... is what Pentagon and CIA will use increasingly often because somebody told them that a garbage collector, aka Neural Networks, are somehow "intelligent".
I can tell you more--Pentagon and CIA's ideas about warfare are "entirely false". This is not a hyperbole or figure of speech, this is a cold hard fact which cannot be denied anymore--we are dealing with a wholesale military incompetence. Pentagon now tries to hide behind Palantir in its atrocity against children of Minab. US military increasingly becomes a military which cannot shoot straight. Also, literally. As CNN report concludes:
The bot fused together open-source intelligence with secret signals intelligence in government holdings and reached its fateful conclusion about the material the ship was carrying. The analyst then used AI again to package the findings into a standard intelligence report — the kind that is trusted by military officials — and disseminated it. US Special Operations Command Pacific and the Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment.
That's their "level". This is also why they have been duped by 404 side believing all kinds of fairy tales of Kiev regime about SMO. But never mind--Hollywood will make another Top Gun movie and Independence Day-VIII where US military saves Milky Way galaxy from invaders from Andromeda, and everybody will feel good.
Russian media also reported on this meeting, but here is immediately THE issue. Yes, we can assume that general Cavoli is a professional, but the rest. Kathleen Hicks is a classic diversity hire and a product of the US degree mills in "political science" and "national security studies"--a completely compromised fake courses based on America's military mythology and confabulated history. Same goes for Mara Karlin, same goes for Elee Wakim, not to speak of Lloyd Austin--an affirmative action general, in the words of Colonel Macgregor.
These ARE NOT experts in strategy--US has NO experts in strategy serving in any US Administration since W. These are precisely the people behind a catastrophe in 404 and the only skill they have is in navigating deep recesses of DoD's bureaucracy. That's it. People who drove the United States into the concrete wall of Russia's military-economic might and who, like most America's top military and political brass, have zero background in Russia, cannot and will not be able to develop THE only strategy which is left for the US if it wants to preserve herself as a major power--to start talking to Russians without any preconditions. One of the reasons for that urgency being also the fact that the gap in military power between Russia and the US is widening with incredible speed.
Here is Rand Paul talking to one of the State Department creatures two weeks ago:
This colorless bureaucrat cannot even advance the basic high school argument on Russia. He has no clue what's the difference between Russian economy, especially tightly controlled military-industrial complex, and that of the US. This IS the level, these ARE the people in Biden Admin who unleashed hell and completely lost control of it and now Russia decides what and how to do with the remnants of Pax Americana scaffolding. Send in Abrams tanks--Russians love Christmas and New year celebrations, and burning Abrams tanks has its solid monetary benefits. Ah, wait, they want Abrams back, they will send more Leopard IIs.
The desperation oozes from this piece. The author, however, asks a self-evident question which didn't occur to Washington's "planners" who still reside in alternative economic and military reality:
The most obvious flaw in this scheme was Russian participation. What if the Kremlin refused to abide by the arrangement, as Russia recently hinted?
A second snag was the price cap itself. If it was too high, Moscow
would generate outsized petrol profits to fund its war against Ukraine.
Technocrats from participating G-7 countries were tasked with
determining a “capped” price for Russian crude and, at least in theory,
updating it to follow changing market conditions.
No shit, pardon my French. And no, Russia didn't "hint" but explicitly stated that, with latest being today:
Translation:“We are working on mechanisms to ban the use of price cap instruments (from the English “price ceiling.” — Ed.), no matter what level is set, because such interference can only lead to further destabilization of the market and a shortage of energyresources, lower investment," he explained, adding that this would affect not only oil, but also other products traded on the market both in Russia and in other countries.
I think this cannot get any clearer than that. Unlike the author of this article in The Hill, Peter Doran, who is your typical academic waste from the US dismal "diplomatic" corps not to mention dumbing down through some "Russia study" fraudulent program of the ASU, Mr. Novak knows what he is talking about because he successfully worked at the position of Russia's Energy Minister for 8 years and now serves (last two years) as a Deputy Prime-Minister. So, when Novak speaks, the whole world listens. This is not an exaggeration.
Doran, however, being an uneducated hack, which is a common trait among 99% of the American "Russia experts", still tries to convince himself and those who imbue the BS The Hill publishes 99% of the time, that his personal Russophobia and lack of intellect may somehow influence outcomes. I know, he never read War and Peace.
If the Russian oil price cap fails to materialize or work as officials
intend, the United States and its allies should drop the scheme and keep
to their previous, more aggressive sanctions policy. Washington should
likewise prioritize efforts to fully open the taps of U.S. domestic
energy production while holding together the coalition of countries that
signed up for America’s sanctions regime on Russia in the first place. We should deny Russia the “sinews of war” – the petrol dollars that it
needs to sustain its invasion of Ukraine – instead of haggling like
merchants in a bazaar over exemptions to a strong sanctions policy.
Obviously, having zero academic and practical experience in serious industries and policies, Doran cannot understand that he plays on the chessboard with a few minor figures left, while Russia plays with almost a full set. But as I already stated--you cannot explain those things to most US "experts", because they do not teach real history, real economy, real military art, let alone real Russia in the vast field of a fraudulent "humanities" programs in the United States. Hence such a desperation.
