Russian Defense Minister alleges link between suspension of Coalition attack in Raqqa to ISIS assault in Palmyra

via MEHRNnews.

Russian Defense Ministry affirmed on Monday that ISIL terrorists exploited the suspension of the operations of the US-led coalition in Raqqa to attack Tadmur (Palmyra) city.

In a press conference, the Russian Defense Ministry's spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov said that ISIL organization attacked the city ahead from the North, the East and the South, adding that around 5,000 terrorists participated in the attack who came to Syria from the Iraqi city of al-Mosul, facing no hindrances on their way.
Konashenkov pointed out that around 4000 terrorists along with tanks, armored vehicles, Jeep cars equipped with heavy machineguns have moved quickly from the countryside of Raqqa and Deir Ezzor to the area surrounding Tadmur, adding that there had not been a group that large near Palmyra until last Thursday.
"Apparently, the ISIL militants had gathered around Palmyra, being very certain that combat operations in Raqqa would not resume," he said.

Interesting.

Some of the more left wing readers here have been alleging the same.  I just didn't know but I sat up and paid a bit more attention when President Obama said that the fighting was hard because it was a 3 way fight.

Now we have this from the Russian Defense Minister.

If this report can make it past the main stream news media and into popular culture (yeah I know...fat chance) then some very uncomfortable questions will be asked of some hawkish Senators, the former SecState, the current SecState, the Joint Chiefs, every general that has appeared before Congress and of course the President himself.

The implication is that we're coordinating with ISIS and its almost confirmation that defeating that group hasn't been the number one priority as we've been told...the main effort has been the toppling of the Assad regime.

If the US has been involved in that type of gamesmanship in the region with the blowback of millions of people flooding into Europe, with Egypt and other countries on the brink then we're seeing one of the biggest foreign policy blunders in recent memory.

Aleppo has fallen, Russians are being hailed as heroes and terrorists are being stacked like firewood.

Thanks to S300v4 for the link!

Do me a favor.  Check out this Twitter Feed before you read the rest of my little rant.

You're back?  Ok then consider this.  I don't know who this guy is but he appears to be part of the local scene or is keeping close tabs on it at least and the message is clear.

Aleppo has fallen, Russians are being hailed as heroes and terrorists are being stacked like firewood.

That isn't an intelligence assessment, that's an observation of social media. Make no mistake about it.  The Russian actions in Syria have gained them ENORMOUS credibility in the region.  I don't know why the Pentagon tried to slow walk the fight against ISIS.  I don't know where the talking point that it would take decades to defeat them came from but the Russians exposed us in a very serious and very disturbing way.

I don't know what the problem is with our way of war but we've consistently deployed more men, launched more strikes and provided far more support than the Russians could ever dream of yet while they have achieved victory we remain in a stalemate (at best) type of situation in our fights.

Everyone from the Pentagon, to the Administration, to think tanks, to SOCOM and even conventional ground combat units needs to take a serious look at how/why we do what we do and how we can do it better.

The Syrian Army WAS ALL BUT BEATEN and the Russians deploy at most a Marine Brigade along with Paratroopers with some Spetznaz thrown in, mixed in with less than a full air wing and they win the fight?

Yeah they've figured out something that we haven't.

Residents of the Polish city of Bydgoszcz being executed

Residents of the Polish city of Bydgoszcz being executed by german soldiers...via Historical Times

Why am I posting pics that illustrate the barbarity of WW2?  Because many don't know, many don't remember, and sadly some don't care.  Standby for more posts like this..especially from the Pacific front.  WW2 wasn't a clean war.  It was dirty, barbaric and brutal.

Fiorina calls China an adversary!

via CNBC

Carly Fiorina, who is reportedly under consideration to be Donald Trump's director of national intelligence, met with the president-elect Monday and said the pair discussed China as "probably our most important adversary."
Trump met with the former Hewlett-Packard CEO and his one-time presidential rival to discuss the director of national intelligence position, The New York Times reported, citing a senior transition official. She did not tell the reporters in New York's Trump Tower if she talked about the job with Trump.


Fiorina said the pair "spent a fair amount of time talking about China as probably our most important adversary and a rising adversary. We talked about hacking, whether it's Chinese hacking or purported Russian hacking."

FINALLY!

It took Carly to finally state the obvious.  We might have had administration after administration filled with Ferengi but the truth is out there.  China is our number one enemy and we, the American consumer is fueling their war machine.  Oh and what is a Ferengi?  Check out the passage from Wiki...

They and their culture are characterized by a mercantile obsession with profit and trade, and their constant efforts to swindle unwary customers into unfair deals. 

BAE rolling out the first of 16 Amphibious Combat Vehicles (ACV) 1.1 prototypes

via Press Release.
Did you know we’re rolling out the first of 16 Amphibious Combat Vehicles (ACV) 1.1 prototypes to the U.S. Marine Corps tomorrow? It’s true and you can get a front row seat to the rollout ceremony as we’re broadcasting it LIVE from Facebook!

Tune in here tomorrow around 11am to hear our Marine Corps’ customer, company leadership, and more VIPs speak to our fully amphibious solution for the #USMC’s ACV 1.1 program – you may even get a peek at our ACV 1.1 prototype!

Ratel IFV close combat with T-55. UPDATED with info on the fight!~

via Tanks-a-lot Tumblr Page.

The view through the scope the South African RATEL infantry fighting vehicles at a destroyed Soviet tank T-55 during the war for the independence of Namibia.

