Tag: Revolt

1949–Revolt Of The Admirals

Yep that time again…..an IST history lesson…..I try to find cool stuff for my readers to help them become more informed and hopefully entertained…..

There were coups waiting to happen….Aaron Burr comes to mind and then in 1933 and those that did not appreciate the policies of FDR…..in this case it is the grandfather of Bush, Prescott Bush…..

https://lobotero.com/2018/11/15/lets-go-to-1933/

World War Two has been won….now the country is trying to downsize from the massive war machine that is still around……1949 a step was taken that kinda pissed off a bunch of admirals……

The spark that set off the Revolt of the Admirals in 1949 was the cancellation of the Navy’s supercarrier, the CVA-58 United States, within a few days of the laying of the keel.

The situation was already primed to ignite. The Navy in the postwar period had become apprehensive, then alarmed, about the impending unification of the services under a single Department of Defense. The rise of the Air Force was a challenge to naval aviation.

No foreign nation posed a threat to the United States at sea. With its traditional role thus diminished in importance, the Navy feared that it might be relegated to minor functions.

The nation’s strategic focus was on atomic weapons, which were in the domain of the Air Force. At the Key West conference in 1948, the mission of strategic air warfare had been assigned to the Air Force. The Navy was determined to roll back that decision and gain at least part of the atomic mission.

To do so, it needed a “supercarrier” that could launch large bombers. It also had to discredit the Air Force’s B-36 bomber, which was performing the mission the Navy wanted. Cancellation of the CVA-58 in April 1949 sent the Navy to battle stations.

http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2018/July%202018/The-Revolt-of-the-Admirals.aspx

Now let’s take a look at the situation and the events that followed……

In the summer and fall of 1949, hearings of the House Armed Services Committee crackled with tension as U.S. Navy admirals went before Congress to defy their civilian leadership. America and its allies stood transfixed as a parade of famous admirals demonstrated fierce opposition to service unification, displayed hostility and contempt for the civilian leaders of the Defense Department, and condemned cuts made to the Navy budget. Unsettling headlines such as “The Navy Boils Over” and “Bradley Accuses Admirals of Open Rebellion” drifted through the nation’s newspapers for weeks.[1] Known as The Revolt of the Admirals, this episode has been described as “the most flagrant challenge ever hurled by top-ranking American military men at the civilian leadership of the United States.”

https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2018/12/12/i_am_the_monarch_of_the_sea_114023.html

There you go……a bit of history that is not taught and is seldom remembered……and then the old professor came along……

Learn Stuff!

Class Dismissed!

Do We Care About The Ukraine?

For over a month the Ukraine has been butt deep in revolt……the media called it a protest…..but if you would have checked the situation then you to would call it a revolt.  But the question before us is…..do we really care what happens in the Ukraine?

The best answer is…..NO!  Most Americans could care less.

The events that have been turning in Ukraine are working a a fevered pace……the government of the country broke with the EU in favor a closer relationship with Russia and all Hell broke lose…..and after a couple of weeks of violence a ceasefire (if you will) was signed and then the country went into overdrive…….

It’s a day of fast-moving developments in Ukraine: The parliament voted to oust President Viktor Yanukovich, while he fled Kiev but vowed to stay in office. Meanwhile, his main political rival has been freed from prison after two years, declaring that “a dictatorship has fallen.” It’s a jumbled mess, but one thing that’s clear is that yesterday’s concessions by the government won’t be enough to appease protesters:

  • Parliament boots Yanukovich: Lawmakers voted to remove him from office and set new elections for May 25, reports the New York Times. His spokesperson rejected the vote.
  • Yanukovich vows to stay: In a recorded TV interview, Yanukovich declared that he will not leave office, reports the BBC. The president, who has fled Kiev but whose whereabouts are unknown, denounced what’s happening in the capital as “vandalism, banditry, and a coup.”
  • Tymoshenko free: Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has been freed from prison after two years, reports AP. Earlier, parliament elected one of her allies as the new speaker.
  • Protesters defiant: They seized control of the presidential headquarters in Kiev after factions rejected yesterday’s deal because it left Yanukovich in power. “We will guard the building until the next president comes,” one commander tells Reuters. “Yanukovich will never be back.”

All that was the day after an agreement was reached between the government and the opposition…….and then this……

Ukrainian opposition icon and former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko arrived today at a Kiev protest camp after being released from a hospital where she was incarcerated. “You are heroes, you are the best thing in Ukraine!” she said of those killed in the violence, looking tired and speaking from a wheelchair as she addressed a euphoric crowd of thousands. The BBC reports that she didn’t favor amnesty for her political opponents, saying, “We simply cannot afford to pardon those who were allowed to send bullets into the hearts of our young men.” She promised to let the public know what is happening “back stage” in the “big theater” of politics, and said she would run for the presidency in May. But some who support regime change were less than enthusiastic, seeing her as a face from the past with her own political baggage, NBC News reports. “She was a part of the system, and that’s why maybe a fresh face and a fresh person would be a better choice than someone who was already there,” said a woman in the crowd. Meanwhile, the far-right Ukrainian opposition group Right Sector vowed to keep protesting Yanukovych’s ouster, Reuters reports. “The Right Sector will not disperse,” the group said. “Now we must be more united than before.” Click for more on what’s happening in the Ukraine.

As of yesterday, Sunday, 23Feb, the worm has turned yet again…….

The whereabouts and legitimacy of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych are still unclear today, after he left the capital and archrival Yulia Tymoshenko was freed from prison and returned to Kiev to address a massive, adoring crowd. Ukraine’s newly emboldened legislature voted today to hand the president’s powers to parliament speaker Oleksandr Turchinov, a Tymoshenko ally. Turchinov in turn informed MPs that they had until Tuesday to form a unity government, notes the BBC, telling them “this is a priority task.” Parliament also voted to remove a string of government ministers, as well as confiscate the luxury estate of Yanukovych (the New York Times takes a look inside, which includes a golf course, private zoo, and restaurant inside a pirate ship). But Yanukovych has dismissed parliament decisions in recent days as illegal. A plane with Yanukovych onboard was denied permission to take off last night from Donetsk, a city in eastern Ukraine that is his base of support. A spokesman said this morning that even he does not know where Yanukovych is. The Kiev protest camp at the center of the anti-Yanukovych movement filled with more and more dedicated demonstrators this morning setting up new tents after a day that saw a stunning reversal of fortune in a political standoff that has left scores dead. “We need to catch and punish those with blood on their hands,” said a 45-year-old engineer on Independence Square today.

Right on cue…..as usual…….McCain had to spout his brand of foreign policy……..lip service……….

John McCain had some stern words for Vladimir Putin today, saying that it was clear that the people of Ukraine “want to be Western” and not “Eastern,” and that the protests there ought to make the Russian strongman, an ally of Viktor Yanukovych, more than a little uneasy about his own leadership in Russia. “If I were Vladimir Putin, I would be little bit nervous.” He cautioned that splitting Ukraine along Eastern-Western ideological lines was “totally unacceptable,” reports Politico. National security adviser Susan Rice chimed right in, per the AP, warning Putin that getting involved “would be a grave mistake. It’s not in the interest of Ukraine or of Russia or of Europe or the United States to see the country split.”

Just like when Russia invade Georgia several years ago….McCain was quick to condemn such action saying that countries do not invade other countries in the 21st century…..he forgot about Iraq I guess…..we could write it off on old age ……….

Okay the violence is over…..well for now…..there will be a bloodbath in the near future……this situation will not go away quietly…..or peaceably…….this is far from over….the question will be…just how deep will the US or the EU care to dive into this mess?