Vladivostok Just Being... Vladivostok.

Japanese guys finding it to be a cool place. It is a cool place. When you hear in 2019 Band On The Run by Sir Paul's Wings playing in Vladivostok bars as if there was not 50 years since this great track--it feels good. Anyhow, this Japanese dude got it right. 

Anyone who says that Vladivostok is Russian San Francisco--there is noting in common between the two--completely different entities.   

 

Daniel Depetris Has No Clue.

Which is a defining feature of the US so called "journalist corps". In his utterly delirious piece in the American Conservative he waxes geopolitical and continues to spread all kinds of beaten to death cliches about Russia. For starters, he repeats a tiresome Wall Street claptrap about Russian economy. 

Trump’s desire to get along with Putin was not a bad idea at its core. Russia may be a weakling compared to its Soviet ancestor (its GDP is about $400 billion less than recession-threatened Italy), but it remains a major power in Eurasia. 

Obviously because Depetris is an American "journalist" and it automatically means that he has no tools for operating with facts on the ground and it can come as a surprise to him that Russia's GDP actually dwarfs that of Italy and is already larger than that of Germany. Even IMF agrees on that, not Depetris, of course. Somebody forgot to inform Depetris about this teeny-weeny fact but, be patient, Depetris is not alone in his economic delusion--he is, actually, very typical of US punditry whose defining characteristic is ignorance. 

But by far the most astonishing in all this is Depetris' delusions is the title of his piece:

With Mueller Done, Now is the Time for Better Relations With Russia

You see? So simple! OK guys, it is over now let's get better relations. He even proposes:

The report is also a plus for the country—not only because Washington won’t be consumed with a constitutional crisis anytime soon, but also because it provides the Trump administration with its first opportunity to settle on a Russia policy without the risk of an extreme political backlash.

Life is so easy, you see? Of course, I have news for optimistic (a euphemism for delusional) Depetris:

1. Yes, Trump Administration "settled" Russia policy will be (already is) all out, short of hot, war on Russia and this war is already proceeding in earnest. Things will get even worse, much worse, than they are now. This is not to mention the fact that Trump is not very smart geopolitically and his "team" of foreign policy "experts" is a laughing stock of the world--a bunch of aggressive exceptionalist neocons.

2. Patrick Armstrong yesterday when posting his Russia SitRep provided this astonishing piece of data. Just think about it for a second:

SANCTIONS. A sentence from Awara’s latest struck me: “Russia’s imports from China (26% of total) are now three times bigger than those from Germany (7.8%). Total imports from the EU now make up only 30% of all Russia’s imports.” I don’t think the EU is going to get much of that market back, do you?

I know that Depetris has no clue on that but I have to inform him that EU for Russia, strategically, economically, culturally is on several orders of magnitude more important than the United States. In fact, the only real importance, diminishing daily, of the United States for Russia is the fact that US tries to sabotage (unsuccessfully) Russian economy. But if Russia gave up on the EU, what's so important for Russia in the US? US doesn't even factor in economically here. 

This, however, doesn't prevent Depetris from continuing with his delusion:

But with the investigation complete, the report submitted, and the conclusions made, the Trump administration may now have a chance to at least explore whether the Russians are open to collaboration on fair terms.

No, Mr. Depetris, Russians are "not open" to "collaboration on fair terms" and the only things Russia is going to discuss with the US are strategic arms limitations and the terms on which US economy will be landed. Russia doesn't want it to be a global economic catastrophe but a slow and relatively soft landing. In general, people who keep the gun to your head do not "collaborate", they usually dictate conditions, but I am sure Daniel Depetris knows all about it--sarcasm is intentional. He also is not aware of a simple fact of the United States committing final act of cultural suicide in Russia. If Depetris doesn't comprehend that, nothing will prevent him from continuing to write a delusional rubbish such as his piece in TAC.  

UPDATE: Masha Zakharova explains as eloquently as always (Skabeeva's shoes are always top) things which Depetris obviously doesn't understand. 

 

A Very Interesting Moment With Brahmos.

One of those A-ha (no, not the band) moments which clarifies a lot.  As TASS reports (in Russian), Russian co-director of Russian-Indian Joint Venture Brahmos speaking to reporters at Malaysia's LIMA 2019 military exhibition, stated that in the nearest future Brahmos missile (which is a version of Russia's P-800 Onyx missile) after some modifications will reach speeds of M=4.5-5.0, thus making it effectively a hyper-sonic weapon which, as you may have guessed it already, have the most serious operational and strategic ramifications. 

Rumor has it that Russia's 3M22 Zircon capable of M=9 is built on Onyx's design, but it is one thing to have a new missile such as Zircon, totally another--to be able to upgrade own whole "fleet" of missiles from simply deadly (M=3) to uninterceptable. It is also clear that laser weapons will not become a reliable and effective counter-measure for such a threat any time soon, and I mean not soon at all. In the end, issues of attenuation and counter-measures from missiles themselves (from rotating frames, to reflective surfaces, among others) are more than sufficient to keep laser weapons as a niche weapon primarily against slow unprotected targets, such as drones, for a very long time. But my point here is this (I write about it in my new book)--what about proliferation? 

I think proliferation of a hyper-sonic weapons is inevitable, both as a military product and as a geopolitical one. The demand for it is huge because it means safety of own littorals from any kind of forces and threats. There will be many, in addition to already huge number, statements, declarations and documents about A2/AD "bubbles" and how to puncture them, but without radical transformation of the surface fleets away from what they are today and introduction of real weapons systems capable of stopping hyper-sonic missiles tens kilometers away from ships, all this will remain an operational and strategic (and doctrinal) pseudo-intellectual masturbation for all kinds of military "analysts" for a long time. Think for a second what happens even if one "blows" M=9 or even M=5 missile in 2-3 kilometers from own ship? How about, in the best case scenario, a shower of the hyper-sonic fragments still capable to disable the ship? Questions, questions....  

