Kay Bailey Hutchison Has Issues.

She is not very bright and not for once was noted to speak on issues of which she has zero understanding, including suggestions to bomb Russia into oblivion. They really do grow (some of them) dumb in Texas. She is a raging Russophobe, American exceptionalist and she is the US ambassador to NATO. Her latest? Let's start WW III. 

NATO earlier announced plans to take steps to ensure Ukrainian vessels’ safe passage through the Kerch Strait and expand the scope of aerial reconnaissance in the Black Sea region. A statement to this effect was made by US Ambassador to NATO Kay Bailey Hutchison. She told reporters at a press briefing on Tuesday that NATO foreign ministers were expected to endorse that package of measures at a two-day meeting in the US, which is beginning on Wednesday.

This is a very good demonstration of my theorem that lawyers do not make good military thinkers or leaders. In this sense she is no better than other "strategist" Dr. Blank who really needs some basic course in navigation and naval geography, which may provide some basic understanding of what Black and Azov Seas really are in a larger scheme of things, including, apart from overwhelming missile salvo Russia can provide against any combination of surface targets, such teeny-weeny problem for NATO as these seas being part of Russia's Southern Military District which, accidentally, has those wicked MiG-31Ks armed with hyper-sonic Kinzhals on combat station precisely around Black and Azov seas. If Hutchison wants to start World War Three, she may as well start it with a major Kaboom, or...just hear me out...why doesn't she ask for a personal participation, preferably on board of NATO's flag ship, and be there in person when "ensuring safe passage" for Ukrainian vessels. I think her wish will gladly be granted by NATO's naval group sent to Kerch Strait to teach those arrogant Russkies. 

But we have been through this before--appointing ignorant and unprofessional people to important public positions is a fine tradition of American governance especially in XXI century, especially when talking about any diplomatic positions which are occupied by people with zero skills. Oh, come on, look at Michael McFaul, an alleged Russian "scholar" or at a general "level" of US Department of State. But Hutchison is just a symptom of a serious illness which afflicted American politics which can not produce anymore anyone other than aggressive ignoramuses who may, at some point of time, help to unleash hell. The only upside of that will be that together with us, deplorables, those jerks will vanish too. In fact, they might be first to do so.

No Comments, Just Shaking Head.

Why the modern West is done? 

Cecile Eledge is a 61-year-old mother of three who has been health conscious her entire life, from being "very conscientious" about her diet to staying active. Last Monday, March 25, Eledge "reaped the rewards" of that healthy lifestyle when she gave birth to her own granddaughter, a healthy 5-pound baby girl named Uma. "She must have been the reason for doing it," Eledge told "Good Morning America." Uma is the daughter of Eledge's son, Matthew Eledge, 32, and his husband, Elliot Dougherty, 29. Her birth, first reported by Buzzfeed, is a feat of modern medicine but also one of love and an abundance of powerful women, the family says.

Liberalism is a mental illness and we are just beginning to see a full scale of a decline. 

I Don't Think So.

US halts deliveries of F-35 "equipment" to Turkey over S-400 contract. This is how F-35 soap saga is justified:

The United States and other NATO allies (fear) that own F-35s fear the radar on the Russian S-400 missile system will learn how to spot and track the jet, making it less able to evade Russian weapons in the future.In an attempt to persuade Turkey to drop its plans to buy the S-400, the United States offered the pricier American-made Patriot anti-missile system in a discounted deal that expired at the end of March. Turkey has shown interest in the Patriot system, but not at the expense of abandoning the S-400.

There is one problem, actually two, with this "justification". I'll start with a lesser one.

1. Patriot is not a peer to S-400. Nothing personal, but US AD systems are not "quite there" despite massive propaganda campaigns extolling their combat virtues. Turkey knows this. Turks have a good idea about how its own Air Force was grounded after shooting down Russian SU-24 in November 2015, and who and what actually provided targeting to Syrian AD on April 13, 2018 against Trump's "very smart missiles". Plus, in general, Russian record in this field speaks for itself.   

2. The most laughable in all that, however, is the fact that people still use this beaten to death argument about Turkey magically learning about how to shoot down allegedly super-pooper-duper invisible F-35 and then, of course, giving desperate Russians this information. Well, I have some news for those people who still reside in this bubble--to shoot down F-35 one has to have two different bands radar, good sensor-fusion algorithms and decent signal processing protocols and voila'. S-300 PMU2 Favorit can do this, certainly S-400, and its inevitably coming iterations for which there is literally a line of customers, can. In general, this whole BS about "stealth" should end at some point of time--it was a good propaganda while it lasted. Reality is, with modern processing power and radar design F-35 is not survivable against modern cutting edge air-defense and air-forces. 

I can totally understand the irritation Washington feels about this whole situation, after all Turkey is a key NATO member with actual army, and seeing NATO member going for such a weapon systems from Washington's prime time arch enemy--this is a no-no. But then comes this question: so, the United States will stop (will it?) F-35 and associated technology deliveries to Turkey, then what? Do we really want to open this can of worms? Turks are not idiots, by far--they can calculate and while Erdo might still do rapid 180 degrees maneuver, he also can not fail to consider the fact that instead of F-35 Turkey may get her hands on, say, some decent version of SU-35. Possible? Possible! How probable? I don't know. But Obama should have thought twice when unleashing, or pretending that he didn't know,  a coup against Erdogan in 2016. Or, for that matter, a bloody overthrow of government in Ukraine in 2014. But current American elites have no concept of own actions having consequences.

Meanwhile India also signed $5 billion contact for S-400, also against the background of Washington's pressure not to buy things from those pesky Russians. But behind all those maneuvers one fact remains unchanged and I was writing about this for years--Russian weapons systems are created to kill and do that very effectively. Unlike American military-industrial complex Russian military-industrial complex is not jobs program or corporate welfare system, it never was.  Allow me to quote myself:

For a nation with such a military history as Russia’s the issue of military technology is an issue of survival. As such, weapons in Russia are sacralized because behind them are generations of Russians who shed blood to make those weapons what they are. They have become a part of the culture to such a degree that commercial considerations take a very distant second place to a main purpose of these weapons—to actually defend the nation. This is absolutely not the case in the United States, with some exception for its Navy, with Americans having no knowledge or recollection of what real war is and what instruments for fighting and winning it are needed. Those things cannot be paid for in money, they are paid for in blood.

I guess this should help explain why Russia is so successful on the international market with her weapons. They are simply good, in fact, the best and people know that.

Vladivostok Just Being... Vladivostok.

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

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

 

Daniel Depetris Has No Clue.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

A Very Interesting Moment With Brahmos.

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

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

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

For Monroe Doctrine Junkies.

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

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

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

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

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

So when chicken hawk Bolton proclaims with pathos that:

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

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

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

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

Russia's Gold Reserves:

China's Gold Reserves:

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

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

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