And So It Starts.

As was expected, the US decided that she has resources to challenge China.  Including First island Chain, my oh my. 

WASHINGTON/BEIJING (Reuters) - The United States on Monday rejected China's claims to offshore resources in most of the South China Sea, drawing criticism from China which said the U.S. position raised tension in the region, highlighting an increasingly testy relationship. China has offered no coherent legal basis for its ambitions in the South China Sea and for years has been using intimidation against other Southeast Asian coastal states, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement. "We are making clear: Beijing’s claims to offshore resources across most of the South China Sea are completely unlawful, as is its campaign of bullying to control them," said Pompeo, a prominent China hawk within the Trump administration. The United States has long opposed China's expansive territorial claims on the South China Sea, sending warships regularly through the strategic waterway to demonstrate freedom of navigation there. Monday's comments reflect a harsher tone. "The world will not allow Beijing to treat the South China Sea as its maritime empire," Pompeo said.

Immediately, what strikes one is Pompeo's attempt to internationalize the conflict. I will omit now legal issues here, I am interested in the purely operational aspect of this whole South-China Sea thing. US has only one way of challenging China for real, if, God forbids, this will come to blows--these are Indian Ocean's SLOCs through which much of the resources from Africa and Middle East reach China by sea. I discussed it in length many times. First Island Chain, or near it, is a completely different game because China does have what it takes to "close" the area. As the article states:

"This is basically the first time we have called it illegitimate," Chris Johnson, an analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said of Pompeo's statement. "It's fine to put out a statement, but what you going to do about it?"

Exactly, that is the whole point--sending two CBGs in the area is an old propaganda trick, considering the fact that apart from old inventory PLA Air Force has a rather impressive inventory of around 600 thoroughly modern and even very advanced combat aircraft with a 100 of them being fully Russian-built Su-30 and Su-35. Once one adds China's indigenous and Russian-built AD systems such as S-300 and S-400 one has to ask a question, do those two CBGs feel lucky? Once the factor of supersonic and hyper-sonic anti-shipping missiles is taken in consideration, Pompeo's attempts to internationalize the conflict begin to make sense for the American side. 

The whole thing is not about "freedom of navigation" per se, it is about waking up to the reality that the US being squeezed out of Eurasia and that it realistically has no resources to do anything about it other than threaten, make grandiose statements and impose sanctions. Militarily the US has no chance against China unless it can "compartmentalize" possible clashes on the periphery of the area and declare possible tactical success a strategic victory for domestic consumption. Meanwhile the US slaps yet another round of sanctions on Nord Stream 2 (and Turkstream) and it is becoming rather stale by now:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday warned investors in two Russian natural gas pipeline projects that they could face sanctions as the Trump administration seeks to curb the Kremlin's economic leverage over Europe and Turkey.

These are desperate moves by the US, especially when one considers an impressive dynamics of pipe-lines' development between Russia and China, as NS 2 spokesperson noted:

Efforts to obstruct the project "reflect a clear disregard for the interests of European households and industries, who will pay billions more for gas if this pipeline is not built," said spokesperson Steffen Hartmann.

Can we please drop this BS, when was the last time the US "regarded" anything other than own, and even then doing it grossly incompetently,  interests. In the same time, I do not have any sympathy for Europe--you asked for it, you got it. The US will, effectively, subvert cowardly Europeans and this economically collapsing Atlantic "union" will eat itself alive, until it hits the state of a third world. As one Russian energy expert noted few days ago--Europe is not a priority anymore for Russian energy. Back to China, the only hope for the United States in a clash with China is the fact that US Navy, for all its major issues, still, for now, remains operationally in a different league with China and that may be the only factor which realistically plays for the United States under present circumstances. In the end, China's shipbuilding industry dwarfs that of the US and is extremely well financed. Russia will take care of China's energy and, who knows, even targeting data. 

In related news, Admiral Kasatonov got its acceptance papers signed today, the official commissioning to the fleet (raising of the flag) is planned for July 21 (in Russian). Admiral Golovko is next in line. Mind you--all these ships carry 3M22 Zircon. So, all in all, things progress in a very positive direction for the Russian Navy. Considering the state self-proclaimed hegemon is in nowadays--additional safety measures cannot come soon enough. 