For Monroe Doctrine Junkies.

Many in the US still cannot come to grips with a simple historic fact that Monroe Doctrine was not just about Western Hemisphere being US sphere of vital interests. Here is a short reminder: 

Monroe Doctrine, (December 2, 1823), cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy enunciated by Pres. James Monroe in his annual message to Congress. Declaring that the Old World and New World had different systems and must remain distinct spheres, Monroe made four basic points: (1) the United States would not interfere in the internal affairs of or the wars between European powers; (2) the United States recognized and would not interfere with existing colonies and dependencies in the Western Hemisphere; (3) the Western Hemisphere was closed to future colonization; and (4) any attempt by a European power to oppress or control any nation in the Western Hemisphere would be viewed as a hostile act against the United States. 

As you can see, the whole doctrine was predicated on a quid-pro-quo principle of not screwing with Europe and her possessions. Of course this whole thing was not worth the paper it was printed on once the United States solidified and started to grow in the postbellum years and suddenly recognized herself a colonial power with  pompous rhetoric about democracy and liberty serving as a fig leaf for full blown imperial conquests. Donald J. Trump is not known to be well endowed with historic knowledge so, naturally he, and many of his warmongering "advisers" concluded that:

US President Donald Trump has warned that Russia must get out of Venezuela. Two planeloads of Russian troops are currently in the Latin American country under the terms of a 2001 cooperation treaty. Speaking at the White House, Trump also warned that “all options are open” when it comes to getting Russia out of Venezuela.Around 100 Russian troops touched down in Caracas on Saturday, a show of support for President Nicolas Maduro’s government. The move caused consternation in Washington, however, with Vice President Mike Pence calling the deployment an “unnecessary provocation.”Pence also called on Russia to withdraw its support of Maduro and “stand with Juan Guaido,” the Washington-sponsored opposition leader who declared himself interim president in January.

So, when Donald J. Trump, and the whole choir of America-based Monroists, tries to convince Russia to "get out" of Venezuela they should really read attentively what Monroe Doctrine is actually about, you know pp. 1 and 2. Last time I checked the United States has more than 800 military bases around the world and, surprise, surprise, is involved in fomenting troubles, humanitarian catastrophes, support of terrorism and other activities which null and void any idea embedded in the Monroe Doctrine. After all, it was the United States which unleashed a bloody coup in Ukraine (together with her lapdogs from EU) and any referrals to Monroe Doctrine and its principles are just for PR. United States through its incessant aggression around the world since 1999 lost any moral and judicial grounds to demand anything from anybody. The ongoing coup in Venezuela, with all my huge reservations about "lefty" Latin American regimes, is a blatant violation of Venezuela's sovereignty and having a convicted crook and neocon such as Abrams (supported by draft-dodger and coward Bolton) as a handler of Venezuela pretty much answers all questions who is behind events in Venezuela. I omit now a criminal role of propaganda and disinformation US media play in all this affair--by now no one should be surprised with that.

So when chicken hawk Bolton proclaims with pathos that:

The United States will not tolerate hostile foreign military powers meddling with the Western Hemisphere’s shared goals of democracy, security, and the rule of law. The Venezuelan military must stand with the people of Venezuela. 

And Trump threatens with "all options" being opened, they should really consider some few cost-benefits factors in case (and it may happen) of US attacking Venezuela with Russian advisers in it. Never mind the fact that militarily a hundred or so military personnel, primarily IT people to help Venezuela fight off those "strange" electricity blackouts, are not really there to set up a base or anything of like.  Even Bloomberg gets it. Russia knows that the US now is in full blown attack on Nord Stream-2 and that new (what round? Number 100?) sanctions are coming, but Russia doesn't care. Why Russia doesn't care? Few factors:

1. Militarily Russia can annihilate conventionally any combination of threats in Eurasia. This capability only grows with time and US knows this. Pentagon has to live (and it tries, actually) with the fact that it neither has forces nor force structure to win anything conventionally in Eurasia in general and especially in Russia's immediate vicinity. 

2. Economic, and here are two really stunning graphs. 

Russia's Gold Reserves:

China's Gold Reserves:

And I mean physical gold, not those funny papers which pass for gold on all those speculation platforms such as Wall Street and other so called "exchanges". 

What you see is the death of a US Dollar in progress. The US simply ran out of her military luck and ability to "color revolutionize" serious players. It also ran out of ability to bomb those--how can US bomb China or Russia, or India? Did anyone even calculate the consequences for the US? Once the United States stops being able to overthrow or bomb into submission nations which prefer to trade in own currencies and in gold, you already guessed what is going to happen with grossly overvalued US economy and US Dollar. Remove US military "power" from equation and then just dismantle present US-based global financial system one country at a time. As per Venezuela, will see where it all goes. In my mind the best way to do things would have been US and Russia secretly negotiating some kind of settlement but I doubt today, seriously doubt it, that there is much time left for that or that US has competent people on its very political top to negotiate anything at all. Russia and China seem also settling something really huge which both dramatic growth of Chinese gold reserves and Russia's incessant growth of the same support. 

