The Brilliance of Putin...

You can hate your enemy, but you must always RESPECT your enemy.

Why do I bring that up?  Easy.  The Administration, Pentagon and State Dept obviously have a dislike of Putin (never quite understood it but oh well...) what they failed to do was respect him.

So where does that leave us (yeah you consider this a minor rant)?

Ukraine has become a non-issue.  Despite the stated desire to have the borders of Ukraine returned to the pre-civil war boundaries, the Europeans have all but signalled that they're willing to accept the status quo.  Don't misunderstand me.  Any further moves into Ukraine will be a MAJOR issue, but as things now stand the Europeans appear to be willing to let it be.

Why?  Simple.  The immigration issue.  The new under reported story is the anger inside Europe that is being stirred by the fighting age young men rampaging thru their cities.  I wouldn't be surprised to see several FAR RIGHT political parties gain power in the next elections.

Putin provides a solution...a best of many bad alternatives solution to the mess.  Turkey will be upset but Europe doesn't care.  Ditto with the US.

In one swift move, Putin consolidated his gains in Ukraine, divided the alliance and will be seen as a practical leader.  Quite honestly you don't have to like the guy, but you have to be impressed by how he took advantage of a leadership vacuum.

Economics explained by cows...

Lighten up...its funny!

French Paratroopers Jump near Mont St. Michael...

pics via Armée de l'air's FaceBook page...

India buys Chinooks and Apaches directly from Boeing?

via Defense Aerospace...

On Monday in New Delhi, US and Indian officials signed two contracts for the purchase by the Indian Air Force (IAF) of 22 AH-64E Apache attack helicopters, and 15 CH-47F Chinook multi-mission heavy lift helicopters.

Two of the contracts, which were signed in the afternoon between teams from Boeing headquarters in the US and Indian defence ministry officials, were for the direct commercial sale (DCS) part of the contracts. This includes the entire Chinook helicopter, and the flying portion of the Apache (less engines), as well as logistic support, spares and services.

The purchase of the Apache weaponry and radar was signed separately as a foreign military sale (FMS) purchase by the Indian defence ministry, which signed a letter of agreement to this effect with the Pentagon. The FMS portion of the sale includes munitions, training, aircraft certification, and components like engines, electro-optical sensors and the radar.

Is this unusual?

I don't ever recall seeing direct commercial sale of aircraft and then weaponry as an FMS being done separately before.  Is there a benefit to doing it this way?  Any info would be appreciated...oh and make that REAL info and not guesses!

Blast from the past. The F-7U Cutlass..The Widow Maker Extreme...

Pics via National Naval Aviation Museum...

Women in combat....The professionals waited too long to engage...

via Marine Corps Times...

So the game becomes “curiouser and curiouser.” But it’s not really a game after all, is it? This contest has been life and death in places like Fallujah, An Najaf, Normandy, Pork Chop Hill and Bloody Nose Ridge — places the social engineers can't even imagine, and don’t want to. In the safety of the protection afforded by the rough men who serve them, "diversity is strength" may indeed be a true and noble ideal. In the cauldron of sustained combat, “fairness” is harmful delusion.
Maybe, just maybe, the people’s representatives will step in and act to protect their constitutional prerogatives and inject some reality missing so far in this critical contest of ideas. If not, the “Off with their heads!” approach will prevail. A “wonderland” indeed.

The above is just a tidbit written by Retired Marine Corps General Newbold.  But wait there's more!  via National Interest...

Consequently, before it is too late, Congress should direct the Department of Defense to examine how women can be fairly groomed for strategic leadership positions. Congress should tell DoD to investigate who men will and won’t follow, at what levels, and why. Chances are excellent that so long as Commanding General Jane proves capable of deep strategic thinking, no one will care that she never kicked in a door. Finally, we the American people should insist that all discussion about equities be divorced from faux-feminism. Otherwise, decision makers in DoD are going to wreck the integrity of tactical units for the sake of a chimera.
We don’t need Special Forces teams, SEAL platoons and infantry squadrons to reflect society’s makeup. We need them to remain superlative at protecting it. Period.

The writer?  Anna Simons, a professor at Naval Post Graduate School.

The problem?

They professionals waited too late to engage.  They sat silent while Haynie and the others at USNI Blog (and other news sites/blogs) filled the air ways with nonsense, pulled heartstrings and spouted stupidity.

Only now, after the issue is all but decided they engage.  It's too little too late.  Failure to act is making a decision to do nothing.  Failing to act in a timely manner is just as bad.

