Category Archives: Russia
Putin’s Quagmire
Vladimir Putin is in Syria killing people and breaking things. He told the US to get out of the way. Putin’s the new cop in the Middle East. He says Russia is part of an alliance to stop ISIS, like the alliance to stop Hitler. But he seems more interested in stopping the revolt against his guy, Bashar Assad.
Quagmire
Barack Obama is flexible. He showed no sign of humiliation. He even welcomed Putin but warned him about be getting into a quagmire. Then he got out of the way.
Doctored Intelligence
Two weeks ago the NYT reported that intelligence analysts claim their superiors at Centcom doctored their reports to make ISIS appear more jv than varsity.
Daily Beast says more than “50 spies claim intelligence was cooked”.
Former CIA analyst, Fred Fleitz in National Review, wants to know where the rest of the intelligence community is. He thinks this is only a tip of the iceberg.
Bill has Bills to Pay
I don’t know how the Clintons get by. They were dead broke when they left the White House. Bill says he has no choice but keep taking half million dollar speaking gigs to pay the bills.
When Hillary was Secretary of State the Russians bought 20% of the US uranium supply. Investors in the company involved gave millions to the Clinton Foundation and hired Bill for one of those $500,000 speeches. If she becomes president maybe they can buy the other 80%.
That’s a reset.
Russian Bombers
NATO fighter jets scrambled last week as Russian bombers probed European airspace. US officials think President Putin is making a “show of force”:
“It’s concerning because it’s moving in the wrong direction,” said one U.S. defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the air activity publicly. “It’s not helping to de-escalate the situation in Ukraine. It’s not helping to improve relations between NATO and Russia. It’s not helping anybody.”
Also last week a NASA resupply rocket for the International Space Station suffered a “catastrophic anomaly“. Normal people say it blew up. The rocket used a 40 year old Russian engine. The U.S. relies on Russia.com for all manned space travel needs.
Update: It was a bad week for private sector space flight says, National Post. The Russian engine powered an Antares rocket designed by Orbital Sciences. NASA hopes to outsource payload flights to private companies like Orbital Sciences.
A Virgin Galactic rocket also blew up last week killing the co-pilot. Virgin is planning to offer sub-orbital flights to private paying customers.
Bokbluster Weekend NATO Editon
Last week President Obama assured member nations that NATO would defend them. Meanwhile, terrorists frolicked by the pool at the abandoned American Embassy in Tripoli.
Not NATO
On Friday Ukraine signed a ceasefire agreement with Russian separatists. Ukraine isn’t a NATO member. The only American military assistance it received where Meals Ready to Eat. Still it was making progress against the separatists. That is until Russian tanks invaded.
The beheading of two Americans seems to have concentrated the country’s attention on the use of military force. Even Rand Paul wants to wipe out ISIS. He says he’s always been in favor of war if it’s in the national interest. How far does the national interest go?
Pretty far, according to Robert Kagan and Victor Davis Hanson. They both made the same point that when you withdraw military power bad guys fill the vacuum.
Brett Bair interviewed three CIA contractors who were on the ground in Benghazi when Ambassador Stevens was killed. They say their station chief told them to stand down. Eventually they defied orders and fought the terrorists, some of whom may now be poolside in Tripoli.