Well, this, plus a dismantling of Russia's "liberal" economic block together with massive purges of inept and corrupt administrative elite--leftovers from Yeltsin's criminal years. Paradoxically, Russian-American trade continues to grow despite all sanctions and other monkey wrenches morons in Congress continue to throw at it. Well, of course, this trade is small relative to Russia's or US' trade, but still--in few billions. I think it is too late for the US but who knows, now she has to think how US can block China, if the US even have any resources for that. I doubt she has but US still has some aces to play but are required skills there? This I don't know but something tells me--not anymore. It could have been great, it could have been new prosperous century--too bad self-proclaimed hegemon turned out to be the main reason for everything going down the drain. Time of reckoning is upon us.     

If Your Heart Doesn't Melt.

There is so much shit happening in the world today that even I am getting tired sometimes to be justifiably angry and rational. And it is sometimes human relations and feelings which manifest themselves in the most profoundly simple yet absolutely beautiful way which makes it all worthwhile. Simple acts of kindness which can make one little sweet girl truly happy. 

 

"Obama Made Me Do It"(c).

James Clapper doesn't look good. I guess because he is genetically driven to deceive. So, his precious bodily fluids do not serve him well and now birds are beginning to sing. 

I think we will see, hear and read many of this kind of "revelations", especially when there is a very good chance to be subpoenaed for explanation of this whole "situation". It is fascinating to see CNN and its media-whores, such as A. Cooper, trying to do damage control. So, get the pop-corn, ladies and gentlemen.  

UPDATE: excellent piece from Paul Craig Roberts today:

Now We Will Find Out If Trump Is Really the President or Merely A Figurehead 

Collusion, Meanwhile, Continues.

Look at Ovi and the way he, and two other Russians, implanted to Washington Caps, look at Trump--the collusion is self-evident. Trump handlers are in the White House to demand more from colluded and subverted POTUS.  

If that wasn't bad enough, Russians even penetrated...ahem..not what you think, Ivanka's personal circle. 

It stares right into our faces and Mueller has the audacity to clear Trump. This cannot stand;-) 

Now, without jokes, if US House of Representatives has a confirmed nutjob Rep. Adam Schiff as a Chair of House Intelligence Committee, it must either help Schiff leave office or properly rename itself as House Lack of Intelligence Committee.

WASHINGTON (AP) — "Damning evidence" of collusion with Russia. "More than circumstantial." A scandal of a size "beyond Watergate." For two years, Rep. Adam Schiff, the House Intelligence Committee chairman, seemed to be on every talk and late-night show sounding ominous warnings about what special counsel Robert Mueller might find on President Donald Trump. The California Democrat got the president's attention — a fact confirmed when Trump turned the congressman's name into a foul schoolyard taunt. "Wow, Mr. President, that's a good one," Schiff tweeted back. But Mueller found no coordination or conspiracy involving Trump, his campaign and the Russian government, the Justice Department said Sunday. That sparked furious GOP calls for Schiff to resign from the committee or Congress as the Trump administration went on the offensive, recriminations in mind, with the 2020 elections nearing. "There are a lot of people out there that have done some very evil things, very bad things, I would say treasonous things against our country," Trump said Monday in the Oval Office, without elaborating. "Those people will certainly be looked at."

Truth is, lawyers, even those who prosecute matters related to national security and intelligence are just that--lawyers (or prosecutors). To chair anything related to intelligence one must have a serious professional intelligence background. I was vocal on that issue, in my naive attempts to point out that professional competence is a foundation for any military-intelligence related matter, when I wrote about such clown as Malcolm Nance who has zero credentials and experience in actual humint and operations of influence--it is simply way above his rank, billet and educational level. Yet, recall that this scumbag and self-proclaimed student of KGB became, together with a clueless psychopath Schiff, a Go To guy for so called main-stream sewer aka media. All that is reminiscent of auto-mechanic with AA from local community college expressing opinions on the issues of gynecology and neurosurgery. 

I am not a complete idiot--it is clear that many big fish from Russiagate cesspool will not see justice and will escape, nor am I naive about Trump but for me it is the matter of principle--institutional one. I care about US Constitution and political institutions which are supposed to be guided by it. I have a purely selfish interest in all that in addition to a larger ethical and purely geopolitical ones. So, in coming weeks we will see how much push-back, if any, will be generated against treasonous DNC, Democratic Party and its propaganda outlets, but what is clear today is that it will take months to feel a degree to which the United States, completely out of own resources, further weakened itself geopolitically. I think we may be for a whale of a (further) decline. Could it be also Trump's game? Well, I will add to Patrick Armstrong's inconsistencies about Trump he wrote about--it was Trump who ordered by Executive Order 13806 one of the most important documents in the last decade. 

Assessing and Strengthening the Manufacturing and Defense Industrial Base and Supply Chain Resiliency of the United States

Update: Just noticed Phil Giraldi's excellent piece at Unz, right on topic.  

An Iranian April Surprise?

Making Israel Great Again, One Country At A Time.

Trump is a first fully Zionist POTUS in American history. Now he decided to give to Israel part of the territory which is Syria's, but never mind International Law, as long as Ivanka, Jared (most likely some form of Mossad's asset) and Bibi are happy, everyone is happy. At least in the White House. Obviously, Trump's recognition of Golan Heights as part of Israel does not mean a squat in serious geopolitics, other than the propaganda value for BiBi's campaign to get re-elected and avoid being criminally charged in Israel. 

Washington (AFP) - With Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his side, US President Donald Trump declared Monday that the Golan Heights belongs to Israel -- handing another major diplomatic victory to the premier ahead of elections. Netanyahu spared no praise as he watched Trump sign the Golan proclamation at the White House, likening him to President Harry S Truman, who recognized Israel, and even to Cyrus the Great, the Persian king who freed the Jews of Babylon.

