Went Under The Radar.

I completely missed it but as it turned out, during Kavkaz-2020, the SSK Kolpino launched the anticipated and now fully operational 3M14M Kalibr land-attack missile. This one is 3M14 in the name only--it has a range of 4,500 kilometers (yep, this is not a typo) and 1 ton warhead (in Russian). If that hasn't been bad enough, now anti-shipping, M=2.9 on terminal, 3M54 Kalibr missile has same 1 ton warhead and the range of...1,500 kilometers. Just to give an impression what that all means, imagine the salvo of two, or three, small missile ships of Russia's Caspian Flotilla at the surface targets inside the Persian Gulf. 16 or 24 such missiles, which accelerate to almost M=3 on terminal is a nightmare for even most advanced and sophisticated air-defense. 

Same goes for the salvo from Russia's Black Sea Fleet within the Black Sea which covers pretty much the whole of Eastern Mediterranean, thus making any kind of deployment of any surface assets by anyone, in case of war, a guaranteed game of Russian Roulette with all chambers of the revolver loaded. I write about this for years, I will reiterate: the warfare as we know it is over. I will just remind you what was written about regular, impressive as it is, 3M14 a year or so ago by one of America's few naval realists:

Russia’s new strike capabilities give its navy and, in particular, its submarine fleet a tremendous ability to influence the European military balance. The GIUK Gap will not provide a geographic crutch to help mitigate the threat, as long-range weapons allow Russian submarines to operate from the relative security of the Norwegian and Barents seas. For example, a submarine-launched cruise missile (SLCM) with a range of 1,000 miles would give the Russian Navy a potential patrol area of 100,000 square miles from which it could strike Bremerhaven while remaining reasonably secure.      

Feel free to extrapolate what will be the safe area for launch by any carrier of 3M14M both at NATO targets in Europe or North America if, God forbids, someone decides to start something stupid. I can totally understand, and, frankly, feel for many British, American, Russian or French navalists when imagining how their Mahan-induced  universe of massive fleets duking it out in a Midway fashion implodes on them. It is really scandalous (not really) having some thing of around 800 tons of displacement, such as this:

Launching 3M54M from the inside of the Black Sea, in fact, barely leaving Sevastopol or Novorossiisk naval bases and sinking some $1.5 billion DDG in Mediterranean, or hitting aircraft carrier, or launching 3M14M at... just let your imagination fly. I feel for navalists, I do--I was one myself, long time ago, before I completely redefined navalism for myself away from Mahan. There is a reason I admire Elmo Zumwalt--a man and a thinker, not the insult which a floating whatever it is named after him, which would make a combat admiral cringe--all his life he fought to create a combat-ready fleet, not some astronomically expensive sitting duck, which wouldn't even know what hit it. Zumwalt the man, certainly, deserved to command a respect even from those who were his opponents. Anyway, it is what it is, and don't tell me that I didn't warn you. It was coming and anyone who didn't hide their head in the sand could see how the whole thing was forming already in 1970s and especially 1980s. "Damn the torpedoes", "receive targeting"... Enjoy the revolution.

Ah, Karma Is Such A Bitch.

When I write about the end of the West I mean it--this is not some figure of speech or embellishment for the sake of selling my books or attract attention to my persona--I am not that kind of guy, I don't even have Facebook or Twitter accounts, as an example. I express my opinions, some of them wrong, but I live with them. So, allow me to remind you this--Chechen "rebels" and "freedom fighters" taking hostage a maternity ward in Budennovsk in 1995.

These are the people who even today remain heroes for Western media-sphere, most of it anyway, and vast swaths of politicians. Some called them "heroes", including when those "freedom fighters" were slaughtering innocent children in Beslan, that is until Boston got its share (just a little bit, nothing really compared to America's and West's in general "heroes" unleashing on innocent civilians elsewhere) of Chechen "freedom-fighting" and "rebelliousness". 