And Why I Am Not Surprised?

No really, comes as no surprise to me at all, in fact I am almost nonchalant about it, I almost surprise myself.  

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo regularly held taxpayer-funded, 500-guest formal dinners — and President Trump reportedly knew nothing about them. Until the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Pompeo often invited hundreds of guests to the U.S. State Department for his "Madison Dinners," referring to how former President James Madison often met with foreign diplomats over a meal. But unlike Madison, Pompeo invited more than just diplomats to his dinners, and sent the bill for food, entertainment, and goody bags to the U.S. government, NBC News reports. Pompeo held about two dozen Madison dinners since he took office in 2018, and they were scheduled through October until the coronavirus hit, NBC News reports via dinner guest lists and State Department calendars. About 30 percent of invitees worked in politics, another 29 percent came from corporate backgrounds, a quarter were in media and entertainment, and just 14 percent were actually involved in foreign policy. Some of those less diplomatic invitees included Reba McEntire, Dale Earnhardt Jr., and Fox News host Brian Kilmeade, and they all enjoyed harp music and embossed Madison Dinner pens and journals to take home.

You gotta love this. Reba, for all my love for her art (I consider Fancy to be one of the greatest songs ever written, in any genre), I am not sure what she, or, for that matter, Dale can really contribute to a discussion of the US foreign policy, especially in a Madisonian sense of a discussion. Not that the United States States needs a recognition as an independent nation, right? James Madison, while writing (under Publius moniker) Federalist #10 and being fourth POTUS, exhibited a political and intellectual finesse of a highest order. But then again, I have to agree with Senator Kennedy that: US was founded by geniuses and is being run now by a bunch of idiots. Here is Kennedy verbatim:

So, putting names of James Madison and Mike Pompeo in the same sentence, is an affront to America's founding, same as it would be bringing a beautiful thoroughbred to the stable for jackasses. You see, the lipstick on the pig trope did not appear out of nowhere, same as expression that you can take a girl out of the village, but you cannot take village out of the girl. Pompeo, of course, may try, for the next Madison Dinner to add, to harp, a harpsichord with French horn, to increase the sense of enlightenment of his guests, or even ask them to dress in 18th Century clothes for further refinement of the occasion. The only thing what I would have done, in the goody bags distributed to those guests I would put US Constitution, Declaration of Independence and Federalist Papers, for attendees to refer to after enjoying a fancy meal. Otherwise this:

State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus called the dinners "a world-class opportunity to discuss the mission of the State Department and the complex foreign policy matters facing our exceptional nation," saying each guest "has a stake in America and its leadership in the world."

May come across as an exhibit A of a kitsch, lowbrow, tasteless attempt to substitute real intellect and ethics in foreign policy with shiny objects and dim people like Pompeo. But then again, what do I understand about "a world-class". In a world where country-music star, race driver and Mike Pompeo discuss "complex foreign policy matters facing an exceptional nation", one has to conclude, that, apart from stinking ethically to heaven, those Pompeo Dinners exhibit an exceptional idiocy and lack of class persisting among America's "elites" who still think that they are running Rome at the height of her might, not noticing that their imagined Rome is turning, fast at that, into Carthage at the end of the Third Punic War. I will abstain from commenting here on "leadership", because that requires a whole PhD. thesis to describe a level of delusion.

Tell Me Who Your Friends Are...

And if Mike Pompeo, allegedly a top US "diplomat", is in your administration--that pretty much sums up who you are. Make no mistake, currently, the United States has zero diplomats of scale and skill required to handle a clusterfuck which US foreign policy is, but Mike Pompeo is something special--a devout Ruprutist, an Israeli-firster and, in general, is an Exhibit A of a collection of different delusions and disorders preventing such ilk from having any relation with the reality. He is also a BSer of a note when trying to state that: 

Mike Pompeo claims strike killing Iranian general was a 'collective decision' despite report saying leaders were 'stunned' by Trump's choice

