Turks Destroyed 8 Pantsirs.

Yes, yes, that is what Turkey declared in Brussels and I think they, out of traditional humbleness, lowered numbers of destroyed S1 Pantsir AD systems dramatically. I think there were at least 25-30 those systems destroyed together with those 3,500 SAA soldiers and, probably, couple battalions of Russian SSOs. In related news, before lunch I was Napoleon, after lunch I became Marcus Aurelius. Turkish baloney and butt-hurt from what they experienced in Idlib is such that they don't see anything wrong with simply making shit up. So much so, that Russia's Ministry of Defense was forced to flatly debunk those fairy tales. In its statement Russian MoD underscored:

"Представленные главе Турецкой Республики оценки боевой эффективности применения ударных БПЛА в провинции Идлиб, якобы сумевших уничтожить восемь сирийских зенитных ракетно-пушечных комплексов "Панцирь", не соответствуют действительности и являются более чем преувеличением"

Translation:  Assessments of combat effectiveness of strike UAVs in Idlib Province, presented to the head of Turkish Republic, alleging the destruction of eight Syrian gun-missile complexes "Pantsir" do not correspond to reality and are more than just exaggeration". 

Truth is, only four S1s have been deployed around Idlib, two were damaged and repaired. Most of SAA's S1s remained deployed around Damascus and didn't take part in operations in Idlib. But never mind, as long as it is stated that it happened, it DID happen in accordance to NATO's combat doctrine which is rigged towards media and brainwashing, not fighting the actual war against competent adversary. The butt-hurt in Turkey is understandable, but it wouldn't be completed without this S-400 soap opera.

ANKARA (Reuters) - The United States has offered to sell Turkey its Patriot missile defense system if Ankara promises not to operate a rival Russian system, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said, in what he called a significant softening in Washington's position. Two Turkish officials told Reuters that Turkey was evaluating the U.S. offer but that Ankara had not changed its plans for the Russian S-400 systems, which it has said it will start to activate next month. In Washington, the Pentagon said that U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper had not changed his position on the issue, which was: "Turkey is not going to receive a Patriot battery unless it returns the S-400."

Erdogan was in Brussels to "report" on Turkey's great victory in Idlib. Meanwhile lunatic "Ambassador" Jeffrey was thinking on:

Jeffrey also said they had considered possible responses should Russia and the Syrian government break a ceasefire in Idlib, officials said. He suggested other NATO states could individually or as an alliance provide military support to help Turkey. But he ruled out sending ground troops and said there still needed to be a resolution to the S-400 issue for the security relationship to move forward. "You can forget ground troops. Turkey has demonstrated that it and its opposition forces are more than capable of holding ground on their own," Jeffrey said. "The issue is the situation in the air and it's what we are looking at," he said. Washington did not believe that Russia and Syrian had any interest in a permanent ceasefire in Idlib, he said. "They are out to get a military victory in Syria and our goal is to make it difficult for them to do that," Jeffrey said. "Our goal is...to make them think twice. If they ignore our warnings and preparations and move forward, then we will react as rapidly as possible in consultation with our NATO and European allies on what the package of sanctions and other reactions will be."

Jeffrey is delusional and is very butt-hurt, possibly because of his utter professional and human inadequacy, which is expected from a man with background in management and a member of "National Security" team of W (we all know how "well" that played out) and a burden of "victory" in Vietnam War with which utter irrational hatred of Russians comes naturally and, in fact, is a requirement;  enough to recall another American Vietnam War "hero", late John McCain. Obviously Jeffrey's deal with Syria is not to fight terrorism but to support Al Qaeda (and its many iterations) operations there. In general--anything to not allow Syria (and Russia) to defeat Islamic terrorism there. He even speaks openly about it. Jeffery, an infantry officer in Vietnam, then some CIA "spook", in addition to his "diplomatic" background, is a 74 year old and, obviously, cranky man who does not understand modern warfare and, as is expected from US "experts" in Russia, has no knowledge of real Russia. Nor, obviously, he knows his own country, the United States that is, since he still thinks that the United States is this unstoppable military juggernaut which....lost most of its wars. That is why this senior citizen is so eager to start the war with Russia. There are many like him in all kinds of D.C. institutions. 

