, those missiles are kept in western Ukraine away from the front line. Held in reserve they function as a deterrent to a major overt Russian armored offensive into Ukraine.
That's a good sign for economic recovery, no? Tip to Instapundit.
Release the
As I've said, one major reason for my decision to vote for Trump's reelection--when I did not vote for him in 2016--is the absolutely vicious and relentless snobbery and hatred that the privileged Resistance class has shown toward Trump voters. I grew up in Detroit among the so-called "deplorables." I deeply resent the Resistance for that hostility and will never reward them with my vote--ever.
Is Russia preparing to escalate their war against Ukraine or just preparing in case they want to escalate against Ukraine?
You do realize that CHAD/CHOP/CHUD basically moved in on the local residents in that Seattle neighborhood and imposed a colonial government on them, right?
Turkish warships lit up a French warship that was thinking about enforcing the UN arms embargo on Libya that Turkey is violating. They are NATO allies. The Turks don't seem to get it.
Say, what happened to #MeToo? I seem to remember how urgent that once was. Did that get forgotten before or after the murder hornets?
The vaunted (by Russia) Pantsir S1 short-range air defense system seems to suck. Russia will surely argue for user error rather than missile system shortcomings. The Russians could even be right.
The Air Force hopes to cut jet fighter pilot training from 40 months to 22. In time that could drop to 18 months.
Antifa tactics. Tip to Instapundit.
Could China take down our electric grid with EMP? The issue has long been raised and I have no idea if the threat is real as opposed to theoretical. Such a devastating attack would risk American use of nuclear strikes--assuming we couldn't retaliate in kind--to inflict an equivalent effect, I think. Still, I'd be more comfortable if we had a strategic reserve of the equipment that we'd need to replace quickly rather than wait the 1-2 years needed to build them. Until we can harden the grid, of course.
I'm laughing. I think.
Okay, now I'm crying. Definitely.
After Russia convicted Paul Whelan on trumped up espionage charges, I don't know why any American would travel to Russia for any non-government reason. It's just not safe to go to places without rule of law. I assume the only reason we don't ban travel there is that at some level we can exploit travel there to slip in people to get human intelligence from Russia. But individually, why would any American decide to go there and risk this?
Sure, as Steyn quips, the March of the Morons continues. I just want to know why America is the only former colony that doesn't get to blame everything on the former colonial power.
Okay, things are making a lot more sense in the whole leftist censorship push. Tip to Instapundit.
Putin blames Poland for being invaded by the Nazis and in the process ignores the Nazi-Soviet pact that partitioned Poland between the two. Russia's firehose of falsehood knows no time barriers. But to be fair, Russia is run by a government of a-holes.
Bravo, gentlemen (tip to Instapundit):
This Carpe Dunktum video is both insightful and hilarious. But the reaction of people who stubbornly fail to see the humor is even funnier. Some people really don't see media bias, I guess.
Israel's LORA to replace manned aircraft strike missions. Not all the mission, of course. Israel does have the stealthy F-35, after all.
The Israelites needed God to get the Egyptians to release them from slavery. America freed the slaves all on our own. Just sayin'.
Oh good, is the projected cost of our planned FFG already too low? If history is a guide, the cost will skyrocket and our effort to get numbers in our fleet to endure losses in a war to control the seas will fail.
The Navy continues to work on fixing the new EMALS plane launch system.
The statue removal controversy. Is it just me or is this an odd issue of Republicans defending statues of Democrats? Doesn't anybody notice this? I mean, I'm pretty sure that if any of the statues were of Republicans that the media would be mentioning it 24/7 and asking Republicans if they repudiated them. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills. America, according to the 1619 Project morons, is forever tainted by slavery--which the United States neither invented nor instituted here (but which we ended by force at a huge cost)--but modern Democrats aren't tainted by their own history? Well that's convenient. Maybe Democrats are just bleaching the crime scene, eh?
A discussion of the low-tech battle between Indian and Chinese troops recently and the bigger picture.
Thank God we can finally make progress against the relentless discrimination and targeting of Eskimos. Truly, we live in an enlightened age.
Why on Earth did San Francisco allow "protesters" to tear down statues, including one of former president and general U.S. Grant? Is this some sort of city dog whistle support for racist Confederate supporters who clearly hate that Grant crushed and broke the Army of Northern Virginia? FFS, there are really stupid people out there.
Okay, who had Gulf of Mexico piracy on their 2020 bingo card?
Putin "may" run again if their so-called constitution is amended to allow him to run again. LOL Never say the man doesn't have a sense of humor.
The clusterfuck with a UN seat called Yemen just got more clustery as southern rebels (distinct from the Houthi rebels) take control of Socotra Island at the east end of the Gulf of Aden.
While it is true that more testing reveals more cases of the Xi Jinping Flu coronavirus are identified, which Democrats then wrongly claim means that we are failing to fight the pandemic; reducing testing as the president suggested is the wrong response. Although I should hold open the possibility that the story took the apparent suggestion way out of context. Which is what they often do.
Iran has a navy and a nutball navy. I suspect that the navy would try to stay out of our way in war. The nutball navy is basically lots of armed fast boats based in the Persian Gulf and would live a short but exciting life: "In the long run, any Iranian naval power is toast." Assuming we stay away and kill them from a distance.
I assume that the vile Chinese communists will disappear even more Hong Kong democracy activists now.
The summary of the DOD space strategy.
