Glad to know there is a new boss in Syria .

Abductions, extra-judicial killings surge in Syria under HTS rule: Report

Ethnic cleansing ? Mass murder ? I thought that Assad was the only bad actor in the country.
(warning graphic )
Scenes of Islamic Rule in the New Syria - Geller Report
That is why we were so quick to drop the bounty on the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS ) terrorist leader .

US drops $10m reward for arrest of Syria’s new leader after Damascus talks | Syria's War News | Al Jazeera

That is not really surprising for someone who has watched Clueless Joe all these years.

The news to me was Ukraine's support with the rebels in Syria.
Syria eyes 'strategic' ties with Ukraine, Kyiv vows more food aid shipments | Reuters

Ukraine has been assisting the terrorist HTS fighters with intelligence and drones(paid for with US monopoly bucks ) .
US announces $5.9 billion in military and budget aid to Ukraine | Reuters

For Ukraine it made sense. They were fighting Russian backed Syria. enemy of my enemy......

But now Assad is in Russia . It appears that Ukraine plans to keep the relationship alive.

In the days before Trump assumes the Presidency ; Zelensky is making a last desperate effort the get NATO troops on the ground in Ukraine .

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I believe that such deployment of partners’ contingents is one of the best instruments. Let’s be more practical in making it possible.”

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Zelensky Calls on NATO Allies to Deploy Troops in Ukraine - Newsweek

There is nothing practical in his idea unless the goal is to plunge us into WWIII .


Trump does not speak diplomateese so he sounds simple . But his take is the more realistic assessment of how we got to where we are .

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A big part of the problem is, Russia - for many, many years, long before Putin - said, 'You could never have NATO involved with Ukraine.' Now, they've said that. That's been, like, written in stone," Trump said.
"And somewhere along the line Biden said, 'No. They should be able to join NATO.' Well, then Russia has somebody right on their doorstep, and I could understand their feelings about that."

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Trump says he sympathizes with Russia's opposition to NATO membership for Ukraine | Reuters

It is the same reason we risked Armageddon when Russia put nukes in Cuba.


The trouble is that Russia was burned once before in negotiations

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former German chancellor Angela Merkel revealed the West's real intention behind its negotiation with Russia and Ukraine to promote a ceasefire in 2014. She admitted the Minsk agreements were an "attempt to give Ukraine time" and that Kiev had used it "to become stronger."

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Real intention behind Minsk agreements further destroys credibility of the West - Global Times

There is still one day left to start WWIII before Trump is inaugurated . NATO apparently is all in . They are holding war games on the Russian border in Latvia

War games escalate as hundreds more NATO troops arrive near Russian border

It also borders Russian ally Belarus and is near the strategic Suwalki Gap between Latvia and Poland ;a short corridor to Russia's Kaliningrad .

What does Russia REALLY want ?

A Putin ally has asserted that a land bridge to Kalinigrad is on Putin's wish list

Putin Ally Warns Russia Needs Land Crossing Through NATO Countries - Newsweek


NATO deploys Norwegian F-35 fighters for 1st time during Russian Jan. 15 attack on Ukraine

F-35 Survives Close Encounter with Russian Jet Over NATO Lake: Video - Newsweek

Nato launches 'Baltic Sentry' mission to protect undersea cables

Sweden to contribute up to 3 warships to reinforced NATO presence in the Baltic | AP News

Japan launches NATO mission in Brussels

Germany will deploy troops in Ukraine to enforce the peace . Ok

Germany plans to send troops to secure Ukraine

The last time Germany entered Ukraine it was a corridor to their invasion of Russia.

Over 10,000 NATO troops are conducting war exercises in Romania .
It is called 'Steadfast Dart ' and it involves troops from 9 NATO nations . Romania is on the Black Sea ;a stone's throw from Crimea . It borders southern Ukraine and the Russian ally Serbia. In other words ; a short hop skip from the front lines . It's goal is to test NATO's new Allied Reaction Force (ARF) with the aim of training them to reinforce NATO troops already deployed in Romania , Greece and Bulgaria. .

NATO so wants WWIII . How badly do they want it ? The Sec General of NATO Mark Rutte wants Trump to continue sending weapons the Ukraine and NATO will pick up the tab.
NATO chief Rutte says Europe will fund US weapons for Ukraine

Putin says that had Trump won in 2020 he may not have invaded Ukraine .

Putin claims ‘Ukraine crisis’ may have been averted if Trump was president | CNN

He is willing to negotiate . Russia is paying a heavy price for the invasion . For Ukraine it has been a generational catastrophe.

You may have read that the NORK troops in Russia defending the tiny strip of land Ukraine gained in their surprise offensive in Kursk
have taken heavy casualties and have pulled out of the fight .