Geez.  That is close combat for armored vehicles.  For all intents and purposes these guys were in a telephone booth duking it out if the kill happened at this range.  Note the pic has 25ft in its caption.

Anyone know anything about the circumstances surrounding this fight and this pic?

UPDATE!  
Galvars found a link that has information on this amazing close quarters battle between a RATEL IFV and a T-55.   Full story here

Trump takes aim at the F-35.

Thanks to William for the link!

via The Real Donald Trump Twitter Feed.

The F-35 program and cost is out of control.
Billions of dollars can and will be saved on
military (and other) purchases after January
20th.
Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump

Oh Shit!

War has been declared and it looks like the F-35 is about to get skull stomped, throat crushed and shot about 20 times in the pelvic girdle!

This.  This is giving me a woody!  

This hacking investigation is grating.

via Politico

Influential senators from both parties amplified calls for an independent investigation of Russian meddling in the U.S. election, setting up a clash with President-elect Donald Trump over U.S. policy toward Russia and potentially his pick for secretary of state.
Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) issued a joint statement Sunday with the incoming Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer of New York, and top Armed Services Committee Democrat Jack Reed of Rhode Island that Russian interference in the election "should alarm every American." They said Congress must investigate further without allowing it to become a partisan issue.

Here 

I've been watching this for days and you know what I find amazing.

No one is disputing that the information these hackers gave the American people via Wikileaks was false/disinformation.

It seems that our politicians aren't angry because the DNC got hacked, no they're angry because we got a peek behind the curtain to see how the political elite do business inside our govt.

What is this taking away from?

Everyone is ignoring the fact that the democrat party DID rig the election against Bernie Sanders so that Hillary would win.  They're ignoring the close relationship between the news media, celebrities etc with the democrat party.

The real crime was committed by the political elite against the American people.  These hackers...whether Russian, Chinese, or some bastard in his basement did us all a favor.  The calculations behind it are immaterial.  The people of this country processed information available and made a choice.

For better or worse Trump is the President.  Suck it up buttercup.  Get over it.  Move the fuck on and deal.  We've survived bad presidents and if Trump adds his name to the list then we'll survive him too.

Marines Want Armed Drone ASAP To Escort V-22

via Breaking Defense.

The Marine Corps’s rotorcraft requirements director, Col. John Barranco Jr., told me after a CSIS panel Friday on FVL that his service wants the drone first because “we have a gap that the Army does not have.” Specifically, the Corps needs an armed escort for its V-22 Osprey tiltrotor troop transports, which at 250 knots (287 mph) cruise more than twice as fast as its AH-1Z Cobra gunships. The Army doesn’t have that problem because the Army transports troops in conventional helicopters.
Bell Helicopter and a Sikorsky/Boeing team are building manned technology demonstrator aircraft under the FVL umbrella — the V-280 Valor and SB>1 Defiant, respectively — that will be required to fly fast enough to escort an Osprey. First flights are scheduled next year. But no production FVL aircraft are expected until the early 2030s.

Here.

So what the hell!  The AH-1Z and UH-1Y no longer have a job in the Marine Corps even though they just spent a metric shitload of money to get them upgraded?  The F-35B can't do the escort mission?  The concepts they're building for an "aviation centric" Marine Corps means that the wing gets to suck even more money from the budget?

The USMC is pushing a concept that will place a Company Landing Team 1,000 miles from supporting fire and now to fill that lack of fires they're proposing an armed drone?

When the big 3 was first proposed for the Marine Corps (EFV, MV-22 and F-35) it wasn't toward an eye toward "revolutionizing" Marine doctrine.  It was suppose to make us faster and more lethal.  It was suppose to build on battle winning fundamentals.

Now?

Now to justify the F-35 and MV-22 they're being touted as gamechangers. Even worse is that they're altering the Marine Corps to fit the capabilities of those aircraft instead of acquiring aircraft that fit our doctrine.  Not only is the Wing unbalancing the Marine Corp but the Wing itself is now unbalanced.

If you're a UH-1Y/AH-1Z pilot I recommend you get your package together to get a seat in a MV-22 if you still want to fly.  If this gets approved then you guys are on the chopping block.

Sidenote:  John in the comments wrote something that is laced with so much common sense its stunning.  The USMC simply needs to buy a fixed wing light airplane that is capable of landing on a big deck amphib (L-class carrier).  We've done it before and the OV-10 would make an ideal escort for the MV-22!

Open Comment Post. Dec 12, 2016

Marines will now wear woodland green camouflage uniforms all year

via Marine Times

Marines will now wear the woodland green camouflage uniforms year-round, with sleeves down in the winter and rolled up in the summer.
Since 2008, Marines have worn desert camouflage uniforms in the spring and summer and the woodland camouflage in the fall and winter.
Designated service uniforms will change with the seasons: Bravos in winter and charlies in the summer, according to ALMAR 038/16, which was released on Dec. 8. Military.com first reported on Sunday that Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller had ordered an end to alternating between the two uniforms while in garrison. The desert cammies will still be worn on deployment.

Here.

Hmm.  Don't know if this is good or bad.  What I do know is that they're still unwinding all the "change" that Amos brought....and because they're unwinding SOME of his nonsense you're getting this little friction on subjects that no one should even be worried about.

The Fate of the Furious - Official Trailer

God!  This series went on about 3 movies too long, and the only redeeming part of those extra movies was the tribute to Paul.  This movie looks like it not only jumps the shark but destroys one of the memes that made the series worth a watch...the idea that these guys considered themselves family.  The physics will be outlandish so let's hope the fight scenes (they're not) and gun handling are close to being realistic or there is nothing to this thing.