Day: March 28, 2014

IST Op-Ed: A “New” Cold War?

Opinion From Editor’s Desk

This week seems to be all about the international situation………and I for one love it!

Since Russia has moved into the Crimea there have been many that are calling this the start of a “New Cold War”….most of it coming from the hawks in Congress but that really does not matter who is calling a spade a spade……this is NOTHING but political role playing……by disingenuous people with an agenda…..

There is NO new Cold War…..the Cold War did not end with the fall of the Soviet Union…..the players just changed somewhat…..instead of the socialist republics it was China and North Korea and Iran (thanx to the Iraqi invasion)……all the aspects that made it the Cold War were still being employed….spies, tech theft, territory disputes and actions….placing missiles and such on borders……..all the same things……..not gone and not forgotten!

But today our beloved hawks are drumming up the M-IC into a frenzy…….

Russia’s annexation of Crimea shows the need to “build up missile defenses and modernize the US nuclear force,” James S. Robbins, a senior fellow for national security affairs for the American Foreign Policy Council, wrote last week in USA Today. “To live in the 21st century, the United States will need to relearn the lessons of the 20th.”

There is so much more from the Hawks…….

The Lexington Institute’s Thompson argues that Russia is now “on the march” and may invade other Baltic states. “If we have to take conventional military action in the Baltic or Black Sea, we could see an escalation to the nuclear level,” he told me, “and therefore we need to have weapons that are flexible and survivable”—that’s military-speak meaning we would have time to launch a counterattack before being obliterated. In practice, it would mean a new generation of submarine-based nukes, which can’t be taken out in a first-wave attack.

The M-IC is drooling at the thought of a revved up defense spending…….will not cease any hostilities but it will be good for the industry….only!  They can smell profits!

With the Pentagon due for some substantial cuts to its budget….all this is to keep that cash and maybe add to the total….but then the question needs to be asked…..”who will pay for the increased defense spending”?

Anybody want to venture a guess?

Who is going to win this debate?  Will we jump into making the “New Cold War” even hotter?  Will calmer heads prevail?

So many questions and so many vultures circling……….

Is Moldova In The Crosshairs?

Inkwell Institute

Eurasian Desk

Moldova?  Kinda sounds like a planet in the Gnarn system, right?

Actually it is a small nation sandwiched between Ukraine and Romania…..during the old USSR days it was a small socialist republic within the Soviet Union of nations…….since the break-up of the USSR it has been a free nation……and there is still a strong communist party within the country…..but it has been a republic since 1990……

Why would anyone be interested i what happens in Moldova?

Good question…..there have been several reports that Putin’s Russia may be eyeing Moldova for the next exercise in his growing power…….

 

NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Philip Breedlove, following the lead of NATO’s political brass in hyping the Russian “threat” to Europe, has warned Russia’s deployment along its border with Ukraine could mean a plan to attack Moldova.

That’s his theory, though over 500 miles of Ukrainian territory lies between the Russian border and Moldova’s breakaway region of Transnistria, so the deployments aren’t exactly within striking distance.

Breedlove urged a major military redeployment with an eye on defending Eastern Europe, and Moldova in particular, from a full scale Russian invasion, noting “you cannot defend against that if you are not there to defend against it.”

Transnistria is a narrow strip that hugs the Dniester River, and seceded from Moldova in 1992, though its secession is not generally recognized by NATO member nations. The region’s population is split roughly in thirds by ethnic Moldovans, Ukrainians, and Russians.

The Russian military retains a 1,200-man military presence in Transnistria, which Moldova claims is an “illegal occupation,” since they don’t recognize Transnistria’s independence and seek to re-annex them.

NATO officials are trying to draw a parallel between Transnistria and Crimea, though as a region with little strategic value which Russia is protecting from re-annexation, it seems to have more in common with South Ossetia, which Georgia continues to claim as its own territory.

We need to keep an eye on the prize here……Putin has gotten to where he is today because the West underestimated his intentions……

Americans are supremely ignorant on international situations only when it hits the front page do they offer an opinion………we are reacting not acting……..and that is a terrible foreign policy……….enough said?

Some Successes In Syria

It is time for the world to move on……..the missing plane went down in the Indian Ocean with all hands on board……they are presumed dead…..now stop letting the vultures that pretend to be experts hawk their perspective trades….their ‘analysis’ is nothing but a promo of their services……..time to let the families deal with their losses……media…MOVE ON!

The shameful attempts of the media to protect Boeing makes me feel dirty………..Let me slip into something more comfortable…..international situations…………

Crimea…..Ukraine…….Russia…….and all those interesting places in the world…….but while you were on Google maps checking out the Indian Ocean……more has been going on Syria.

Yes, their CWs are being destroyed as we speak…….refugees are still suffering……and the civil war rages on.  The US and its allies have been pumping assets into the region with the hope of ousting Assad….so how are we doing so far?

As the title implies….there have been successes in Syria….unfortunately they are not related to the US in any way…………SAY WHAT?

Syrian forces, backed by Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, are in full control of Yabroud after clearing out rebels holed up in the strategic Syrian town for months, Syrian state media and opposition activists have reported.

Capturing Yabroud, the last major rebel bastion near the Lebanese border north of Damascus, will help President Bashar al-Assad secure the land route linking his Mediterranean coastal stronghold with the capital Damascus, and choke off a cross-border rebel supply line from Lebanon.

“The Syrian army is now in full control of the town of Yabroud in Damascus [province] and are now combing through the city and dismantling the roadside bombs planted by terrorists,”

Not too bad right?  The Syrian army is just cleaning out around the capital, right?

Syrian soldiers have raised the national flag on the battlements of a 900-year-old Crusader castle after a three-month siege that ended on Thursday when rebel fighters fled.

The recapture of Crac des Chevaliers, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is a real and symbolic victory over divided rebel factions.

The army has also wrested back control of most of al-Hosn, the town below the hilltop castle, which was surrounded by Syrian troops for weeks until many rebels moved out on Thursday morning and the army moved in, according to residents.

“The Syrian Arab Army raised the national flag on al-Hosn Castle in Homs province after eliminating the terrorists holed up in it,” Syrian state television said.

The Syrian army is having more and more successes…..how can that be?  The US and the West are pumping aid into the region…..what is becoming of all this aid and why is it not helping?

My answer is an easy one….too many factions feeding on the aid cake……..there is not a central command to coordinate campaigns against Assad’s forces….too many groups with a personal agenda….Syria is beginning to look a lot like the Balkans in WW2……….as long as the opposition is fighting each other then Assad forces will have more and more successes and the US aid will be squandered away…..and in the end….Assad will survive.