North Korean troops pulled back from frontline after heavy losses, Ukrainian officials say | CNN

Don't be fooled . After 4 months they are regrouping reinforcing .They will come back stronger having gained valuable experience .
Worryingly for the U.S. and its allies backing Kyiv, the estimated 11,000-strong North Korean army contingent has defied high casualties to amass experience in the high-intensity, millennial war that current-generation Western troops lack.....

Motivated, disciplined, well-equipped: North Koreans in Ukraine defy expectations - Washington Times
The South Koreans are more realistic

."With around four months having passed since the deployment of troops to the war between Russia and Ukraine, (North Korea) is assumed to be accelerating preparations for additional measures and deployment amid multiple casualties and occurrence of prisoners," the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said in a written assessment.

N. Korea suspected of preparing for additional troop deployment to Russia: JCS | Yonhap News Agency

The evolution of Trump's Ukraine policy
....This war must end
.....I will end the war in 24 hours

Trump misses his own deadline to end Ukraine war | CNN Politics

.....we will continue funding the war in exchange for rare earth minerals

Trump wants Ukraine's rare earth elements as a condition of further support | AP News

Defense Sec tells some hard truths to the war party . At a meeting of the larger group of allied nations of Ukraine the Ukraine Defense Contact Group(UDCG) he told them that Ukraine returning to pre- invasion borders is unrealistic.
He said instead Trump was going to seek a negotiated settlement to the war.

"We will only end this devastating war and establish a durable peace by coupling allied strength with a realistic assessment of the battlefield."

Besides establishing agreed borders he says :
NATO membership is off the table
"Instead, any security guarantee must be backed by capable European and non-European troops."
He envisions a peace keeping force that will NOT include US troops ;and will NOT be subject to NATO Article 5 terms

The US has choices to make ;and given our need to defend our own borders ;and a growing threat in the Pacific from China "prevent the United States of America from being primarily focused on the security of Europe."

He joined Trump in calling for Euro nations to pony up 5% of their budget to their defense. Although the US is committed to NATO ; America "will no longer tolerate an imbalanced relationship which encourages dependency."

RIGHT ON !

"Rather, our relationship will prioritize empowering Europe to own responsibility for its own security," "Honesty will be our policy going forward."Opening Remarks by Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth at Ukraine Defense Contact Group (As Delivered) > U.S. Department of Defense > Speech

Evidently there has been some pushback against Hegseth's statement about Ukraine Lindsey Graham still insists that NATO membership is still on the table. VP Vance said US troops in Ukraine is still on the table.

In Graham's case ;he it is no secret that he is a member of the war party .
Vance is walking back his comments and claims he was misquoted .

'It doesn't advance American interests' — JD Vance walks back WSJ comments on US troops in Ukraine


Critics claim that by saying it ;Trump loses a negotiation chip

This is Clueless Joe's war . He pushed for NATO membership to Ukraine even though Putin made it plainly clear that was a red line.


Ukraine does NOT meet NATO requirements . It has had a long standing civil war since the US orchestrated the Maidan Revolution and regime change in 2014 . It also doesn't qualify due to corruption that was evident in both regimes.

Further there was talk about Zelinsky and Putin hammering out a deal that would've avoided war. It was Joe and Boris Johnson who sabotaged that deal.

Trump and his administration is only stating out loud what has been obviously true.

One way for Putin to break up NATO would be for him to insist that Ukraine join NATO as a condition for peace. The NATO nations that actually support it are a total of 9 out of 32 members called for membership when Russia invaded

There are at least 7 who openly oppose it.

Nine NATO allies back Ukraine's path to membership - Euractiv

At least 7 countries resisting Ukraine's NATO membership invitation, Politico reports

It takes a unanimous vote .

There is incentive to end the war on both sides .For Ukraine they have squandered a generation to defend land that Ukrainians in the occupied territory are Russian ethnics and preferred the nation when a Russian sympathizer ran it.

For Russia ;they have already achieved any realistic goals . Every day he proves that Russia is no where's near the power they were during the Cold War. All it took was an influx of weapons to stalemate the war into a deadly grind. He had to make an alliance with the NORKS to add meat to the grinder. Worse he had to make nice with China (no real friend of Russia)

The next few years will be defined I believe as a competition for resources. Russia has abundant untapped resources with a sparce population on it's eastern frontier with China. China may see that as easy picking after seeing Russia struggle in Ukraine.

Zelensky said at an "emergency" security conference in Munich that “I truly believe that the time has come to create the armed forces of Europe,”

BINGO !!! Give that man a cigar !!!!

The time when America supported Europe simply because it had always done so is over.”

RIGHT ON!!