These terrorists were hailed in all corners of the Western world as valiant promoters of true values while fighting those vile and nasty Russkies and, majority of those who hailed them in the West, would gloat and hail exploits of these "freedom fighters"--the more Russian and other nationalities of Russia civilians, children, women were killed, the better it was for the West. Those "heroes" would be given refugee status all over the West, despite Russians telling this very West, such as was the case with Tsarnaev brothers, that the West does not know what it does. Russians' were either accused of brutality or dismissed, such as CIA did when was informed by FSB that shit is about to hit the fan, as it did at Boston Marathon. And, of course, there is always France which knows better than anyone how to handle her own law and order. France imported many Chechens and, as usual, French closed the eyes on all kinds of mischief those poor "refugees" were doing, until one such offspring of Chechen "rebel" decapitated a French teacher. Oh come on! Nothing wrong with this--these are people France wanted to show those uncultured and brutal Russian freedom-suppressors. 

PARIS —A suspect shot dead by police after the gruesome beheading of a history teacher in an attack near Paris on Friday was an 18-year-old Chechen, police said. France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office said that authorities investigating the horrific killing of the man in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine have also arrested nine suspects, including the grandparents, parents and 17-year-old brother of the attacker. The teacher had discussed caricatures of Islam’s Prophet Muhammad with his class, authorities said. Chechnya is a predominantly Muslim Russian republic in the North Caucasus. Two wars in the 1990s triggered a wave of emigration, with many Chechens heading for Western Europe.

French government is stupid, it doesn't understand the value of cultural enrichment and moral satisfaction from sharing own country with people who despise it and want only welfare and white French pussy from it. So, in a typical French manner, French are doing a very-very French thing. Are you sitting, guys? You better sit.

ПАРИЖ, 20 окт - РИА Новости. Глава МВД Франции Жеральд Дарманен заявил, что хочет посетить Россию в конце этой недели и провести переговоры с российским коллегой. "Сегодня я сделал запрос от имени президента посетить на этих выходных Россию, чтобы провести переговоры с моим коллегой... Я сделал это предложение и надеюсь, что у меня будет возможность поехать в Россию в воскресенье и понедельник ", - сказал Дарманен в эфире телеканала BFMTV. Он отметил, что рассчитывает обсудить вопрос возможного возвращения радикализированных лиц - выходцев из России.

Translation: Paris, 20 October--RIA Novosti. The head of France's Ministry of the Internal Affairs Gerald Darmanin declared, that he wants to visit Russia at the end of this week and hold negotiations with Russia's colleague. "Today I applied, on behalf of President (of France) to visit Russia this weekend to negotiate with my colleague... I applied and hope that I will get this opportunity to go to Russia this weekend or Monday"--Dermanin declared live at BFMTV channel  broadcast. He noted, that his intention is to discuss the issue of the possible return (to Russia) of the radicalized persons with origins in Russia. 

The sound and an impact of a collective Russian jaw dropping to the floor was so loud that it created an earthquake near Alaska and lead to issuing of a Tsunami warning. Obviosly, the Minister of the Internal Affairs of Russia Vladimir Kolokoltsev will have to find a way to translate this phrase 'Go Fuck Yourself, France' into something more polite and for that he may ask Lavrov for help. But for people who still think that the West is not done--this is one of the greatest examples of a complete emasculation an wussification (most of them were cowards from the inception anyway) of the Western elites. When cowardice and arrogance, amplified by the French propensity to think about themselves as superior to everyone--you get this. No, France--you made this bed for yourself, now sleep in it, and if your police force and intelligence apparatus are a joke--this is your, French problem, not Russia's. You wanted those people in your country, despite the fact that Russia was warning non-stop that among those "refugees" were huge numbers of terrorists, many of them having blood on their hands not only of Russian Armed Forces servicemen, but children women, old people. So, France, go fuck yourself and deal with them on your own. You wanted them, you got them. And yes, karma is a bitch. Albeit, I would love to see few of those "freedom fighters" to be returned directly under Ramzan's "supervision"--I am sure he and his people have a lot of questions to ask those "freedom-fighters". But, France--deal with it. These are your "heroes", not Russia's.

The Evil That Men Do. (Friday Is Tomorrow).

For quite a few recruits to Russian Army (Navy) the prizyv (draft) is not the most anticipated event. So, in this case to avoid chasing, let's put it this way, reluctant draftees (mostly mama's boys) to present them with the subpoena, military commissariats go for a number of measures trying to get to those future servicemen, who try to avoid to be served with this subpoena. Although, the number of such losers is not large, some do hide and go to a substantial length to avoid being served. Now imagine, you, the 18 or 19 year old guy, who wants to avoid service and hide home, and who gets the bell ring at the door of your house. Cautiously you approach the door to make sure that those are not representatives of military commissariat with this dreaded subpoena. You look into the door's eye-hole and see...

