I'd give good money if India would summarily hang pirates when caught: "The Indian navy said late Saturday that it had taken control of a bulk carrier hijacked by Somali pirates and evacuated the 17 crew members on the vessel." Who would complain? Racists? Who would take notice? Aspiring pirates.
You think you hate and distrust the media enough. You do not: Trump warned of a auto industry "bloodbath" if he loses in November. Media outlets truncated that to bizarrely claim threats of physical violence if he loses. That "extinction level" media collapse can't come too soon. Tip to Instapundit.
China inspires a reaction: "By the end of March, the Philippines expects to have its first BrahMos anti-ship cruise missiles, and Japan plans to begin training its personnel to operate Tomahawk missiles."
Attrition: "During two years of fighting in Ukraine, Russia lost nearly 9,000 tanks and other armored vehicles."
Greece purchased this from Israel: "Fire Weaver Fire Control system uses Orbiter 3 UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) to seek out targets and automatically have a Spike NLOS missile launched from an aircraft, ground vehicle or ship to hit the target." It distributes missiles against as many targets as possible.
The TDS is obvious after taking Trump's "invitation" to Russia to invade NATO defense laggards at face value: "The center is not holding!" FFS. His "solution" of European "strategic autonomy" is the real threat to NATO. As if the EU wants to defend Europe! Please stop trying to make things worse.
Are we heading to "stagflation" (inflation and a stagnating economy)? Tip to Instapundit.
Eric continues his work defending the destruction of Saddam Hussein's regime. I especially appreciate his dogged efforts to kill the repeated efforts to claim America failed to prove Saddam had WMD when the responsibility was on Saddam to prove he had disarmed. Saddam did not do that even at the last moment.
Screwing the pooch: "Retired Gen. Mark Milley, the former Joint Chiefs of Staff chair, is set to testify on Tuesday at a high-stakes House committee hearing on the Biden administration’s 2021 withdrawal from Afghanistan." Shame on Milley for not resigning in protest before--or after in disgrace--for that debacle.
Driving a stake into the A-10 heart: "The Air Force is hoping to retire more A-10 Warthogs in 2025, as the service continues to readjust its overall strategies and future aircraft based on China's growing threat in the Pacific." Remember, the issue was never about the plane the Air Force hated. It's a matter of trust.
A mob--not a fleet--sails around the Red Sea looking serious. Unity of command is neglected. That Red Sea Regatta won't end well for the West.
Back to the future: "Russia has introduced a wire controlled UAV in order to have a UAV that is immune to electronic jamming. The new UAV has a spool containing ten kilometers of thin fiber-optic wire connected to a human-operated control station."
The plan: "Russia has already been moving Ukrainian civilians it controls to different parts of Russia where it will be easier to exterminate Ukrainian culture over a few generations. Russians are then moved into the territory formerly occupied by those Ukrainians to make those areas very Russian." And more.
Via Instapundit, the difference between old liberals and modern progressives is reflected in Justice Brown's concern that the First Amendment might prevent the government from censoring speech. Her inability to recognize a woman is nothing compared to her inability to recognize our fundamental rights.
The Army likely underestimates the number needed: "The Army’s 2025 budget request includes $13.5 million for hand-held anti-drone devices to equip a division and $54.2 million for backpack-size jammers[.]"
LOL! "The United States’ grand strategy of inhibition is a linchpin of American foreign policy and is rooted in the belief that preventing nuclear proliferation is crucial for global security." We were unwilling to destroy North Korea's nuclear program when we could; and of course, Democrats looove Iran's mullahs.
This is a problem for this summer and the next decade: "Expecting a war that would only last for several months, the Russian military is quickly losing its most capable troops, including special operations forces, elite naval infantry, and most of all, a decimated officer corp." And Russia lacks NCOs.
"Russian authorities have systematically tried to eradicate the Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar national identities in Ukraine over the past 10 years by interrupting, limiting, and prohibiting the use of the Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar languages." Russia suppresses speech and religious/cultural rights, too.
Lubrication is wise: "Putin wasted no time buttering up China after his election victory[.]" Friction is not Putin's friend. Especially when you consider the price Xi may demand as China bends Russia over the couch and has its way with it.
We had another anniversary of the Iraq War. I guess this recent post of mine summarizes my view of how an obvious victory is bizarrely treated as an unprecedented American strategic catastrophe.
Cuba seemingly just wallows along on socialist misery that its people endure with no end in sight. But is that true? Cuba has even managed (via Instapundit) to ef up its own worthless currency.