NATO Boss Mark Rutte said "that Europe had to show its usefulness if it really wanted to weigh in on negotiations between Russia and the United States to end the war in Ukraine."

“The time has come to create Europe's armed forces” (V.Zelensky)

Yeah ;on Ukraine and a number of other issues. 80 years after the end of WWII it is time to stop suckling.

Combine Vance and Hegseth's addresses to Europe last week ;it should be a wakeup call. The US is telling Europe some brotherly intervention.

Fix your economy (Vance AI speech in Paris where he told them over regulation would leave them behind economically. )

Provide a greater share for your common defense.
(as an example ;the Brits plan to increase their defense spending to 2.3% GDP . Kier Starmer wants 2.5% . The goal should be 5 % )

MEGA Make Europe Great Again.

Why is it that of all the "democracies " in the West ;only the US under Trump and Hungary under Viktor Urban is interested in ending the bloodshed in Ukraine and laments the loss of Ukrainian lives ?

Just a quick rehash. In Bucharest April 2008 NATO met and promised both Georgia and Ukraine that they would eventually become NATO states .

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NATO welcomes Ukraine’s and Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations for membership in NATO. We agreed today that these countries will become members of NATO.

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NATO - Official text: Bucharest Summit Declaration issued by NATO Heads of State and Government (2008), 03-Apr.-2008

Putin called it a red line . NATO had fought a war in the Balkens . During the same conference they invited Balken states into the alliance.

Putin warns Nato over expansion | Vladimir Putin | The Guardian

By August he invaded Georgia and carved out a Russian buffer zone in South Ossetia.

Evita then said out loud what the real goal was. In an interview she said that the goal was to dangle Ukraine as bait for Russia to invade so that the West could supply weapons and Russia would have another Afghanistan like quagmire .
Hilary Clinton Wants To Turn Ukraine Into Afghanistan - YouTube

In other words Ukraine emerging victorious was never the goal . The goal was to prolong the war to damage Russia ;not to defeat them.

But what was our beef with Putin ? For that we have to go back to Bubba's reign. Boris Yeltsin's rise pretty much follows the rise of Bubba. He was President of Russia from 1991 -1999 . In that time was the rise of the corrupt oligarchs . They looted the country and it's resources and laundered it through western banks . Yeltsin was in trouble in 1996 and Bubba came to the rescue.
TIME Exclusive Yanks To The Rescue : TIME Magazine : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

When Putin took charge of the country he began to forge relations with Germany Together they built Nord Stream to bring cheap gas to Europe. This was unacceptible to the US who wants to be Europe's energy source (except for windmills and solar panels )

This lasted through the Gerhard Shroder and Angela Merkel regimes. Olaf Scholz became Chancellor 2021 and Clueless Joe's regime began the same year. Russia began immediately to prepare for war in Ukraine. Putin fell into the Evita trap.

Scott Horton is a libertarian human rights attorney and the author of books on American foreign policy. His new book is a (lengthy ) history of American policy from the collapse of the Soviet Union to the current Ukraine war. His thesis is evident in the title ....'Provoked: How Washington Started the New Cold War with Russia and the Catastrophe in Ukraine' .
Provoked: How Washington Started the New Cold War with Russia and the Catastrophe in Ukraine – The Scott Horton Show
He hits on many of the points I've made in this posting that the policy of expanding NATO to the borders of Russia are the real cause of the war and our current tensions with Russia.

Remember it was Sec State James Baker under GHW Bush who told Gorbachev that NATO would not expand "one inch " into the former Eastern Block if Russia would removed it's troops from East Germany.

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“And then I put the following question to him [Gorbachev]. Would you prefer to see a united Germany outside of NATO, independent and with no U.S. forces or would you prefer a unified Germany to be tied to NATO, with assurances that NATO’s jurisdiction would not shift one inch eastward from its present position? He answered that the Soviet leadership was giving real thought to all such options [….] He then added, ‘Certainly any extension of the zone of NATO would be unacceptable.’” Baker added in parentheses, for Kohl’s benefit, “By implication, NATO in its current zone might be acceptable.”

Well-briefed by the American secretary of state, the West German chancellor understood a key Soviet bottom line, and assured Gorbachev on February 10, 1990: “We believe that NATO should not expand the sphere of its activity.”

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NATO Expansion: What Gorbachev Heard | National Security Archive

That lasted until Bubba's reign . Then the US and NATO demonstrated that they could give a rat's a$$ about border integrity . (see the NATO intervention in the Balkan states where under Bubba we supported the take over of the region by the Muslim population .... and US planes bombing Serbia into submission) and the various "color revolutions " by the emperor supported surreptitiously and openly by the American Intel agencies

Horton's analysis goes into much deeper details . Bottom line is that you can't say that Baker's assurances were not worth the paper they were written on because they made sure their oral assurances never made it onto a formal agreement.
Russia under Yeltsin was in no position to object . But Putin did not forget.