What are you going to do? If I was 18 years old, I would be in the state of elation from just the possibility to talk to this girl. You open the door and yes, here she is--a dream girl, a figment of your juvenile imagination and wet dreams. She is real and she is lovely, but so is subpoena she delivered to you. Welcome to the Russian Armed Forces, loser. This 17-year old girl unleashed on mama's boys in Kursk brought 30 of them straight into the grabby hands of Kursk's military commissar. For that, she was issued a citation as a person who contributed mightily to Russia's national security. 

I cannot convey here how loudly I laughed. Not just from the "evil" seductive methods of Kursk's military commissariat but from the reaction and comments in Russia's social networks. Make no mistake, a bunch of losers still were furious--they are mostly cowards and pampered a-holes, aka  draft-dodgers, but there is no denial that the plan worked and not a single law was broken. But if you thought that this was evil. Get this. 

 

Guess what Russian babushkas were obsessed with in late 1980s-early 1990s, when they were not sitting in the court-yards on those benches and gossiping about everyone in those blocks? Right--Santa Barbara. I don't remember exact times when this annoying soap opera was broadcasted, but if my Alzheimer doesn't fail me, they were shown in the morning and the evening. Well, one dude admits, he recorded the opening theme from Santa Barbara and started to "broadcast" it into the open window into the court-yard in the times when there was no Santa Barbara on TV schedule. Boy, those babushkas were feisty trying to get to their apartments and to turn on TV, while son of a bitch was enjoying seeing this rush. After few successful attempts babushkas figured it out, I guess. But I cannot admit that this wasn't funny. It was. I also remember issues within my grandparents household upon the onslaught of Brazilian and Mexican soap operas. Goodness gracious, why old people were so taken by all that, but my grandma and her sister, God bless their pure souls, or any of her friends of similar age, they would literally drift into other reality watching The Slave Izaura or The Rich Also Cry. Those were evil serials and I am still hit by convulsion the moment I hear this. 

I cannot believe still to what length man's evil can go;)) 

Pepe Escobar Wrote An Excellent Piece.

You can read it in full at Saker's Blog, Zerohedge or some few other media outlets, including Asia Times. Pepe refers to me, for which I am very thankful to him, when describing the the general state of the affairs today, and I quote him:

Only fools falling for the blind leading the blind syndrome don’t know that these liberal order “rules” are set by the Hegemon alone, and can be changed in a flash according to the Hegemon’s whims. So it’s no wonder a running joke in Moscow is “if you don’t listen to Lavrov, you will listen to Shoigu.” Sergey Shoigu is Russia’s Minister of Defense, supervising all those hypersonic weapons the US industrial-military complex can only dream about. The crucial point is even with so much NATO-engendered hysteria, Moscow could not give a damn because of its de facto military supremacy. And that freaks Washington and Brussels out even more.

Generally, Pepe and I we arrive to the same conclusion, as Pepe puts it:

As much as Washington is not “agreement-capable”, in the words of President Putin, so is the EU, says Lavrov: “We should stop to orient ourselves toward European partners and care about their assessments.” Not only Russia knows it: the overwhelming majority of the Global South also knows it.

A new Iron Curtain is not only possible it is inevitable now between EU/NATO and Russia. In fact, it is necessary for survival of Russia and Eurasia as a whole. Kremlin understands this completely as it is evident from today's (yesterday's) address of Putin to Valdai Conference and in a noticeable change of tone of Moscow, starting from Lavrov and now big boss himself. As Putin said today: 

"Укрепляя нашу страну, глядя на то, что происходит в мире, в других странах, хочу сказать тем, кто еще ждет постепенного затухания России: нас в этом случае беспокоит только одно — как бы не простудиться на ваших похоронах"

Translation: Making our country stronger, while looking at what is happening in the world, in other countries, I want to tell those who are still waiting for slow extinguishing of Russia: our concern in this case is only one--how not to get cold at your funeral.  

