About Air Defense of 404.

WSJ does not even understand that it provides a powerful evidence of a complete degeneration of the once best NATO's proxy in history. 

Yep, ancient Yak-52 trainers. Hey, why not, indeed)) Every little bit helps. Of course, this whole thing is down right ridiculous because of the immense intensity of Russia's combined (комбинированные) strikes conducted on a scale not seen in modern history which completely shut down air defense of 404. 

Meanwhile, Tucker calls out Konstantin Kisin who is nothing more than a stand-up clown and Zionist. 

Kisin, whose "expertise' is entertainment became a vocal "political commentator" and, you guessed it, passes in UK and elsewhere as Russia "expert" apart from being a supporter of Israel. He is nothing but a classic shill and propagandist with zero grasp of the complexities of the modern world, but here we are--he comments, you know and it sells among incompetents in the combined West. These types everywhere, the penetrated every media, intel and government orgs in the West and we can see what is happening.

Dmitry Orlov, meanwhile, wrote a significant note on egregore--no, this is not an esoteric BS, this is a legitimate cultural phenomenon. It is most likely, also, partially genetic. 

Rather, what took place in Alaska was an attempt at a transfusion of psychic energy from Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, Russia's leader for the last quarter of a century and standing alongside such great Russian leaders as Peter I (the Great), Ivan IV (the Awesome) and Joseph Stalin. Putin is not just respected and admired but loved by his people and his approval rating hovers around the 80% mark — something that is utterly unattainable for all Western leaders. The egregore of Russia's rulers, which has been alive, though not always well, for a thousand years, is alive and well now, perhaps the strongest it has ever been, embodied in the person of Vladimir Putin.

The egregore of the American president, on the other hand, is alive but quite far from well and fading fast. Not only is it weak, but it is being sucked dry by psychic energy leaches from the EU, NATO, the US deep state, the Zionist lobby and a wide assortment of other mental parasites. And so, in the interest of easing world tensions, Putin made a gracious offer to Trump to stand together, shake hands and have a friendly meeting where nothing was decided and no deals were signed, but a few possibly good ideas were floated in confidence. What Trump achieved along the way is a transfusion of psychic energy from Putin, his egregore gaining strength by the sheer fact of the two of them standing together at a symbolic altar on which was spelled "Alaska 2025" in huge letters. But the effect was fleeting and Trump's nostalgic fondling of the photo from that event (while bragging about it) is not going to change the fact that the American egregore is fading away and that with it Pax Americana is disappearing and being replaced by a gradually developing Pax Russica. 

Dmitry will elaborate on this later, but he does have a point. In the end, great Soviet thinker (persecuted) Vladimir Vernadsky was developing the concept of the noosphere. It is a very tentative issue but by far not all of it is esoteric. 

And Again, And Again ...

 ... I have to repeat--and how is this news, really? 

US-made Patriot air defense systems, long hailed as a cornerstone of Western military aid to Ukraine, are now struggling to intercept advanced Russian ballistic missiles, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing sources. One unnamed Ukrainian official told the outlet that Russian ballistic missiles have become more maneuverable, allowing them to evade Patriot radar detection. He did not clarify what type of missiles he was referring to. Meanwhile, in light of the EU’s efforts to wean itself from the American military-industrial complex amid uncertainty regarding continued US support for Ukraine, a next-generation European alternative is seeking to dethrone the Patriots, the report says.

I will repeat: 

US hardware is a technological and functional failure in the modern war, across the board, with the exception of the American impressive ISR capabilities, which still failed to prevent the agony of NATO. Per SAMP/T by France:

The upgraded Samp/T missile system, developed by the Franco-Italian joint venture Eurosam, is being promoted as better suited to handle current threats and features a new radar that reportedly detects targets at a distance of more than 350km while being able to fire missiles in all directions, the paper notes. The Samp/T also requires fewer operators, with the entire system able to run with as few as 15 people, compared to roughly 90 troops needed for a US Patriot battery, according to the WSJ.