The main issue here is not Israel, however de facto in control of US foreign policy, but a desire of Russia to talk to Trump. Lavrov was quick in expressing to Pompeo all he, and Kremlin, think about this whole histrionics, but in the end, it is not for Trump to decide but for a military-political balance around Israel where this whole PR clusterfvck may go. And Russia can certainly make sure that if push comes to shove there will be enough hardware to make Israel's life hard, much-much harder than it is now. It is difficult to convey what a real PR disaster, especially in a long run, for the US this recognition is, but, I guess, Mueller Report is what got to the Trump's head. This, plus, of course, AIPAC Conference taking place now in D.C. Talk about "collusion". And where is a Special Counsel when you need one.  

Meanwhile, something is up in Venezuela and it all might well be the part of what I talk about for years--Russia "selling" the most valuable product on the market today--a political stability. Patrick Armstrong yesterday posted a very interesting hypothesis about Donald Trump and some observations he makes are very worthwhile. But I also have to ask the question, can we at least allow some probability of current US elites being utterly incompetent? This, I think, should not be discounted at all and, in fact, should be considered strongly each time we observe the United States turning into Bismark's version of Russia:

Never fight with Russians. On your every stratagem they answer unpredictable stupidity.   

You can rephrase Bismark in relation to modern US completely on your own.   

American Politcs Today.

There is a good ol' Russian (Soviet, really) anecdote: two cowboys, Bill and John, ride their horses in prairie. While riding there, Bill sees a pile of horse shit and because he has 100 dollars it occurs to him--why wouldn't I dare John to eat this pile of horse shit for a hundred dollars. So, he dares John to do just that. John thinks: hm, of course, eating horse shit is really humiliating and disgusting but 100 bucks, damn, too serious of a money to pass on such an opportunity. So, he agrees and eats this pile of shit and Bill gives him his 100 bucks. They continue to ride side-by-side after that. While riding both think. 

Bill: well, it is all cool that John ate a pile of horse shit but, man, 100 bucks is too great sum of a money to pay even for such an atrocious challenge. I wish I never dared Bill and kept my 100.

John: well, it is really cool to have 100 bucks, but, man, I ate a pile of horse shit for that and now Bill will taunt and humiliate me for this. I wish I never agreed to accept his challenge. 

While thinking like that they pass another pile of horse shit and John dares Bill to eat this pile of shit for 100 bucks. Bill agrees and does just that, John gives him 100 bucks. After that both cowboys continue to ride side-by-side in full silence. After few minutes of riding in silence John breaks it: 

"Hey, Bill, you know what? Don't you think that we both just ate a load of horse shit for free?" 

This is a description of modern American politics which is an exercise in eating an excrement. In related news, US MSM is officially dead and its rotting corpse poisons atmosphere, and US political house is a house of organized crime, this is what Mueller Report confirmed today. 

The short version? Mueller is done. His report unambiguously states there was no collusion or obstruction. He was allowed to follow every lead unfettered in an investigation of breathtaking depth. It cannot be clearer. The report summary states, “The Special Counsel’s investigation did not find that the Trump campaign or anyone associated with it conspired or coordinated with Russia in its efforts to influence the 2016 US Presidential Election…the report does not recommend any further indictments, nor did the Special Counsel obtain any sealed indictments that have yet to be made public.” Robert Mueller did not charge any Americans with collusion, coordination, or criminal conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia. The special counsel also considered whether members of the Trump campaign “coordinated,” a much lower standard defined as an “agreement, tacit or express,” with Russian election interference activities. They did not. Everything—everything—else we have been told since the summer of 2016 falls, depending on your conscience and view of humanity, into the realm of lies, falsehoods, propaganda, exaggerations, political manipulation, stupid reporting, fake news, bad judgment, simple bull, or, in the best light, hasty conclusions.

The only way United States will be able to recover at least some self-respect (forget it on the international arena) is if those people, including in both Clinton and Obama clans, who came up with this whole coup attempt and unprecedented attack on Constitution and Due Process will see real justice and prison terms. If not, and it will continue to be business as usual, then it is really over. As per sanctity of Office of POTUS, since Bill Clinton times all efforts were put in discrediting this important office, including by its present occupant.    

Countess Lopukhina?

She died at the age of 24, leaving one of the most stunning evidence of beauty and femininity in 18th Century Russia. 

What is remarkable, in late 1980s--early 1990 Svetlana Druzhinina decided to make a movie about adventures of Russian naval cadets (guarde-marines) in 18th Century Russia, not unlike those of Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas, which turned into a national (and international--UK ran it) movie phenomenon with an incredible music and it was Olga Mashnaya who stunned everyone with her uncanny similarity to Lopukhina, despite the fact that she was playing a serf-woman. But no matter, the stunning femininity of Mashnaya captured the imagination and, of course, was this blonde Armenian guy Dmitri Kharatyan who about 30-40 million Soviet women fell in love with, LOL. Judge for yourself--1990s and 2016. 

And 30 years later. The girl is wonderful, but not Mashnaya. Kharatyan, in the same time, well, he barely ages...

Still nice, though.  Ah, yes, it is Friday.

Pompeo, WTF?

I am beginning to think that it is time to talk not only about incompetence of current US top echelon, but of its mental inadequacy.

Trump may be God’s chosen one to save the Jewish people from “the Iranian menace,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed in a baffling interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network. 

WTF? But wait, it is all for stroking America's (so called) Christian Zionists, and CBN is exactly that, in preparation to Trump's illegal recognition of the Golan Heights as Israel's territory. 