It is sad when you think about it . Had NATO not taken such an aggressive position there could've been a true partnership with them in the GWOT. Russia could've been integrated into the west(as Bubba claimed he wanted ;and had been a long historical desire by Russia. ) Instead we have delivered Russia into an alliance with our biggest strategic and dare I say existential threat (China.)

It is going to take me some time to finish this book (some 1,200 pages +) . But I see where he is going.

This is not new revisionism . Various people including Thomas Friedman ;George Kennan and Owen Harries warned Congress about the course we had taken back in 1998 (I believe I have referenced Kennan previously)

Here was Harries take

Between 1989 and 1991 a political miracle occurred. The Soviet regime, steeped in blood and obsessed with total control as it had been for most of its history, voluntarily gave up its Warsaw Pact empire, collapsed the Soviet system upon itself and then acquiesced in its own demise—all with virtually no violence. This extraordinary sequence of events was in no way inevitable. Had it so chosen, the regime could have resisted the force of change as it had done in previous occasions, thus either extending its life…or going down in a welter of blood and destruction…. A necessary condition [for the peaceful surrender] was an understanding, explicit according to some but in any case implicit, that the West not take strategic and political advantage of what the Soviet Union was allowing to its empire and to itself. Whatever is said now, such a bargain was assumed by both sides, for it was evident to all involved that in its absence—if, that is, the West was intent on exploiting any retreat by Moscow—events would not be allowed to proceed along the liberalizing course they actually took.

Congressional Record, Volume 144 Issue 19 (Tuesday, March 3, 1998)

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It is sad when you think about it . Had NATO not taken such an aggressive position there could've been a true partnership with them in the GWOT. Russia could've been integrated into the west(as Bubba claimed he wanted ;and had been a long historical desire by Russia. ) Instead we have delivered Russia into an alliance with our biggest strategic and dare I say existential threat (China.)

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In 2021, almost 50% of Russia’s exports went to European countries… Yet, by the end of 2023, less than two years after the invasion began on February 24, 2022, the picture was completely transformed. Recently published figures for 2023 show China and India out in front as Russia’s two main export markets, accounting for 32.7% and 16.8% respectively — half the total. In 2021, China accounted for 14.6% of Russian exports whereas India accounted for just 1.56%.
The two countries have swept up the export market share previously taken by European countries. The 2023 figures show European nations accounting for barely 15% of Russian exports, a huge drop from the almost 50% of two years earlier.

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How has Russia's economy dodged Western sanctions? – DW – 02/22/2025

The Russians shifted their markets east and all of Clueless Joe's boasting of crippling Russia's economy failed.
President Biden Archived on X: "As a result of our unprecedented sanctions, the ruble was almost immediately reduced to rubble. The Russian economy is on track to be cut in half. It was ranked the 11th biggest economy in the world before this invasion — and soon, it will not even rank among the top 20." / X

Instead our's and Europe's economy took the hit.

Putin has a counter offer to Trump's demands that Ukraine surrender half of it's rare earths for protection.
He suggests a Russia-US partnership that is worth considering. ( I say that at the risk of being accused of being a Russian agent as the left has resurrected that smear against Trump)

Russia says it’s open to economic cooperation with US on rare earth minerals and energy | CNN

Russia's resources will be developed one way or the other. Either the US wll benefit or China.

From Foreign Affairs magazine

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Russian forces have largely pushed Ukrainian forces out of Kursk oblast—territory in Russia that Ukraine had occupied since August 2024—and are now restarting major offensive operations toward the key Ukrainian towns of Kostiantynivka and Pokrovsk. Although the Ukrainian military is ensuring that Russia loses many soldiers and much equipment in making these territorial gains, the Ukrainians are also struggling to recruit and train enough personnel to avoid ceding territory. Both countries, meanwhile, are exchanging nightly long-range strikes targeting infrastructure and military logistics.

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Bottom line ;the longer that a cease fire and a settlement is delayed ,the worse shape Ukraine will be in it's bargaining position.

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Europe should have seen this coming. Going back to the Obama administration, the United States has been consistent in acknowledging that it views its primary security competitor as China. Washington’s growing interest in the Indo-Pacific has meant that successive U.S. administrations have wanted to deprioritize the U.S. commitment to Europe. For that to happen, the Americans have urged European countries to build up their armed forces to ensure conventional deterrence against Russia—and thereby free up American capacity to pivot to Asia.

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And yet the belief is that it is exclusively Trump who is changing US relations with Europe. The truth is that until now Europe never took it seriously .