But if you think that Doran has some practical suggestions, other than beaten to death recipe for more sanctions, in terms of denying Russia her immense cash flow, you should get a load of this--a new way to hurt this damn dictator Putin and those nasty Rooskies. You can always count on British to take it to the limit:
I don't even know how to comment on that, other than repeating what I say ad nauseam--Western "elites" are morons and they are desperate. Obviously, the cause of desperation varies from nation to nation, but in general none of those "elites" can change the course away from a catastrophe which is unfolding in a front of our eyes. It is a runaway train in the process of getting off the tracks. Hence sheer cretinism in public reactions to the reality. I am on record--while you still can get a decent STEM and natural sciences education in the West--no, not this undergraduate BS, but a grad and post-grad levels--the field which used to produce able policy makers is done, it is a wasteland which is responsible for emerging political "elite" which is utterly incompetent across the board. This is a bad news for the combined West and nothing can save Europe, while the US is in the process of losing last vestiges of its, always grossly exaggerated, power. Let us go hungry to "send clear message to Putin." This is the only political tool left for the West...
Lt.Colonel Daniel Davies asks the reasonable question, while still repeating all those Ukie propaganda tropes about Russia being "bloodied" in SMO and about Holy HIMARS, the title of his piece does raise this issue:Why Do We Keep Listening to the ‘TV’ Generals on Ukraine? He writes:
The answer to this is very simple: incompetence and professional jealousy. SMO and Ukraine, same as Georgia in 2008, and same as Syria, and same as Ukraine now demonstrated a demolition of not only America's best proxies at given periods of time, but uncovered a fantastical thinking by US military about modern war. Most, with some notable exceptions, Western military professionals exhibited a gaping lack of understanding of not only Russia--that is expected from many--but of even basic grasp of economic mobilization scales, operational and strategic realities. 99% of US military officers of any note forecasts and explanations, be that on TV or in writing, not only were and are wrong, they raise the question of professional adequacy.
Davies lists all, oh so familiar, names of Petraeus, Keane, Hodges, Hertling who continue to embarrass themselves as military amateurs in their view of SMO. But they are just the tip of the iceberg, enough to take a look an Andrew Bacevich's personal views and military "analysis" the so called Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft (in reality Cohen and Soros' funded org) he heads--one cannot shake the impression that far from being a former cadre officer of the US Army, Bacevich is simply stuck in the realities of America's endless and humiliating military debacles and lacks a solid military education which IS NOT a collection of tactical minutiae but must rest on a solid foundation of the military science. Davies still doesn't provide the definition of "bloodied", but have anyone told US military professionals that any serious operational level document contains what in Russian is called normatives (normativity) which describe ranges in losses in personnel and equipment depending on types of operations ranging from capturing the village, town or city to a head on division size battle with different types of opponent. Evidently American officers never heard of those, despite those being a common knowledge. So what "bloodied" is, then? And what is a definition of "significant"? Davies doesn't answer this question.
The Russians are no doubt bloodied and have suffered significant
equipment loss, but there is no evidence on the battlefield that they
are anywhere near “exhausted.” Most of the artillery promised by the West has already been delivered
and it has not, to date, resulted in even slowing Russia’s advance
through the Donbas, much less stopped it. The HIMARS launchers have enabled Ukraine to strike deep
behind Russian lines, and they have caused severe harm in their enemy’s
rear areas. Nonetheless, even that has not resulted in any observable
reduction in the still-heavy daily barrage of artillery on Ukrainian
positions.
It seems that most of
those US military professionals when talking about REAL combined arms
operations lack even basic understanding of the role of modern air defense, especially of such quality as Russian troop (voiskovaya) AD, which deploys a variety of high end AD systems ranging from manpads to Tor M2, Buk M3, and S-300V4 which already performed extremely well in defending Russian forces preposition and rear areas, including from this very same much touted, and grossly overrated, HIMARS (in Russian). All of those are standard targets for Russian Air Defense, but it seems many US officers still cannot grasp this fact, which is unsurprising, considering the fact that the US Army never fought in modern era under the steady fire impact to the operational depth and simply has no systems which are designed for such classes of targets. Davies continues and admits:
The most important fundamentals of war, the basics of combat
operations, almost all reside on the Russian side. Since the G7, G20,
and NATO Summits, there have been no additional large-scale
contributions of modern weaponry promised to Ukraine. The amount of
equipment to date has been a couple of hundred artillery tubes, about
250 Soviet-era tanks, and a few hundred Vietnam-era personnel carriers.
Cumulatively, all of this gear – including the HIMARS – are not a
fraction of the type of kit Ukraine would need to launch a counteroffensive. The idea, then, that Ukraine could stop Russia’s current
offensive and then transition to a counter-offensive to drive Putin’s
troops back – as Hodges said he believed would happen before the end of
this year – have no valid basis on the ground in Ukraine. But such
optimistic, rosy proclamations that are disconnected from battlefield
realities are not new for America’s active and retired generals for the
past two decades. Take these examples from Operation Iraqi Freedom.