Evidently this is not quite "true". I, of course, am not talking about the "the buck stops with me" guy in the White House who simultaneously declared war on Iran (and now on Iraq); in the end he is ultimately responsible for being unfit to run this country (but who is?) and making disastrous decisions. If to believe WaPo (I know, I know) it was US Secretary of the State who for months was pushing for assassination of Soleimani (the article at WaPo is behind the paywall), including feverish, several times a day, sessions with DJT precisely on this issue. Well, he, certainly, succeeded. Now he, together with Trump, are both personally responsible for what follows because Iran will respond. Some moves are already in progress, with Chief of the Iranian General Staff already having consultations with Shoigu (in Russian). Obviously, officially those consultations are defined as aimed "to not allow further escalation", which in military lingo means a review of options. Meanwhile, Pompeo makes rounds trying to convince everyone that assassination of a very senior government official of the sovereign nation was "necessary". As I say, yet again, he lied, some Americans already died. 

Evidently Pentagon knew what kind of shit Trump was getting United States into and what that meant for US bases in the Middle East. Larry C Johnson was straight to the point: 

                                              There Will Be Blood

Too bad (for Pentagon) that Trump went for the most insane option. But, I guess, against the background of a precipitous intellectual decline of US political elites and dual loyalties (primarily to Israel and Saudi money) being a normal fact of US body politic expecting sound geopolitical decisions based on expertise is not a possibility anymore. And so, here we are. I may gather enough will and strength to review some military options but, frankly, it is a fool's errand since pretty much everyone is going to be writing about it. One such piece, well intended, but wrongly justified has already been written by former Marine helicopter pilot in which this was stated:

An admiral in the UK states that an invasion of Iran would require millions of American troops, akin to the occupation of Germany after World War II. But he’s off the mark: things have come a long way since 1945. In World War II, when we wanted to cripple a German ball bearing plant at Schweinfurt, we had to send 291 B-17 bombers, 77 of which never came home. This scale was due to the inaccuracy of the dumb bombs being used. Today, we have GPS and laser-guided bombs that can reliably land within a few meters of their targets. The accuracy of every weapon system, from tanks to planes to artillery, has jumped by many orders of magnitude, thus requiring fewer personnel and delivery systems to achieve the same destructive results. Iraq was defeated with about 225,000 coalition troops in 2003. Millions of soldiers would not be required to invade Iran.

You know by now my attitude to all those historical parallels, especially when drawn inaccurately. The author, obviously, forgot that Iran, unlike Iraq in 2003, does have modern EW systems, including ones capable of jamming GPS signal and Iran's army herself has enough of those very same laser-guided munitions which, considering Iran's nightmarish terrain, will make any armor warfare a living hell for any invader. Same goes for infantry. So, I wouldn't dismiss assessments by Royal Navy's Admiral when he states that the United States will need a number of troops around million or so if the United States wants to "occupy" Iran. And here is a conundrum for the US--once the real escalation starts, the US will NEED to win the war for which it doesn't have resources. Both Trump and Pompeo bear direct responsibility for putting the United States into this strategic trap which, as Phil Giraldi termed it is:

The Soleimani Assassination. The Long-Awaited Beginning of The End of America’s Imperial Ambitions

Difficult to disagree.In the end, Trump chose his cabinet and as the saying goes, tell me who your friends are....

Trump--The Iran Conqueror.

Larry C Johnson, formerly of CIA analytical org fame, posted today a good review of how Trump is owned by war-mongers he surrounded himself with. Larry gives the spread on four possible scenarios for escalation, but that is not what catches the eye in his excellent piece. This is what we should consider strongly:

If you listen to the neo-con crowd that are certain we can bomb Iran into submission. That is a fantasy and is based on a lie. From what I am hearing from knowledgeable sources no one on the Joint Chiefs of Staff at DOD are advising caution. We are in an old fashioned dick measuring contest. Pride is supplanting reason. This is a dangerous time and the future of Trump's Presidency and possibly that of America hang in the balance in my view. 