Highlighted in yellow is a very good indicator of a depth of a delusion this whole cabal of US "strategists" resides in: sanctions are good for Russia. But as was demonstrated in the last 72 hours, Russia can also "sanction" back and that shakes the bejesus out of not only the US, but global economy. But here is the larger issue: how many still rational and competent people are left out there in the US governing institutions? How many of them have real strategic awareness and I am not talking about Mnuchin suddenly having an urge to talk to Russians on "investments" and "sanctions".  Mnuchin is a bankster who understands only debit and credit, black and red, and when he sees red he (and his ilk) react, in pain. I am talking about people who have any strategic vision based on reality. Whole American geopolitical thought in the last 30 years is a permanent record of one failure after another. US "diplomacy" is a laughing stock of the world, US military, ask Iran. Economically? You all know what is going on. How this all could have gone so wrong, so fast? I have a metaphysical answer for that--exceeding established limit on a number of ass-holes populating governing institutions.  It all comes down, in the end, to how many decent, honorable, honest that is, people are still out there and I'd say not many. In final analysis these are always human choices we make, which count most towards the final outcome. Or, as beloved by me Barnett stated: 

… swift decline in British vigor at home and the failure to exploit the empire were not owing to some inevitable senescent process of history....That cause was a political doctrine.... The doctrine was liberalism, which criticized and finally demolished the traditional conception of the nation-state as a collective organism, a community, and asserted instead the primacy of individual. According to liberal thinking a nation was no more than so many human atoms who happened to live under the same set of laws.... It was Adam Smith who formulated the doctrine of Free Trade, the keystone of liberalism, which was to exercise a long-live and baneful effect on British power.... Adam Smith attacked the traditional “mercantilist” belief that a nation should be generally self-supporting. 

We all will pay one way or another for an expected and predicted and ongoing as I type it collapse of liberalism, it is just that one cannot escape a desire to see some of the most ardent enablers of liberalism, who have their hands soaked in blood, be seen behind bars or in a front of a firing squad. Some of them know today that this is not anymore beyond the realm of possible and will try to light the world on fire, thinking that under the cover of ensuing chaos they can make an escape. But I know for sure now that there are those who keep the score. Just listen about "We can repeat":

Entirely Predicable.

As was expected and predicted, a new truce in Idlib was agreed upon by Russia and Turkey and it couldn't have been otherwise.  

A six-kilometer-wide security corridor is to be established in the area, with the militaries of the two countries given a week to agree all the details. Russian and Turkish troops will also be carrying out joint patrol missions along Idlib’s M-4 highway. The document, signed after the negotiations, underlined that both Moscow and Ankara remained committed to maintaining the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Syria. Both leaders acknowledged that the conflict in the country has no military solution and that it was up to the Syrians alone to decide the fate of their country. It was also agreed to facilitate efforts to prevent the humanitarian crisis in Idlib, while also creating conditions for the refugees to return to their homes.

I will remind you, all my online buddies and readers, again, through Deng Xiaoping's rephrasing of Clausewitz' dictum: "diplomacy is a continuation of the war by other means". You win on a battlefield, you get more at the diplomatic table, period. SAA in the last couple of weeks, granted with some help from Russia's VKS and SSO, handed Turkey its ass on a platter, showing that Arabs, after all, can do combined arms operations and SAA definitely dispels this long living (and often justified) stereotype that Arabs cannot fight modern war. Syrian Arab Army sure as hell learned a lot and, hopefully, when all this will be over, I cannot imagine how many Syria's heroes and military leaders will have, justly so, monuments erected in their honor. 

Erdogan could not, as some "experts" predicted, "dictate" anything to Putin for a simple reason--Russia has a damn good satellite constellation and SIGINT capabilities and can, and most likely did, point to Erdogan when, how and how many of his troops joined forces with Al-Qaeda outlets, thus also stating not only the obvious fact that Sultan is directly culpable in supporting Islamic Jihad, but also was given a description of what kind of casualties Turkish Army (nobody counts jihadists) will sustain if it continues to do what it did in the last couple of weeks. As I state non-stop for a long-long time, often contradicting even real Russian experts, who, actually MUST know better, Russia's first salvo of stand-off weapons would be enough to completely "switch off" Command and Control structure of a corps size force. Simple as that. All this even before any Russian VKS aircraft get busy blowing the shit out of those who think that they are smarter than everybody else. So, it is good that deescalation was agreed upon, let's see now how Erdogan will deal with the reality of his XXI century version of Ottoman Empire going down in flames. In the end, it is, indeed, only up to Syrians alone to decide what to do with their country.   