It also comes with the latest espresso machine, excellent dishwasher, entertainment center, latest version of environment-friendly A/C and AI voice system which says Ooh La La, each time Iskander is detected at the terminal and SAMP/T fails to develop firing solution. As I stated not for once--NATO doesn't know what real AD is. Difficult to know, when one considers a dismal academic level of military academies in NATO and not understanding that some "programs" serious AD tactical and operational officer do not make. I offered not for once the insight of Russia's AD military "establishment"--just look up this academy. Yaroslavl, apart from 5 years, 6 days a week academic and military regimen--a heavy focus on Air Defense systems and their tactics and operations. It is a different level of professionalism which NO military officer school in the West can provide. 

The ONLY field in which the US retains a parity (apart from advantage in ISR) are submarine forces. US Navy's submarine force is still world-class in terms of platforms. In terms of fire-power--not anymore. But don't tell this to these two clowns: H.I. Sutton and Amick (aka Sub Brief). What do you expect--there are still some confused US officers who believe that Patriot shoots down Iskanders, Kinzhals and Zircons easily. The fact that they are unable to see through the murky streams of BS from 404 merely confirms what is becoming patently clear--a low professional level of the US military, whose defining feature throughout post-WW II decades has become ignorant arrogance. 

Note To Yourself.

Do not give interviews to shitty US tabloids such as WSJ, CNN or NYT among many. Those who work there are a rung lower than the crack whores. Moreover, many of them are war criminals. As it turned out, WSJ simply lied about D.J. Vance's words about "threats to Russia". Indeed, even Elon had it, as did J.D. himself. 

Western establishment media must die out. Their staffs, those who are not convicted for a variety of crimes, should apply for work in fast food joints. And yes, WSJ IS a HuffPost for cretins who still think that "Financial Markets" are not propped by the corrupt state speculation, but "real" markets. Ah, yes, before I forgot--after communicating with these "journalists" do not forget antibiotics, unless you do it through online means. 

This Is Just The Start.

I do not say this under the influence of schadenfreude, I just say this because it is a cold hard fact and it will get worse, much-much worse.  WSJ noticed. 

Europeans are facing a new economic reality, one they haven’t experienced in decades. They are becoming poorer. Life on a continent long envied by outsiders for its art de vivre is rapidly losing its shine as Europeans see their purchasing power melt away. The French are eating less foie gras and drinking less red wine. Spaniards are stinting on olive oil. Finns are being urged to use saunas on windy days when energy is less expensive. Across Germany, meat and milk consumption has fallen to the lowest level in three decades and the once-booming market for organic food has tanked. Italy’s economic development minister, Adolfo Urso, convened a crisis meeting in May over prices for pasta, the country’s favorite staple, after they jumped by more than double the national inflation rate. With consumption spending in free fall, Europe tipped into recession at the start of the year, reinforcing a sense of relative economic, political and military decline that kicked in at the start of the century. 

It is inevitable in the times of the systemic collapse of the order under the weight of objective laws of economics and geopolitics. Remarkably, the creeps in WSJ, while making correct observation on Europe immediately fall into the cesspool of own economic BS attempt pathetically to draw a rosier picture of the US--a typical behavior of losers. 

One has to ask the question--in what parallel universe these ignorant propagandists from WSJ reside, when American economic reality is anything but an unfolding calamity. But then again, the school of the economic legerdemain in the US--a euphemism for cooking books--is renown around the world as one of those affairs of a porn starlet selling herself as virtuous wife. Some still buy this BS, but reality, of course, is such that without consuming Europe, an ongoing process as I type this, the American decline would have been even steeper. 

WSJ piece is reminiscent of the reaction of a convict on the death row consoling himself that he has a few more days to live left after the execution of the criminal from the neighboring cell. That in itself is an indicator of a nervous reaction. Especially claims that the US economy now "is nearly twice the size" of Eurozone's. Well, Wall Street "mathematics" certainly allows for this idiotic statement, but then again--in accordance to US media Ukraine is also winning. As Larry astutely noted at Judge's podcast:

It appears that the “Russia has lost” meme being pushed by Biden and his lackeys is to create an excuse for the United States to declare victory in Ukraine and walk away basking in the knowledge of “Mission Accomplished.” Based on what has transpired over the last 18 months, with the media refusing to ask any tough questions and frantically pushing pro-Ukrainian propaganda, I think the Biden national security team genuinely believes they can put the shine on Ukrainian military debacle by shouting victory over and over. They are firm believers in the power of spin. But the usually servile U.S. media is starting to show some signs of doing some actual journalism. A CNN reporter ventured to the front lines of a Ukrainian outpost and came back with a pretty somber picture of a faltering Ukrainian counter-offensive. 