Sidenote:  General Newbold's statement (the part I highlighted) should chill the hearts of those that suffer from "normalcy bias".  That's a member of the military (and let's be honest...political) elite sounding pretty damn revolutionary.  If his opinions reflect those of his "club" (and I'm sure they do...I have it on good authority that they act as one, building consensus behind closed doors) and since we know the rank & file are pissed then the divide between the military and their civilian masters is about to explode.  Recruiting and retention is about to become a bitch!

Pentagon strategy insanity leads to budget stupidity...

via The National Interest...

According to the testimony given at the confirmation hearings for the five new members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the international situation has never been more chaotic. They see Russia as the greatest threat, followed by China, North Korea, Iran and ISIL. The new Secretary of Defense, Ash Carter, echoes these claims and goes so far as to call Russia an existential threat. Moreover, the new service chiefs and most of the Republican candidates argue that, under the Obama administration, defense spending has been cut so drastically we cannot deal with the threats we now face.
But the real issue is not the amount we spend on defense but how we are spending it. In fact, the current level of defense spending is more than adequate. The defense budget for FY 2016 amounts to about $600 billion. In real terms, this exceeds the amount we spent on average in the Cold War and accounts for between one third and one half of the world's total military expenditures, depending upon whether one uses purchasing power parity or just straight dollars. Moreover, when one adds in the amount our allies spend, we account for somewhere between 70 and 80 percent of global military expenditures. Our greatest strategic threat, Russia, spends about $80 billion, less than our Saudi Arabian ally. Moreover, this amount is less than it seems, as the decline in the value of the ruble and the price of oil has had to delay Russian plans for modernizing its force. Even China spends only about one third of what we do.

And this...

The chiefs are right. The main enemy is chaos. But in order to tackle the chaos in the world, we must first tackle the chaos in the Pentagon. For example, if Secretary Carter believes Russia is an existential threat, why is he continuing the “pivot to the Pacific" a policy he inaugurated when he was Deputy secretary of defense, and decreasing the percentage of the budget going to our land forces, who would be the most likely to deal with the threat from Russia?
Second, any of the Republican candidates are urging that we must urgently add more might to our nation’s military. However, these arguments for more and more forces aren’t connected to any strategy, nor any idea of how to pay the enormous costs. For example, some candidates have argued that we need to increase the size of the Navy from its current level of 275 ships to as many as 350. But they do not tell us for what, and when, and where. Why 300, and not 400 or 200? What about the mix of ships? Do we want 25 or 50 more littoral combat ships or, or more Arleigh Burke destroyers, or aircraft carriers, or submarines, or small coastal patrol ships? Finally these candidates ignore the fact that since it takes a long time to build a ship, the size of today's Navy is more a result of decisions made by the Bush administration. In fact, as a result of decisions made by President Obama the Navy will grow to over 308 ships by early in the next decade.

This is a great article and should stimulate some great discussion.  There are some AMAZING POINTS that the author makes and some pretty GLARING OMISSIONS.

Still.  His basic premise sings to me.  Oh and if you're wondering who the author is, its Lawrence Korb, former Assistant SecDef under Reagan.  Read it all here.

Will you listen to Ichan?

Me and others have been talking about the market being over inflated and fraudulent.  I've read the e-mails, had the arguments, been given info from "official" sources that indicate everything is fine.

But now we have Carl Ichan saying the same.  Will you listen or do you prefer your normalcy bias?

Your next Middle East crisis? How about regime change in Saudi Arabia!

Thanks to Robert for the link!

via The Guardian..

A senior Saudi prince has launched an unprecedented call for change in the country’s leadership, as it faces its biggest challenge in years in the form of war, plummeting oil prices and criticism of its management of Mecca, scene of last week’s hajj tragedy.
The prince, one of the grandsons of the state’s founder, Abdulaziz Ibn Saud, has told the Guardian that there is disquiet among the royal family – and among the wider public – at the leadership of King Salman, who acceded the throne in January.

The prince, who is not named for security reasons, wrote two letters earlier this month calling for the king to be removed.
“The king is not in a stable condition and in reality the son of the king [Mohammed bin Salman] is ruling the kingdom,” the prince said. “So four or possibly five of my uncles will meet soon to discuss the letters. They are making a plan with a lot of nephews and that will open the door. A lot of the second generation is very anxious.”
“The public are also pushing this very hard, all kinds of people, tribal leaders,” the prince added. “They say you have to do this or the country will go to disaster.

Here.

I wonder who is pushing this move?  I mean who is REALLY the puppet master behind this....a pampered prince, bold enough to defy his king but instead of subterfuge involving poison, strongmen in the dark or another form of assassination instead publishes a letter in the Guardian?  Seems off...

173rd Airborne Brigade and Czech Army Paratroopers at Exercise Sky Soldier II...

NOTE:  That Czech carbine is INTERESTING!!!  I like the look....I wonder if it's reliable....