They Don't Get It, As Always.

Reuters posts the news of the US trying to support Al-Qae..hm, sorry, Turkey by giving it "ammunition" and immediately runs into problems of a cognitive character.

The United States weighed in Tuesday (March 3) on a deepening standoff between Turkey and Russia in northwestern Syria. Saying it was ready to give Turkey the ammunition and military equipment it needs in the fight for Idlib, the last swathe of rebel-held territory. Russia, which supports Bashar al-Assad's forces, and Turkey, which supports the rebels, both say they hope to avoid a direct clash.

First, let's be very clear on that: Western media do support Islamic terrorism and people who they call "rebels" are the most radical jihadists and it takes a person of the scale of Tulsi Gabbard to call it as it is:

The corporate media needs to stop referring to Al-Qaeda and their affiliated groups in Idlib as ‘rebels’ in a deceptive effort to make them seem like freedom fighters. I and thousands of Americans enlisted after Al-Qaeda’s attack on 9/11. The media and the Trump administration’s continued labelling of these terrorists as ‘rebels’ is a disgrace and dishonor for all our men and women in uniform and our entire country.

Yes, Tulsi, I agree, but where did you see people of honor in, say, Department of State? Not to mention US MSM media whores. Sorry, actual whores, for insulting you by comparing you to journous. Here are some views from the insider in the so called Intelligence Community in the US--a rather grim picture. But this is not my point here, US always loved its jihadist SOBs and after formalization of a humiliating American defeat in Afghanistan, some big honchos, such as Mr. Jeffery, have an increasing urge, caused by acute butt-hurt, and military ignorance (what's new) to do anything at all to get back at those nasty Russkies. And here IS the point: Turkey and Russia are NOT in standoff. Not at all. Because if there would have been a standoff, a real one, between Russia and Turkey, the picture would look very differently. Obviously, so called ambassador Jeffrey doesn't understand those details and peculiarities of such a standoff, should it realistically exist, after all, he wanted desperately to supply Turkey with Patriot complexes, and one would expect sheer lunacy from petulant childish ignoramuses populating contemporary US establishment, but not to such a degree of ignorance. 

If there would have been a real standoff between Turkey and Russia, the first thing Turkey would learn almost immediately would be about appearance of some "new" formations on the front-lines and those formations would be those of Kurds. After Turkey would have closed straits, allegedly after declaring war on Russia--legal matter, nothing more--there would be immediately some very serious repercussions for Turkey starting from shutting down the construction of nuclear power station in Akkuyu, shutting down of all exports to Russia, immediate loss in excess of $3.5 billion in tourism and who knows what Russia would define as force majeure for Turkstream. You know, war and shit. Obviously Russians would have to start hauling their military cargo from St.Peterburg, around Europe, but one has got to do what one has got to do. But it would be military field where this standoff would have some interesting consequences. Let's start with what turned out to be already a very revealing fact. While, should SAA have been left alone to face Turkey,  Turkish Army probably would have won eventually, it turned out that they are not THAT good. I mean, of course, Turkish Army is large and all, and it has some shiny toys but dirty business of the combined arms operations, especially large operations, requires a little bit more than that, especially when SAA has Russians (and Iran) on its side. 

1. Evidently only since yesterday Turkey started to experience effects of ECM (EW--Electronic Warfare) with its drones dropping like flies, when not shot down by SAA AD. Do Turks even understand that in case of real standoff ALL their communications will be shut down? Unlike this Jeffery-dude, I think they do, actually, and as Semyon Bagdasarov stated couple of days ago "are terrified of war with Russia". No, not publicly, of course, but among people in Turkey who actually understand that casualties they sustained last week in Idlib could go up one order of magnitude.

2. A "trip wire" event similar to treacherous shooting down of SU-24 in 2015, this time around may mean shutting down any signal emitting equipment INSIDE Turkey thus rendering its C3 blind and deaf. Will it initiate Article 4 protocol? I don't think so.

3. First salvo of Russian stand-off weapons would be enough to incapacitate any Turkish Command and Control structure WITHIN Syria (say Idlib) and WILL disrupt operations not only of some brigade-size units but more on the corps level. 