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Even the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, while prompting a great deal of tough rhetoric in Europe, did not push governments to make the necessary investments to regenerate their hollow forces. European leaders were reluctant to bear the cost of this process and feared that a large increase in European defense spending would accelerate the United States’ withdrawal from the continent, making the burden for Europeans permanent.

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If you look at what Jeffrey Goldberg released yesterday from the administration's group chat ; you hear that the US patience with Europe is at an end .

Vance said that Europe had more at stake in defending shipping through the Suez Canal than the US .He threw out the option of delaying US strikes to send a message

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.“I think we are making a mistake,” wrote Vance, adding that while only 3% of US trade goes through the Suez canal, 40% of European trade does. “There is a real risk that the public doesn’t understand this or why it’s necessary,” he added. “The strongest reason to do this is, as [Trump] said, to send a message.”..........“I am not sure the president is aware how inconsistent this is with his message on Europe right now,” Vance wrote. “There’s a further risk that we see a moderate to severe spike in oil prices. I am willing to support the consensus of the team and keep these concerns to myself. But there is a strong argument for delaying this a month, doing the messaging work on why this matters, seeing where the economy is, etc.”

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Stunning Signal leak reveals depths of Trump administration’s loathing of Europe | Europe | The Guardian

If it weren't for the obvious mistake of releasing attack plans on an insecure chat ;I would believe the release of this conversation was intentional.

The message should be plainly clear to Europe by now . Take care of yourselves.

A follow up to the point Vance made. Kaja Kallas ;former PM of Estonia is now the defense minister for the EU . She has a wonderful idea. The nations of the EU should pool their resources to help Ukraine.

Her plan is the collect 40 billion Euro ($43billion) by levying a small percent of each nation's income to the cause .

That proposal was met with cricket chirps . Her backup plan 5 billion is going nowhere fast too.

Member states bring Kallas back to earth: Ukraine plan slashed from 40 billion to 5 billion

Italy ;Slovakia ;and France are a no go .

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The countries insisted that contributions to Ukraine remain voluntary, bilateral and not required by Brussels.

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Europe Talks Tough on Military Spending, but Unity Is Fracturing - The New York Times

She wants Europe to take the mantle . But the girlie men of the continent disagree

Kaja Kallas on X: "Ukraine is Europe! We stand by Ukraine. We will step up our support to Ukraine so that they can continue to fight back the agressor. Today, it became clear that the free world needs a new leader. It’s up to us, Europeans, to take this challenge." / X


Here is the plan they will adopt . Talk tough and wait out Trump's term in the hope that a Dem wins in 2028

So Europe won't defend their sea lanes . They won't collectively defend their continent without US providing the bulk of the security and $$$$$$$$$$$$. And the US no longer has the means to take up the mantle.

What we need then is an incident to drag the US kicking and screaming back to save civilization again ,
Lithuania missing US soldiers search mission facing treacherous conditions: Army

So Europe won't defend their sea lanes . They won't collectively defend their continent without US providing the bulk of the security and $$$$$$$$$$$$. And the US no longer has the means to take up the mantle.

What we need then is an incident to drag the US kicking and screaming back to save civilization again ,
Lithuania missing US soldiers search mission facing treacherous conditions: Army

Macron wants to commit a "reassurance force " to Ukraine if a cease fire deal is made. But not all Euro nations are on board
Europeans Vow to Stand by Ukraine, but Disagree Over Force Proposal - The New York Times

What would Europe need to go it alone ?

Start by actually spending on defense to the levels agreed to by NATO.
They need to add a minimum of a 300,000 military and greatly expand their weaponry . They need to greatly expand their nuclear weapon capability .

Macron and Starmer may be on board. The rest ? Not so much Mostly they talk a good game.

Some 40 nations are in some form of violent conflict around the world.

Countries Currently at War / Countries at War 2025

Others like the US and China feed the grist to the mill. The world is one Franz Ferdinand assassination like spark away .

Blast in one of Vladimir Putin's official limousines triggers fresh assassination concerns - The Economic Times

Part of an article I read this morning. It makes Trump sound a great deal more sensible.

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Yet the West, including Australia, fully expect to rely on the USA for our very survival.

If the world turns bad (which will happen - only a question of time), then the whole West, without America, is toast.

So, you may ask - if we're not very aligned ideologically, then it must be that we bring something to the party militarily?

Well, no... actually... we don't matter that much militarily.

The USA has about 470 ships in its navy, including 11 aircraft carriers, 69 submarines, 75 destroyers... plus 110 new ships in the pipeline.

Australia has about 30, including 3 destroyers, 7 frigates and 7 outdated submarines. The UK does a little better, with about 60.

