My senescent state of decrepitude condemns me to a lot of 24/7 news. Unable to reach the controller in time I watched in abject horror yesterday as General (Ret.) Jack Keane, Chairman of the Kagan controlled Institute for the Study of War, (ISW) told Fox News that it "is obvious" that Russia will "test" NATO in eastern Europe and that we (NATO) should be ready to meet the test.
This is a revelation (irony)! I thought it had become a truism that nuclear armed powers should not prepare to fight each other because of the general belief that escalation to a nuclear exchange would be a constant danger in such situations. To prepare for war is a different thing from establishment of deterrence against war through presentation of a plausible image of readiness.
The recent musings of the soldiery here (SST) on the paucity of conventional resources in the non-US countries of NATO would seem to point to the impracticality of a conventional war betwixt NATO and Mother Russia.
At some point in such a war the incipient losers are likely to say something like "Ah, to hell with it lets bomb them with the B-2s." After that the game would truly be "on."
But, I suppose Jack Keane is "onto something" now, something new. pl
What appear to be DC VIP evacuation drills featuring cold war vintage special purpose helicopters may be part of demonstrating "preparedness".
http://aviationweek.com/blog/pictures-us-army-conducts-major-military-exercise-over-washington-dc
Posted by: MS2 | 26 June 2015 at 10:52 AM
Sultan Erdogan would be well advised to take Victoria Nuland as his Consort - in the manner of Suleiman's Roxelana. An American Secretary of State as Consort would be quite a coup.
Posted by: mbrenner | 26 June 2015 at 11:29 AM
I was pretty startled when I read recently on a not-for-profit news distribution network, based in Prague, an article by Soros, his last idea: Europe could finance Ukraine's financial needs by filing it under its defense budgets.
He also once again has found the specific item that may help in this context, considering that the Ukraine does not have the best status on US rating companies. Europe guarantees and private sponsors invest in EU-defense.
Posted by: LeaNder | 26 June 2015 at 12:18 PM
Jack Keane is channeling "Buck" Turgidson. The pivot to Asia would leave the Army at the end of the budgetary chow line. He wants to pivot back to Europe so the Army can move to the front of the line again.
Posted by: The Twisted Genius | 26 June 2015 at 03:59 PM
Jack Keane reminds me of the war-mad General played by Dan Rowan on "Laugh in" 45 years ago.
Posted by: r whitman | 26 June 2015 at 05:15 PM
TTG: I have a question for General Keane: "So what do you do when the Russians don't fold?"
Posted by: Matthew | 26 June 2015 at 05:48 PM
TTG: Channeling, indeed. "Mr. President, I'm not saying we wouldn't get our hair mussed. But I do say no more than ten to twenty million killed, tops. Uh --depending on the breaks."
Posted by: Stephanie | 26 June 2015 at 07:10 PM
Matthew,
Ole Jack Keane best prepare himself to be receiving the Bear's precious bodily fluids... if I don't gut that son of a bitch first.
Posted by: The Twisted Genius | 26 June 2015 at 07:15 PM
TTG
"if I don't gut that son of a bitch first" I have a large collection of Randall knives... pl
Posted by: turcopolier | 26 June 2015 at 07:28 PM
war is too valuable to be wasted on PFC's.
If Keane wants at it let's have an all-officer bash. USA vs the Russians, only colonels and above - no exceptions, no supply drops.
Small arms in a heavily forested region.
Should take about a month to bring both sides to their senses - what is left of them.
Posted by: wisedupearly | 26 June 2015 at 08:05 PM
In the good old days an Irish Catholic from NYC with a degree in accounting from Fordham went into the FBI. They didn't become four-star generals and then retire and sit on the board of directors for General Dynamics (among others) collecting $225k per year for going to four meetings per year.
I think we need a lot of tanks to confront Russia. We'd better call on the company which makes them. Oh yeah, it's GD.