Milley said it was a clusterfuck because "decisions made outside the Defense Department led to the chaos and violence of the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021, but also emphasized that no single mistake can be blamed for the failures." He is both right and wrong. He also failed in his duty.
WTAF: "The military grocery stores in the Pacific are among the first to announce that they're eliminating single-use grocery bags." We know bans are counter-productive. But who knew that the climate rather than China is the "pacing challenge" our military is really focused on defeating?
But I thought global warming would make the Arctic an ice-free posting? "The Navy is rolling out a Navy Arctic Service Medal this year, serving as an extension of the existing Navy Arctic Service Ribbon." Won't that be like getting a Maryland Service Medal?
Well thank God! "'Maximizing [gender] integration, at the platoon level, develops the foundation of a successfully integrated force,' according to the report." If only the Marines had that advantage on Guadalcanal. The campaign would have been over in a fortnight!
Unless this is really for the U.S. Army, this should be a low-priority for Bahrain's security: "The US State Department today approved the potential sale of 50 M1
Abrams battle tanks and other equipment to the Gulf nation of Bahrain[.]" I get Bahrain's worry. But Iranian subversion is a bigger threat.
And now for something completely different:
I don't spend time worrying about the politically driven collapse of America. We're a big country. We've always had such survivalists. With social media it's easier to see. What I worry about is that media-driven Insurrection Porn is used by governing progressives to justify oppression. Tips to Instapundit.
Huh: "A Texas law that empowers local police to arrest and deport migrants accused of entering the U.S. illegally has again been put on hold, just hours after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed its enforcement." States once enforced immigration. The feds took over. Now the feds do nothing and deny states the right.
I worry about Navy shipbuilding plans that plan to shrink the fleet in the near term while planning a long-term expansion. I guess I assume only the near-term plan provisions are likely to be followed. The Navy continues to lose its war with math.
A string of outposts along the DMZ during the Vietnam War wasn't the disaster this author calls it. Outposts are Border Defense 101 that reduce casualties and identify penetrations. But reserves are needed to react and counter-attack. The strategic confusion was giving the NVA a sanctuary north of the DMZ.
Good: "The US Department of Defence is investing $7m in a hydrometallurgical plant to secure nickel and cobalt for the defence industrial base."
Building up to what? "Taiwan's foreign minister said on Wednesday that China has built 'enormous' military bases on three islands surrounding Taiwan's main holding in the South China Sea[.]" Taiwan's main holding is Itu Aba. I've focused on the more vulnerable Pratas Island.
Optimist that I am, assuming America resumes military aid to Ukraine, will our pause have achieved this? "Ukraine’s European partners continue efforts to stand up significant initiatives to provide military support to Ukraine." Would Europe has stepped up without the pause?
I see we're going from America caused chaos in the Middle East trying to impose democracy on a region without a history of it to American policy deprived the Middle East of peace and democracy after World War II. WTAF? The author is against Israel, too, naturally.
Ukraine's cyber militia at war with Russia. Right now they are a cyber militia working with the government. As I wrote a couple decades ago, what happens when there are cyber freebooters with their own foreign policy? And what comes next in the real world?
I've long said Trump has been trying to strengthen NATO--not wreck it: "Donald Trump has said the U.S. will '100 percent' remain in NATO under his leadership so long as European countries 'play fair.'" Euros have their own imperial reasons for stoking fear of Trump.
Well, yes: "Zelenskyy said in his nightly address Monday that it is in Ukraine’s strategic interest to expand its [defense] production potential every year."
No brain damage in "Havana Syndrome" cases. I'm not shocked. I doubted weapons were involved. I thought maybe it was from eavesdropping equipment. But it may have been mass hysteria.
I'm not exactly against planning for the post war after the Winter War of 2022 "ends". But I worry that it pushes down the priority of helping Ukraine win the war.
Oh joy: "Navy cargo ships ... are poised to head to the eastern Mediterranean Sea with more than 250 sailors to help build a humanitarian aid pier off the Gaza Strip[.]" Now our Navy works for Iran, too. I'm sure that grateful Iranians will halt Houthi attacks on Navy ships in the Red Sea.
The Czechs are doing good work: "Czech President Petr Pavel said in February that Prague had identified 500,000 155mm artillery shells and 300,000 122mm rounds outside the European Union that could be sent to Ukraine if necessary funds were secured." Let's get our rockets and 155mm shells flowing again.