Meanwhile, the US has over 14,000 military aircraft. A staggering number.

Australia has 252 military aircraft. The UK has 556.

The US army has just shy of 1,000,000 uniformed personnel in its military. Australia has about 45,000.

The USA spends 3.4% ($968 billion) of its GDP on defence. Australia spends 2% ($36.4 billion). The US spends as much as the next 15 largest military-spending countries (including China) combined.

The USA has a fighting culture. The men shoot things (a lot) and hunt things, the veterans get favoured in everything from parking spots to boarding planes. A uniformed young man is thanked in the street a dozen times a day.

"Oh, the Americans and their guns!" we say, in our smug way. Yes, they have a warrior culture. We do not. We don't have to, because we're a leech on theirs.

How many young British men are willing to fight for their country? Now ask the same regarding young American men. The difference is about as wide as it could be.

Militarily, we don't offer squat.

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The Times article made it clear that we supply the weapons , suggest targets and supply the satellite targeting . The weapons we give Ukraine can't work otherwise The only thing we don't do is push the button and bring back the body bags.

Clueless Joe and NATO decided that they could give enough to Ukraine to not lose so that Russia could slow bleed . Every bomb that drops in Russia has a 'Made in the USA ' or ' Made in the EU 'stamp.

Germany is all in now even though they could not keep 20 jets in the air at the same time. Maybe they want Putin to die of laughter . They are going to deploy on Russia's border which must really thrill Moscow . How many Russians died defending the motherland the last time the Germans were on the Russian border ?

I would hate to be a soldier on either side fighting the Ukraine war. They are the avatar in a blood thirsty video game played by drone operators . Soldiers that once dreaded the artillery round now see them as their safest bet . What really scares them is the hand held Radio Shack like toy that can drop precision strikes on their heads .

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Drones, not the big, heavy artillery that the war was once known for, inflict about 70 percent of all Russian and Ukrainian casualties, said Roman Kostenko, the chairman of the defense and intelligence committee in Ukraine’s Parliament. In some battles, they cause even more — up to 80 percent of deaths and injuries, commanders say.

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Drones Now Rule the Battlefield in the Ukraine-Russia War - The New York Times

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The trenches that cut scars across hundreds of miles of the front are still essential for defense, but today most soldiers die or lose limbs to remote-controlled aircraft rigged with explosives, many of them lightly modified hobby models. Drone pilots, in the safety of bunkers or hidden positions in tree lines, attack with joysticks and video screens, often miles from the fighting.
Speeding cars or trucks no longer provide protection from faster-flying drones. Soldiers hike for miles, ducking into cover, through drone-infested territory too dangerous for jeeps, armored personnel carriers or tanks. Soldiers say it has become strangely personal, as buzzing robots hunt specific cars or even individual soldiers.
It is, they say, a feeling of a thousand snipers in the sky.

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Reminder ; the Spanish Civil War was the laboratory and testing ground for weapons and tactics used in WWII

India and Pakistan are on the verge of a major war. This comes a week after terrorists attacked Indian tourists in Kashmir killing 26

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Gunmen opened fire on sightseers in a popular travel destination in the mountainous destination of Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir.At least 25 Indian citizens and one Nepali national were killed in the massacre, which unfolded in a valley only accessible by foot or on horseback.Eyewitnesses described scenes of horror as the gunmen approached, opening fire on tourists from close range.

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What happened in Pahalgam and why is the attack escalating India-Pakistan tensions? | CNN

Since then there have been reprisals against Muslim Kashmiris by India citizens . India accuses Pakistan of supporting terrorists activities in Kashmir . One report claims the assailants were on loan from the Pakistan Army.

India is conducting anti-terrorists operations. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged to pursue the attackers to “the ends of the earth” and said that those who planned and carried it out “will be punished beyond their imagination”.

Now Pakistan says it has credible evidence that India will attack.



Pakistan claims 'credible intelligence' India is planning an imminent military strike

The Houthis launched a drone attack on Carrier USS Truman. While making a hard turn to evade the drones an FA18 Hornet jet slid off the deck into the sea.

Enough of this . Make Iran pay for any Houthis attack going forward.

(1) Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on X: "Message to IRAN: We see your LETHAL support to The Houthis. We know exactly what you are doing. You know very well what the U.S. Military is capable of — and you were warned. You will pay the CONSEQUENCE at the time and place of our choosing." / X

The India -Pakistan war is on .

Live updates: India, Pakistan on brink of war, India attack in wake of Kashmir massacre | CNN
Both nations have at least 170 nukes each . 300 nukes detonated would bring on a nuclear winter that would end most human life on Earth.