The Trump administration has backed Israel's claim to sovereignty over the Golan Heights. The move comes weeks before Israeli general elections and reverses the position U.S. administrations have held for decades. President Trump made the announcement via tweet Thursday. "After 52 years it is time for the United States to fully recognize Israel's Sovereignty over the Golan Heights, which is of critical strategic and security importance to the State of Israel and Regional Stability!" the president wrote.

It is down right fascinating (I don't use such terms as sad, pathetic, humiliating anymore) how Donald Trump turned, within the first half of his tenure, into the most neocon and Israeli-controlled POTUS. Unprecedented. Forget about International Law and simply observe how Trump and his "family" goes out all the way to keep BiBi Netanyahu in power. Trump presidency is finished, it was for some time, the fact being hidden by self-aggrandizing and bellicose rhetoric, but fact is--Donald J. Trump is Israel's stooge and his current administration is a collection of Israel-first hacks. As Harper writes yesterday: 

President Donald Trump is more isolated than at any time since taking office.  And the prime cause of that isolation is John Bolton. 

While agreeing with him in principle I made one remark, however:

I would say that the cause is Trump himself. Real estate hasslers and hustlers do not make good statesmen and geopolitical and security thinkers.

Indeed, all this mess is of Trump's own making and for those who still have any illusions on some Trump's "strategy", here is the truth--there is none. Read what Larry Johnson has to say on this whole clusterfvck. There is no even pretense anymore of some "deep thought" or "competence"--it is a full blown panopticon.   

Stephen Cohen Makes A Slight Mistake.

When Dr. Stephen Cohen speaks, I listen. So, I read his latest piece on pathological neocon war-mongers (most of them draft-dodgers or humanities "professors" thousands miles away from theaters of operation) in RT. It is a good piece:

Anyone who has lived through or studied the preceding forty-year Cold War will recognize the ominous echoes of its most dangerous periods, when actual war was on the horizon or a policy option. Here are only a few random but representative examples: In a March 8 Washington Post opinion article, two American professors, neither with any apparent substantive knowledge of Russia or Cold War history, warned that the Kremlin is trying “to undermine our trust in the institutions that sustain a strong nation and a strong democracy. The media, science, academia and the electoral process are all regular targets.” Decades ago, J. Edgar Hoover, the policeman of that Cold War, said the same, indeed made it an operational doctrine.

But then Doctor Cohen makes a slight mistake when states that:

But the preceding Cold War was driven by an intense ideological conflict between Soviet Communism and Western capitalism.

Here, we have to be very clear that on the West's (primarily Anglo-Saxon West) side this war was against historic Russia, not "communism" (grossly misunderstood and deliberately misinterpreted) and Russians. Hans Morgenthau was explicit in 1957, as were explicit American ideological doctrines that emphasized:

   "I would say, and I have said many times before, that if the czars still reigned in Russia, that if Lenin had died of the measles at an early age, that if Stalin had never been heard of, but the power of the Soviet Union were exactly what it is today, the problem of Russia would be for us by and large what it is today. If the Russian armies stood exactly where they stand today, and if Russian technological development were what it is today, we would be by and large confronted with the same problems which confront us today."

US problem was not with "communism", which was merely a propaganda cliche, it was with Russia and Russians as  such, as a nation.  It still is. It was and is the issue of precious bodily fluids from the get go, especially today between neocons and so called interventionist "elites". I totally get where Cohen comes from, I addressed this issue myself not for once--US "strategists" (let alone utterly corrupt media) are for the most part unqualified and not that well educated people, as last 20 years, or so, so manifestly demonstrated. The danger of these people such as Kagans, Petraeuses, or this mindless bimbo AOC is that these people are utterly unqualified for a statesmanship and, maybe with some caveat for such military "leader" as Petraeus, have no a faintest idea what real war is. So, I also have issues with calling such a pseudo-"thinker" as Robert Kagan, or coward John Bolton or anyone from this pool of ignoramuses running US foreign policy and military disasters, "warriors"--none of those people have any idea what being real warrior is and that too is a problem. As I stated not for once, I feel slightly more secure when I know that Dunford and Gerasimov talk to each-other--talking to Bolton or Pompeo is a waste of time. 

Today, observing an American wasteland of military and geopolitical thought which follows in step with complete political and ideological degeneration of the American state, one is forced to prepare for war which, in a current American case, could be unleashed by people who have no clue. 

P.S. I don't think that Dr. Cohen serves his noble cause well when references the name of Solzhenitsyn who played his, however small, role in helping to topple one of the versions of the historic Russia and maybe Dr. Cohen has to ask himself a question why the monument to this self-proclaimed "consciousness of Russia" in Moscow is under specifically setup 24/7 video surveillance. But that is a separate topic of Russian history and here I and Dr. Cohen may have different views altogether.     

Not Really The News, Actually.

Just the confirmation of what everyone with a half-brain knew all along: 

The Saudi-funded spread of Wahhabism began as a result of Western countries asking Riyadh to help counter the Soviet Union during the Cold War, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told the Washington Post.Speaking to the paper, bin Salman said that Saudi Arabia's Western allies urged the country to invest in mosques and madrassas overseas during the Cold War, in an effort to prevent encroachment in Muslim countries by the Soviet Union.

Well, duh. What this "encroachment" really was no one knows but sure, let's call it that. Islamic radicalization of Fergana Valley and spread of Islamic militancy all along Soviet Middle Asian borders outside and inside in 1970s, obviously, do not count. Now, let Europe and, ahem, Minnesota (among few other places in US) enjoy the rich fruits of their activity in promoting Wahhabism and all those wonderful offsprings such as Al Qaeda, ISIS and Al Nusra, just to name a few. I think it is a healthy and long overdue process in reevaluating Soviet War in Afghanistan once one takes a look at the results of West's promoting the most radical, militant versions of Islamic religion knowing damn well that Islam, in the words of late Sam Huntington, "has bloody borders". Russia sure as hell knows this first hand.

