U.S. President Barack Obama (Reuters/Joshua Roberts)
Obama Orders Pentagon Advisers To Ukraine To Fend Off Putin-Backed Rebels -- Washington Times
U.S. to help Kiev bolster military as pressure mounts on Vladimir Putin
A team of Pentagon officials is heading to Ukraine to help the country rebuild its fractured military, a mission that lawmakers and analysts expect will result in recommendations for greater military assistance in the country’s fight against pro-Russia separatists amid international outrage over the downing of a commercial airplane.
Within the next few weeks, a group of Defense Department representatives who specialize in strategy and policy will head to Kiev to evaluate specific programs that the United States may want to help bolster, said Army Col. Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman.
Read more ....
Military And Intelligence News Briefs -- July 25, 2014
Obama administration sending military advisers to Ukraine within weeks -- RT
Americans against U.S. military involvement in Ukraine -- Washington Post
Ukraine May Soon Become NATO Military Partner – Ex-SBU Foreign Intelligence Chief -- RIA Novosti
NATO Considers Reinforcing Military Base in Poland -- RIA Novosti
Naval Ships From US, India and Japan To Start War Games -- Defense News/AFP
Russia delivering weapons to Iraq -- Al Arabiya
US Democrat senator threatens to block arms sales to Iraq -- The Hill
Israel: The Hamas Plan For Winning This War -- Strategy Page
The Best Air-to-Air Missile in the World Is in Sweden -- Thomas Newdick, War Is Boring
How An Su-25 Can Shoot Down A Faster, Higher-Flying Aircraft -- Aviation Week
Japan needs to close 'bargain' F-35 deal soon: report -- Want China Times
China’s Military Diplomacy Heats Up -- Zacharey Keck, The Diplomat
Over half of China military airfields threatened by high-rises -- Reuters
China air rage as military manoeuvres force flight cancellations -- Financial Times
China's aircraft carrier puts naval ambitions on show -- ZeeNews
Attrition: North Korean Air Force Develops Dementia -- Strategy Page
US, Russia bicker over US antimissile plans for South Korea -- RT
U.S. dismisses Russia's concerns about deployment of missile defense system to S. Korea -- Arirang news
Russia's best warplanes to be shown at Aviamix air show -- ITAR Tass
Borei-Class Submarines Enter Service Ahead of Russian Navy Day -- RIA Novosti
Spy for a spy: Germany to monitor US, UK agents -- RT
Venezuela to Buy Russian, Chinese Weaponry - Leader -- RIA Novosti
Meet UAV's Little Brother: The Unmanned Military Convoy -- Fast Company
US military’s ‘air optical fiber’ increases the power of laser weapons, networks, science -- Extreme Tech
Plant DNA: The New Tool to Thwart Military Counterfeiters -- Popular Mechanics
The CIA Fears the Internet of Things -- Patrick Tucker, Defense One
George Patton's Summer of 1944 -- Victor Davis Hanson, Real Clear Politics
A vote for Scotland's independence could reverberate through NATO -- Leo Michel, L.A. Times
How Will This War End? -- Lt. Gen. James M. Dubik, U.S. Army retired, Army Magazine
10 comments:
Kiev must be in more trouble than I thought.
James .... they are not winning the war. And even if they take the cities .... the rebels have made it very clear that they will then begin an insurgency campaign throughout the region .... and I would bet that they would use Russia as their safe haven to launch these attacks. This war is becoming a long and protracted mess .... and the big loser (in the end) will be Kiev, eastern Ukraine, and long term stability in this part of the world..
Remember I was saying this early on. I paraphrase, It's a classic guerilla war set up. Safe haven and sympathetic major power right next door, sympathetic population of the right ethnic mix to blend into, knowledge of terrain, an opponent with mixed emotions on the conflict, economically weak, politically fractured, and seen as being told what to do by far alien outsiders. Kiev has the difficult situation of having to win big and soon without pulling Russia directly into armed conflict (a tall order), the other side only has to not lose completely, a much easier task.
What I mean about "Kiev must be in more trouble than I thought." is their political system is showing signs of collapse and their putative allies(especially the US) seem to be getting very nervous with all this talk of military advisers. A US military presence no matter how small in the Ukraine at this point will give Putin a ton of ammunition with his public and the separatists.
Yes .... the politics in Kiev is a mess .... something that I will be commenting on this weekend. And the U.S. now getting directly involved .... this is what happens when strategic thinking has vanished when you need it the most.
So we send advisors and then what?
What does that mean?
Does it mean merely that Obama wants to look like he is dong something?
Using Clausewitz as a guide victory would mean Russia would do the U.S.' or the international community's will. That means they would no longer support the rebels. I do not see that happening.
Russia will continue to support the rebels until it becomes too painful.
What is Obama's track record on sanctions? He eased them on Iran.
Moscow is not going to abandon the rebels, and even if the rebels lose control of the cities, they will continue the fight in the countryside.
A little history of this region .... this area was the worse for partisan activity against the Nazis in the Second World War. They tried to convince their Ukrainian allies to do the dirty in what is now eastern Ukraine and they (their Ukrainian allies) refused .... they knew even then what a hell-hole that could be .... a fact that the Nazis learned too well for the 3 years that they occupied the place. 70 years later .... the Ukrainian nationalists are doing what their grandfathers did not want to do during the Second World War .... and I predict that they will learn the same lesson that the Nazis did from 1942-1943.
As for the U.S. becoming involved on such a level .... to put it bluntly .... they have utterly no clue on what they are getting into. And as bad as this decision is .... what I find really incomprehensible is the almost zero coverage of it from the u.S. main stream media.
"this area was the worse for partisan activity against the Nazis in the Second World War."
I never read, which areas were the worst for partisan activity. I'll have to pay particular attention, when I read something on this subject again.
I think I will look for a gradient.
"what I find really incomprehensible is the almost zero coverage of it from the u.S. main stream media."
I could blame Soviet manipulation of the press. There was some of that. But I think every group of people has socialist tendencies. Meaning the press would have been this way regardless of the Soviet union existing.
Besides the socialist dimension, the journalist think they are more informed. They are all that and a bag of chips too. This doesn't interest them, they can't make hay out of it and it is dangerous to cover. Sure, there are rank and file journalists, who are salt of the earth & who cover this, but how many of them work there way up to the national bureau or into management?
Then there are the demands of business. Full coverage doesn;t work or tyey have not made it work yet. The DM has Femail. That sells better.
I am writing this because what people need is something like a presidential daily brief or a brief that I know CEOs of fortune 100 companies get. I know this from 1st hand experience. Good investors eventually get really savvy to a daily brief. They do not want losses. I wish every citizen was this way too.
".. what I find really incomprehensible is the almost zero coverage of it from the u.S. main stream media."
Because the the Democratic base (includes the major media) doesn't like, believe, or accept that anything military is going to help.
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