Kind of speaks volumes, doesn't it? Yes, a joke, but only so far. Remarkably, conflict in Karabah is a superb demonstration of Russia's intentions and how many still fail to understand that silly games are over. Russia knows where the relations with EU are leading to and the only political forces Russia will be looking to cooperate with in Europe will be genuinely conservative ones. Most of EU establishment and vast majority of European countries' political top is globalist and Russophobic in the extreme. Well, too bad. Putin also reiterated his old point that, sure, Russia will consider including hypersonic weapon systems into discussion on START, but Putin made explicit remarks that, indeed, negotiate anything with the US in good faith is useless. As he said--we do not desperately grasp this expiring START treaty, if it expires, so be it. Very nonchalant. 

As one commenter at Zero Hedge (probably German himself) noted:

The situation from the perspective of German citizens is exactly the opposite: The people want good relations with Russia. Many people like or love Russia. The deep-state puppet Merkel does not want or is not allowed to establish a partnership with Russia.

That may be true, after all, the best relations in the Warsaw Pact were namely between East Germans and Russians. There is a huge history between Russians and East Germans in terms of truly allied and extremely friendly relations. This explains why, as an example, French do not view Russians as European people, while modern Germans do. I guess one can figure out that the slight majority of Germans thinking that Russians are Europeans is provided by those East Germans. But, sadly for Germans, it doesn't matter for Russians anymore. As I stated not for once, throughout my almost 60 years of life never did I encounter so much contempt for the West and lack of any desire to integrate with it on part of overwhelming majority of Russians than it is the case for the last 10 years. Modern West and Russia have very little in common culturally and, as I state ad nauseam, the gap will only grow. Basically, Vladimir Putin confirmed these points today at Valdai. But the main question is extremely simple: to negotiate WHAT, with WHO? There is nobody in the West who qualifies for a status of statesman (or stateswoman)--mostly mindless globalist morons with no real influence on the events in their countries, let alone world. I agree with Pepe, Global South knows and waits when it will get its chance which will come only with the dissolution of the present world (dis)order which outlived its usefulness by about 30 years.        

All US Navy Destroyers Will Get Hypersonic Missiles.

 Says Trump's National Security Adviser. 

PORTSMOUTH NAVAL SHIPYARD, Maine — The U.S. Navy plans to put hypersonic missiles on all Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, President Donald Trump’s top national security official said Wednesday. The Navy wants to field hypersonic missiles first on the Virginia-class attack submarine, then on the new Zumwalt-class destroyers, and then finally across the Burkes, national security adviser Robert O’Brien told an audience at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine. “The Navy’s Conventional Prompt Strike program will provide hypersonic missile capability to hold targets at risk from longer ranges,” O’Brien said in prepared remarks. “This capability will be deployed first on our newer Virginia-class submarines and the Zumwalt-class destroyers. Eventually, all three flights of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers will field this capability.”

In related news, I also plan to win Oscar as the best male lead role, nah, I am straight white male, so I will not qualify, but how about Nobel prize in physics? Why not? I plan to get there, eventually. As per hypersonic missiles for US Navy, it seems there is still a huge confusion on part of the top political brass regarding what KIND of hypersonic they plan to get. This phrase explains it. 

Swapping out the launchers on all the destroyers would be a significant expense and would likely tie up shipyards for years to come. An alternative to back-fitting the older destroyers would be waiting for a smaller hypersonic missile to be developed, such as an air-breathing model, as opposed to the boost-glide design

Ah, that's clearer. So, basically the idea is to remake DDGs into the carriers of glide vehicles designed for hitting fixed targets as was initially conceived by the basically wet dream program such as Prompt Global Strike. Sure, why not. But the most important qualifier is what is highlighted in yellow, which is a euphemism for the United States not getting genuine anti-shipping/land-attack hypersonic missile anytime soon. I simply do not see US Navy getting actual working and controllable hypersonic missile for years, if not decades. Why it is so I explained not for once and I see no reason for doing it once again. The way the United States simply discarded missile development for decades in favor of what David Gattuso  and Lory Tanner, both carrier aviators, put it:

Money spent furthering manned aircraft technologies and programs—the CVNX (proposed Nimitz-class carrier replacement) being one of them—is like polishing cannonballs so they will fly a little farther. 