Unlike canceling student loans for wealthy Democrats, I'd be fine forgiving this: "Democrats in both chambers suggest they’re willing to support Ukraine aid in the form of a loan, an idea that’s gaining steam with Kyiv’s GOP champions as they scramble to end Congress’s deadlock and help Ukraine[.]"
Interesting: "American military aid to Ukraine included a shipping container size 3D-printing UAV factories for Ukraine."
China isn't scaring opponents: "Australia and the UK have signed a defence and security treaty and announced £2.4bn in Australian investment in Rolls-Royce’s nuclear reactor facilities as the two nations tighten ties in the face of rising Chinese power."
Duty, honor, country: "An increasingly large segment of the population is becoming convinced that the government and its institutions no longer share their values. A story about 'Duty, Honor, Country' being removed from [West Point's] mission statement at this particular moment just adds to this sense." A justifiable sense.
I suspect this will help Ukraine successfully introduce F-16s: "Ukrainian drone strikes against targets within Russia are also likely increasing pressures on available Russian air defense assets." I also suspect Ukraine will get F-16s sooner than media reports indicate. It would be smart to get some surprise. We can do that, right?
The PLA's new-car smell is fading: "strategic nuclear weapons, warship production and combat aircraft production programs were crippled by corruption ... many if not most warships and modern combat aircraft could not operate in combat, or at all[.]" China has a lot of work to meet a 2027 deadline. Are we sufficiently better off?
Let's go Brandon: "More than $62.5 billion in student loan debt has been discharged for nearly 871,000 public service workers since President Biden took office." They get secure jobs and don't have to pay back loans. Ef me for being a responsible student and parent. Democrats hate and punish responsible people.
If surviving was a higher priority than killing Jews, Hamas would surrender: "a new poll shows that support for Hamas — and for murdering Jews — remains as strong as ever in what's left of Gaza." But Gazans prefer more pain. Enjoy what they clearly want, I say. Overall, Israel is fighting lawfully.
Indeed: "The Democrats' transition from being dismissive about Russia to finding
everything about its government reprehensible was, of course, the
product of political expediency." I've long noted that odd transition. And I'm totally mostly over them calling me a fascist for wanting to defeat the Soviet Union.
We all know this was deliberate: "Around 200,000 migrant deportation cases have been thrown out under President Biden because the administration failed to file paperwork before court hearings, according to a new report." Failed? They spelled "refused" wrong. Biden is killing rule of law. Tip to Instapundit.
Biden may cut off Israel despite Israel following the rules of war in Gaza. And Biden would welcome a Ukrainian defeat--as long as he can blame it on Republicans. Biden was fine with losing Afghanistan. Hell, Biden won't defend America's borders from illegals pouring in. But Taiwan is special to him, right?
I asked for a senior military purge after our Afghanistan Skedaddle Debacle. I thought that was my first time calling for that. It was not. Pity we didn't get an earlier purge. I worry we won't get any purge.
The Newspeak Dictionary was updated. Tip to Instapundit.
Funny how Biden's "stutter" never appeared before he went senile. For many decades it has been clear he is a malevolent mediocrity. More recently it is clear he is corrupt. But a stutterer? Nope.
Can Russia generate the recruits it needs to maintain an offensive this year?
Sure, Russia's military is not a paper tiger. It isn't very good, but it can grip you and bombard you. And Russia has done that to Ukraine for two years now without cracking. Will it be enough to win the war? In part that's up to the West--particularly America. Is it enough to defeat alerted NATO armies? I doubt it.
Republicans are politicizing the military? Seriously? "If successful, such tactics would transform the military from the nonpartisan force it is today to an ally of one faction of the GOP." The problem is woke-friendly senior leadership that finds many substitutes for victory. But it's Foreign Affairs, so whatever.
Russia helped persuade Niger to eject American counter-jihadi forces. Of course Russia did. Russia wants chaos in Africa because it considers a flow of refugees into Europe to be a weapon to undermine European states.
The defense funding bill buys a little time for Congress to resume military aid to Ukraine: "The bill retains $300 million for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which allows the Pentagon to place contracts for equipment to send Kyiv."
European leaders want to use interest income from frozen Russian assets to arm Ukraine. It could be $3 billion per year. Which isn't enough. But every bit matters now as Russia gears up for an offensive.
Interesting: "Taiwan’s defense minister has hinted that U.S. troops have been training
the Taiwanese military on outlying islands that would be on the front
lines of a conflict with its neighbor." Although if I was planning the invasion of Taiwan I'd island hop past those outlying islands and go right for the jugular.