A Whimper.

Not a bang, but a whimper. 

Christopher Steele, the ex-British spy who fueled Russiagate hysteria with his DNC-commissioned opposition research on Donald Trump, admitted during a lawsuit deposition that he relied on unverified information contained in a report published by CNN iReport – a now-defunct “user-generated” news site. Stories featured on iReport were submitted by citizen journalists and were not edited, fact-checked, or screened before being published.

As they say--no comments are necessary.  The only question which remains, if those who organized a coup against legitimately elected President and the US Constitution, and we all know their names, will be called to face justice? Nah, don't hold your breath. Nobody will be persecuted for very real crimes and unlawful activity and that will be yet another step down the drain for crumbling republic. Do I want to be wrong? You bet. Time will tell but every last pretense of American vaunted "values", from freedom of press to the rule of law have been completely dismantled since 2016.  

Upcoming "Elites", LOL!

Make no mistake, the United States is not unique here, there are all kinds of bimbos and good ol' boys getting their sorry asses into the most prestigious schools in Russia too. Well, I am sure this problem is not confined merely to the United States and Russia. The issue here is different--it is the fact that in accordance to narrative in good ol' USA, which, as we know, is the most democratic democracy, like, ever, the corruption in the higher education is non-existent. Well, as it turned out--it is not the case, like, at all. After busting the ring of a wealthy "celebrities", who never have time for bringing up their children into the decent, hard-working people, which was busy pushing their spoiled dumb-asses into the all kinds of prestigious schools, one has to ask the question--how about we all admit that celebrities, by definition, are dumb and rotten people, most of them anyway. They do represent, and many, in fact, drive this suicidal and superficial culture of feeling good about themselves for being complete ass-holes, without ever asking themselves a question if they are even qualified to be parents, because their children simply reproduce all rot their parents instill in them on a completely new level.

Here is one such bimbo, Olivia Jade Gianulli being sincere:

‘I don’t know how much of school I’m gonna attend. But I’m gonna go in and talk to my deans and everyone, and hope that I can try and balance it all. But I do want the experience of like game days, partying… I don’t really care about school, as you guys all know.’  

Well, what do you expect from the offspring of people who make living by pretending to be other people, or themselves, or who swindle others in such fields as fashion (a euphemism for ugly post-modernist belch of affluent urbanites). Mind you, there are many many more people like these good-for-nothing exhibitionists, who are already in school working "hard" on their "degrees" in useless fields and who, upon graduation, will start making their careers leading up to the positions of prominence in art (so called) and politics. Do you like present American "elites"? Well, there you go, much worse are coming and this is a sign of time, of which I wrote for years--modern liberal system eats itself from the inside, not least through giving prominence and reproducing people who do not satisfy even lowest of the low human, professional, ethical criteria to be anywhere close to the top, or the elite, which is required for the society to operate normally. Here who they are:

Ms. Giannulli is one of a number of celebrity offspring who have lived out their teenage years on social media. In the video for which she was criticized, she described how the dissolution of a romantic relationship had been particularly difficult because people would send her tweets, Instagram posts and Snapchats of her ex with other young women.   

Welcome to the brave new world.

Getting To The (Intermediate) Finish Line.

As was expected it was confirmed today about Zircon:

Trials of launching a missile from a naval vessel are planned to start at the end of the year. The Admiral Gorshkov-class frigate, also known as Project 22350, from the Northern Fleet will be used," the source said adding that earlier trials included launching Zircon missiles from land.

The sobbing of Russian old-fashioned navalists and other missile age and Augmented Salvo Equations denialists can be heard all over the place, but if Kinzhal closed off Russia's littoral and near (and even some remote) sea zones, deployment of 1000+ kilometer range Zircon on ocean-going ships and, consequently, submarines is a whole other story altogether. It ends modern naval warfare as we know it. So, what's next? An operational singularity until some form of more-or-less effective counter will be developed and that means a very long time. I stress again, sticking lasers on ships is not going to do it for a number of huge technological reasons which must be addressed before any serious talk about lasers as effective weapon begins.

So, for US Navy the only way is to get on with own hyper-sonic anti-shipping weapons. How far behind the US is in this race? Who knows, some people say 10-15 years, which in modern times is a hugely long time, once one considers the dynamics of military-technological developments. The key factor, however, for the US is not R&D, it is institutional inertia and gridlock which continues to prevent the US Navy from actually facing reality and forces it to remain, despite all public invocations of Distributed Lethality, a solidly carrier-centric navy with no real prospects for change which is long overdue. Remember this, always:

They are easy to remember and calculate. It is a primer for understanding a ruthless dynamic of modern warfare which removed already old delusions of a dying empire about warfare it thought it could wage with impunity. 

It’s time to look beyond the stirring images of infantrymen storming machine-gun nests created by Hollywood and to see war for what it is and will be in the future: the ruthless extermination of the enemy with accurate, devastating firepower from the sea, from the air, from space and from mobile, armored firepower on land.

I guess, the future has arrived already and don't tell me that I didn't warn about it. 

Michael Pence Is A Dangerous Ignoramus...

Which one would expect from one-dimensional, not very bright, colorless Christian Zionist such as Trump's VP. When even Bloomerg is forced to publish some rather stunning revelations, one must ask--how degenerate US "elites" are?