Watch Larry with Judge here:

Schizophrenia afflicted Western societies and US media, such as this low life tabloid WSJ. US media played a crucial role in driving the US into the ground while helping to destroy Europe and setting it on the course to what would be called a "Second World"--much lower wages, much lower consumption and continuous industrial decline until it... implodes. The same scenario is awaiting the US but with its own quirks and being delayed somewhat. 

In SMO news, Russian Army took Sergeevka and continued to do what it does best--annihilating remaining VSU reserves. I'll be talking about delusion of Admiral Stavridis in my video later today. Evidently Stavridis missed bigly on the capabilities of Russia's Black Sea Fleet. Somehow, I am not surprised--American top brass, most of it anyway, paraded itself as militarily ignorant people who reside in the alternative warfare universe. I am not surprised.

LOL))

What can I say? LOL...

Russia’s Economy Is Starting to Come Undone

The author is some Bulgarian sore loser with all the boxes required for ignoramus checked. 

Georgi Kantchev is an award-winning freelance journalist, Member of the Chartered Institute of Journalists, based in Sofia, Bulgaria. He has been published in The Economist, Deutsche Welle and Kurier Vienna, among others. Georgi has international work experience across a range of media (print, online, radio) in the UK, Austria, Bulgaria, Belarus, Germany and Switzerland. He has covered the fields of politics, economics, business, technology and the media. Working in English, German and Bulgarian, he has proven multimedia expertise. Georgi holds a MA with Distinction in Media Management from the University of Westminster in London and BA Journalism Summa cum laude from the University of Vienna. 

That's the WSJ for ya and the "level" of their coping. I would suggest them to visit Kensington Ave or Skid Row and ask "locals" for their expertise in geopolitics. 

In related news, as was expected, Russian Air Defense started to intercept yet another American wunderwaffe:

Russian troops have shot down a long-range Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB) in Ukraine, the Ministry of Defense said on Tuesday. It is the first time Moscow has reported downing such a weapon. In a statement, the ministry said that Russian air defenses “had intercepted 18 HIMARS [High Mobility Artillery Rocket System] missiles and one GLSDB guided missile.” While Russian forces have on numerous occasions thwarted attacks by US-supplied HIMARS, it is the first time the ministry has reported the destruction of a GLSDB smart bomb. The munitions were promised to Ukraine by US President Joe Biden in early February as part of a $2.17 billion military assistance package. In total, since the start of the conflict, the US has committed more than $32.5 billion in security aid to Ukraine.

Read my lips--I repeat it--for Tor-M2 and S1 Pantsir GJSDB and similar munitions are STANDARD, typical that is, targets. Tor M2 just recently shot down a few Excalibur rounds. Yes, Russian AD is that good, I dare to say it is the best in the world and by a gigantic margin. That is why Washington today stated that 404 doesn't need US fighter planes at this time. Sure. Just some points for this Tuesday.

Ah, Those Lovely Double-Standards.

Albeit one has to admit that the US "price cap" thingy is mostly for PR (what's new) since the WH went on record today that it kinda, sort of, will not really "punish" anyone buying Russian hydrocarbons "above" cap price. Sure, when even WSJ comes up with this title...

That tells you a lot. It also gives you a glimpse into the real economic balance of the world and it is drastically not in the West's favor, to put it mildly. Oh, boy! 

Russian liquefied natural gas shipments increased in October to nearly a record, illustrating how the world is struggling to curb its dependence on the major supplier ahead of winter. LNG exports from Russia rose 1.1% year on year in October to the highest level since March, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg since 2016. That is in stark contrast to plummeting pipeline flows to Europe following the deterioration of relations between the West and the Kremlin over its invasion of Ukraine in February.