What can I say. The issue here is not What Ukraine needs, but what US and its NATO lapdogs can provide and we already know what happened with the US stocks of much touted, and, naturally, grossly overrated, Stingers, Javelins and M-777. It is a good business for defense contractors in the US who will need to replenish grossly diminished reserves of such weapons, but, for the love of God, can we stop this BS with "take these examples from Operation Iraqi Freedom". I can only repeat what most US officers never heard about, Russian/Soviet strategist Alexander Svechin, who present Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov quotes once in a while:"Each war represents an isolated case, requiring an understanding of its own particular logic, its own unique character". The tiresome comparison of what amounted to turkey shoot of backward, under-equipped, under-trained, under-supplied, illiterate in many instances and incompetently led Saddam's Army, which didn't have even operational air force and air defense, to Russia fighting the best ever US proxy, which for 8 years was supplied, trained and now C2-ed by US and UK officers, is simply risible. But Davies agrees somewhat:
The danger in these types of statements is that they give false hope to
the people of Ukraine, give an inaccurate picture to the American people
of what’s possible, and encourages Congress to continue funding a
strategy that almost certainly will fail. At the very least, it is time
to start viewing routinely optimistic claims by some of our active and
retired generals with more skepticism.
Oh, I think the danger of these statements is grossly understated, because, judging by the stream of incompetent and militarily illiterate baloney US military professionals deliver from each and every media channel nowadays, one is irresistibly moved to the conclusion that maybe those generals and senior officers are not that good to start with? If they do understand, which I begin to doubt now, what is going on and spew their claptrap for propaganda purposes, that totally disqualifies them as honorable professionals, but if they believe their own absurdity and pseudo-operational and pseudo-strategic psychobabble, then we have a problem--they may, at some point of time, try to come into direct contact with Russian Armed Forces and will sustain catastrophic defeat, which, inevitably, will push the United States, which doesn't have modern historic experience with real war, to escalate towards nuclear threshold.
I remain on record: US Armed Forces never fought in defense of own country. The only type of warfare the US military knows is a naval one, where the US Navy maintained both quantitative and qualitative superiority over nearest rivals for a while, in terms of ground war it was always expeditionary warfare, and achievements of the US ground forces have been more than underwhelming. Desert Storm played a cruel joke on the US military and its fighting doctrine and procurement policies, which resulted in a failure in Iraq and then humiliation of Afghanistan. Modern US Army cannot fight and win conventional war with modern "peer" without sustaining losses on the order of 1,000-1,500 KIAs a day and massive loss of equipment, including a very high PR "value" such as combat aircraft or ships. Neither American public nor US political class will be able to deal with it, which will result in a political upheaval and calls for nuclear strikes, which will mean a death sentence to the US as a country .
Those people in the US military who do understand that, they do not have their voices heard, and, instead, we all are treated to nothing more than jingoistic propaganda, outright Russophobia and simple lies by people who by all measurements are not ready to face the realities of the warfare which, quoting Colonel Douglas MacGregor, looks like this:
It is a well-known fact, that today Pentagon has many US officers manning US weapon systems in Ukraine and they do more than that--they collect all possible data on the operations by Russian forces. It is not going to help, because America's problem is much deeper than even fighting doctrine or national strategy, however always flawed and unworkable. It is metaphysical--it is difficult to replicate or respond to Russia's technological and cultural responses to war. You cannot buy this historic experience and warfare culture. It will always be beyond reach. That is why I smile when same people who produced Afghanistan debacle, assure American public that they already learn and apply "lessons" from SMO. They mislead the public because the US doesn't fight like Russia and never did. It never will and it cannot be helped, because in the end it is history itself which is the greatest teacher for those who want to learn. The US military-political class not only doesn't want to learn, it is incapable of learning and the wall of BS surrounding SMO in the US, about which Davies writes, is the best proof of that. Not to mention the fact of best and brightest being removed from the US military for decades.
In related news. Give Americans a credit where the credit is due:
No, I am not a Fox "fan", despite the fact that I watch Tucker once in a while. I just use a snippet, the admission. Yes, US MSM is shit as are people who run them. They do harm people and the country, and the wolrd. They are very "effective" in that.
And collective Putin was laughing all the way to the bank. Here is what should be understood, Russian Urals oil brand is tied to Brent and even when sold at 30% discount it still sells for roughly $85 which is more than twice what is factored into Russia's budget (oil price around $40), which, in addition, is not that dependent on hydrocarbons anymore. This thought of Russia being awash in cash, obviously, doesn't allow Biden Admin to sleep well or even govern the country, the US that is, which is completely rudderless and is sinking into some sort of Great "Recession", a euphemism for something we never encountered before, which may make Great Depression look not so bad.
Janet Yellen, though, thinks that she can come up with the plan to "limit Russia's profits", while simultaneously maintaining the flow of Russia oil to the markets (in Russian). This, of course, brings us to the issue of mental adequacy of people who pretend to run the US, but then again--somebody did vote for Joe Biden. I spoke about it in my today's video, but it does explain Dmitry Medvedev's characterization of Western elites as "bastards" and "degenerates". For now, the combined West should pray that Medvedev is not a President and what is being disclosed about this guy in the last couple of years changes his image completely and this is not in, as some try to insist, his "preparation" as a successor of Putin. Putin has many more good years. No, what begins to emerge about Medvedev is that he is a real hawk. He also has a very good memory. So, make your own conclusions, but then again--there is a reason Putin has him as both close friend and a very close political ally for many years.
Now, will Russia break off diplomatic relations with the US? Russian Ambassador to the US Antonov, while describing Russian-American contacts as virtually non-existent (no surprise here), insisted (in Russian) that even "episodic" contacts between Russian and American military are essential for stability and prevention of conflict. I agree. Especially, when, as I am on record ad nauseam, US military being the last institution in the US which maintains a certain level of competence and can reason on many crucial issues of a strategic stability. Sate Department cannot, neither can the White House.