India is using water as a weapon . They have opened gates of the Salal Dam on the Chenab River ;threatening to flood Pakistan agricultural land down river at a time during sowing season.
Operation Sindoor: How India Can Use Its 'Water Weapon' in J&K Against Pakistan | Times Now

It is hard to decipher various and conflicting claims made by India and Pakistan. But apparently both sides are getting top of the line jets being downed in the fight. These include both Paki US made F16s and Indian French-made Rafale and Mirage jets

The Pakis have used Chinese made radar guided PL15 air to air missiles .

There is a cease fire in place that it appears VP Vance brokered with the help of Sec State Rubio .

So far it is sorta holding as both sides accuse the other of violations .

This brief war has given us a glimpse of peer powers duking it out for air superiority using some of the best air combat weapons available.

Alarming is that Chinese made jets and air to air missiles have done well .

One U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was high confidence that Pakistan had used the Chinese-made J-10 aircraft to launch air-to-air missiles against Indian fighter jets - bringing down at least two.
Another official said at least one Indian jet that was shot down was a French-made Rafale fighter aircraft.
Both officials said Pakistan's F-16 aircraft, made by Lockheed Martin were not used in the shootdown.

Exclusive: Pakistan's Chinese-made jet brought down two Indian fighter aircraft, US officials say | Reuters

Military experts get the chance to evaluate the performance and plan for future combat against the weapons especially the Chinese PL15 missile that appears to have beyond visual range .

Dassault ;the maker of the Rafale is seeing it's stock drop with every downed jet.
Dassault shares drop after reports of Pakistan shooting down India's Rafale jets

China gave Pakistan targeting support against India

From Space with Malice: China’s Satellites Tipped the Balance in India-Pakistan War

In this hour IAEA has found that Iran is in violation of it's non-proliferations.
IAEA Board Declares Iran in Breach of Non-Proliferation Obligations

This comes after President Trump announced that non-essential personnel will be evacuated from US embassies and missions in the Middle East.
U.S. Evacuates Personnel From Middle East Amid Tensions With Iran | TIME

He anticipates that Israel is going to take imminent action against the Iran enrichment efforts .

Israel is poised to launch operation on Iran, multiple sources tell CBS News - CBS News

Israel is doing the hard work the US should've been doing since 1979. They have been at war with us since then and countless numbers of American casualties have resulted in our pin prick response to their attacks .

Israel has some specific goals in this war. Although regime change would be the ideal ;what is not acceptable is their regime having nuclear weapons. They have made it clear that their goal is the destruction of Israel.

They are not rational actors . The idea of deterrence or mutual assured destruction is not on the table. .
The longer the campaign takes ;the more loss of lives on both sides and a greater chance Iran achieves it's nuclear ambitions.

Israel has damaged and degraded some of their most important sites .The one that Israel will have difficulty taking down is their most important one.
Their Fordow facility is buried deep under a mountain The enriched uranium there is believed to be enough to produce several bombs. This is the cite they tried to hide from the IAEA . It is also locate near the "holy " city of Qom. Their Quds forces are stationed there and they have installed S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems around the plant.

Israeli attacks so far have taken out some surface structures . But they don't have the means to penetrate deep into the mountain to take out the nukes. They have neither the bunker buster /MOAB type weapons or the heavy bombers to deliver them.

In Ukraine we deliver weapons to delay the war. In this war US weapons could deliver the blows necessary to end it.

Trump like previous Presidents believes that negotiations could be the way to end it. He thinks the conflict will force Iran to the table. But that just serves their end.
They cancelled talks with the US and that is probably why Israel got the green light to attack. But negotiations serve their purpose. Forcing them to the table just delays their goals .It does not end them.

I would prefer regime change . But short of that they need to be made aware that they will never have nuclear weapons to use against any of their enemies.

....and at some point we have to make it clear they can't send assassins into the US to kill politicians they don't like . They can't attack US ships over 300 times as their proxies the Houthis did . They can't partner with the Chinese to attack us .
Attacks on US bases during the Gaza war - Wikipedia

You don't get to kill our troops on the ground or on the seas .
There are thousands of US troops that they killed . They built the IEDs and EFPs that their proxies used to kill and maim US troops in Iraq.

How Many US Troops Were Killed By Iranian IEDs in Iraq? - Defense One

Their proxies have targeted US bases with impunity . (170 since the October 7 sneak attack on Israel)

Attacks on US bases during the Gaza war - Wikipedia


And this was just a recent accounting . The Iran war against the US is ongoing. We just won't admit it . Even Trump speaks of a negotiated end to their nuke program when it should be clear that they violated every deal they have ever made .

Trump told Iran to unconditionally surrender without really defining what he thinks unconditional surrender means . It appears after his National Security meeting that he in on board with the US officially participating in the Iran Israel war.