Something, certainly, doesn't add up in the Matrix. But this is only for people who continued to ignore REAL economic and other data from Russia in the last 7 years. And now, the only thing which is left for neocon cabal is to continue to push utterly false narrative about Russia "using nuclear weapons" in a desperate attempt to stave off the inevitable--a defeat of a collective West in 404. Dmitry Orlov wrote a fabulous piece on the matter:

The Cuban Missile Crisis is a malicious misnomer. Cuba never had any nuclear missiles; it temporarily played host to some Soviet ones. The crisis started when Americans put their intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Turkey that posed a new threat the Soviet Union, which responded by placing similar missiles in Cuba, evening the score. The Americans flew into a rage but eventually calmed down and withdrew their missiles from Turkey. The Soviets withdrew their missiles from Cuba and the crisis was over. And so it should be called the American Missile Crisis. What’s happening now couldn’t be more different. Unless you spent the last few weeks hiding under a rock, you have probably heard that some sort of new nuclear crisis is underway because of “Putin’s nuclear blackmail” or some such. Some people have suffered nervous exhaustion as a result, neglecting their duties and generally letting themselves go. Take former British PM Liz Truss, for instance. The poor silly thing latched on to Putin’s words that “the wind rose can point in any direction” (a factual point about the utter uselessness of tactical nuclear weapons). She then allowed the British economy to go into free-fall while she obsessively tracked the wind direction over the Ukraine. It all ended badly for poor Liz. Don’t be like Liz. I am here to tell you that there is nothing going on beyond the usual—the usual Western propaganda fakery, that is.

Are we about to start hearing about US military casualties in 404? They did happen and continue to happen on a serious scale, as is the case with other NATO "volunteers". We may, but don't hold your breath... but Midterms are coming.

Today Russia Declines Especially Fast And Dramatically.

You know, more dramatically than Russia declined in 2000s, than in 2010s, and now heading into 2020s this decline is especially noticeable. Moreover, 2020s decline is comparable to Russia's decline in 1240s, then Russia's disappearance after 1380, it also somewhat reminiscent of Russia's impending disintegration in 1605-1618, and it could certainly be reminiscent of Russia's absolute demise in 1812, not to speak of 1945. How do we know this? Very simple, a specialist in Russia's decline General Mark Milley, currently the Chairman JCS, said so in his interview to WSJ yesterday. But we all know that Russia is on the verge of a decline and disappearance for the last 1200 years, so--any minute now. Milley, however, having said that added that Russia is a Great Power and that it is because of the excellent armed forces. Now, I quote from Ria which quoted from WSJ, which is behind a paywall. 

"Россия — великая держава. В этом нет сомнений из-за их возможностей. <…> Российские военные очень хороши, без вопросов" "У них очень боеспособная и очень профессиональная армия. Она относительно небольшая по сравнению с той, что была в советское время, но очень и очень способная".  

Translation: Russia is a great power. There is no doubt about it because of her capabilities <...> Russian military people are very good, no questions about it. Russians have very combat capable and professional army. It is relatively small compared to the Soviet times, but is very very combat capable. 

This illustrates my point I made yesterday when discussing Andrei Raevsky's article about NATO and EU "messages" and which I make non-stop for decades, that the only people left in the US who have a degree of global situational awareness are American military. They have to be. As Larchmonter445 observed correctly today, and I quote him:

Who is not unaware are the specialists within the national security structure, Intel, DOD and the permanent transient officials who permeate NSC. They don't talk. They aren't experts on cable. They are analysts who study every word, action, feint, and surprise move by Putin and Russia. They are the human circuit breakers who will act rationally when the shit and fan are getting too close. You might say they are the real translators who tell the US leadership what they don't want to hear. They assure the bozos, clowns, psychopaths and warmongers that 20 minutes might be twice as long as they have to say their goodbyes if they go one inch forward to poke the bear. They read Andrei's works and his blog. They read The Saker and Orlov. They understand what Lavrov means. They now East from West. They are realists.

I agree. The "messages" are not for US or West's political elites--those are morons with no integrity or principles, they are also ignorant on any serious military matter. These messages are for American professionals who understand and have a grasp of consequences and can articulate those to civilian ignoramuses who run disintegrating West. In the middle of a Russiagate bacchanalia in the last 4 years, in the midst of severe bouts of Russophrenia at the Capitol and in US media the only sober assessments were coming from US military, especially from a guy from DIA--his testimony stood out. Listen to former DIA Chief Lieutenant-General Vincent Stewart. This is how real professionals talk. No political BS, cold hard facts. 

