I don't draw comfort from Russia's firing of top commanders. Eventually they may get competent ones. I'd rather Russia stuck with the officers who got them this far. Losses in combat are another thing altogether, of course.
Prosperity is a very effective birth control.
Can God restore Russian troop morale?
Instapundit celebrated its 21st birthday last week. Congratulations! It's long been a regular stop for me.
Indeed: "A pivotal issue in Ukraine’s defense is the West’s—and the U.S.’ in particular—ability to provide weapons and ammunition swiftly enough to defeat Russia." Even if the West can barely sustain Ukraine's war, what does it say about supplying a big war?
Ukrainian resistance in the Russian-occupied south seems to be getting more organized.
Suddenly it is possible to steal an election. Let's see. 2016? Stolen. 2020? Totally clean, you nutballs! 2022 and 2024? Potentially stolen. Odd that it is only possible when a Democrat is president.
I'm seeing more stuff on the Army's new light tank--excuse me, Mobile Protected Firepower. I'm against them. The longer it has been since major tank losses the more the urge to lighten up the armor. Once at war, the light tanks die and aren't replaced. Or missed. Except by the enemy.
America is subcontracting its nuclear diplomacy with Iran to the European Union? That doesn't seem wise if the purpose is a good deal rather than any deal.
I remember when this would have been a presidential lie designed to inflate the liar's record. Now it's just going "well beyond" the facts.
Flight cancellations--1,000 over the weekend (via Instapundit). But keep in mind that the FAA handles 45,000 flights per day in America. So 1.1%. I'm not saying Biden and the government in general haven't made air travel worse. But perspective.
American troops in India for high-altitude training kind of sort of "near" the Chinese border. I'm about 40 miles from Canada. I don't think I'm "near" Canada.
Russia's new maritime strategy to challenge the U.S. Navy globally. You go, girl! Spoiler alert: it's the usual Russian bravado. Russia needs a maritime strategy for its ships to survive more than 10 miles from home port. Who needs enemies to undermine Russian security when Russia has Putin?
If the West could clamp down on vital parts for Russian weapons and military equipment, it would have a major impact on Russia's ability to fight their war on Ukraine. Increase the pain.
Another round of American weapons, equipment, and ammunition for Ukraine. Hey, bleeding ulcers don't bleed by themselves, you know.
Our teacher union-government complex has destroyed the lives of many children. Lowering standards out of "compassion" was ultimately cruel to the children and to society which must now cope with their lost years. Screw the teacher unions. Tip to Instapundit.
Russia may be using the crap volunteer units to free up regular units for the front--provoking more numerous and more effective resistance from the locals and whatever Ukraine sends to help, eh?
Will economic unrest lead to revolt? Or will the love of their life save the mullahs? Unrest and revolt might be bigger than that (via Instapundit).
That's how they both roll: "Israel kept Gaza under constant aerial surveillance and captured video of the rockets being launched from populated areas, including Mosques, schools and residential buildings. The Israeli air strikes destroyed those structures, after warning (usually by cellphone) civilians to get out."
China goes to space and Russia drops out.
That doesn't look Third Worldy banana republic at all! Is rule of law dying before our eyes? The FBI launched the armed raid to recover documents Trump has had for 19 months because he might destroy them? Jesus, I want Trump to be guilty of something major rather than have to accept that this kind of storm trooper political persecution is real. No Democrat will ever get my vote. Ever.
At the moment, Xi Jinping has no interest in war with America.
Explosions at Russian airbase in occupied Crimea.
Ethiopia kills invading jihadis.
China pretends the South China Sea is a city.
I'm seeing more people wearing masks lately. Even alone in a convertible.
Putin's war on Ukraine has pushed Russia into vassal status under China. Well, yes.
The A-10 can be a loitering bomb truck that the stealthy F-35 detects targets for.
The U.S. is focused on supplying rockets for Ukraine's HIMARS rather than adding more HIMARS.
The Chinese military is built to defeat America in a war over Taiwan? Not quite. It is focused on defeating Taiwan. China just needs to delay America long enough to defeat Taiwan.
If our logistics are this bad, Taiwan is screwed: "To even seriously contemplate fighting a
war with China over Taiwan, the United States would likely require
three months at the absolute earliest once war broke out." That's probably too pessimistic. But if true, our forward-deployed forces are just targets and should be pulled back.
General Milley should resign. I will note he's fine with court martial and prison. He should not be the last. I used to respect him. Don't forget to vote.