I totally get it why JCS wouldn't caution Trump on the possible war with Iran. As was noted before, both Bolton and Pompeo treat Pentagon as own fiefdom and it is only natural to assume that any voices of dissent would and are being suppressed. Plus, let's be honest, look at the list of wars Pentagon flushed down the toilet and one may get the idea why US would want to strike Iran. It is more than just pride, albeit this is also a major factor, but it is general America's obsession with nations which refuse to bow to US pressure and foundation of that is not just pride but exceptionalism and, in Iran's particular case, Israeli and Saudi influences--both are terrified by Iran's emergence as regional superpower.

Larry also makes a good point, which I also make for a number of years now:

There is a dangerous delusion within the Trump National Security team. They believe we are so dominant that Iran will not dare fight us. I prefer to rely on the sage counsel of Colonel Patrick Lang--the Iranians are not afraid to fight us and, if backed into a corner, will do so. 

There is one mistake though in this statement--it is not just Trump National Security team. This American ailment of thinking itself as a preeminent military power in history (recall, Obama's "the finest fighting force in history") is rooted in WW II and a gross misconception about real driving forces behind demolition of Wehrmacht (a real finest fighting force) at the peak of its might. Patton's Syndrome, reinforced by Hollywood, is a very dangerous thing, it is also very American thing. That is what Atkinson wrote:

As Rick Atkinson admitted in 1995, he could see in Patton: "the creeping arrogance, the hubris, which would costs the American Army so dearly in Vietnam. Summing up the achievements of his troops in crushing the German counterattack of December 1944, Patton with pardonable pride claims to have "moved farther and faster and engaged more divisions in less time than any other army in the history of the United States--possibly in the history of the world... No country can stand against such an Army." 

When this kind of things are at play--it is not a pride but ignorance which drives the war. Ignorance and huge insecurity against the background of the "impressive" list of lost wars. And then, of course, the question--WHO in Pentagon? As Andrew Bacevich put it bluntly in his symptomatically titled piece The Decline of Our Nation’s Generals:

It is small wonder that so few observers pay serious attention to what senior military officers have to say. What they say is mostly drivel. 

So, Mr. MAGA, or, rather, MIGA is free to follow the advice of his "team". He may get, in the end, his own Vietnam, or something even worse than that, and this, as we all know, is not conducive for the second term, as LBJ, should he be alive today, would testify to. That is, of course, if the United States will continue to exist as it exists today after Iran's "adventure". Considering utter inability of US political and military class to learn simplest things in geopolitics and war, one then, will be forced to ask what really have Trump conquered once missiles start to fly.      

ROFAR, Yet Again.

As TASS reports, RTI Group (give it a time for web-site to download--RTI may have incredible competencies in radio-electronics, their web-designers suck, however) tested the Radio-Photonics radar (Radio Optic Phased Array Radar) of new generation and it detects and tracks targets. This was confirmed by RTI's CEO Maxim Kuzyuk in his interview to TASS at Army-2019 exhibition. 

— Макетный образец и программное обеспечение работают, есть конкретный результат. Мы провели эксперименты, и радиолокатор уже строит траекторию движения летательных аппаратов. Следующая задача — это создание имитационно-моделирующего стенда и совершенствование аппаратной и программной части локатора, включая создание интегральных фотонных схем. 

Translation: the layout sample and software are working, we have a concrete result. We tested it, and radar already builds tracks (tracking) of flying aircraft. Next task is creation of the imitation-modelling stand and improvement of radar's hardware and software, including creation of integral photon chips.

About three years ago, famous, in certain teenage and fanboys circles, American "military expert", who was injured in Afghanistan while hanging out with US military there (that surely makes him an expert), and famous... comic creator, known as David Axe, "warned" not to "sweat" Russia's radar. Yes, he said so: Don’t Sweat Russia’s Stealth-Fighter-Detecting New Radar. Sunflower can detect, but it can’t target. 

Obviously, David Axe, while being "war correspondent"  failed to learn the basics of targeting, including multi-band radar and optronic data fusion and protocols and mathematical tools used to resolve uncertainties (Kalman Filter, anyone, networking?) and provide predictions, so, naturally, he, as usual, failed miserably while exhibiting his utter incompetence. But, David Axe is just one of many manifestations of those "correspondents", political "scientists" and "analysts" who continuously fail to retain any grasp on modern warfare which, in peer-to-peer framework, requires way more than drawing false parallels and symmetries from much simpler times trying to apply them to today's mind-boggling and paradigm-shifting Real Revolution in Military Affairs. Yes, my next book is precisely about it. Radio-Photonics is one such development out of many which, pardon me for pointing this out, condemned the whole American concept of the warfare to the dust bin of history. 