Is mind-boggling. Time, of course, didn't stand still, neither did technological progress and as Gattuso and Tanner predicted 20 years ago the technology mismatch did occur and, boy, did it do it with vengeance. Now hypersonic thingy is so in vogue in D.C. that even regular ballistic missiles of all kinds are "marketed" as hypersonic ones. You know, sound-bites, election year, a shitstorm in economy--time to spin BS.

Now to a related item, God Complex. Wiki gives this definition to that peculiar state of mind:

A god complex is an unshakable belief characterized by consistently inflated feelings of personal ability, privilege, or infallibility. A person with a god complex may refuse to admit the possibility of their error or failure, even in the face of irrefutable evidence, intractable problems or difficult or impossible tasks. The person is also highly dogmatic in their views, meaning the person speaks of their personal opinions as though they were unquestionably correct. Someone with a god complex may exhibit no regard for the conventions and demands of society, and may request special consideration or privileges

Huge swaths of journalists, economists and political scientists around the world are afflicted with this psychiatric disorder. And if this state in doctors, who do often grant life is somewhat understandable, what can some Ph.D in economics or in journalism in US know about serious military operations remains a complete puzzle. Enter Mr. Ignatius, who, as David Larison points out:

The renewed fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Karabakh has not drawn that much attention in the West, but many of the initial, knee-jerk responses to the conflict have been remarkably bad. Whether it is members of Congress urging U.S. recognition of an independent Artsakh, pro-Azerbaijan advocates calling for U.S. support for the aggressor, or Iran hawks cheering on aggression against Armenians because they have the “wrong” geopolitical alignment, many Americans are eager to co-opt and meddle in a conflict that has nothing to do with us. David Ignatius takes the cake with his new proposal to impose a “no-fly zone” in the South Caucasus (a region whose name he doesn’t know how to spell). 

So, let's clear some things immediately. Ignatius, who saw military technology only on pictures or heard about it from his father, a former WW II naval officer and, at some point, Secretary of the Navy in LBJ's Admin, is not a military specialist by a long shot. Maximum danger this major in economics and a consummate "writer" for WaPo was subjected to was primarily from, using Phil Giraldi's meme, a danger from choking on foie gras in one of the upscale D.C. restaurants. Ignatius is not the only offspring of the top military professionals who turned BS spinner, enough to recall Jim Morrison of Doors and who his father, an admiral, was. We all know how Jim turned out and how he ended up, not that I don't like Doors' music--some of it is really good. David Ignatius, however, is definitely afflicted with the God Complex, because he thinks that being a WaPo BSer he knows how things work. He doesn't, but that is the point. The United States is the only nation in the world whose media are staffed with a huge portion of not only ignoramuses but with war-mongers and psychos with God Complex who think that they know how to run a war. So, now this cretin wants to establish a "no-fly zone" right in Russia's underbelly. 

Well, being a journo and a man with no practical or serious education, he should learn, removing here any specific details of the conflict in Karabah, that his "no-fly zone" will not just be "not welcomed" by Turkey but will be inside the operational zone of responsibility of both Russian base in Gumri in Armenia and Russia's Southern Military District, which has attached to it a rather very capable 4th Air Force and Air Defense Army. It is a funny "little" army which can easily be reinforced by additional SU-35s (apart from having couple of regiments of SU-30SMs) and, considering an extremely good mobility of S-300PMU or S-400 AD complexes, closing skies over the region is not such big of a deal for Russia, who has her very specific objectives in the region. Ignatius, being half-Armenian, is probably all over the place but he is no God, he is not even good at geography, let alone in combat operations--he is just a mediocre BSer, a man afflicted both by graphomania and a desire to feel himself important, but he is merely a creature of an American Parnassus of very moderate writing talents (or any other talents for this matter) and that what makes him think that he is qualified to suggest a dramatic escalation, if his stupid and incompetent advice will be heeded. But then again, intellectual level of American "elites" is appalling. It never was high to start with once the counter-culture of 1960s truly solidified itself throughout American political and academic institutions, together with the faux-conservative reaction to it, and we all observe today the inevitable result of that--a rule of dumbfucks across the board. It is a sad situation, especially when one understands that below the social class and political bottom line of a vomit-inducing present American establishment, there is still a bright and inquiring American thought out there, which asks serious moral and academic questions on a direction this country took after its ruling class, and those "intellects" which serve it, got utterly corrupted by the sense of entitlement, born out in the words of Al Pacino in Devil's Advocate 'egos larger than cathedral', supported by ignorance if not outright psychiatric disorders such as God Complex.