Force Design 2030: "A 2018 wargame Berger observed
at the Naval War College ... indicated to him
that Marine forces needed to be lighter, more mobile and positioned
closer to the possible sites of conflict in the Indo-Pacific and China[.]" Perhaps. But why do Marines globally need that change?
Good: "France is expanding its training programs for the Ukrainian military in 2024." It would be nice if they had weapons, too.
Russian losses so far in Ukraine.
Regulated immigration on terms that help America as much as the immigrants is important. Why do Democrats support mass illegal immigration that denies America the chance to set the terms? Why, for God's sake, does Biden hate America? He's destroying the foundation of America.
This is definitely a new factor: "a third age of drone warfare, defined by autonomy, saturation attacks, increased precision and range, and full-spectrum drone warfare across land, sea, and air." But let's see if counter-measures deny their elevation to defining an "age."
As I wonder if attack helicopters are not cost-effective, China has a new AH-64 clone: "the suggestion is that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) wants to rapidly field a heavier and more capable attack helicopter than those it currently operates." Of course, China may have only one mission in mind.
Comparing the F-16 Ukraine will get against Russia's Su-35 is interesting. But air power isn't a battle of aircraft technical characteristics, as the author ultimately suggests. Compare Ukraine's NATO-supported air power system to Russia's system.
Yeah, the idea that some NATO states could directly intervene in Ukraine and then call on NATO support when they can't handle fighting Russia is insane. Let's arm and sustain Ukraine, which is willing to fight, before we start thinking about directly fighting Russia, eh?
Or maybe because it's a cycle of chaos-aid-chaos: "Haiti is experiencing a governance crisis that could soon lead to a significant humanitarian disaster. But efforts to send an international peacekeeping force have been stymied by chaotic planning and a dispute between [Biden and Congressional Republicans]."
A "summer of love" for Cuba's "Communist government [that] has few options to significantly improve living conditions before the oppressively hot summer months, which are usually when most protests happen and when electricity demand soars, economists say"? Will Biden try to save Cuba's communists?
This seems about right these days: "any position that’s not crazy and self-destructive is now 'far right.'" Liberals once staunchly defended individual rights and free speech. Progressives kill those rights.
So it's a "mostly peaceful" invasion? How long until the "fiery" stage? Tip to Instapundit.
Every time China efs with the Philippines, it makes it more likely America can use this facility: "The U.S. military will not be involved in development of a port in the Philippines' remote northernmost islands near Taiwan[.]"
Endorsed: "passing omnibus spending bills that are over a thousand pages before any of the people voting have read them is a horrible combination of irresponsible and insane. "
ISIL killed 143 Russians in a terror attack near Moscow: "Militant Islamist group Islamic State claimed responsibility for Friday's attack, the deadliest in Russia for 20 years." I offer my sympathies. But I'm confused. Russia supports Hamas. And didn't invade Iraq. Why would jihadis hate Russia??
Democratic efforts to blame our open border on Trump is moronic and defies reality. Democrats demonize Trump for wanting a border wall. Democrats offer sanctuary and refuse to defend the border. The stalled border bill Democrats want only proposes to process the flow more efficiently.
Anti-access/area denial in action: "Russia can no longer use the Black Sea for commerce or moving supplies to Russian forces in areas near the Black Sea coast."
The Army would like extra money for drone defense: "both the US Army’s and US Central Command’s wishlists for fiscal 2025 prominently feature requests for more money for systems to shoot down those aerial threats." Unless we develop area defense shields, I think we need fighter drones (Army magazine).
I grant the author this point: "Just because U.S. adversaries may be cooperating doesn’t mean they are engaged in a global conspiracy against the United States." I've argued as much. But they are all enemies. Although to be fair, the original Axis wasn't unified, either, and took a lot to finally crush.
China and America can't really decisively strike each other's homelands, so we are included: "wars between great powers are rarely short and sharp. They are more often long, grueling slogs of attrition that tend to expand horizontally, ensnaring other regions in their wake." Troops are rarely home by Christmas.
Good question: "Why is the current administration so stubbornly bent on propping up a sclerotic, untrustworthy regime in Somalia with little legitimacy and even less effectiveness?" We blame colonial borders for Africa's woes--not that South Sudan ended chaos. But why not let Somalia formally break up?
I actually like this given that arrested but not convicted people will find the pictures online forever: "The Murrieta Police Department has been posting hilarious arrest and lineup photos with suspects’ faces replaced by Lego heads to comply with a woke state law protecting offenders’ rights." Via Instapundit.
Total war: "The [Russian] missile and drone attack hit a vast dam over the Dnipro river, killed at least five people and left more than a million others without power[.]"