A so called Presidential 'doomsday jet was flown into DC . It was last used by GWBush during the 9-11 attacks .
US E-4B 'doomsday plane' makes unexpected flight to DC as Trump weighs Iran strike

Speculation is that he will authorize B2 bomber flights to drop heavy bunker buster MOAB bombs on Iran's Fordow nuclear site ;which is buried deep in the mountains near the Iran "holy city " of Qom. The Israeli air force has been doing the prep the battlefield attacks bombing transmission lines and the road from Qom to Tehran. They have also bombed the heavy water reactor at Aarak .

The final attack on the facility would be the bunker busters . A series of precision strikes could burrow deep into the mountain and destroy the plant .

This 30,000-lb U.S. Bomb Can Destroy Iran’s Deepest Nuclear Bunkers | WSJ Equipped

After that we had better be prepared to go all in because Iran will . US forces are stationed in the region . US ships still sail the seas around Yemen and the Gulf of Arabia . Presumably there are more sleeper cells who walked across our open borders.
Iran ordered an operative to assassinate Trump before the election, federal prosecutors say - POLITICO

And of course China has become dependent on Iranian oil which they get at huge discounts as Iran willingly sold it to bypass sanctions.

Last week there were mysterious flights from China to Iran with planes that are capable of transporting heavy weapons .

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On Saturday, a 747 airfreighter took off from China. Sunday another one took off. On Monday, a third one took off from Shanghai. The planes flew westward over Northern China, then south to Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, then disappearing from radar as they neared Iran.
The flight plans showed Luxembourg as the destination. The USA has the C-17 and the huge C-5A to transport military assets. Other countries use the 747 airfreighters to do the same. So the guessing game is on as to what was on those planes. My guess would be electronics and missile parts.

The 747 cargo planes used were from Cargolux, based in Luxembourg. Cargolux did not respond to questions about what those planes flying out of China were carrying.

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Mystery flights of Chinese 747 airfreighters to Iran and more

How far will China intervene ? They have already provided targeting to the Houthis which cost us naval assets as the Houthis attacked the US Navy at least 174 times .

US says Chinese satellite firm is supporting Houthi attacks on US interests | Reuters

Trump Administration’s Actions Made Houthi Terrorists Pay – The White House

What level of support will they give ? It is in China's interest to have the US distracted in a forever war with Iran ;and it is in their interest to keep the oil flowing . And Trump is just not interested in getting into a forever war

Trump focused on avoiding wider conflict as he nears decision on US strikes in Iran, sources say

Victor Davis Hanson on X: "Misunderstanding Trump? Many are now demanding that Trump act abroad in the way they think he had promised and campaigned–which can be mostly defined as how closely he should parallel their own version of MAGA. But Trump’s past shows that he never claimed that he was either an" / X

So while Trump is focused on Iran ;he needs to make one of those 'art of the deal ' agreements with China. My guess it won't be Tim Walz's idiotic plan to have China be an honest broker in the negotiations. You know "moral authority " and all that rubbish .
SHOCK COMMENT: Tim Walz Suggests China May Have 'Moral Authority' To Resolve Israel-Iran Conflict

Untold is that Iran has an ally in Pakistan ;and Israel has one in India. One of the biggest mistakes India made was to not eliminate the threat of Pakistan becoming a nuclear power. That has plagued them ever since. They have fought a series of major and minor conflicts ever since .India could easily defeat them but for the nuclear threat.

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In the early 1980s, Israel offered India a plan to bomb Pakistan’s fast-developing nuclear site at Kahuta. Motivated by concerns about an “Islamic bomb” and its implications for West Asia, the proposed operation would have mirrored Israel’s 1981 strike on Iraq’s Osirak reactor.

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1979–1983: When Israel was ready to help India denuclearise Pakistan but the plan was called off - The Economic Times

That was a blunder . Pakistan is without a doubt assisting Iran in their nuke goals.

Who do you trust ? Can Trump drop the MOAB bombs on Iran without Congressional authority ? Yes That has been established many times . Should he advise Congress and get their approval ? In an ideal Constitutional world that would be yes . The Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war. Congress abdicated that power a long time ago . The last time Congress declared war was over 80 years ago . Clearly US troops have been engaged often since then.

Here is the problem . If he lays out his plans to Congress ;who will be the blabber mouth to leak it to the press ? It could get interesting however . MAGA is clearly split on the issue.
Trump's decision on Iran splits MAGA world | AP News

There are enough anti-war Repubs in Congress that if they joined with the Dems they could pass a resolution to prevent Trump from attacking .That is if he doesn't veto or straight out ignore it . Once the bombs drop you can't take them back

Yesterday there was a mostly peaceful protest at 3 Iran nuke facilities .

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