This also comes to the combined West and, eventually, everything Russian in cultural sphere will be purged, especially in Europe. In the US? I don't know, but Russian culture and history is a complete antithesis to neo-liberalism and globalism--a state "religion" in the US--and I can only imagine the excruciating pain Western neocons feel when reading War and Peace, or watching Russian war movies, or listening to Tchaikovsky 1812 Overture. Or visiting Moscow or St. Petersburg, or what have you. It is a metaphysical issue and that of being cultured in a true sense, which is not the case with modern Western primitive "elites".
... Frederick Kagan, another offspring of the politically fecund Kagan clan, which is a major contributor to the American neocon ideology, which is a euphemism for academic fraud and ignorance, penned a piece in Time magazine, which is an Exhibit A of the Kagans uncontrollable urges to spew BS any time they speak about Russia. Naturally, they know very little about Russia and American necocons are simply not good at warfare. In fact, they suck so badly that putting a lipstick on the pig of the American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan--brain children of the Robert Kagan and his neocon ilk from PNAC--cannot hide anymore an ugly record of strategic failure, lack of vision and, as a result, humiliating military and political defeats which culminated in the "escape from Afghanistan". Well, Frederick Kagan managed to teach military history in the USMA at West-Point. Boy, I wonder what this military "thinker" taught there. So, he concludes:
I know, Kagans hate Russian guts, it is natural for their extensive family which straddles a variety of corridors of power, academy and what passes in the US for diplomacy, having a lot of influence in D.C. But diplomats (like Vicky) or geopolitical thinkers (like Robert), or warfare professionals (like Kimberly), or military historians (like Frederick) they are not. Not even close.
The fact that Frederick is a fraud as "military historian" is this his risible conclusion:
The Russians have adapted to this grim reality by changing their tactics
to something reminiscent of the First World War or the “Methodical
Battle” doctrine of the French Army in 1940—artillery barrages destroy
everything in a given sector of the battlefield and then Russian troops
crawl forward through the ruins. But even this approach has its limits.
Russia’s supply of artillery pieces is not infinite. They have had to
concentrate artillery densely in the prioritized sectors, pulling it
away from other areas. They have drawn artillery (and tanks and other
equipment) out of ancient Soviet-era stores. And they’ve begun taking equipment out of Belarusian stocks as well—likely the last stockpiles of gear Putin can reliably get his hands on.
So, no wonder the US Army cannot win shit in the last 30 years. When you have such "professors" like Frederick, who, obviously doesn't know the subject--that is Russia's approach to modern war (and he doesn't, none of the Kagans does, including Kimberly who runs this sinecure for the retired US Army "Napoleons"--ISW), does the US really need enemies? Explaining to Frederick what modern combined arms warfare is, is an exercise in futility because he will not understand it because the person who writes such a hysterical drivel really needs to undergo his professional evaluation, because, obviously the only thing he is good at, same as most US neocons, including those from the US military, is lying and fantastical thinking. But applying "Methodical Battle" doctrine of the French Army which in 1940 successfully collapsed in 6 weeks and France was humiliated by Hitler in Compiegne, to modern Russian operation in 404. Somebody explain to this "military" historian what are modern stand-off precision weapons are and how operations are planned.
If Frederick, who is allegedly a "military historian" wants to find better examples in trying to portray Russia's war effort in 404 in the light which allows his fanatically Russophobic relatives not to have an aneurysm outright, he should have come up with better BS, or, maybe, just maybe, tried to study actual Russian military history and see for himself how Russian military thought developed from the times of Peter the Great to Brusilov (yes, yes--rolling artillery wall, his invention) in 1916, to Triandafilov, Svechin, in the end--to military leaders of the Great Patriotic War. That will spare him a lot of butt-hurt and emotional stress. Or will it? In the end, you may recall (both in my videos and here in blog) that I state constantly--if you decided to lie on matters of warfare, at least learn to lie professionally and that implies serious military knowledge, which none of the Kagans has.
In somewhat sad news, especially knowing that US Ambassador to Russia John J. Sullivan is an old school American diplomat and a reasonable man, he pleaded with Russia:
Sadly, Esteemed Ambassador Sullivan has to face the reality--Russian culture and history will be removed from the combined West and it is not Russia who will be doing it. Considering the fact, as described above, that such frauds and war criminals like Kagans and people like them--Blinken, NSA Sullivan et al--still play an important role in shaping what passes in the US for foreign policy, and understanding an existential character of the clash between Russia and the combined West which it is losing, we must recall Sergei Lavrov's characterization of modern Western elites--you cannot trust them.Difficult to disagree--there is nobody in the US to talk to.
And a number of former intel and military professionals around the globe are now catching what could be defined as Pentagon's "experts" with their BS. Larry writes:
Then Larry proceeds to deconstruct this former US Army officer's "analysis" and concludes:
The video evidence emerging from the war in Ukraine is rife with images
of bodies of dead Ukrainians and tons of captured weapons and military
supplies. If Russia’s Army is a paper tiger, it is doing a remarkable
job of grinding the Ukrainian military capability into dust.
