The McCabe firing....many theories but everyone is forgetting one important fact.

I gotta touch on the McCabe firing.

Why?

Because while Trump dipped his toe in the murky water again with his insane tweets, there is something important that is going unsaid here.  Remember this bubba was part of the upper echelon of the FBI, the so called premier law enforcement organization in the US.

Let's dissect this thing.  First his supporters expressing outrage.

When the full extent of your venality, moral turpitude, and political corruption becomes known, you will take your rightful place as a disgraced demagogue in the dustbin of history. You may scapegoat Andy McCabe, but you will  not destroy America...America will triumph over you. https://t.co/uKppoDbduj

— John O. Brennan (@JohnBrennan) March 17, 2018

Analyze McCabe firing on two levels: the substance and the timing. We don’t know enough about the substance yet. The timing appears cruel and a cave that compromised DOJ independence to please an increasingly erratic President who should’ve played no role here. This is dangerous

— Eric Holder (@EricHolder) March 17, 2018

Read more here.

Next we cover not McCabe's defense but what renowned Constitutional Lawyer Turley said about it...

The McCabe controversy could also make life tougher for special counsel Robert Mueller. While McCabe lashed out at Trump in his statement, he may have just given Trump the long-sought cover to use his pardon power. If McCabe is not charged, Trump could cite that decision as the basis for pardoning Flynn, as a matter of equity and fairness.

More generally, the apparent conduct of both McCabe and Comey have fulfilled the narrative long advanced by Trump of a biased and unprincipled FBI investigation. Given Trump’s ill-advised inclination to fire Mueller in the past, these allegations of leaks and misrepresentations inside the FBI could rekindle Trump’s interest in forcing an end to the investigation that has dogged his administration for a year.

Story here. 

But ya know what has me spinning?

The Inspector General of the FBI recommended the dude be fired!  Somehow that has been forgotten or ignored.

The FBI’s Office of Personal Responsibility has recommended the firing of former deputy director Andrew McCabe, who is accused of serious misconduct.

The recommendation apparently resulted from a report by the Justice Department’s inspector general, which found that McCabe leaked sensitive details about the FBI’s investigation of the Clinton Foundation to a Wall Street Journal reporter and then lied about it to the IG’s office.

Story here. 

We're already in a constitutional crisis folks.

Parts of our Govt and Media are acting in their own interests to their own ends.

Additionally I think we're seeing a massive psyops campaign being waged.  At one time I thought it was being directed at the President himself but now?  Now I believe that its aimed at the American people.

The goal?  Desired end state?

I have no idea.

But I believe that we're watching the bouncing ball instead of the guy with the mask and the handgun running across the room.

In short we're being distracted with these power plays.  McCabe was recommended for firing because he was less than forthcoming about leaking a story to the Wall Street Journal (that alone deserves further examination...why would he leak to the WSJ about the Clinton Foundation...we look at these media sources as being liberal or conservative but what if they're neither...what if they're simply conduits for the govt to put info out?) yet the Director of the FBI was golden even though he leaked to the media too?

I thought the battlefield in Syria was chaotic.

The Washington DC battlefield is even more confused the only saving grace is no bodies...at least not yet.

German AF Chief fired for supporting F-35. Ordinarily I'd cheer but should we?

Thanks to Super Rhino for the link!

via IHS Janes.

The Chief of the Luftwaffe is to leave his position in large part due to his support for a German procurement of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), Jane’s has learned.

Lieutenant General Karl Müllner will leave his position by the end of May, with the news of his retirement breaking just two days after Germany’s defence secretary, Ursula von der Leyen, was sworn in for another term.

Jane’s understands that Gen Müllner’s outspoken public support for the JSF as a successor to the German Tornado fleet was pivotal in the decision for his early retirement. “The Luftwaffe considers the F-35’s capability as the benchmark for the selection process for the Tornado replacement, and I think I have expressed myself clearly enough as to what the favourite of the air force is,” Gen Müllner told Jane’s and other media in November 2017.

