Article here.
Chinese expeditionary capabilities are improving dramatically.
Saturday, June 03, 2017
The Chinese Y-30... A400 Grizzly competitor/rival?...
Thanks to Costas TT for the link!
Article here.
Chinese expeditionary capabilities are improving dramatically.
Article here.
Chinese expeditionary capabilities are improving dramatically.
Europe Reckons With Its Depleted Armies...fiscal sanity requires our allies to pay more.
via Wall Street Journal.
Across NATO’s European member states, shortfalls riddle land, sea, and air forces following years of defense cutbacks, leading officials to acknowledge that U.S. President Donald Trump has a point that spending has to rise.The ugly truth? Europeans are more concerned with global warming than they are with their own defense. Even uglier? The news media, the establishment and others have given cover to Europeans over Trump's complaint (he's only echoing past administrations) that they need to pay their fair share.
What do we see instead? Check out this Dept of Defense press release...
The Defense Department's fiscal year 2018 budget request includes nearly $4.8 billion for the European Reassurance Initiative to enhance deterrence and defense and improve the readiness of forces in Europe, the U.S. European Command director of strategy, plans and policy said today.Yeah.
Air Force Maj. Gen. David W. Allvin held a telephone briefing with reporters, speaking from Eucom headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany.
ERI funding for next fiscal year is up $1.4 billion over fiscal 2017, he said, noting that the funding increase will support the deterrence of future Russian aggression and malign influence through increased joint air, sea and land force responsiveness and expanded interoperability with combined multinational forces.
"This is one of our nation's commitments to Europe, and it demonstrates our strong dedication to the trans-Atlantic bond and the defense of our allies," Allvin said.
After Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine in 2014, the United States authorized ERI at $985 million in 2015, $789 million in 2016 and $3.4 billion in 2017. Operation Atlantic Resolve, funded partly by ERI, demonstrates to NATO allies and the world the 'U.S. intent to fulfill NATO treaty commitments to respond to threats against allies.
Drink in those figures.
4.8 billion dollars and the lives of US servicemen to defend Europe. Not the US but Europe.
We are defending 1st world nations that have a higher standard of living than we do! Does that make sense?
Fiscal reality requires that we DEMAND our allies pay more and for those funds to be reprogrammed for our OWN defense needs. How many programs are being deferred that can make use of that funding now! The ACV, the AMPV, speeding up the JLTV, new service rifles, new tankers....everything could be sped up if we used that money for modernizing our own forces.
Our current strategy is not only unwise but its downright foolish.
To understand the current Russia vs. US mess we have to learn about the events of Feb 22, 2014.
I've been trying to understand the current Russia vs. US mess and why the "neo-cons", national security establishment, establishment Republicans/Democrats and globalists are all trying so hard to nix what should be a common sense alliance with Russia to end the greater threat of ISIS.
My question. How did the US end up supporting Neo-Nazis and Islamic Jihadist in Europe? Why is this game being played at the expense of an alliance that could see ISIS killed (finally), stability brought to the Middle East (Russia could easily keep Assad in his cage if they so desired) and Iran at bay (same here...Russia could easily keep Iran from overstepping).
Additionally it would force the Chinese to reassess their stances from the South China sea, to their dealings with N. Korea to even their support of Pakistan.
In short I have to wonder.
What is the reality behind the Ukraine crisis that we would ignore the possibility of achieving a more stable world?
I thought that it all began with the events of Feb 22, 2014 when the President of Ukraine was overthrown after refusing to sign "Euromaidan".
I was wrong.
This rabbit hole goes deep. We will never know the manuevering that went on behind the scenes but here are some BASIC primers on the subject. How basic? Just some Wikipedia entries that give a quick overview. Be warned though. It becomes obvious just from these entries (and I don't know the views/leaning of the people who wrote them) that the tangled mess that is Ukraine has everyone covered in shit.
Yeah. That's just a quick primer and it doesn't even begin to touch on the subject properly (in my opinion).
We're seeing superpower games being played here and the public is being fed propaganda by both sides.
The one thing that gives any clarity is the Nuland mess. That was the first time Russia used intercepted communications to expose a US operation. I believe that to be an inflection point in this ciris. This is when the situation spun out of control.
My political leanings tend to label Nuland as a villain in this crisis and many seem to agree with that thinking. Below is an article via Consortium News by Robert Parry...
The Mess that Nuland MadeFull story here.
As the Ukrainian army squares off against ultra-right and neo-Nazi militias in the west and violence against ethnic Russians continues in the east, the obvious folly of the Obama administration’s Ukraine policy has come into focus even for many who tried to ignore the facts, or what you might call “the mess that Victoria Nuland made.”
Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs “Toria” Nuland was the “mastermind” behind the Feb. 22, 2014 “regime change” in Ukraine, plotting the overthrow of the democratically elected government of President Viktor Yanukovych while convincing the ever-gullible U.S. mainstream media that the coup wasn’t really a coup but a victory for “democracy.”
To sell this latest neocon-driven “regime change” to the American people, the ugliness of the coup-makers had to be systematically airbrushed, particularly the key role of neo-Nazis and other ultra-nationalists from the Right Sektor. For the U.S.-organized propaganda campaign to work, the coup-makers had to wear white hats, not brown shirts.
So, for nearly a year and a half, the West’s mainstream media, especially The New York Times and The Washington Post, twisted their reporting into all kinds of contortions to avoid telling their readers that the new regime in Kiev was permeated by and dependent on neo-Nazi fighters and Ukrainian ultra-nationalists who wanted a pure-blood Ukraine, without ethnic Russians.
Any mention of that sordid reality was deemed “Russian propaganda” and anyone who spoke this inconvenient truth was a “stooge of Moscow.” It wasn’t until July 7 that the Times admitted the importance of the neo-Nazis and other ultra-nationalists in waging war against ethnic Russian rebels in the east. The Times also reported that these far-right forces had been joined by Islamic militants. Some of those jihadists have been called “brothers” of the hyper-brutal Islamic State.
Though the Times sought to spin this remarkable military alliance neo-Nazi militias and Islamic jihadists as a positive, the reality had to be jarring for readers who had bought into the Western propaganda about noble “pro-democracy” forces resisting evil “Russian aggression.”
Perhaps the Times sensed that it could no longer keep the lid on the troubling truth in Ukraine. For weeks, the Right Sektor militias and the neo-Nazi Azov battalion have been warning the civilian government in Kiev that they might turn on it and create a new order more to their liking.
My question. How did the US end up supporting Neo-Nazis and Islamic Jihadist in Europe? Why is this game being played at the expense of an alliance that could see ISIS killed (finally), stability brought to the Middle East (Russia could easily keep Assad in his cage if they so desired) and Iran at bay (same here...Russia could easily keep Iran from overstepping).
Additionally it would force the Chinese to reassess their stances from the South China sea, to their dealings with N. Korea to even their support of Pakistan.
In short I have to wonder.
What is the reality behind the Ukraine crisis that we would ignore the possibility of achieving a more stable world?
Gunner Wade! Suppressors are cool but let the Dawgs paint their rifles!
Gunner Wade has been a breath of fresh air on Marine Corps social media. He's filling a void that many have had. A senior Marine talking about warfighting...about making the individual Marine more lethal...about becoming a shock troop ninja hybrid that comes from the sea and air and slays all enemies before them.
Hold that thought for a second.
Take a look at the pic above. Black gloves are a no-no, and I expect the young Devil Dawg to be corrected by his squad leader or platoon sgt. But even if that error is corrected he's still totting a black rifle.
That's just bad ju-ju.
Allowing Marines to paint their rifles is a simple fix. We don't even need them to be painted in multiple colors in some type of pattern. Just take the Coyote Brown that is now a Marine Corps base color in all environments and apply it to the service rifle. Cerakote-ing it would be ideal but just a properly applied rattle can job that has to be touched up every now and then would be a great stop gap.
So back to you Gunner Wade. Suppressors are cool but let the Dawgs paint their rifles! Suppress both sound and visual cues. On the future battlefield it could be a lifesaver.
So a severed Trump head does not denote violence?
Thanks to Eric H. for the link!
Wow. This lawyer is on some seriously potent, new age crack if she actually believes what she said in the above video. A severed Trump head does not denote violence????
Griffin really should have left this alone. This attempt to "fight back" will only see this controversy drag on.
She really screwed this up. She got bad advice. She dug this hole deeper.
Griffin has to understand the reality of the world. We all have "oh shit" moments and even though those moments can be forgiven, the consequences of those actions still play out.
Because of this news conference she pushed her comeback back about 6 months.
Wow. This lawyer is on some seriously potent, new age crack if she actually believes what she said in the above video. A severed Trump head does not denote violence????
Griffin really should have left this alone. This attempt to "fight back" will only see this controversy drag on.
She really screwed this up. She got bad advice. She dug this hole deeper.
Griffin has to understand the reality of the world. We all have "oh shit" moments and even though those moments can be forgiven, the consequences of those actions still play out.
Because of this news conference she pushed her comeback back about 6 months.
Friday, June 02, 2017
Mexico seeks resolution on Venezuelan crisis.
via Reuters.
Mexico said on Friday that it will push for the Organization of American States (OAS) at an upcoming meeting to call for an end to violence in Venezuela and for a peaceful resolution to a recent wave of protests that has left over 60 people dead.The hook has been laid for foreign intervention into Venezuela. Opposition calling for "humanitarian aid"?