As I stated earlier, the process of "revelation" of new technologies and, with them, new operational concepts and force structure will continue but in less dramatic fashion than it was on March 1, 2018 during Vladimir Putin's address to Russia's Federal Assembly. This latest news about ROFAR are just another in the series of Russia demonstrating military technologies of the future. But most importantly--look at the photo of RTI's CEO Maxim Kuzyuk--he is young, 43 years old. Degree in applied Physics and Mathematics from legendary MFTI.

Did anyone notice a year or so ago Chief Designer of T-14 Armata tank and Armata platforms? Young, early 40s at best. As Putin himself pointed out--the group which developed SU-57--all youngsters, some in their late 20s--early 30s. They, not some specific technologies, are the future and real treasure. I am almost forced to quote Uncle Joe (Stalin): cadres decide everything(c). As per this beaten to death "Stealth"--in cultured companies who have at least some ideas about modern radar and optronic technologies, forget ROFAR, using this term soon will become the sign of a bad taste. I guess that explains why Turkey and India are not going to refuse their S-400s, as Pompeo learned it the hard (and rather humiliating) way in Delhi.

The United States is also lobbying India not to proceed with its purchase of S-400 surface-to-air missile systems from Russia. The missile deal and Iranian oil were both discussed during their meeting, Jaishankar and Pompeo said, but mentioned no resolution of either at the news conference. "On two of the biggest issues - Iran and Russia - the difference is deep," said analyst Deo, formerly a top Indian diplomat in the United States.

Well, Duh!

A Deafening Stupidity.

So, John Bolton concludes today that:

Jerusalem (AFP) - US National Security Advisor John Bolton on Tuesday described as "deafening" Iran's apparent silence on an offer to negotiate with Washington. "The president has held the door open to real negotiations," Bolton told journalists in Jerusalem. "In response, Iran's silence has been deafening," he added. Bolton is in Jerusalem for what Israel described as unprecedented talks with his Russian and Israeli counterparts, along with meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Speaking alongside the US advisor, Netanyahu said there was "a wider basis for cooperation between the three of us than many believe." Bolton's comments come a day after the United States imposed sanctions on top officials of Israel's arch foe Iran.

Alrighty then! Iran doesn't want to talk. And why should she? Make no mistake, I am no fan of Ayatollah's rule in Iran nor am I an automatic Iran's supporter merely on the merit that Iran is in direct and stiff opposition to a bunch of Israeli stooges in Trump's Administration. Iran has her own issues and, in general, there is nothing black and white about that nation. Current United States, however, can easily be defined in a very contrast black and white manner: there are people who serve Israel, Saudi Arabia and other Gulfies, and there are people who do not. The former, not the latter, are in power and because of that there is no point of talking to them. These are precisely people who helped to form a correct, I might add, global opinion that the United States is not agreement-capable side, so, why waste time? Especially negotiating anything with such lunatics as Bolton, Pompeo or, in the end, Trump himself. 

As Phil Giraldi astutely observes today:

No one in the White House has ever made the effort to explain exactly how Iran threatens the United States, apart from repeated offhand comments about having to protect Israel or “send a message.” Urged on by Israel and Saudi Arabia, the United States has been playing the unwitting fool in its willingness to take the lead in denying Iran any legitimate role in the Middle East region. After pulling out of the JCPOA, the U.S. re-instituted punitive sanctions and then punished other countries for dealing with Iran or abiding by the JCPOA agreement. The Administration, including the president, boasted how the severe sanctions would cause the Iranian economy to collapse. Trump has also several times threatened to completely destroy Iran. As the punishment being meted out has increased, the Administration has also heated up its own rhetoric, claiming that it was Iran and not the U.S. that had become more aggressive and threatening.