4. In the end, it will be a free hunt of Russian VKS inside Syria for whatever Turkey will move there. Whatever Turkey will move there will be without air cover, because anything that enters Syria's air space will be shot down. 

Of course, these simple truths are beyond comprehension of most Turks who simply do not care about these details but people in Turkey who need to know, they know. Behind cringe-worthy boasting, bordering on lunacy (yes, 5, no 10 thousand SAA personnel and 3 million tanks have been annihilated) lies a torturous facing of the reality of Turkish Army sustaining heavy casualties and loss of equipment which is the main reason why Erdogan flies to Moscow trying to arrange whatever he will be able to arrange there. Mr. Jeffrey knows this and it hurts, badly. Especially since there is no actual standoff between Turkey and Russia, only between Syria and Turkey and even that didn't go well for Sultan Erdogan. The rest are merely details. This is not to mention this whole NATO "business", which, at this stage is not even of the main concern. Military facts on the ground are simple, no matter how much Turkey's leadership boasts of its military successes, it is plainly clear that Syria's territory is a forbidden zone for Turkey and there will be no compromises anymore on the so loved by the US establishment (and Turkey) Al-Qaeda derivative (I lost count of their titles) "humanitarian jihadists" who either give up or must be, and will be, annihilated together with their handlers, no matter their nationality or political affiliations. In related news, Taliban is set to "clear" Afghanistan, one way or another, from American "stooges" and who knows where it will all go after that.  

Never Jump To Conclusions...

Based on some obvious social media propaganda and misinformation. These past days the ONLY question which realistically was at the center of the shitstorm with Turkey and Erdogan going off hinges was not of Turkey winning anything or dealing "catastrophic" (not really) damage to SAA but how to arrange a face-saving retreat for Erdogan. As was expected, SAA retook Saraqib today (in Russian, TASS), Erdogan suddenly expressed his love for Russia and Iran in Syria by declaring today that Turkey merely seeks her security and in no way aims at Syrian territory and especially not at Russia (in Russian), and, of course, those declarations came about, probably, after Russia, namely Command of Russia's Syrian Group nonchalantly stated that it cannot guarantee safety of Turkish aircraft over Idlib. Anyone needs any comments here?   

Putin-Erdogan meeting will proceed as planned in Moscow on March 5th (I think) and Erdo will have to endure a rather humiliating several hours when he will be read instructions on how to behave. As I said, he could have had a lot, now he will be forced to take what will be given to him. So, here is my advice to all who were making "conclusions" based on Turkish propaganda in social media: learn to be patient. Combined arms operations, especially with limited forces such as those of SAA take time and as any operation they have phases and are characterized by fluid tactical and operational situations. As per Russia, I repeat it again, as I did so many times before--Russia is in Syria not to fight the war for Syrians, it is their responsibility, Russia merely helps, including by providing safety for Bashar Assad's government, which is the only legitimate government in Syria. Simple as that. Now we have to be patient and see what Moscow and Ankara will arrive to on Syria. The process of clearing Idlib from jihadists must continue and it will continue after, most likely, some ad hoc short "truce". 

On This And That.

Colonel Lang posted today a good summary of events in Syria, which may help fight off all kinds of overly excitable readers about what is going on in Idlib now. I want to mention, however, a fact of those "swarms" of Turkish drones, which, according to some very impressionable people now almost control the skies over Idlib--they don't. I am not going to delve here into the explanation of how AD works under such conditions as are in Idlib now, but, unlike Turkish propaganda and bat-shit crazy statements, the only success of those drones was one munition carrying truck (the video is shown), one armored vehicle and one motorcycle. You can watch the report (in Russian) here. Now to Colonel Lang's piece. 

To the west nearly all of Idlib Governorate south of the M-4 east-west highway is within artillery fire of the advancing SAA and at the northern end of the al-Ghaab Plain the spearheads are apparently within 6 miles of the M-4.  Assuming that the M-4 is the Turkish Main Supply Route (MSR) out of Hatay Province to the west, an SAA interdiction of that major road will imperil the Turkish led force around  Saraqib.  The Turks will then either withdraw from Saraqib or attack any SAA blockage of  the M-4 or both. In classic militaryspeak, the Turks would be said to have been "turned out" of their position at Saraqib by the SAA move onto the M-4 to the west.  The resulting engagement would be a desperate fight.  In the midst of this situation the Russian Aerospace expeditionary force would be heavily engaged.  