The United States has sent Ukraine air-to-ground missiles designed to hit Russian radars.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine is pushing more countries to buy F-35s. I do worry about software vulnerability.
Break the FBI up for parts. If there are so few foreign threats to deal with inside America, we don't need it keeping busy being the Democrats' secret police. Elections matter, people.
Between a restive population unhappy with Lukashenko and being yoked to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Belarus economy is hurting.
Ukrainians are saying that the strike at Russia's Crimean airbase signals the start of the southern counteroffensive. Okay. I'll believe it when I see it.
Iran allies with Russia. Now they get to argue who is the senior member of the Axis of Evil. I'd read this before: "Russia has previously tried to limit Iranian influence in Syria but is now enabling its expansion." Just a reminder that Russia "helped" get the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Which sucked.
I'll put this out there even though I think it is silly to call Afghanistan unwinnable. Define your victory well below creating "Vermont without bike paths" and we could have won that war. We certainly didn't have to lose it when our cost was money to keep Afghan security fighting jihadis (and they were dying every day doing that).
"Europe" doesn't need a leader. European nations need leaders in each one. And saying "Europe" needs a leader is to confuse the existing geographic Europe with the aspiration for a political proto-imperial Europe that can finally chuck the prefix.
I suppose this is a problem you might expect when you send regular Army troops to conduct training at the end of the world that highly trained and experienced special forces used to do. Security Force Assistance Brigades were established to free special forces for direct combat missions in the war on terror. Will those brigades be scaled back now that terror-related missions are scaled back?
A lot of speculation about explosions "near" an airfield: "Several explosions have been reported in an area of Belarus near a
military airport that Ukrainian authorities say has been used by the
Russian Air Force to attack Ukrainian territory." "Near" the airfield and not "at" the location. Until more is known I'll say not Ukrainian military action.
Western countries promised more aid for Ukraine.
Interesting discussion of military issues from the Russian perspective.
India's efforts around India to counter China's belt and road project.
A fire at military housing near Moscow. Sometimes a fire is just a fire, eh? Ukraine would be happy if the Russians thought every accident is Ukrainian direct action.
China's economic problems. This time, for sure? I worry that if true it might provoke aggression abroad. But I worry more about a thriving China doing the same thing when ready.
Good: "The current war in Ukraine has revealed serious shortcomings in Russian military capabilities and now China has to determine if it suffers from the same delusions that Russia was operating under." I've worried about that.
I think corruption means Mozambique will suffer from the twin curses of natural gas money and jihadis.
If true, why wait 18 months before the Trump raid; and why not change the codes 18 months ago? Shouldn't the Justice Department be prosecuting Biden officials who let this supposed nuclear danger linger on all this time? Jesus, try to be close to plausible to those who don't watch MSNBC. Tip to Instapundit.
Was Xi Jinping's harsh response to Pelosi's visit to Taiwan an indication that he is moving toward nationalism in place of economic growth as the pillar of his legitimacy? Uh oh.
I have no idea if China can defeat Taiwan if it invades Taiwan. But I do want to define what "defeat" means.
Is Russia looking abroad to replace weapons losses?
Writer Salman Rushdie, sentenced to die via devout Moslem volunteer executioner by Iran's Shia variety of jihadi nutballs more than thirty years ago, was stabbed while on stage. I don't even like Rushdie. But fuck all Islamists. Rational Moslems need to win their civil war.
The awful 2015 Iran nuclear deal actually let Iran deny it ever pursued nuclear weapons. The European Union is working to memory hole 2019 physical evidence of such a program. Remember, the EU doesn't care about the results. It just wants to author a deal.
Biden said we had zero inflation in July. Which if the number holds is true. Except that we calculate inflation on a yearly basis. So his boast is misleading. Obviously, if he was a Republican the media would call it a "lie." The annual inflation rate certainly dipped a bit because of one good month. But call me when July is largely repeated month after month going forward.
Iraq wants French Rafale fighters. Given Iraq's inability to maintain its F-16s, I assume this is about corrupt Iraqis seeking bribes.
Western countries have sent the precision American-Swedish Excalibur 155mm rounds to Ukraine. These are much more expensive than the usual precision kits added to standard rounds.
The U.S. government told its employees to shelter in place in Tijuana. Tip to Instapundit.
I'd like Republicans to move on from Trump. He will be fairly old by 2024. But as they have done since 2016, spittle-flecked Democrats are making Trump look much better by comparison, and deserving of another chance.
Why is Thailand--a longstanding American ally--hosting Chinese warplanes for exercises? A closer look? Going wobbly?