Adebahr clearly wants to deal with rather than defeat mullah-run, long-time enemy Iran: "The regime remains fragile at home but skillfully uses every opportunity on the international scene to increase its clout. Like a giant with feet of clay, as per the Biblical reference to the Persian empire of the antiquity[.]"
Hmmm: "The Vietnamese Communist Party has accepted the resignation of President Vo Van Thuong, the government said on Wednesday, in a sign of political turmoil that could hurt foreign investors’ confidence in the country."
I'm sure we'll file the objection appropriately: "China slammed the United States for interfering in its border dispute with India, after Washington said it recognized the disputed Arunachal Pradesh as a part of Indian territory."
How does this help China gain influence in the region? "Houthi rebels in Yemen ... have reached a deal with Russia and China to allow safe passage for
their ships[.]" Which means Iran won't supply targeting information about Chinese and Russian ships, basically. Are Gulf Arab states happy with this? Get a room.
I'd like to think we could have reacted faster in a direct war: "We still have a peacetime defense industry in an age of war and rising risk, although governments and Western organizations are at least recognizing the problem." But we failed that test already. We need to be the arsenal of democracy again.
Huh, I ran across a 2013 post that rejected what sure looks like the Unicorn-reliant, embryonic Marine Corps Force Design 2030. My comment then applies now: "There's a difference between being visionary and just seeing things."
AI will make it easier to gin up compelling reasons to go to war. I'd say that people might react to that by eventually shrugging their shoulders when real reasons to fight exist, but so many progressives deny Hamas raped and murdered its way into Israel on October 7, 2023, that it probably makes no difference.
Huh: "Islamic State released on Saturday a photo of what it said were the four attackers behind a shooting rampage that killed at least 143 people in a concert hall near Moscow on Friday, the militant group's Amaq news agency said on Telegram." IS has a way to go before matching how many Russians Putin has killed.
Maybe: "Belarusian authorities may have constructed a nuclear warhead storage site for Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. ... The Federation of American Scientists assessed that these upgrades closely resemble protections on Russian nuclear warhead storage sites." Or maybe they know what we look for.
South Korea's "K2 [main battle tank] armor includes metal and ERA armor in addition to an APS (Active Protections System)[.]" I assume it doesn't have the depleted uranium armor of our most well protected Abrams. Poland will build the K2 at home.
Interesting: South Korea fears North Korea might conduct a Hamas-style attack. Also, North Korean officials used substandard materials and production methods on their artillery shells (half the ammo sold to Russia was bad) because they didn't think North Korea was foolish enough to attack South Korea.
Russia exports oil and not refined products, right? "The U.S. has pressed Ukraine to halt drone strikes on Russian energy facilities, fearing that it could provoke massive retaliation and drive up global oil prices." Ah, Smart Diplomacy!® We really believe we can engineer a nuanced end to the war. Tip to Instapundit.
Hmmm: "The Ukrainian strikes on Russian refineries are less about POL than reduction of nitrogen,ammonia and methanol feed stocks for Russian explosives and propellants for it's artillery and missile production." Outside of my lanes. Sounds plausible. Tip to Instapundit.
American pressure on Ukraine: "The U.S. is concerned that targeting Russia’s energy facilities will impact the Kremlin’s oil production capacity and drive up global prices — ahead of a knife-edge presidential election[.]" Pressuring Ukraine for domestic political purposes is impeachable, according to Democrats.
Manufacturing "Islamophobia" and denying anti-Semitism. You think you distrust and hate our media enough. You do not. Tip to Instapundit.
Yes, Eisenhower was right that American strength depended on defense industry and a robust free-market economy. Which is why it is backassward to say Eisenhower was against the military-industrial complex.
I heard in a podcast that Biden has stacked military advisory boards with his woke activists notwithstanding statutes that mandate political diversity. Go woke, troops croak. That's on my radar, now.
A reality-based policy? "Long-term Israeli-Palestinian peace requires, among other things, a destroyed Hamas, an overhauled Palestinian Authority, and a spirit of co-existence that’s nurtured among the Palestinian people." That's basically what I called for early--but with a contrast to forestall complaints.
Who knew telling half your audience they are deplorable Nazis would have consequences? Tip to Instapundit.
They'll fail to solve both: "President Biden and the press
keep raising alarms about a climate crisis that his policies can’t do
much about. Yet in the meantime they’re ignoring how government climate
policies are contributing to a looming electric-grid crisis that is more
urgent and could be avoided." Tar. Feathers.