The U.S. leaned on German Chancellor Angela Merkel last month to conduct a naval maneuver in Russia’s backyard aimed at provoking President Vladimir Putin, according to three people familiar with the talks. At a Feb. 16 meeting at the Munich Security Conference, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence urged Merkel to send German warships through a narrow channel between the Crimean peninsula and mainland Russia to show Putin that Western powers won’t surrender their access to those waters, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The German leader refused, they said, citing reservations from Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko. A spokesman for the chancellor declined to comment.

You see, guys, here is a dude with "education" in, ahem, law and who is born-again Evangelical so called Christian which is a euphemism for largely Israeli-firsters who update their geopolitical views in Sunday Schools through sermons of illiterate clergy--a most vocal group in US electoral politics which is in the foundation of neocons' dominating US aggressive and mindless foreign policy. So, here is the level of US "elites", folks, who are firmly in the deep pockets of what...well, why don't we listen to Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson who knows about this on the order of magnitude more than I do.

Listen to the end, with Wilkerson making a conclusion much harsher than even I would make. In this Pence's "plan", however, the funniest (no, really--it is funny) part is how the United States wants to "fight" Russia to the last German, French, Arab, what have you. I already described one idiot from Foreign Policy Council, who passes there as a "Russian scholar", Pence seems to be in the same league of morons who are too lazy to:

1. Study basic facts about Azov Sea;

2. have no idea how this will look militarily. 

Granted, of course, they do not need to do so, since the main objective of this whole insanity is:

The vice president’s meeting with Merkel at the Bayerischer Hof hotel in the Bavarian capital came just after her most spirited defense of the global order yet. Drawing a standing ovation from senior security officials, she lambasted Trump’s threats on imposing tariffs on European cars as a matter of national security, pledged Germany would reach the NATO spending goal at its own pace, and stick to the Iran accord. The German leader had also observed with alarm an aggressive and coordinated U.S. diplomatic push to halt a Russian gas pipeline, Nord Stream 2. According to people close to her, that was one factor that led her to double down at Munich.

Colonel Wilkerson asks emphatically, if the well of US national security "talent" is so shallow that specimens such as Abrams, Bolton, in the end Pence himself are constantly in the orbit or coming back time after time as go to "national security" people? Yes, Colonel, it is--US has no competent national security and foreign policy specialists at the highest political level, all of them products of the Ivy League degree mills and are utterly unqualified, lack of any human integrity and utter corruption apart, to run pizza parlor, forget foreign policy of the United States. But, in general, this latest snafu from Trump's Admin is just another sign of a level of intellectual degeneration and the danger people in power in D.C. present to the remnants of the Republic and the world at large.     

Some Lozungi And Dazibao.

Because I am feeling like crap (either bronchitis or cold--coughing a lot), here are some Lozungi (Slogans) and Dazibao (keeping our Chinese friends involved) I might as well share with you. These Dazibao are mostly of archetypal, philosophical, nature--a precise type which appears in a mind of a man exhausted by coughing. One also can construe these as theses. No, not April ones;-))

1. War is an act of culture. 

2. Marxism is an analytical tool, it is not prescription. 

3. Modern West is not West anymore. 

4. Art either serves universal good or it becomes...post-modernist trash.

5. Western real left barely survives, what goes under this moniker is not left--it is rotting liberalism's last stand against revelation of a true nature of the system.

6. "Cultural Marxism" is not "Marxism" it is concoction by perverted Western so called "intellectuals" who were (are) radically globalist (see p.5). 

7. Family is the last bastion of civilization. 

8. Family is the foundation of a nation. 

9. Truth is knowable and the world is not relativist. 

10.  ....Whatever;-)))

Now to some really funny news from Russia. There are many, serious, I may add Russian analysts (or observers) who do state that Putin's revolution has started. I agree. In fact this this revolution was ongoing since 2014 and, part from real uprooting of criminal hi end clans (enough to recall recent purge of Gazprom or getting Arashukov and his "family" behind bars among many), or installing in Russia's regions what amounts to general-governors with extraordinary powers--one can sense how the ship of state changes its course radically. How? How about another sign of times:

Russian speaker of the lower house of Russia today, in unprecedented act of humiliation to Russia's economic block (and by ricochet to ever confused Medvedev), interrupted the presentation to MPs of Minister of Economic Development Oreshkin citing exhaustion from talking about small businesses and demanding that Oreshkin go and prepare better to talk substance on large economic policy and how to implement Russia's gigantic national projects and state programs (in Russian). 

Boy, talk about a shot (or a salvo) across the bow. I am sure urban office plankton is having multiple heart-attacks as I type this. This is unprecedented--to be booted off the pulpit of State Duma with almost direct accusations of incompetence of the whole government. Something is up and it is huge in Russia. This, however, was not unexpected--eventually removal of the economic block will start in earnest because new cadres are beginning to take the stage, and unlike a bunch of white board know-nothings financiers, Russia has a huge demand for industrial technocrats (such as brilliant Yuri Borisov) who can run industries, not accounting services for fast food chains or notary offices (nothing personal against those noble and needed professions).  And here is my last thesis of the day:

11. Productive labor is a historic category and it is this labor which sustains nations, including, as is the case with Russia, producing top notch weapons which can now guard safely this labor. 

Now, if it will be confirmed that Indian SU-30 shot down Pakistani AIM-120 AMRAAM, I cannot emphasize enough what this all means. But I will wait for more facts coming to light. At least India and Pakistan are talking again. Good, no one wants war between nuclear states.    

Does Russia Really Want To Sell S-400 To Turkey?