More Pressure, Please.

I really didn't want to post on this issue but Bernhard of MoA gave the link to yet another gem of an American "strategic" thinking and I might as well say couple of words on that. By now you probably know my severe allergy to the majority of "thoughts" expressed by all kinds of American "diplomats" (quotation marks are deliberate) and other "experts" in Russia. Alexander Vershbow is one such "thinker" and "expert" who pretends that he knows Russia. Read his biography, he is class-A luminary in globalist circles and is decidedly the same type of a "success" (quotation marks are also deliberate) as Strobe Talbott, who passed at some pint of time as yet another "expert" on Russia. 

Alexander Russell "Sandy" Vershbow (born July 3, 1952) is an American diplomat and former Deputy Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. From October, 2005 to October, 2008, he was the United States Ambassador to South Korea. Before that post he had been the ambassador to the Russian Federation from 2001 to 2005 and the ambassador to NATO from 1997 to 2001. For his work with NATO he was awarded the State Department's Distinguished Service Award.In March, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Vershbow as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, a position that holds responsibility for U.S. policy toward NATO, coordination of U.S. security and defense policies relating to the nations and international organizations of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He was confirmed in April, 2009. After almost three years with the U.S. Department of Defense, in February 2012, Vershbow moved back to Brussels where he took the position of Deputy Secretary General of NATO, becoming the first American to hold the position

Russians know extremely well who this guy is and his rap-sheet is impressive (by D.C. and Burssels standards) as is his lack of understanding of a set of problems the world faces today--an expected ignorance from a man with a radically humanities "education" form one of the Ivy League schools--and Vershbow being a consummate swamp creature continues with the same ol' story, now as the head of the Atlantic Council. You know, Atlantic Council, another collection of narrative-mongers who are good only at grandiose political declarations and scratching the bottom of the barrel for its set of the abusers of sinecures, who do not know shit from shinola but are into business of advising none-the-less. Vershbow wants to pressure Russia (what's new) and his opening salvo is courageous in terms of outright exposure of a level of fill with shit and sheer stupidity.

Six years after suspending “business as usual” with Moscow, the Alliance’s Russia policy is largely static and reactive. NATO has done well in reestablishing deterrence against Russian aggression in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine in 2014. However, in the years since, the Alliance has been less effective at countering Moscow’s ongoing political warfare against NATO members’ societies and democratic values. There is sustained Russian interference in the internal affairs of the NATO member states, little meaningful dialogue in the NATO-Russia Council, an unraveling of arms control constraints, provocative Russian military activities in NATO air and sea space, aggressive disinformation and propaganda campaigns against the West, and unchecked adventurism in the Middle East, Africa, and Afghanistan. Russian-led forces in occupied Donbas continue their attacks on Ukrainian forces and civilians despite numerous ceasefires, a daily reminder of Moscow’s rejection of the Helsinki principles of respect for the sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of all European states. Belarus also faces sustained Russian pressure and possible military intervention to suppress the mass protests triggered by the falsified elections in August 2020. And Russia has once again thumbed its nose at the international community by using an illegal chemical weapon to poison opposition leader Alexei Navalny. NATO’s failure to halt Russia’s aggressive behavior puts the future of the liberal international order at risk.

For starters, Vershbow doesn't know it, since he has zero background in real "security" and balance of power, that future of the "liberal international order" is really grim since:

1. This "liberal international order" has very little true liberalism in it, but mostly a set of rules designed for robbing the rest of the world in favor of a few "elite" conglomerates of rich and perverted, most of them located in the US, UK and Western Europe. They worry, since the system is done. It simply doesn't work.

2. But, of course, any order requires a force which upholds it. Obviously, institutions are important, such as IMF, which wants new issue Bretton Woods in order to continue business as usual, collecting welfare for its class of leeches who know only how to collect rent and little else. But order, or ordnung, to give it appropriately sounding name is impossible without the enforcer. 