Posted by: BostonB | 26 June 2015 at 08:10 PM
wisedupearly
Your proposal implies that colonels and up yearn for war. That is not correct. Screwballs like Keane and his civilian ilk; Wolsey, Power et al are the people to send to fight. Think of the French colonel played by Kirk Douglas in "Paths of Glory." BTW the paraphrase from "The Tiger" was fun. pl
Posted by: turcopolier | 26 June 2015 at 08:12 PM
BostonB
"with a degree in accounting from Fordham..." Yes, he has anti-intellectual written all over him. I am surprised that the Jesuits did not provide at least a modicum of actual education. pl
Posted by: turcopolier | 26 June 2015 at 08:17 PM
All
Keane is said to be advising Gov. Walker in his bid to be President . Other Walker advisers have been spotted crossing the Kaganistan border for several months.
Walker might be buschCheney on steriods .
Posted by: alba etie | 26 June 2015 at 08:46 PM
http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/06/26/vladimir-putin-supports-texas-secession-movement/
This is good for a laugh. There's a Politico article that's even more amazing for its hypocrisy and hyperventilating.
Posted by: Tyler | 26 June 2015 at 10:12 PM
pl,
Nice. I don't have any Randalls, but I'm well stocked with edged weapons from a Herters crooked knife given to me by a Chipewyan trapper to my Gerber Mk II and my working wakizashi.
Posted by: The Twisted Genius | 26 June 2015 at 10:37 PM
it is exactly because of their rectitude that incompetence is allowed to flourish.
I know they have no intent to drag themselves through personal hell, exactly why they must be forced to.
West Point was supposed to make the man but it seems that far too many can game the system. Is attrition in battle the only true determiner of who can be entrusted with the lives of so many?
I initially wrote the comment in somewhat of a jest but after reflecting on my father's experiences in WWII I find that now anger is my main emotion.
Posted by: wisedupearly | 26 June 2015 at 11:19 PM
wisedupearly
Rather muddled. "their rectitude" Whose rectitude? Most of the senior officers I have known had little rectitude. They were mostly just "Walmart managers" trying to get ahead but they did not want war. Wars mess up careers. Are you Japanese? pl
Posted by: turcopolier | 27 June 2015 at 12:10 AM
Another business major from Fordham certainly embodied the lessons he learned from the Jesuits. The fundamental principle of freedom and excellence through discipline was Vince Lombardi's coaching philosophy. On his first day as head coach of Green Bay he told his players, "Gentlemen, we are going to relentlessly chase perfection, knowing full well we will not catch it, because nothing is perfect. But we are going to relentlessly chase it, because in the process we will catch excellence.” Lombardi lived what he taught, and attended mass every day of his life.
Posted by: BostonB | 27 June 2015 at 12:11 AM
BostonB
"freedom and excellence through discipline" Sounds familiar, must be something remembered from long ago. pl
Posted by: turcopolier | 27 June 2015 at 12:14 AM
"Walker might be buschCheney on steriods"
Walker is more craven and ambitious than either, still having to make himself, a kiss up kick, down type. A guy coming from simple circumstances, but contemptuous of the poor. The man runs on resentment.
IMO he has dangerous written all over him. America, beware.
Posted by: confusedponderer | 27 June 2015 at 12:35 AM
Remarque already proposed something similar in "All Quiet on the Western Front":
"Kropp on the other hand is a thinker. He proposes that a declaration of war should be a kind of popular festival with entrance-tickets and bands, like a bull fight. Then in the arena the ministers and generals of the two countries, dressed in bathing-drawers and armed with clubs, can have it out among themselves. Whoever survives, his country wins. That would be much simpler and more just than this arrangement, where the wrong people do the fighting".
Posted by: OIFVet | 27 June 2015 at 12:46 AM
no
Posted by: wisedupearly | 27 June 2015 at 12:47 AM
mbrenner,
a perfect match!
More than just a coup! It would be madness in harmony!
Matching Nuland with Erdogan would link Ukraine to Turkey! Crimea could be part of Turkey again! Just wait for rumours that Ukrainian nationalists plan to name a church in Lviv after Vicoria the Foul Mouthed.
Because in 2007, Muslims in Mariupol opened a mosque to honor Roxelana and given his taste in palaces over the objections of the frugal, Tayyib clearly strives for the appendix the Magnificent.
It all makes sense now.
Posted by: confusedponderer | 27 June 2015 at 02:42 AM
TTG
Among the goodies is a Randall carving set in mint condition, knife, fork and iron. pl
Posted by: turcopolier | 27 June 2015 at 08:29 AM