But yes, Larry caught "another one" of those "experts" who watched too much of Hollywood and can offer an impressive record of "winning" in such places as Iraq and Afghanistan.
In related news of the SMO, there are reports of two fuel depots, one is military one, being on fire in Bryansk.
Translation: Mi-24s may reach, Bayraktar TB-2 does reach (most probable cause).
Wow. I wonder why those people are not leading armies or are not in charge of FSB yet, because the most probable cause is sabotage, as was the case with a couple of other objects in Russian territory (with the exception of the recent two ukie Mi-24s attack on border town). The fact that these Russian telegram "experts" do not even anticipate operations of SBU DRG (Diversionno-Razvedyvatelnye Gruppy), diversionary groups that is, which ARE operating in border regions of Russia betrays immediately "know it all" arm-chair "strategists". Reality, of course, is that any variant is possible, but it is obvious that Bryansk is located in 100 kilometers from 404 border and same as Kursk (96 kilometers from 404 border) or Orel (101 kilometers) is totally within the range of of DRGs and its southerly approach is completely covered in forests.
This terrain is perfect for diversionary operations and that is why this kind of activity will continue until FSB eradicates (and that is a long haul operation) both sleeper cells and ukie diversionary groups. Both are contingent on establishment of the military-civilian administrations and security services on liberated territories of Ukraine. These are realities of the war and that is why Russia's regions bordering Ukraine are operating under many limitations such as closure for the commercial air-traffic. But as is the case with RKR Moskva, all those arm-chair "strategists" are ready to offer their versions of the events even before any reliable conclusion could be made.
Here is heroic Eva Bartlett doing the job of preserving journalistic integrity and ethics.
Western MSM are not journalism, they long ago sided with Ukrainian Nazism and as such are nothing more than war crimes enablers. But, the fact that this astounding number of US military and intel "professionals" continue to spew absolute propaganda and base their "analysis" on the "intel" feed from Kiev is a huge reason for concern, as it would be for acute appendicitis patient being prepared for operation on him by an auto-mechanic or accountant. We can easily predict the outcome of a routine surgery. The analogy easily applies.
Bernhard of MoA did a great service by providing a link to the article from yesterday which, in this particular case, does provide words from Pentagon man, that is not just some BSer from Reuters or CNN, or WSJ who make numbers up and then lie that those numbers are from their "sources". But even this "15,000 Russian troops killed" dude had to cool it on the Ukie BS being used by US media:
But as I stated, even Pentagon's "figure" (7,000-15,000 KIAs), if it was delivered by someone "in the know" shows the absolute lack of even fleeting grasp of what is going on on the ground in Ukraine. I agree with Bernhard's title of his article and its content:
That is why I constantly cringe when, yet another, "analyst" begins to weep about Russia "losing the information war". Russia couldn't have "won" such a war abroad, because it is the only field in which US excels--creation of virtual reality by means of non-stop lies in every single field US media cover, be it elections, health, war (especially war), science, education, you name it. They lie, that's what they do. Part of this lie serves political agenda of non-stop elections shell game, which passes for "democracy", a euphemism of substituting one incompetent amoral ignoramus for another. The other part is a genuine ignorance, no more so than in the field of warfare. For every truth Russia delivers, there are 10 respective insane lies.
Just to demonstrate what kind of fraud this "journalism" is, we may go to Columbia University Journo "Program" and partake in the most difficult (in involves some calculations) part of this pseudo-profession and it is Data Journalism. As the title implies, the future "journo" will be taught how to handle data. Just get the load of this from curriculum:
So, in other words, they teach those "students" some Python, maybe some statistics and "data handling" with application to exactly what? A-ha, here is the issue, assuming, of course, with a very high probability of those students trying to get their M.S. (yes, Master of fvcking Science) in this "field" having no serious math and physics fundamental education crucial for any field of the modern technology-infused world, and that is why no matter what grade they get in this Hodgepodge collection of intro level programming, multi-media and some basic data-handling, they will remain as ignorant on the realities of engineering and design practices, real physical economy or science. But they also will not get even in the most basic form real warfare, ranging from tactics and operational art to more complex issues of sensors, weapon systems integration and combat control--it is a completely different world which is fully obscured by fanboys on YouTube who wouldn't know the difference between math.expectation and probability of hitting the target, and, incidentally, is precisely completely obfuscated by these very "journalism" and "communications" graduates who do not know shit from shinola and have zero background in warfare.
I don't need to really expose here such "wonderful" examples of military "journalism" such as David Axe or Michael Peck, among many others who grace the pages of innumerable US publications on war and military porn, but they are not there to "report". They are there to spin. I do appreciate and I know there are real American (and Russian) military reporters out there who have seen some shit and they try to report honestly (including by risking their lives) on war issues, but that is still--reporting. It gives some touch to the reality on the ground, but the essential thing which runs modern war: strategic and operational planning, combat command and control--these are very different animals and anyone wouldn't even get close to those without graduating serious military higher learning institution and having serious tactical let alone operational planning experience at least at the level of regiment and its staff. Brigade and division staff level is still preferred. And it is this level at which one begins to learn to handle immense arrays of data of which fanboys who discuss how one or another tank looks like or why F-16 is sexier than MiG-29 (which, actually, is true) have no clue about, as are the graduates of this Data Journalism courses.