Indeed, who, in this current administration, can make a case for a different course with Iran? Tucker Carlson and Dunford, who allegedly were the ones who convinced Trump not to attack Iran after the drone shooting down? Possible, of course, without all this BS drama about halting strikes in the last minute--a pathetic spectacle for the consumption of unsophisticated public. But, let's face the facts. Trump admired Bolton BEFORE even running for office, he wanted to exit JCPOA because it was Obama's "deal" and because Trump cannot not despise Iran, having assembled the Administration, which has loyalties to anyone and anything but the United States and her people. In the end, I am with Larison's definition of Trump as militarist. Indeed, if getting his second term, Trump will attack Iran, not only because he is surrounded by the cabal of hand-picked war-mongers and Israeli-firsters, but because he himself wants this. I would say that he wants it badly--he needs to realize himself as a big global shot--a first trait of a pathological narcissist, which Trump, by universal consensus is. Warfare is the shortest way to get there: win the war and voila'--the laurels of Caesar are at hand. There is, of course, one teeny-weeny problem with that--Iran is ready to fight back. 

Obviously purely military (technological, tactical and operational) realities of this possible war are beyond the grasp of Trump, Bolton, Pompeo or any other war-monger in D.C. But, if to follow a chilling revelation from Larry Wilkerson that Bolton and Pompeo, two utterly unqualified people, view and DO treat Pentagon as their own fiefdom, there is very little doubt that eventually any voice of reason, professionalism and caution will be suppressed there. The preparation for the war with Iran will continue. Iran knows this, hence the "deafening silence". Plus, people tend to not talk to cads and louts such as Bolton or Pompeo (or Trump) out of respect for themselves. Iran respects herself and, as Wilkerson correctly points out, it is normal for civilization with millennia long history and glorious antiquity such as Persia. A bit of respect would have gone a long way but this is a trait completely absent from current US policy and decision makers. A thin veneer of "culture" of these people is no thicker than the papers which their degrees in useless subjects are printed on.

So, neither Trump nor Bolton, nor anyone else in D.C., should expect anything but deafening silence in response. Meanwhile, NATO (ahem, puppets) produces this:

On Tuesday, NATO urged Russia to destroy a new missile to save a treaty that keeps land-based nuclear warheads out of Europe or face a more determined alliance response in the region. 

Apart from obvious and traditional lies of placing responsibility for the death of INF treaty on Russia--it was United States which unilaterally quit this, and other, treaties--Russian Foreign Ministry yesterday warned that if NATO wants another Caribbean Crisis it will get it. Russians are also aware of US inevitably abrogating START, because nuclear weapons are the only weapons the United States has at her disposal to remain relevant. Meanwhile, Russia simply doesn't look back and news on S-500 going into IOC and serial production should give some food for thought to those who still believe that they can fight Russia and survive. There are very few known facts about S-500 apart from well-publicized events such as S-500 hitting aerodynamic targets at unprecedented ranges of 300 miles and the ability to intercept hypersonic targets. RT, though, makes mistake when writes this:

The system is expected to engage intermediate-range cruise and ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles with speeds of up to Mach 5 and intercontinental ballistic missiles during terminal phase. With new interceptors reportedly capable of reaching low earth orbit, the system may double as an anti-satellite weapon and could intercept ICBMs mid-course, according to some reports.

S-500 can not intercept " hypersonic missiles with speeds of up to Mach 5" for a simple reason that anything "up to Mach 5" is NOT hypersonic by definition. Any targets with up to Mach 5 are standard and not hardest targets for S-300PMU2 or S-400. S-500 from the onset was developed as anti-hypersonic complex and that means that it can intercept hypersonic maneuvering targets (not to me mistaken with ballistics which are "hypersonic" by definition), that is greater than Mach 5 velocity, within atmosphere and from the inception was designed as the response to the American efforts within the framework of Prompt Global Strike (PGS) program. I do not want to speculate what is the upper velocity limit for S-500, but judging by the envelope PGS vehicles were trying to push it was around Mach 8-10, if one considers failed and abandoned Mach 20 tests for HTV vehicles. So, make your own conclusion what targets will S-500 intercept. One thing is certain--S-500 is a new word in air-space defense and that changes even further a balance of power globally, not to mention at Russia's borders with NATO, which, somehow, despite "I cross my heart and hope to die" promises to Russia not to expand to Russia's borders did exactly that. Nobody speaks seriously to people who have no honor. Especially when their backs are against the wall and they know they are losing big, if not already. 