"The OAS resolution on Venezuela should indicate our concern about the cancellation of elections, lack of respect for the National Assembly, the existence of political prisoners, the use of military courts to try civilians," Mexico's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
With international pressure mounting on President Nicolas Maduro's socialist government, foreign ministers from the 34-nation OAS bloc met in Washington on Wednesday to debate the situation in Venezuela.
The meeting was adjourned after the Bahamas representative on behalf of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) proposed the meeting be suspended and that permanent representatives of the OAS meet again to continue to flesh out proposals.
Mexico's Foreign Ministry said it "will work to generate a resolution that will achieve enough votes, at least 24 votes in favor of the 34 member states," when the OAS holds its general assembly on June 19-21 in Mexico's Caribbean resort city of Cancun.
The Foreign Ministry said the resolution should call "for an end to violence and for the parties to solve the conflict via dialogue."
Two months of protests against Maduro's government, as opposition supporters demand elections, freedom for jailed activists, and foreign humanitarian aid, have convulsed the South American OPEC nation.
That's the clarion call for military action to "protect"...if I recall correctly the UN states that member nations have a duty to "responsibility to protect" that could loosely apply to the situation here.
via Wikipedia.
The Responsibility to Protect (R2P or RtoP) is a global political commitment which was endorsed by all member states of the United Nations at the 2005 World Summit to prevent genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.I don't know the answer to the issues in Venezuela, but this R2P is worrying. How broadly can it be applied? If gay marriage did not become law could a nation declare that they had a right to invade the US under R2P to aid gays that they viewed as being discriminated against? The same thinking could apply to a whole host of issues.
Murky, fuzzy, ill defined, feel good statutes like this will be the downfall of the UN. Thankfully its a super bureaucracy. It absorbs an enormous amount of money but fortunately does very little. Here's hoping they don't become more "efficient"!
USMC unfunded priorities list is once again "Aviation" heavy...
Thanks to Joe for the link!
via Roll Call.
The Marine Corps has asked Congress for $3.2 billion to buy warplanes and other equipment that did not make President Donald Trump’s fiscal 2018 defense budget plan, according to a copy of the request obtained by CQ Roll Call.
Gen. Robert Neller, the Marine Corps commandant, signed off on the “unfunded priorities list” and service officials sent it to lawmakers within the last week.
It appears to be the first of four such lists due soon on Capitol Hill — one each from the Marine Corps, Navy, Army and Air Force — which together will add up to multiple billions of dollars. This is an annual ritual for the Pentagon and Congress as the budget and appropriations are ironed out.
The most expensive item on the Marine Corps list is $877 million for six F-35 fighter jets. The jet is being built for all the services.
The Marine Corps wish list includes a request for $617 million for four F-35Bs, a version designed to take off and land vertically, and $260 million for two F-35Cs, the jet’s aircraft carrier variant.
The Air Force and Navy may also seek additional F-35s in their forthcoming wish lists.
Other aircraft on the Marine Corps list include:
$356 million for four KC-130J Hercules propeller planes, which can either refuel other aircraft or perform assault missions$288 million for two CH-53K King Stallion logistics helicopters$228 million for two C-40A Clipper jets, the military version of the Boeing 737 airliner, which can carry passengers or cargo$221 million for seven AH-1Z Viper attack helicopters$181 million for two MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, which are capable of ferrying Marines and supplies$67 million for four UC-12W Huron propeller planes, which are small, multi-mission aircraft
The Marine Corps is also seeking $312 million for five ship-to-shore connectors, which are air-cushion landing craft for carrying Marines ashore in amphibious assaults.
Bad move Kathy Griffin...now this will live for another two weeks.
Proud to announce that I represent Kathy Griffin. We will be holding a press conference tomorrow morning. Here's the details. pic.twitter.com/1FejPNGzoV— Lisa Bloom (@LisaBloom) June 2, 2017
via Free Beacon.
Kathy Griffin is holding a press conference on Friday to complain about the “bullying from the Trump family that she has endured” following the release of a photo spread showing the comedian holding up a bloodied head of President Trump.Most had moved on from the story and while her being fired from CNN is probably personally upsetting to her, "oh shit" moments while understandable (we all have them) also have consequences.
Lisa Bloom, the daughter of famed feminist litigator Gloria Allred and Griffin’s newly hired lawyer, made the shocking announcement on Twitter.
How she's gonna try and turn this into a "Trump family is bullying me" love fest is beyond me and I'd bet she's gonna fail.
This is a bad move by Griffin and now this story will live on for another two weeks ... she needs better advisors.
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