Sadly, this expertise is shrinking even at the top military level with increasing number political top military brass being increasingly less competent as the time passes by. But at least, articulation by Milley, granted with now required mantra of Russia's decline (of course), is the first such admission coming from the top of the American military-political elite conveyed by what is considered main American business publication. Hm, progress. Don't get me wrong--I do not overplay the importance or competence of the American military, but in purely military terms the United States still has a fast closing window of opportunities to seek politically important military "victory" (what kind of victory is a separate issue) against China. NATO, however, has no chance of defeating Russia, even if it tries to gather some force to challenge Russia in Europe--a very bad idea any way you look at it and Milley's words are a testimony to that. Considering utter military incompetence of National Security "team" Biden brings to WH in case he declared tomorrow President-elect, this is assuring, that US military will inform whoever may decide to issue a suicide order that they may simply lose the country even without the use of the nuclear weapons. With them? In this case we may only hope that there will be enough patriotic people who will stop this insanity. Usually these are military people.   

Summit? What Summit?

As was predicted, there are no plans in Russia to arrange meeting between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. It is absolutely correct approach:

MOSCOW, April 16. /TASS/. Russia and the US are not discussing any possible meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. "There is no discussion of the presidents’ possible meeting, which they talked about during their recent telephone conversation," the Kremlin spokesman said. Peskov added that Moscow "expects some conversation to start with time, when American colleagues settle their domestic issues, despite the damage to bilateral relations that Washington is inflicting now."

The immediate question in this case is this: to discuss what with who? What's the point of Vladimir Putin, who represents and is supported by overwhelming majority of the nation and elites, thus carrying legitimacy and guarantee of any treaties and settlements Russia concludes with anyone, meeting with the guy who is completely unhinged as is most of US political class? As Vzglyad, via Wall Street Journal, reports (in Russian), Trump initially was predisposed for all-out attack on Syria including Russian assets and only Mattis' insistence made Trump to yield to more "moderate" version of illegal attack on Syria.

WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump deferred to his Pentagon chief’s caution and tempered his preference for a more robust attack on Syria over allegations it used deadly gas on civilians, the first hints at the direction of his revamped national-security team.

If to believe WSJ—a rather risky proposition for a rag which is vehemently neoconservative-interventionist and is long ago a propaganda outlet for American virtual economy—Trump wanted to go with the "trigger" which Russia clearly indicated: any attack on Russian assets or Russian casualty from strikes—Russian AD gets engaged and will shoot down missiles and will engage missile carriers. Trump, again, if to believe WSJ, wanted just that. So, what's to talk to with the guy and his cabal of unhinged "advisers", such as Bolton, about? It is guaranteed that no negotiated settlement or power configuration between Russia and the US will survive the very first meeting with American media-political environment which cannot be judged anymore in any terms other than a complete mad house. In other words—US is absolutely not-treaty worthy party, period. There is nothing to talk about. There is nobody to talk to for Vladimir Putin. It seems, though, that the only people who operate within general professional and reason-driven framework are "Mad Dog" Mattis and Joseph Dunford—they understand the war, others don't. 

Expect in coming days, week or months an increased volatility and number of provocations initiated by none other than Trump himself with, possibly, Ukraine becoming slightly "hotter", plus other well-known and documented "technologies" from US Department of State's "arsenal of democracy" such as all kinds of "colored revolutions" and destabilization at Russia's perimeter—after all, May 7th is the day of Vladimir Putin's inauguration and then, of course, World Cup 2018—so many opportunities to show oneself a complete sore loser. So many European countries to stage false flag calamities. The United States, or, rather, her current power and media elites are on a collision course with Russia (why not China—is a separate manner, the issue is not only economic). The stakes are enormous—either Russia is destroyed or, which is most likely and is happening already and the process is irreversible, she completely removes herself from the shackles of 1990s and re-emerges as another superpower, this means the end of the United States as we know it, since the main pillar on which US virtual hegemony rests is her self-proclaimed military omnipotence. Once this pillar is removed, for the whole world to see, the US economy, large parts of which are completely "monetized" or exist only on paper, will crumble. I wrote for years and years that the US simply cooks the books, evidently there are people from purely economic-accounting business who agree with me:

