Is Our Ukraine Policy Working?
The US wants to avoid war with Russia. But is our Ukraine policy achieving that goal or pushing us closer to war?
Foreign News/Policy
Putin Is Not Afraid Of Biden
Biden White House has gone from merely inept to downright dangerous. It’s important that Presidents are respected by our friends and in some instances feared by our enemies. That is not the case with the Biden Administration.
Cartels Discover Innovative Way to Smuggle Drugs Over the Border
CBP official: “This was not only a clever attempt to try and smuggle in narcotics, one I haven’t seen before, but also time consuming …”
Thoughts on Ukraine, Part 8: Multi-Domain Operations
Part 8 looks at holistic approach to Multi-Domain Operations. These include the military, diplomatic, and financial measures countries and corporations are taking against Russia.
Perhaps a holistic statement of purpose could be “Ukrainian and NATO military operations disrupt and block Russian military aggression, provide sanctions and other financial measures time to create the conditions for change within Russia that will stop its aggression.”
Thoughts on Ukraine, Part 7: The Joint Corporatist Scenario
Part 7 looks at the Joint Russia-China corporatist scenario. At what point would the differences rupture cooperation? In the event of a rupture, would one turn on the other? Could China buy up Russian companies and co-opt the interests of the kleptocrats or are their cultures and motives too dissimilar?
One thing is clear, there are stresses in the mix. Lukoil shines a spotlight on them.
Is Putin losing his grip if LukOil feels like they can criticize his strategy and call for an end to it?
“A Strange Game: The Only Winning Move Is Not To Play”
I get it: almost everyone wants to help Ukraine in its struggle against the Russian invasion. Helping Ukraine is good and noble, and something people just want to do. But there are some good and noble things which might not be all that wise. My good friend, and contributor to my poor site on days …
Psaki: White House Is ‘Deeply Concerned’ About Threat to Freedom of Speech in Russia
The only difference between American and Russian censorship is that, because of the First Amendment, the U.S. government is forced to be more subtle. In Russia, censorship is expected. In America, it must be obscured.
How do you say “Constitution” in Russian?
This is just a little of their Constitution, which I don’t think it’s worth the paper it is printed on. The Russian people most of the time are kept out of the loop of what their Government (Putin) is doing.
Thoughts on Ukraine, Part 6: Mutual Destruction?
The attack on the Ukrainian nuclear plant was a risk. If the strike damaged the containment vessel, it could have unleashed nuclear radiation. That got me thinking about the broader risks of destruction.
• Russian destroys Ukrainian cities and infrastructure trying to take it. More adventures like the nuclear plant could do it.
• Oligarchs in Russia see both a crisis and an opportunity and arrest/kill Putin and take control and force a “favorable” settlement with Ukraine that lets the oligarchs buy Ukrainian assets and resources.
• The west’s sanctions cripple the west and the Russians, leaving an opportunity for the Chinese to go after both. Perhaps they are crocodile watching the two snakes fight it out to take them both.
Is Russia-Putin-Threatening to Use Nuclear Weapons-Weapons of Mass Destruction-in Ukraine? And We Were Told the Bad Orange Man was Gonna Cause This!
Doesn’t it seem strange that with all the hysteria over war mongering politicians and presidents over the past 60 years-including the egregious treatment of candidates like Barry Goldwater-recall the LBJ political cartoon of Daisy Girl happily holding flowers on a sunny day when a nuclear detonation suddenly reflects in her eyes (two additional great candidate …
Election 2020 – The Mother Of All Pyrrhic Victories
The Democrats set out to destroy Donald Trump. Instead, they energized his movement.
Thoughts on Ukraine, Part 5: Post-War Assessment and Rebuild
I understand the conflict is ongoing and does not have a known end date or end state conditions. But the sooner the USG, NATO, and the EU think through the dynamics of assessment, the quicker they can respond and conduct it. If they stand up coordinated assessment teams now, they can start assessing pre-conflict items, and conflict response now and gathering data.
What Went Wrong In Deterring Putin
We had many opportunities to discourage the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and missed all of them.
There are NO Winners in a Nuclear War
The United States detonated nuclear bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on the 6th and 9th of August 1945. The nuclear bombs laid to waste these two cities. The after-mass was devastating.
THOUGHTS ON UKRAINE, PART 4: HOLD THE KLEPTOCRATS RESPONSIBLE
I think we also need to keep in mind the problems that a harsh peace settlement can create. The Treaty of Versailles created WWII. We certainly do not want that. We need to use WWII’s peace as an example. Our goal should be to incorporate Russia into the west as a responsible state with an effective government that embraces human and western values.
Therefore, I propose a different way to handle these war crimes. Separate the kleptocrats from the state. Prosecute the kleptocrats and use their considerable personal wealth to pay for the damage they inflicted in Ukraine. By most accounts, this is billions of dollars.
Vladimir Putin’s repeated call for a Russian nuclear arsenal in the Ukraine crisis
The Russian invasion has relied entirely on conventional weapons — tanks rattling down highways, bombers flying overhead, ships landing in the port city of Odesa — and experts told Vox that in the absence of a shocking escalation, that isn’t likely to change.
Which Way to the Cyber Battle?
This primer on Artificial Intelligence will get you up to speed on technology that’s available now and technology that’s fast approaching. Where do China, Russia and the U.S. stand on AI development?
How Modern Surveillance Technology Could Target Patriots
So what did our country do in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? Yes, they used biometric data—fingerprints, iris scans, gait, smell, DNA, speech patterns, how you interact with the land, what your daily patterns predict about your future behavior, and more—to tag and track bad guys.