So, if anyone wants to add anything to this NOT based on a click bait headlines or Turkish propaganda video-compilations, or statements about killing hourly thousands of SAA's soldiers or destroying hundreds of targets, you are welcome. Other than that, I can only express my condolences to people who, based on some few-seconds long videos, experience hysterics and panic. As per this: 

James Jeffrey, the U.S. special representative for Syria engagement, has been pressing the Defense Department to send Patriot missile defense batteries to Turkey to help it repel the Syrian government’s assault in Syria's Idlib province, the people said. But Pentagon officials are worried about the global ramifications of a move they see as reckless. 

This kind of posture IS EXPECTED from such creature as Jeffrey, especially against the background of today's US officially losing a war in Afghanistan by signing a "peace deal" with Taliban.  

U.S. special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and the Taliban’s chief negotiator and one of its founders, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, signed the agreement in Doha after more than a year of on-off formal talks. Some in the room broke out in whoops, cheers and shouts of "God is Great" at the signing. The several dozen members of the Taliban exited the room after the ceremony beaming. U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also attended the ceremony, but did not sign the "Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan," under which the Taliban pledged to enter into peace talks with Afghan government officials, representatives of the opposition, and members of civil society on March 10.

Yes, Taliban was also asked: please, pretty-pretty please, be nice boys and do not immediately overthrow Kabul government once we leave. I am sure Taliban, who in accordance to statements of US military and especially US "diplomats" was constantly on the verge of being defeated in the last 19 years and should not exist by now at all, obliged and promised by crossing, ah, I mean whatever they did, their hearts and hoping to die, that they will absolutely follow the letter of this "peace deal". After all, America's great "diplomat" and strategic "thinker" Mike Pompeo assured all of us that: 

Speaking to reporters, Pompeo said the United States was "realistic" about the deal it signed, but was "seizing the best opportunity for peace in a generation." He said that while he was still angry about the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, the U.S. will not "squander" what its soldiers "have won through blood, sweat and tears."

It would have been widely appreciated if Pompeo would disclose what exactly US soldiers "won" in Afghanistan? Try as I might, I cannot identify a single thing which was "won" there and, quite to the contrary, I can easily identify a growing number of threats which become actualized for the region as the result of the United States sustaining a rather humiliating defeat in Afghanistan. It is clear that the mood in Department of State now is not very good, hence a bunch of lunatic statements, including in "support" of Turkey, which faces a rather calamitous future near Syria because Turkey can now officially be identified as a sponsor of terrorism at least de facto. Turkey, realistically, needs a truce badly, because the going, as was expected, proved to be not what was expected by Turks, and  Turkey's Foreign Minister Cavusoglu today tried to downplay the situation when stating that Russia supports Damascus but "doesn't seem to be targeting us" (in Russian). For now, I may add. A lot will be decided between Putin and Erdogan and my gut feeling is that this time around Erdogan will have to face some very unpleasant realities. 

It Is Getting Curiouser And Curiouser.

Now Russian VKS fly in support of Turkish Army which came under the fire of Jihadists. What do ya know. 

Russia’s Air Force has carried out four strikes in Idlib province, Syria’s last jihadist stronghold, after Turkey asked for help in ensuring the safety of its troops in the area, the Defense Ministry said.The Turkish side provided the coordinates of “terrorists in Idlib” to the Russian military after Turkish troops came under fire from Al-Nusra-linked militants, leaving three servicemen injured.“As a result, large concentrations of militants and field artillery positions from which the Turkish observation post had been shelled were destroyed,” the Russian Defense Ministry said.

Take it any way you want, but this is  an indication of a rather close coordination between Moscow and Ankara, there is no other way about it. While I still do not make a call on the S-400 deal for Turkey, it seems, if to follow latest news, S-400 will be delivered, as will the deliveries of F-35 stop. Did Erdogan make up his mind? One thing is for sure for Turkey--Eurasia looks increasingly economically attractive and, surprise, surprise, people East of Kiev do not bomb countries into stone age, in fact, the opposite is true. Make no mistake--there are many thorns in this possible arrangement for both Turkey and Russia, but Turkey understands, I think, that any dreams about European "future" are pretty much dead both for political and, inevitably, social reasons. The economic reasons will follow, if not already. Especially once BRI becomes a reality. 