With an expected debt-to-GDP ratio of 125% at the end of this year, the US is now just behind Italy as the world’s third most indebted major country, and far above Spain and France with their near 100% debt ratio. Still the future looks yet bleaker as we expect the US debt to grow to $30 trillion within five more years, by 2023. The US debt ratio would then be 140%. For most consumers of economic news, these figures might sound bewildering. But that’s just because you might not know that the US government has been cooking the books. To put it somewhat milder, the US government – (exceptional as they are) – is so to say creative in reporting its debt figures, or at the very least they don’t follow the conventions that apply to the mere mortal countries, that is, to the rest of the world.

It is impossible to even come up with the actual real number of the US GDP—it is not 20 Trillion USD, not even close and declared fictional number is not taken seriously by any competent analyst. American resources, while still significant, are absolutely inadequate for stated goals of American global hegemony. Once the peer appears who the United States cannot defeat militarily and especially so conventionally—the game is over. The more the US stays the present course the more it becomes inevitable that the only things which will be discussed at some point in the future will be not new power arrangements but the terms of surrender. But I wrote about it for years now. So will the US try the unthinkable and destroy herself, and the world, in the process? I wouldn't discount such a possibility.  

Double Plus LOL!!

US journos never disappoint. No, really, certain Nathan Hodge and Julian Barnes of Wall Street Journal rag fame just made my morning. Make no mistake, there always was a degree of melodrama in US when dealing with war, the same as lack of any grasp of issues of scales and proportions. Enough to remember grossly exaggerated, if not completely false, dichotomies, such as contrived "rivalry", which never materialized, of Patton and Rommel--both being merely episodes, and by far not the most important ones, of WW II. Certainly not even close to the scale of  Valilevsky, Rokossovsky, Manstein or Guderian. Not even in the same universe. Yet, there it was--a Hollywood version of something that even never existed. Today, above mentioned WSJ journos, while repeating this idiotic Patton-Rommel cliche, came up with another cringe-worthy melodramatic, totally contrived BS which they called: 

The New Cold War Pits a U.S. General Against His Longtime Russian Nemesis

You can read fuller version of this crap here. 

Really? No, I really mean, really? How trivial and shallow one has to be when coming up, for starters, with such sappy baloney as "nemesis". Nemesis, if to follow popular Greek Mythology derived definition, is something a person can not overcome. The immediate question is, then, this--in what sense Russia's Chief Of General Staff Army General Valery Gerasimov is a "long-time nemesis" for US National Security Adviser General McMaster? How, in what inflamed fantasy, can Valery Gerasimov, who, throughout his career, commanded both 58th Army and then what would amount to several Army Groups, before becoming Chief Of General Staff, be a nemesis to a man, with all due respect to McMaster, whose "accomplishments" involve such things as, even if viewed briefly from Wiki:

In August 2008, McMaster assumed duties as Director, Concept Development and Experimentation (later renamed Concept Development and Learning), in the Army Capabilities Integration Center (ARCIC) at Fort Monroe, Virginia, part of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command. In this position McMaster was involved in preparing doctrine to guide the Army over the next ten to twenty years.   

Apart from obvious gross mismatch in rank, command, responsibilities and accomplishments--Gerasimov's level is a level of the Chairman Of The Joint Chiefs Of Staff--one is forced to ask the question: and what are those "military thinking" accomplishments of McMaster per him being a Director, Concept Development and Experimentation? Almost ten years passed from the moment of McMaster's involvement with US doctrine. And what are the results? Results are in the open, for everyone to see and they are not pretty. But then, another question comes: does Gerasimov even know that he is McMaster's "nemesis"? Did troops commanded or guided through operational plans developed by Gerasimov and McMaster ever meet on a battlefield? Never heard of that. But then again, Gerasimov as Chief Of General Staff has at his disposal, a world-class and with pedigree to back it up, GOU (Главное Оперативное Управление--Main Operational Directorate) which for the last 15 years has shown a rather impressive track record. One is literally forced, then, to inevitably "compare the records" purely on merit and without preposterous references to "nemesis". 