UPDATE: Ohh, goody. 

President Donald Trump threatened Tuesday to use "overwhelming force" against Iran if it attacks U.S. assets or personnel. "Any attack by Iran on anything American will be met with great and overwhelming force. In some areas, overwhelming will mean obliteration," Trump wrote on Twitter.

Will somebody explain to DJT that between bellicose proclamations and actually following through with them there is an abyss. Of course, there are also serious groups of behavioral psychologists who consult serious governments, evidently not US government, and who can easily lay it out that all this hot air Trump produces is a direct, unequivocal proof of a weakness. Unless, of course, DJT wants to use nuclear weapons on Iran, as his Israeli handler Sheldon Adelson suggested before. Yes, nuking Iran is the use of "great and overwhelming force", it will be the same force which will turn US into a rogue state sponsor of nuclear terrorism and will ensure that Israel will face an existential crisis. Other than that, I think militarily Iran is ready to face anything US is going to throw at her.  

Mr. Pompeo Doesn't Go to Sochi and Moscow.

Alrighty, then. So Pompeo cancels his visit to Russia and rushes to Brussles to convince, to twist hands and threaten that is, US European "allies" that quitting the Iran Deal is a good thing. 

(CNN) - Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has canceled his planned visit to Moscow and is heading instead to Brussels to discuss "recent threatening actions and statements" by Iran, the State Department said Monday. The visit comes as the US has said Iran and its proxies could be planning to threaten US forces and interests in the Middle East.While in Brussels, Pompeo -- who was seen boarding a plane at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, late Sunday night -- will discuss a range of pressing issues, including Iran, with representatives from the UK, Germany and France, a State Department official said.

Obviously, Iran's "threats" are a normal reaction to very real threats and unilateral destruction of practical and working arrangements by the United States, but all this is merely a confirmation of a pattern of the US breaking her treaties' obligations and then blaming it on someone else. There is, of course, a personal issue here, with Trump destroying probably the only foreign policy success Obama Administration achieved in controlling Iran's nuclear program. Well, what do ya know--this one is dead. Per Europeans, they will be lined up and will do as ordered. 

Pompeo still will get to Sochi on Tuesday but Moscow is, actually, smiling (sarcastically, I may add) at these busy-body moves, especially when one considers a huge "success" Trump's trade wars are. 

WASHINGTON, May 12 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Sunday that the United States is "right where we want to be with China," adding that Beijing "broke the deal with us" and then sought to renegotiate."We will be taking in Tens of Billions of Dollars in Tariffs from China. Buyers of product can make it themselves in the USA (ideal), or buy it from non-Tariffed countries," Trump said on Twitter. Trump added: "We will then spend (match or better) the money that China may no longer be spending with our Great Patriot Farmers (Agriculture), which is a small percentage of total Tariffs received, and distribute the food to starving people in nations around the world!"

I, honestly, do not even know how to comment on that. The only thing which comes to mind is the scene of "secret" meeting from 12 Chairs in Elena Stanislavovna's house, where Ostap Bender delivered one of the most important speeches in history of fraud:

“Citizens," said Ostap, opening the meeting, "life dictates its own laws, 

its own cruel laws. I am not going to talk about the aim of our gathering-you 

all know it. Our aim is sacred. From everywhere we hear cries. From every 

corner of our huge country people are calling for help. We must extend a 

helping hand and we will do so. Some of you have work and eat bread and 

butter; others earn on the side and eat caviar sandwiches. All of you sleep in

 your own beds and wrap yourselves in warm blankets. It is only the young 

children, the waifs and strays, who are not looked after. These flowers of the 

street, or, as the white-collar proletarians call them, 'flowers in asphalt', 

deserve a better lot. We must help them, gentlemen of the jury, and, gentlemen

of the jury, we will do so."  

   The smooth operator's speech caused different reactions among the 

audience. 

Polesov could not understand his young friend, the guards officer. 