In related news, the United States continues to coerce India into rejection of her $5 billion dollars-worth of S-400s (in Russian) and by now this routine is getting simply tired and predictable.  I am, of course, aware of the situation in Persian Gulf and two "torpedoed" tankers there. It stinks to heaven with false flag and I do not even want to discuss it, since 99.99% sure that Iran has nothing to do with it. But, I also should clarify my position on Russian-Iranian relations, which I will do at some point of time--this clarification is needed for people who think that Russia is automatically Iran's security guarantee. This is NOT the case and Iran has to know that the free stuff, as it was the case with USSR ready to support any kind of "lefty" regime, is not available--there is nothing free in this world in international relations. Russia remembers really well WHERE Iran ran to the moment the sanction were lifted, disregarding a decisive role Russia played in lifting those sanctions. In other words--it is not black and white there between Tehran and Moscow. Some mutual work needs to be done. But about this--later. 

P.S. Thanks to Yvonne Lorenzo, who made me aware of that, Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick refer to my book in their latest. So, I guess, I will continue writing until I win n-amount of Dollars in Powerball or Lotto and go to Disneyland. Nah, I'll probably take couple weeks for sleeping non-stop.         

Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock

I think it is really symptomatic that on this 11 September 2018 we read this.

MOSCOW, September 11. /TASS/. The filming of staged chemical attack, allegedly carried out by the Syrian army against civilians, is already underway in the Idlib Governorate with the terrorists’ assistance, the Russian Defense Ministry’s Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Sides in Syria told reporters. "According to the data from the Idlib Governorate’s residents, currently the filming of a staged provocation of the alleged chemical weapons use by the Syrian army against the civilians is underway in Jisr ash-Shugur. Film crews from several Middle East TV channels and also a regional branch of a leading US news TV channel arrived in Jisr ash-Shugur this morning for filming," the center said. The scenario includes a staged video of providing assistance to the citizens of Jisr ash-Shugur and activists of the Civil Defense (the White Helmets) after the alleged use of the so-called barrel bombs with toxic substances. The militants delivered two samples with a poisonous substance including chlorine this morning to ensure that the filming looks "natural," the center said. The Russian military notes that all videos are to be sent to the editorial offices of TV channels for broadcast after they are posted in social networks. In late August, the Russian Defense Ministry warned that militants were making preparations together with British intelligence services to stage a chemical weapons attack in the Idlib Governorate and blame it on the Syrian government. The ministry later said that the US-led Western coalition planned to use this provocation as a pretext to carry out another strike on Syria’s government facilities. The United States is already pulling in its forces to Syria. According to the ministry, in late August USS The Sullivans armed with 56 cruise missiles arrived in the Persian Gulf, while a US B1-B bomber equipped with 24 air-to-surface standoff missiles was relocated to the Al Udeid US air base in Qatar.

Of course, what could be better than to mark a sad anniversary of a slaughter of thousands of innocent Americans and other nationals by supporting the very same people who are responsible for 911 atrocity? There, assuredly, will be many honest average Americans who will be in denial that USAF and US Navy have become Al Qaeda and ISIS' forces—but it is what it is. Same goes for Western media who long ago turned into propaganda machine and they always supported Jihad. Meanwhile, Russia calmly reacts to a hysterical material by Wall Street Journal.

VLADIVOSTOK, September 11. /TASS/. The Kremlin does not take media reports about US airstrikes on Russian troops in Syria seriously any more, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters."We don’t take media reports seriously because they have completely discredited themselves," he said, commenting on a Wall Street Journal publication. "We focus on official statements," Peskov added

This is the only way to handle this and, indeed, what can Russia do? Well, except of being ready militarily to deal with possible escalation. I don't know what Donald Trump wrote to Putin in his recent private letter to him, and there are some reasons to believe that Trump and Putin could be in cahoots, but the probability of that is really low. Russians are extremely well aware of the situation Trump is in, granted he put himself into this situation by assembling a cabinet of ambitious war-mongers, but it is reasonable to assume that Kremlin, at this stage, understands that even the POTUS is not representative of an American power and there is literally nobody to talk to in D.C. American power structure is broken and there is no anymore any particular power center worthy of negotiating with. If that was true several years ago, it is just that today this chaos became much more pronounced and visible to anyone with the IQ higher than room temperature. In other words, American political system is in runaway mode and there is nobody of human and political statue who can take responsibility and restore some kind of order. US Congress is nothing more than organization, which, under the slogans about "democracy", is busy 24/7 in spreading the responsibility for dangerous and damaging decision as thin as possible. We also have a show-biz celebrity and NYC real estate developer in the White House who thinks that boarding school for the boys is a military experience one needs to run a nuclear power. So who? Among current political top—nobody. American top political class today is nothing more than a collection of spoiled brats most of whom have zero hard life experiences and who never served a day in uniform. It is an exclusive club of good ol' boys and girls who are utterly unqualified to run a nuclear superpower and most of who are corrupted to the very core.