That is why such a BS about 15,000 Russian KIAs makes it to Western media, spun, of course, for the sake of the agenda of powers that be and really, any claims by American or European journos about "freedom of press" are met today in Russia and elsewhere with a Homeric laughter. But even factoring all those PR-"professionals" and propaganda pushers one still doesn't get the problem resolved. Professionals, especially serious professionals, and my blog allows many of them to speak here, such as Larry Johnson, or, by references such as Colonel Vladimir Trukhan, or Scott Ritter or Colonel Macgregor, no matter how one tries to convey a complexity of a modern C2 (Command and Control) on the modern and very complex battlefield, Hollywood will always win, as will those "unnamed" Pentagon officials who would be "leaking" a complete BS and non-sense to ignoramuses from media, who exist only for sensation and not for honest reporting. Some of them, as you all know, are downright war criminals.
It is not that Western journos spread lies, it is the fact that with each passing day their BS becomes so outlandish that one has to ask the question: do they even know what basic arithmetic is? I begin to doubt it. I can try to explain to some moron from NYT or WSJ (not that they will be interested in it) how the combat tasks are set and how planning develops from there, how to approximately calculate the force size for a company, even battalion to accomplish the task, where the reserves will come and how, but I cannot help in cases when their parents and schools didn't teach them basic adding and subtraction, not to speak of multiplication and division (ooh, boy those stochastic coefficients, you have to multiply there). So, that is why General Patton is America's main WW II "hero", because BS sells and no matter how one may hate (and they deserve it fully) Erick Von Manstein, Heinz Guderian or Walter Model, should these people be alive today, as would have been Zhukov, Tolbukhin or Rokossovsky, they all would have come to an agreement that the US learned all the wrong lessons from WW II and that explains why the US lost all of its wars which followed. Goebbels would have loved to have Anglo-American MSM journos in his org in Hell. They would fit right in.
In related news. New anecdote from Russia, Madeleine Albright gets to the Charon the ferryman at the river Styx and offers him a coin (one sixth of a Drachma) for crossing the river. Charon shakes his head in disagreement and replies to her: "I accept only Rubles".
People constantly ask me, or express their desire to see Russia saying bye-bye to the West. I have news: Russia already said bye-bye to the West. It is a done deal, fait accompli, over with or however else you want to formulate this state of the affairs. Here is one such sign out of very many.
Translation:BRUSSELS, February 9 - RIA Novosti.Assuming that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is not put into operation, Russia will find other buyers for this gas, Vladimir Chizhov, Russia's permanent representative to the European Union, said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
The idiots in Brussels and D.C. still cannot wrap their feeble brains around the fact that NS2 is about Europe, not Russia. Russia is fine without NS2 and she has all market she needs for her hydrocarbons in Asia. It is about how the United States will eat EU to prolong its own agony. Then Chizhov adds:
Russia is not obliged to solve Europe's problems. There are contracts and that's it. Want more? Get new contracts, like Hungary did. While signing new contracts Russia and Hungary signed a bunch of other mutually beneficial contracts across the whole spectrum of economic activity ranging from nuclear power stations to agriculture, to consumer goods to transportation. Soviet Union was a major market for legendary Hungarian-made Ikarus buses. Boy, a wave of sentimental nostalgia came over me, from the childhood:
To adulthood:
Our favorite "Garmoshka" (Garmon) which transported hundreds of millions of passengers in USSR to and from. They are still beloved in Russia. You may counter may argument saying that doesn't the example of Hungary contradicts my statement that Russia bid adieu to Europe. Not in a slightest. Here is the explanation:
Implications of that are huge and they do show degree to which majority of European public is brainwashed and, by implication, views Russia as an aggressor. In other words, there is not a single impetus on the level of population to question the interpretations (a euphemism for Western media propaganda) of current events. Sure, people are not obliged to be specialists in psychological operations or analysis of reporting. So, this has to be taken merely as a given, most people are immersed in their daily lives and bread and butter issues and don't se any alternative to Western political "status quo".
Here is Waldemar Herdt, former member of Bundestag, speaks to Vladimir Solovyov (sadly only in Russian) and admits that Germany is not a sovereign country and that German "elites" are overwhelmingly a product of the US "educational" (a euphemism for being brainwashed) programs and that Germany right now is in the split position.
Make no mistake, I do sympathize with average Germans but it is what it is. Both poll and spineless German political "elite" WILL sell Germany to the United States and, as Biden said himself, NS2 will be eliminated. As Herdt admits in horror--that will be the end of Germany's chemical industry, which will be the end of Germany's manufacturing. This is precisely what the United States desires above all. Obviously, the most optimal outcome for the US would be a good scale European War in which Russia would destroy EU and the United States then, pretending to be the savior of the West, will make a shitload of money and save own declining economy by helping to "restore" Europe.
As I said many times, most people in D.C. are one trick ponies and most of them do not understand modern warfare nor know the actual history of WW II. They still don't get a simple fact, that if the big war happens in Europe, D.C. will repeat the fate of Brussels. But then again, considering level of the American "elite education" it is not surprising. We can see some of its products in Europe and suicidal economic and cultural policies, which are also policies du jour in the United States. So, the decision by Russia's government to break off is totally justified. This is not to say that this whole process is without hiccups, including BS from CNN such as this:
You can bet your ass on the fact that these CNN's "four people" are most likely a figment of imagination and their Russian sources are some BSers such as senile Ivashov. In the same time US media continue to quote such "specialists" (primarily from liberal globalist Moscow "think tanks") and rumor-gatherers from Moscow foreign policy beau monde such as Andrei Kortunov from globalist RIAC.