No, I get it, selling S-400 to NATO member is both good money and good image. But knowing Erdogan who always tries to play his own game, trying to leverage whatever is handy, I am sure some people in Russia are having a blast just observing this whole bargaining back and forth between Turkey and the United States. Today top military guy for Europe, General Curtis Scaparrotti weighted on that: 

Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, head of U.S. European Command, said Turkey, a NATO member, should reconsider its plan to buy the S-400 from Russia this year or forfeit other future American military aircraft and systems. He said Turkey's use of the Russian surface-to-air missile defense system would be a threat to the F-35. His comments are the latest in a series of warnings the U.S. has made to Turkey over its plans to buy the S-400. The U.S. and other NATO allies have repeatedly complained about the purchase, saying it is not compatible with other allied systems and would represent a security threat. The impending purchase has aggravated already souring relations with Ankara, including tensions over the war in Syria. Scaparrotti said U.S. officials are currently in Turkey explaining the potential consequences of the S-400 purchase. He said his best military advice would be that the U.S. not follow through with the F-35 sale and not work with an ally that's acquiring Russian systems that can threaten one of the American military's most advanced technological capabilities. "It presents a problem to all of our aircraft, but specifically the F-35," he said.

Russians know damn well what Erdogan is doing and they have no illusions whatsoever about the possibility of Erdo doing a radical 180 and then refusing to buy S-400 AD complexes. But here is the catch--Turkey is at civilizational cross-roads. She always was there geographically, but geopolitics wise she is facing a dramatic choice between increasingly degenerating Europe and some little, like you know, global, shift to the East of Turkey where new economic and geopolitical configuration is being driven by Russia and China. Erdogan, as any man of Asia Minor respects power and everyone knows today that Putin is not only powerful, but he is demi-God who is capable to elect and control the President of the United States, while personally killing Skripals and threatening all true (that is American and UK) "democracies" and in general, the guy is almost omnipotent. Erdogan likes this, but the most important question here is F-35. 

No doubt, before failed coup against this very same Erdogan (and there are rumors that demi-God Putin actually helped Erdo in saving his life) there would have been very little chance for any Russian weapon system entering Turkish military mind and praising mantras to F-35 and its allegedly super-pooper technology would have been heard in Turkey everywhere. Today things are slightly more complex. Of course, the United States sells to its allies first of all well-packaged commercial product and only then a weapon system. F-35 is the case in point since behind, sometimes preposterous, claims abaout its capabilities it is rather very expensive mediocre plane. VLO, aka Stealth, today is primarily for the consumption of housewives and fanboys from all kinds of military hardware masturbatory discussion boards, plus for the purpose of scaring the shit out of some cardboard dictators in third or fourth world shithole satrapies and only if those have anything of value to be declared a danger to democracy. Reality is, modern radar and signal processing methods, such as data fusion, and technologies of serious air-defense systems, and S-400, even in its export version, is a damn serious weapon system, basically spelled the end for this comfortable self-deluded paradigm of trading combat capability for a alleged "invisibility" and few kilometers, if that, of reduced range of detection and turned it into exercise in futility against modern integrated AD systems. I mean REAL weapon systems, not some commercial product.

I know Erdo knows this, plus, let's be honest--Turkey will never get F-35 technology transfer from the United States. Russia, hm, that could be an interesting arrangement, especially once one considers where this whole warfare business progresses in the last few years. Erdogan is not stupid, he is shrewd and he will continue to hold on to this bargaining lever for a long time, trying to milk both sides for everything they got, in his mind. But reality is, it is namely the United States which Erdo wants to milk, for now, before he will try to finally orient himself and Turkey somewhere. If he doesn't buy S-400, Russia loses nothing really, those batteries will be utilized elsewhere, but Turkey still will not get technology transfer for F-35 from the US. And here is this little detail. United States increasingly works as a runaway engine and considering who really runs US foreign policy (no, it is not Trump--let's face it, the guy is a real estate developer) there are absolutely no 100% guarantees that Turkey, at some point of time, will not become a possible target herself. One has to seriously consider this when reviewing some really bizarre facts of failed coup against Erdogan in 2016. And of the death of Russian Ambassador same year. F-35 is not a good defensive weapon, especially for the price. But, that is Turkey's conundrum and let her deal with it. I, honestly, do not see Turkey abandoning her NATO commitments but the whole affair is still very interesting to observe and, boy, do I recognize this whole methodology from my visits to so loved by me markets in Baku and elsewhere in Caucasus. 

Meanwhile, Scaparrotti draws this horrible picture of Russia, let the man talk:

The top U.S. military commander in Europe said Thursday that he is worried about the potential for new unrest in the Balkans, where there are signs that Russia is stepping up influence operations as the U.S. has lost focus on the region. “The area I am concerned about today is the Balkans actually,” U.S. European Command’s Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti said. “Russia is at work in the Balkans and we have kind of taken our eye off the area.” Scaparrotti, who testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee, said Russia is posing challenges in several regions. Areas of intense focus for the U.S. and NATO in recent years include the Baltics and Poland, where NATO has deployed more forces in its largest reinforcement since the end of the Cold War.In the Arctic, Russia is building up and could be in a positon to control northern sea transit lanes in a matter of three years, Scaparrotti said.

Surprisingly, he is telling the truth about Russia's Arctic ambitions, while, of course, asking for more-more-more money. But Russia, indeed, does have infrastructure, and, most importantly, largest and most powerful ice-breaker fleet in the world for controlling Arctic. Well, that plus Northern Fleet and other heterogeneous forces. Meanwhile Zvezda already is cutting metal for the third Aframax-class tanker, while building a colossal dry dock. 

Ships are coming, big time.