Breaking News. Mistral deal on hold!

Thanks CoffeeJoeJava for the link!

via Yahoo

PARIS (AP) — President Hollande: France suspends plans to deliver warship to Russia amid Ukraine tensions.

Interesting.

No one is talking about it, but all these sanctions have done is to push the biggest economy in Europe (Germany) into the red, sank the Italian economy (they're back in recession..the third largest economy) and will soon affect the US.

The world is spiraling toward recession and these idiotic "sanctions" policies will be the blame.  Congratulations globalist, the world is so intertwined that we're all victims of weak, passive, ineffective foreign policy. 

The Marine Corps Colonel no one talks about...

History tends to repeat.

We've been through this time before.  Terrorism on the upswing.  European powers refusing to act.  Middle Eastern powers refusing to act.  Everyone looking to the US to do...something.

Well one time we tried to "do something" under the banner of the UN.

Let me introduce you to the Marine Corps Colonel no one talks about.  Meet Colonel William R Higgins.  A short blurb from Wikipedia (make sure to read it all).

On February 17, 1988, Higgins disappeared while serving as the Chief, Observer Group Lebanon and Senior Military Observer, United Nations Military Observer Group, United Nations Truce Supervision Organization. Higgins was driving alone on the coastal highway between Tyre and Naqoura in southern Lebanon, returning from a meeting with a local leader of the Amal movement, when he was pulled from his vehicle by armed men.[2][3] He had been abducted by the Lebanese group Hezbollah.[4] During his captivity, he was interrogated and tortured.[1]
As a reaction to his abduction, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 618, demanding his release. A year and a half after his abduction, images of his body, hung by the neck, were televised around the world from a videotape released by his captors. The exact date of Colonel Higgins' murder is uncertain; he was declared dead on July 6, 1990. Finally, on 23 December 1991, his remains were recovered by the late Major Jens Nielsen (Royal Danish Army) attached to the United Nations Observation Group Beirut.[5] His remains had been "...dumped beside a mosque near a south Beirut hospital." [6] He was interred atQuantico National Cemetery on December 30, 1991.

I never met the guy, but reputation is that he was solid across the board.

Do you get the force of connection with his capture?  While returning from a meeting he was abducted?  Did you catch the name of the organization that tortured and killed him?  Hezbollah.

The only thing that will solve the mess in the Middle East is round the clock B-52 raids with diversions to terrorist camps in Africa if targets can't be found.

Its past time to settle the score and put these animals back in their cages.  Savages only respect strength and violence.  We've played the "reasonable" man card for far too long.  Time to get Medieval with these bastards. 

Its official. Navy Aviators HATE the F-35, want the Advanced Super Hornet!

via CDR Salamander Blog.

Perceptions about the future of naval aviation were mixed. When asked if the Joint Strike Fighter was the “right aircraft for Naval Aviation,” 60% “strongly disagreed” or “disagreed”, and 22% were neutral. Only 10% “agreed” or “strongly agreed.” Conversely, when asked if they would prefer an Advanced Super Hornet over the Joint Strike Fighter, 62% “strongly agreed” or “agreed,” and 20% were “neutral.” One commenter, a JSF pilot, noted that much of the community has yet to see the JSF in action, which — when coupled with years of negative press — may be one reason for the deep skepticism about the F-35.

That's from a retention study but it speaks volumes.  The Naval Aviation Community DOES NOT want the F-35! 

1/6 returns to "The Hall"...Photo by Sgt. Austin Hazard

U.S. Marine Corps assault amphibious vehicles with Battalion Landing Team 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), load onto the amphibious dock landing ship USS Gunston Hall (LSD 44) after completing sustainment training. The 22nd MEU is deployed with the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group as a theater reserve and crisis response force throughout U.S. Central Command and the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Austin Hazard/Released)

The UK is finally pulling the trigger on the Scout Specialist Vehicle.

Thanks for the link Tom!

via BBC.

The Ministry of Defence is set to sign a £3.5bn deal for nearly 600 new armoured vehicles ahead of the Nato summit in Wales.
The MoD will sign the order for 589 Scout Specialist Vehicles at General Dynamics in Caerphilly county.
David Cameron said the deal would aid UK security and "underpin" many jobs.
At the two-day summit in Newport, due to start on Thursday, the UK will call for increased defence spending by some of Nato's 28 member states.
Mr Cameron said the Scout deal would be the Army's largest single order for armoured vehicles for more than 30 years.
"These new vehicles are testament to the world-class engineering skills in south Wales and across the UK, helping to create the Army's first fully digitalised armoured vehicles," he said.
"Not only will they be crucial in helping to keep Britain safe, they will also underpin nearly 1,300 jobs across the UK and showcase the strength of the UK's highly skilled defence sector."

Does anyone notice how jobs are being tied directly to defense spending?  

Now the Ukrainian 51st Brigade talks of the "Meat Grinder"...

via KJIVpost.com

MARIUPOL, Ukraine -- Early on Aug. 29, a column of some 70 Ukrainian armored vehicles rushed from Ilovaisk, a city in Donetsk Oblast, through a corridor offered by Russian troops.
After driving 10 kilometers, the fleeing Ukrainians were instead trapped under massive shelling by cannons and tanks. The armored vehicles caught fire.
“That was a real meat grinder,” Taras Samchuk, 28, soldier of 51th brigade told the Kyiv Post. “One armored vehicle exploded right next to us and the head of its gunner was burning in its helmet.”
The Ukrainian troops lost hundreds of their fighters, including at least 100 killed, with others wounded or captured on the way out of Ilovaisk, a strategic city through which separatists were receiving military supplies from Russia to the besieged provincial capital of Donetsk.

The push by Ukrainian troops is starting to look more and more like a simple tactical problem a future leader of Marines might get at The Basic School.

They walked straight into a trap, over extended their lines and now they're getting throat punched.

Read it all here. 

Vice goes to RIMPAC 2014.

Thanks for the link Tom!



I AM SO SICK OF THIS "RETURN TO OUR AMPHIBIOUS ROOTS" BULLSHIT!

That little talking point needs to be banished from Marine-speak!