Kortunov is a pure Soros creature who was in charge of Russia's "education and development" department in Soros' Open Society fund in Russia. So, you get the idea. As for Lukyanov--a typical MGIMO-produced journo who rubs shoulders with "big shots" and elbows in already mentioned by me Moscow's primarily globalist foreign policy beau monde which is very big on credentialism but very low on actual knowledge of the outside world and what forms geopolitical reality. It is the same cabal where demagogues like Karaganov, Timofeev (of Valdai fame) and others (RT loves to invite these "experts" who have no clue about practical geopolitics) suck on a fat teat of grants and sinecures in conducting some "research", which anyone with with IQ above room temperature can do in half the time these many offsprings of yet another globalist madrasa, VShE, do and get more accurate and more competent forecasts. But then again, there is a reason why Western propaganda loves to speak to those "experts".
But whatever the case with hysteria in modern West, including the United States, regarding Russia "invasion", the problem raised by Moscow in ultimatum remains: it is not just about 404, it is about NATO. At this stage Washington not only non-agreement capable, there are nobody to talk to in it, including the main slave of US war-mongering MSM, US Congress which creates the feedback loop with US media in calling for measures which, actually, are going to hit (already did) both EU but, remarkably, will deteriorate already tenuous Washington's position even more. Let's face it, Washington's "strategy" (quotation marks are intentional--they don't know what real strategy is in D.C.) of splitting Russia from China failed miserably, it accelerated the emergence of Russian-Chinese alliance whose economic and military capabilities dwarf those of the United States and relegated EU to a passive victim, whose consumption still will not resolve US problems. Italians nailed it in La Stampa.
This is a machine translation, but give Italians credit where the credit is due, except, of course, for mentioning a two-front war--the United States is incapable to fight a war in a single theater against first rate power. But in general, Italians got strategy right, problem, of course, that in the last 30 years American machine of producing "elites" produced nothing but incompetent, ignorant, badly educated narcissists across the full spectrum of national activities, from economics, to military, to education, who have zero skills in governing such country as the United States, or, for that matter, even running 7-11 convenience store. They are hysterical because they do not want to face the facts which, they correctly feel it, will blow their world view up completely. Because in the end, they understand deep down that they are losers and always were--this is not an easy way to encounter reality.
In related news, it seems that some sort of Russia-Belarus genuine integration process has started and in the mid-to-long term that also means a much closer integration between Russian and Belarus armed forces. I know, adding another 60,000+ of well equipped and well trained personnel doesn't sound that good for many in NATO. Plus with Belarus getting ready to receive own S-400s and MiG-31Ks with hypersonic Kinzhals are now flying over Kaliningrad:
The message is clear. Not to forget, of course, the Baltic Fleet whose main base is in Baltiisk already received first 4 latest SU-30SM2 which are very advanced versions of venerable SU-30 and it is not just fully netcentric but is capable to operate swarms of UAV by forming its own network with them. I think it is just a warm up before Russia (after Beijing Olympic Games close) begins to "take measures of military-technical character" due to the West's inability to give a coherent and favorable response to Russia's ultimatum. But I warned about it from the start.
Basically, this whole panopticon is akin to asking China to influence China's crucial military ally whom huge chunks of China's security depend on to act counter to Russia and China's national interests just because petulant and ignorant children in Foggy Bottom want so. This, folks, is the "level" of the US "diplomacy", which for the last 20+ years provided us with a panoply of amateurs who in normal country wouldn't be allowed to run a 7-11 convenience store or even mow the lawns in any self-respecting middle class Home Owners Association. Yet, here we are--the bunch of State Department chicken-hawks, war-mongers and neocons desperately try to repeat their failed "strategy" of 2014 hoping yet again that Russia will bait and will "go in" and will tie her resources in 404 which Russia doesn't want or need and thus will allow neocons' "plan" to deal with China without Russia to succeed. Good God, they ARE that stupid.
I have news for J.D. Vance--there is a whole issue with the US education starting from K-12. They do not teach there, as it is done in normal countries, the relation between cause and effect. That is why the US lost its all post-WW II wars, lost its economic race to China, arms race to Russia and effectively produced "elites" which constantly humiliate their own country by their ignorance, incompetence and bizarre behavior. Read an acerbic piece by Fred Reed about the art of governance. They don't teach real governance in the US. Fred has a point, in fact, many of them.
The reality is catching up with Washington. West will have to pay for a mess which it created in 404 in 2014. Russia is NOT taking this freak of a country on her balance and it was the West which precipitated Russia's ultimatum and the issue today is way bigger than just the Ukraine. It is about Russia breaking off with the West on Russia's terms. Those in the West who would have second thoughts--they are welcome to Moscow if they have something to say of substance. If not, too fvcking bad, it's West's problem and they should go back. As Saker noted, Russians are "snow niggers" for the West and Russians, overwhelming majority of them, are just fine with that. This is the fact the combined West should internalize. Russians don't give a damn. Except when they do, but for that Russia has Defense Ministry and damn good Armed Forces.