This is not the kind of environment which produces outstanding statesmen or stateswomen. Same goes for Europe whose "leaders" like Angela Merkel are nothing more than political parties' apparatchiks—colorless, not very smart and ready to preach whatever is necessary to get elected. Fact is, I suspect that Merkel is not just not bright, I think she is dumb as fvck. This is the human material combined West in general, and the US in particular, have to live with and "choose" from. Indeed, the country which honors John McCain as a "hero"—there are some real issues with the state of mind of such a country. I will have to address the issue of "elites" in depth at some point of time, granted we live, but I want to remind you all that I delved into this topic once and even singled out draft dodger John Bolton. But for now, Russia launched the largest military exercise in her modern history and since 1981 and presses on with operations in Idlib.

Fast Thoughts On Idlib And Some Other Business.

As I wrote in Russia As A Cat, Russia will continue to "eat chicken" at her own pace ignoring angry monologues from "democratic world" and will continue extermination of unicorns and humanitarian terrorists in Idlib apace. The process continued today with new airstrikes against those "rebels". It is symptomatic, then, that Russia's Ambassador to Syria gave this statement to TASS. I give this news piece in full and want to remind, that Russia's high level military and diplomat figures DO NOT make statements off the wall. Those statements are always sanctioned from the above:  

DAMASCUS,September 7. /TASS/. Russia is helping Syria restore and modernized its airdefense system, Russia’s Ambassador to that country, Alexander Kinshchak, toldTASS on Friday. "We are helping our Syrian partners to restore, modernizeand boost the efficiency of the integrated air defense system," he saidwhen asked how well Syria is protected against possible airstrikes by Westernnations. "Much is yet to be done because everything was in utterdevastation, but certain results can already be seen," he said. In lateApril, chief of the main operations directorate of the Russian General Staff,Sergei Rudskoi, said that Syria would soon receive new air defense systems andpromised that Russian specialists would help the Syrian military to masterthem. He refrained from details of the systems, saying only that the S-125, Osaand Kvadrat systems used by the Syrian army had been restored and modernizedwith Russia’s assistance. In late August, the Russian Defense Ministry warnedabout a possible provocation plotted in the Syrian Idlib governorate bymilitants under supervision of British special services. Thus, according to theministry, militants were planning to simulate the use of chemical weaponsagainst civilians by Syrian government troops to furnish the United States, theUnited Kingdom and France with a pretext to deliver an airstrike on Syriangovernment and economic facilities.

So, it is becoming increasingly clear that Russia is on the move. In fact, things are getting in the open very fast. Such as the situation in Donetsk after the murder of Alexandr Zakharchenko. As Andrei Babitsky noted from Donetsk--there are no vacancies left in any more or less decent hotels in Donetsk--all occupied by FSB people. This is not to mention some other interesting developments which need to be verified, but it looks like Moscow is moving in big time and openly. That is why this report, about Russia's Uragan systems being deployed, as MoD said "just in case", near Russian and LDNR border. The message is clear:

There will be no VSU "victory" under any circumstances and seems that Russia is about openly (before that it was hidden by a fig leaf) take charge in defense of republics with all that follows, which is, well... turn on your imagination. 

But the funniest, in a good sense, thing is that while the US imposes sanctions on Russia, it continues to buy Russia's hi-tech products such as rocket engines and now aircraft. As TASS reports (in Russian) at Gelendzhik exhibition of hydro-aviation, US (Seaplane Global Air Services) and Russia (Beriev Corp.) signed the contract for delivery of 4 of these excellent firefighting jets, plus option for 6 more is also envisioned. It is well known fact that US, especially southern states, suffers from serious forest fires and BE-200s are perfect planes to fight those fires. They already have shown their worth in Portugal, Greece, Spain, Russia, just to name a few countries.