I will abstain from elaborating on the records' comparison, albeit I did it not for once, such as here, but let Patrick Armstrong speak on that:

I can’t get two questions out of my mind:

When was the last time the USA won a war?

When was the last time US trained troops fought effectively?

Spectacularly successful at raining death and destruction in the first few weeks, something goes wrong later. Obviously there is something wrong in the way the USA fights wars.

I can explain why USA loses its wars and what is a unbridgeable, irreconcilable difference not only between Gerasimov and McMaster but between Russian and American military thinking: US Armed Forces never fought in real defense of their homeland in the last two hundred plus years. Never. Russia does it for millennium. All US warfare is expeditionary in nature with US proper remaining completely oblivious to the realities of the wars it unleashes elsewhere. That it is the reason American soldier inevitably loses an interest and stake in fighting American wars since, in the end, his (her) family at home, his property, everything he (she) loves and treasures remains untouched by brutality of the warfare and other things which come in this terrifying package. Russia and her soldiers and generals (as well as the nation as a whole) think in a completely different plane, because know, on a genetic level, what war can bring to their homeland.

So, when these two WSJ hacks write this:

Their dynamic sheds light on the evolving military competition between the world’s two biggest nuclear powers at a time of rising diplomatic tension. Moscow has narrowed a yawning gap in the quality of its conventional forces, but the U.S. remains far more powerful in that category. It is this imbalance that has shaped the strategic thinking of the two generals. It’s American force and resolve against Russian cunning and diversion.   

They expose not only their utter ignorance on a whole spectrum of military issues (those two certainly never heard of Russia's Military Doctrine--explicitly defensive), they parade their incompetence by mentioning some non-existent dynamic between a man, who leads institution (Russia's General Staff) which goes back to the times of Peter The Great and has in its record victories over Charles XII, Napoleon, Wehrmacht, recently, over terrorist armies in Syria, and a guy whose "accomplishments", apart from being popular within US Army, are rather... not impressive. So, what dynamic? I can tell you what--none. As per studying somebody's combat experience--that is what military professional do, everywhere since earliest times and in this Sun Tzu's department of "Know Thyself And Know Thy Enemy" US "strategists" fail miserably time after time since the times of Korean War. McMaster will not be an exception, he will fail too. The only task now is to make sure that while failing, this will not bring the world to the edge of confrontation which will have catastrophic consequences. Gerasimov and McMaster, apart from not having any "dynamic" as WSJ hacks claim, are in different universes military strategic thinking and experience wise and both are not only not comparable, they are irreconcilable and will remain so. As per imbalance, currently no single or combination of Armed Forces, that includes US Army, can defeat Russia conventionally in her immediate geographic vicinity. I hope McMaster is smart enough not to try  testing this because it will not be Gerasimov who may then become his "nemesis" in reality but Russia as a whole herself, and her military track record speaks volumes. As per WSJ journos--nice try, double plus LOL, morons. 

Facepalm Of The Year.

No, it is not about a complete disgrace of Russia's "hacking" of US elections story, which firmly identified CIA and US "intelligence" in general as political organizations which are in business of promoting preposterous agendas, not an intelligence outfits. There is very little of intelligence, in direct and figurative senses, left there. The facepalm of the year (let's attribute it to 2016) goes to Pentagon's chief Ash Carter. In his "confession" to Wall Street Journal he stated that: Russia has done nothing to help defeat Islamic State forces in Syria and has adopted a strategy of “explicitly thwarting the U.S.”

OK, I get it, the Beltway is a sore loser which lives in parallel universe and has loyalty only to its, often explicitly anti-American, interests, but the issue is simple: if you do not respect us all, which is fine, at least respect yourself. You have to live the rest of your life knowing (???) that most of what you say is a complete pile of steaming shit, which has been debunked time after time by the overwhelming empirical evidence. Or maybe, maybe I am too naive to assume that there is still a modicum of integrity and human decency left in Obama's Administration? Yes, I think so--I am being naive. What a stupid thought to even assume so. In the end, Administration which thinks about mountain resorts in Rostov-On-Don region is as viable as Zimbabwe's space program. Nothing personal against Zimbabwe.