Speaking of which, some details have been revealed about modernization of good ol' Udaloys (pr. 1155) and, as you might expect, all of them will get 3M22 Zircons in addition to other weapon systems and full update of electronic suites (in Russian).
There is an interesting "slip of the tongue" in this video that Admiral Nakhimov will actually get a navalized version of S-400, albeit media state that Nakhimov will retain Fort-M (S-300FM), but then again, it is not long now for Nakhimov to get to trials.
But, of course, even in this bit of news, the last phrase is, as is traditional, a lie. The Agence France Presse (which reports it) merely adds:
But Putin on Wednesday blamed "systemic flaws" in the European energy
market and brushed off criticism, saying that "some try to pass their
errors onto others".
And why don't journos and staff BSer, ah, pardon my French, writers expand on what Putin said and what REAL energy professionals warned for years--"green energy" is a utopia turned totalitarian religion in perverted (literally and figuratively) minds of West's humanities dumbed down "elites", who have zero background in engineering and natural sciences, and it was inability of "green" sources to supply modern civilization with steady energy this civilization needs to survive, forget about living decently. Here is Putin verbatim:
Translation:I repeat: the rise in gas prices in Europe was the result of a shortage of electricity, and not vice versa. And there is no need, as they say, to shift from a sore head to a healthy one, as we say, as some of our partners try to do. Sometimes you listen to what is being said about this, and you are surprised, it’s just amazing, as if they don’t see the numbers - I’ll say more about this - they don’t see the reality, they just cover up their own mistakes. Over the past decade, step by step, systemic flaws have been laid in European energy. It was they who led to a large-scale market crisis in Europe. Let me remind you that as long as the leading positions were atomic and gas generation, there were no such crises, there was nowhere for them to come from. I will add that today, thank God, such problems in Russia are unimaginable. A long-term approach to the development of the fuel and energy complex allows us to provide electricity prices for the population and enterprises at the lowest level in Europe. For comparison: the average price of electricity in Russia in terms of euros is about 20 euros per megawatt-hour, in Lithuania - 256, in Germany and France - 300, in the UK - 320.
Never mind, of course, that Russia will be hated (traditionally) for exposing, yet again, incompetence of West's elites, because these people are incapable of critical thinking and are butt-hurt, severely. But then again, this is one of those "we told you so" moments. Read my lips: Western elites are IN-COM-PE-TENT. I am not alone, I will remind you about this:
Let's face the facts--reading, by even moderately educated and cultured human, mental excrement by Fukuyama, Schwab, sophomoric sloganeering by Bill Gates, or generalizations by Mearsheimer, or pseudo-economic "strategy" demagoguery by Luttwak, among many others, can only inspire laughter, the kind one has when seeing a kindergarten child pontificating on the matters of quantum mechanics. It is risible, that these people pretend to be running what amounts to the ship of fools. Enter Vicki Nuland--another fine product, together with her hubby Robert Kagan, pretending to know the world outside.
Nuland is in Moscow currently, after the whole ordeal of getting permission to enter Russia--as a private person she is listed as "undesirable" for Russia--and to allow its "diplomat" to get the permission from Russia, Washington was forced to remove some Russians from its own "black list". So, she was allowed, met with Deputy Foreign Minister Ryabkov who openly stated that at this stage positions of the sides to negotiations do not fit well (in Russian). No surprise, they do not. They WILL NOT for a long time. But Nuland, who passes in D.C. for "expert in former USSR" is in Moscow trying to squeeze from Russians whatever the US can in terms of Ukraine, which increasingly becomes a burden for the US, and discuss issues of mutual relations which de facto have been almost finished off during Trump Administration. Usually Russians are permissive to US envoys and allow them to meet "above" their pay grade. This time, however, Nuland has been denied meeting with Lavrov. Putin expressed a conviction that eventually Russian-American relations will stabilize, and one can only hope so. We'll see. Hopefully they will in the long run. But then again, looking at D.C. cadres, including US Congress which is hell bent on wrecking the relations with Russia completely, this may take a very-very long time.
But geopolitical and economic events run their course. Yesterday some flake from California lamented Russia's position by writing this shit:
Here is her: Haley Zaremba is a writer and journalist based in Mexico City. She has
extensive experience writing and editing environmental features, travel
pieces, local news in the Bay Area, and music/culture reviews.
You see, she has zero experience in anything except writing on something she has no experience in. Indeed, it is well known fact that energy is so simple, almost like writing about environment and travel. Anyone can become energy "analyst", without attending Masters Degree program in engineering with the focus on power-generation, or Geology faculties with specialization in surveying and resources development. Just like that, I wonder if tomorrow I can start writing about... about...ah, yes, quantum mechanics or cosmology. And why not? Here is another mentally inadequate cretin, who gets excited about Estonia buying some subsonic anti-shipping missiles which will, in his fantasy:
These people ARE NOT exceptions, in their delusions, incompetence, down right cretinism they are representative of the West's "elites" thinking and that is why we observe today a geopolitical FUBAR on unimaginable scale. All of it is systemic and comprehensive. In related news, check out a wide-spread incest and pedophilia of French elites. The latest one (in Russian) and before (also in Russian). The West is sick and the sickness is untreatable, it metastasized into everything from economy, to culture, to morality to even science. Europe is certainly done. The United States? Will the silent majority raise its voice? There are still several seconds to midnight.