"What children?" he wondered. "Why children?"

The similarity is uncanny, to put it mildly. Especially when one considers what is not really reported in US media--the fact that China is not really backing down. She still may, of course, at some point of time but so far--no cigar.

Beijing has retaliated against Washington’s recent tariffs by imposing export levies targeting $60 billion worth of US goods, effective June 1, China’s Ministry of Finance announced on Monday.The tariff hike of up to 25 percent will affect more than 5,000 items imported from the US to China.The step comes in response to the latest hike of export duties the Trump administration implemented on billions of dollars worth of Chinese products. Last week, the White House increased American tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods to 25 percent from 10 percent, previously.

I am damn sure Kremlin is enjoying the show. While Daniel Larison reformulated the Newton's Third Law: ‘Maximum Pressure’ Provokes Unyielding Resistance. As Larison writes about Iran specifically, it applies equally to everyone.

A new generation that experienced neither revolution nor war is forced to endure an economic war being waged upon them for no good reason. That cannot help but inspire feelings of resentment against the foreign government doing these things to them and greater willingness to support their own government. Any nation would react to unwarranted bullying with resistance, and the same goes for Iranians in spades. Vaez refers to a famous 16th century defeat of the Safavids by the Ottomans at Chaldiran (1514) as an example of how Iranians have remembered a crushing defeat as proof of courageous defiance. Many nations have similar interpretations of their great military losses. The point of reimagining these defeats as something more than a loss is to emphasize the survival and defiance in the face of greater power. To survive in the face of the determined animosity of the world’s sole superpower is itself a kind of victory, and that is why the Iranian government won’t give in.

There is, of course, one teeny-weeny issue with Larison's statement--the United States is long ago not "world's sole superpower", but here Larison exhibits symptoms of strictly American ailment, of which I wrote two books and continue to write for years--lack of knowledge of the outside world and lack of self-awareness. Other than that, he is correct.    

UPDATE: Now, suddenly, Washington requests a summit--in accordance to Russia's very own uber-liberal Kommersant (in Russian) with high positioned people in State Dept. confirming such a request. So, Pompeo, most likely will focus on details of this summit while in Sochi on Tuesday. At issue--to discuss what? Trump needs Russia to deal with China, Russia is no go on that, period. Nobody in Russia, with the exception of mindless "liberals" believes in any Grand Bargain with the US, not to mention the fact that the moment for such a bargain is long in the past and is not worth even discussing. Exchange of pleasantries? Sure. This will do for an agenda. Russia is always open to talks, Russians hate confrontation, not to speak of war. But what will Trump do when Russia asks for this proverbial move: "Show me the money!" I reiterate, the United States doesn't have anymore a geopolitical currency to "buy" Russia--she is out of a price range for the US. If one thinks otherwise--take a look at Ukraine and Russia's dramatic change of posture, including her lack of any desire to pay for Ukrainian mess and being content with Donbass coming home. This is a geopolitical master stroke by Moscow by refusing to take on balance a hostile economic black hole which would drain Russia's resources. US and EU wanted Ukraine? They can have her with one caveat--no military bases, other than that let EU and the US pay for this mad house.   

UPDATE 2: Well, looks like Kommersant, yet again, soiled itself. Kremlin debunked their info about summit (in Russian) and stated that it didn't receive any request yet (in Russian). Ghee-whiz, dealing with Russian liberal news outlets is akin to dealing with US MSM--a lot of BS and fake news. As I said, I also cannot see what, other than some arms limitations issues, can Russia and US possibly substantively talk about?  

UPDATE 3: LOL!

President Donald Trump has said he will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin at next month’s G20 summit in Osaka, Japan.Trump announced the pair of meetings to reporters in the Oval office on Monday afternoon.“I’ll be meeting with him directly, President Xi. Yes, I will be meeting with President Putin also,” he said. Earlier that morning, Russian newspaper Kommersant reported that Washington had requested a meeting with Putin, and was awaiting the Kremlin’s response. A Kremlin spokesman responded to Trump’s statement on Monday by saying no preparations were underway for such a meeting.

OK then. There are still 12 hours left per PST in this day.