The Chief of the Luftwaffe’s active support of the JSF clashes with current Ministry of Defence planning, which prefers a successor solution involving the Eurofighter Typhoon.

Mixed feelings.

I want solid recommendations to civilian leadership but the F-35 has caused flag officers to act badly.

Past behavior of others makes me want to cheer this move but I wonder if I should.

A tainted program has made everything suspect.  What if this is really his best recommendation?  Of course the other side is at play too.  What if the guy is bought and paid for and we'll see him on the board of some defense firm soon?

Coxswain Course...Plus why not adopt the CB90 to revitalize our Boat Company?

Interesting and informative little vid.

But I have a question.  If we're gonna be launching from further out and if we're looking at defenses that might challenge our vaunted air power yet AAV/ACV/LCAC are too slow then why aren't we taking a page from our allies and imagining doing this a different way?

Rubber boats are for clandestine operations.  Preferably by sub that allows a small team to get ashore.  If we're gonna insert a Company Landing Team and if they're part of the A2AD fight then we need something larger, faster, capable of supporting fire on the beach and of course having longer legs.

I'm talking about the CB90 for USMC service.

It would revitalize Boat Company in whole new ways.  Raids using CB90s would make them a definite possibility instead of a capability that we rarely use today.

The CB90 would extend the reach of the MEU to well beyond the horizon and further.  Plus Marines would suffer the jarring or the cold that they face today. In other words they'd arrive fresher for the fight.

If it doesn't work?

Riverine has new boats, but more than likely they would get gobbled up by SEALs or even Rangers (I can especially see Rangers taking these boats if the Marine Corps experiment failed because of either WANTING it to fail or some real flaw being found).

In other words this isn't a boat that we would buy and have to figure out how to use it.  Its tailored to the mission of inserting troops.  The USMC could certainly use that with the concepts being tossed around.

Open Comment Post. March 18, 2018

Stinger w/Stinger & Longbow Missiles...The US Army is stumbling forward on air defense...

Thanks to Ricky Bobby for the link!





Hmm.

I don't know about this.  Missiles against slow moving UAVs?  Against a HMMWV?  Seems like a waste.

But I can't be too critical.  The reality is that they're making steps to bringing back a REAL air defense capability to their maneuver force.  That's a real good thing.

Now.

Now we need the Marine Corps to unwed itself from this bastardized concept of the ground element being wedded to Marine Air for air defense.

Everything we heard from the previous Deputy Commandant for Aviation indicates that they're going their own way.  From transforming LHAs to F-35 carriers and leaving the GCE on the pier to participating in the deep battle with Navy Air and the USAF.  Cobra AH-1Zs along with Huey UH-1Ys ain't gonna cut it against emerging threats.

The Marine Corps needs to piggyback on Army developments and rebuild its ADA too!

China’s “social credit” system...it will soon be "obey or die"

via Gizmodo.

China’s terrifying “social credit” system isn’t planned to be fully implemented until 2020, but we’re already seeing facets of it being put in place. In May, people who have committed acts of “serious dishonor” will reportedly be unable to travel on trains or flights for up to a year.

Reuters first reported the policy announced in two notices posted to China’s National Development and Reform Commission’s website. The social credit system is designed to place various hardships on citizens who’ve committed one of a variety of violations like spreading false information about terrorism or refusing to pay a debt. The latest penalty will include temporary bans on travel via airplane or train for people who are accused of infractions like using expired tickets or failing to pay social insurance. From Reuters:

The move is in line with President’s Xi Jinping’s plan to construct a social credit system based on the principle of “once untrustworthy, always restricted”, said one of the notices which was signed by eight ministries, including the country’s aviation regulator and the Supreme People’s Court.

China has flagged plans to roll out a system that will allow government bodies to share information on its citizens’ trustworthiness and issue penalties based on a so-called social credit score.