Here is where Vershbow, despite his tenure as NATO's Deputy Secretary General for some PR BS,  requiring zero qualifications in issues of actual working and effective policies and international relations, has a very difficult time understanding that the "enforcer", mostly on paper, is almost dead. Make no mistake, the enforcer, or the bully, is still convulsing and is not dead yet per se, but as an actual military force capable to fight and win a conventional conflict against serious power the United States is done. European NATO members are altogether a joke, once French nuclear weapons are subtracted from this "order of battle". Russia, indeed, can thumb her nose and Vershbow's version of "international community", because what Vershbow tries to present as such is just NATO, which is about 10% of Earth's population and which is wholesale non-agreement capable. With most of the remaining 90% of population Russia has excellent relations, ranging from China (1.5 billion people), India (1.3 billion), Iran, many African and Arab countries, many other countries in South America. 

In fact, once one begins to actually add REAL GDP (not BS which passes at the Wall Street as such) of Russia and China alone, it becomes clear that this tiny block of only two nations has enough economic power to both bury this precious "liberal international order", which does a swell job of killing itself as I type this. But speaking broadly Russia alone can rearrange stones in every NATO capital, D.C. included, without even resorting to nukes and this is the fact that even Vershbow, I am sure, understands. As per Novichok and Navalny's "poisoning", as many observers already pointed out, this Novichok "deadly weapon" is incredibly ineffective--people just refuse to die from it. Remarkable how bad Russians are at chemical weapons. They try and try to kill at least someone with this deadliest chemical and still cannot succeed. Russians now gave up and retooled all Novichok nerve agent production facilities for distillation of a deadly vodka

and sunflower seed oil.

People like Vershbow, being highly uncultured people have the ability to chit-chat about golf, know the difference between expensive scotches and dropping couple of quotations from ancient philosophers but these skills are no substitute for systemic education and ability to synthesis (everyone is analysts nowadays--most men going #2 with their smart-phones are easily qualified as analysts for a duration of bowel movement). This skill seems to elude US think-tanks who are very good at juxtapositioning the facts in the most lucrative, for their pockets, manner but are not capable consistently, in fact decade after decade, to forecast anything. That is why Vershbow doesn't have a sense that he parades himself as an American equivalent of the CPSU apparatchik speaking in slogans at the local Party conference.         

As part of the NATO 2030 initiative, allies need to develop a more dynamic policy toward Russia. The Alliance needs to retake the initiative, increase the costs for Moscow’s disruptive activities, and put real pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to change course, while reducing the risk of escalation resulting from Russia’s provocative military behavior.

At this stage we MUST ask the question--are they really that stupid, in fact, utterly dumb? As I am making case for years--many are. In fact, very many of those good ol' boys and girls with degrees in International Relations, "security" studies and political science, among many, are downright morons. They are incapable of developing anything, let alone "dynamic policy", whatever that means, not to mention putting pressure on whatever. But Vershbow, being so close to a globalist elite, and serving it, must know at least some real score. If he doesn't (it is possible) then he is a brainwashed complete moron--I wouldn't be surprised, just recall a clown Michael McFaul--but if he does, I don't know what he must think about himself putting out such a trash masquerading as a "policy" piece. Does Vershbow cry himself to sleep at night recognizing that he is a hollow suite with zero ability to comprehend what is coming? But then again, such a recognition requires both serious intellectual and moral component and this is largely absent from current Western "elites". 

So, enjoy, if you will, yet another excrement by one of the America's (and West's) brightest stars in the field of security but don't ask me why these people are still around. Maybe for Vershbow is not to late to change a career and try something he was good at when he was younger--drums. No, not the drums of war this dude tries to beat in his insult to intelligence, but real drums. You know like jazz or rock-n-roll drums. Because the only field where 90% of modern American military-diplomatic-political-intelligence "elite" belongs is in entertainment, as a filler for long forgotten bearded women and other circus freaks shows at a country fair.      

Well, It Is Pretty Much Over...

Basically, US is officially a banana republic. It is not about "unmasking", it is about Durham not even producing a report at all in the end. Ain't American "democracy" grand? Watch the last minute of Fox report--that is a wowser, don't pay attention to "unmasking" thing--this one was never going to fly.