Story here

Things are getting real simple in China.

You obey or you die...

US forming a Cruise Missile Strike Group off Syria?

Thanks to DavidJames for the link!

via InterFax

March 17, 2018

16:19
U.S. HAS FORMED CRUISE MISSILE STRIKE GROUPS IN EAST MEDITERRANEAN, PERSIAN GULF AND RED SEA FOR POSSIBLE STRIKE AT SYRIA - RUSSIAN GENERAL STAFF

16:16
THERE ARE SIGNS U.S. PREPARING TO STRIKE SYRIA - RUSSIAN GENERAL STAFF

The Russians have been sounding the alarm about this coming and to be honest I discounted it.

Trump isn't a believer in endless war and I don't believe he's a supporter of our policy in Syria which is obviously aimed at removing Assad---NOT KILLING ISIS!

Having said that its also obvious that the deep state, Main Stream Media-Republican Never Trumpers'-Establishment Govt-Democrats of every stripe, are working on a psy ops campaign on this dude.

Anyone with even a bit of common sense would be able to piece it together. 

The constant drumbeat about Trump despite everything else happening in society and govt?

Yeah they've done an analysis on the guy and determined that a steady drumbeat of bad news coupled with guided direction when it comes to foreign affairs via "his generals" (wolves in sheeps clothing...they have labored long to lose two wars (Afghanistan/Iraq), start a third (Syria), participate in a fourth(Yemen) and we're no closer to winning?) and suddenly that strike in Syria becomes more likely.

Trump is a victim of his own hubris.

A more calm individual would stop tweeting, get his head down and work on his agenda.

Not the Republican agenda but his own populace agenda.

Another strike on Syria ain't his agenda.

Open Comment Post. March 17, 2018

Canadian Troops w/Enhanced Forward Presence Battle Group Latvia @ Exercise CLAYMORE FORGED at camp Ādaži

Falkland Islands: Britain 'would lose' if Argentina decides to invade now

via Telegraph.

Admiral Sir John Forster Woodward, known to all as Sandy, firmly believes that if he and other senior figures had made more of what they had achieved in the South Atlantic, the Navy would not now be in its present state – which he describes as “fairly dire. The Navy took itself for granted, and the country took the Navy for granted. Then we allowed it all to disappear after the Falklands.

“If we’d been louder, then investment in the services would have been more naval than it has been. We wouldn’t have ditched the aircraft carriers Invincible and Ark Royal. We wouldn’t have got rid of the Sea Harriers – an appalling decision.”

-----------------------------

If the Falklands are ever captured by Argentina it will be impossible to win them back, says Woodward. “We could not retake the Falklands. We could not send a task force or even an aircraft carrier. If we had been in this state in 1982, the Falklands would be the Malvinas. We rely on sending reinforcements by air, but that would be impossible if we lost control of the airfield at Mount Pleasant.”

He is not, however, as despairing as that sounds. “The problem doesn’t arise, because they won’t be taking it,” he says, rapping his knuckles on the kitchen table for luck. “I hope I’m right.”

His hope is based on the recent arrival of the destroyer HMS Dauntless. “We need her surface-to-air missiles. The Argentines might hope to overcome the four Typhoon jets at Mount Pleasant with a dozen Mirages and then bomb the airfield out of action, but while she’s there with her missiles they won’t try that. I’m not sure the Government understands how important she is.”

Story here. 

This story illustrates why I like talking to the old skool guys.  If they have run out of fucks to give OR they decide to take you into their circle you can hear some amazing things.

Some of it will be about stuff you've heard about. 

The chest thumping accomplishments, the bravery of certain men and units under fire....

But that's not the juicy stuff.

It gets good when they recollect.  Ponder their past decisions.  Wonder what they got right, what they got wrong and what they would tell the guys that are doing the deed now if they JUST WOULD LISTEN!

Don't know if you agree with him, don't even know if it matters but his words are worth a read.