Talks between Russia’s President Putin, France’s President Hollande, and German Chancellor Merkel have been constructive, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Friday. However, RT spoke with political analyst Dan Glazebrook, who thinks that while Germany seems enthusiastic about the peace talks, the other sides involved in the conflict – the US and UK – are creating obstacles which may stand in the way of the conflict’s resolution.
Putin seeks to Divide & Conquer
Posted on February 6, 2015 by Martin Armstrong
Putin plays his trump card. He tells Merkel that the EU should reject the trade agreement with the USA enter into a partnership with the newly established Eurasian Economic Union instead. A free trade zone with the neighbors would make more sense than a deal with the US Putin argues. The Obama’s confrontation with Putin using sanctions illustrates he is really outclassed by Putin on many levels. This is a bold proposal that would actually really backfire on Obama. The divide and conquer strategy is a brilliant Julius Caesar tactic. It was also how the Athenian Empire collapsed. Sparta turned Athen’s allies against her one by one thanks to Athen’s arrogance.
About US weapons deliveries and Novorussian mobilization plans
Still no news from Moscow, so I decided to quickly address a frequent misconception: US weapon deliveries and their effectiveness.
US weapons deliveries to the junta
US political culture and propaganda has deeply ingrained in the minds of those exposed to the corporate media the notion that weapons or technologies win wars. This is not so. Or, not really so.
Yes, when the difference in technologies is very big AND very wide, meaning a full generational change across most key weapon systems, this can help. But not one weapon system alone, and not when the difference in quality is marginal.
Furthermore, a simpler, more “primitive” weapon which totally outclassed on the testing range can suddenly become much better suited to real combat then some techno-marvel. This is, by the way, one of the biggest problems with US weapons. Here is how they are designed:
You take all the latest and most advanced technologies, put them together, then create a new “superior” design, then design a new mission profile to fit that design, then sell (figuratively and literally) the new concept to Congress, especially to those Congressmen who come from the districts where production is planned – and, voilà, you have your brand new top of the line US weapon. And the costs? Who cares?! Just print some more money, and that’s it.
Russian weapons are designed in a totally different way:
Take a mission profile, determine a need, then take all the cheapest, simplest and most reliable technologies available and combine them into your weapon system, then have that prototype tested in military units, then modify the weapons system according to the military’s reaction and then produce it.
In other words, US weapons are designed my engineers and produced by businessmen and politicians, they are not really designed for war at all. Russian weapons, in contrast, are ordered by the military and created by design bureau’s and they have only one objective: real, dirty and ugly warfare.
This is why the good old MiG-29 could fly better with its old fashioned hydraulics then the F-18s with fly-by-wire. It was never that the Russians could not built fly-by-wire aircraft (the SU-27 already had it), but that for the MiG-29 design goals, it was not needed.
What I am getting at here is two things: a) US weapons are not nearly as good as their marketing and b) “older” Russian weapons are often much better for actual warfighting.
Let’s say the US delivers large quantities of Javelin’s to the junta. So what? All that Russia will have to do in reaction is deliver 9M133 Kornets to the Novorussians. Can you guess which system is both cheaper and better?
When the US gave the junta counter-battery radars what did Russia do? The same thing. Now both sides have them.
Now here comes the key question: which of the two sides relies more on armor and artillery? Exactly – the junta.
When confronted with a problems, Americans love to do to things: throw money at it and throw technological “solutions” at it. This never works, but that is what they are good at.
The fact is that even in the 21st century what wins wars is not money or fancy gear, but courage, determination, moral strength, will power and the rage which seizes you when faced with brute, ugly evil.
The junta forces have none of that. Their death squads (Aidar, Azov) can’t fight a real ugly battle, and the regular military is demoralized. You can throw all the money and fancy gear at these guys, but they will never have the will power of the soldiers of Givi, Motorola or Mozgovoi.
The real reason why US weapon deliveries to the junta would be a big deal is not military, but political – it would be a visible sign of direct US aggression against Novorussia and, through it, Russia herself. That is why the Russians that the consequences of such deliveries on a large scale would be very serious. But in purely military terms, it would change very little.
Novorussian mobilization plans
Everybody has heard that Zakharchenko announced that he would mobilize 100’000 men on a volunteer basis (at least initially). Some believe that the idea here is purely to “match” the junta’s plans. I don’t think so. Let me explain why.
One of the biggest problems for the Novorussians has always been the inability to protect their flanks and put enough men in each town or location they hold. They have been very careful with this and this is why their forces did not end up trapped in “cauldrons” though the risk was real in Gorlovka and near Mariupol. The Novorussians plan to create three additional motor-rifle brigades which will allow them to not only enter, but hold much larger chunks of territory. These forces will not be ready anytime soon, but by late spring early summer the Novorussians might have enough forces to *safely* blockade Mariupol and secure the rest of the line of contact. These need not be highly trained crack assault forces, just normally trained motor-rifle battalions with additional fire support. And, remember, to hold a line you do not need a solider in a foxhole every couple of feet. You just need to hold a few key positions, have artillery support ready and a defensive reserve group.
So my belief is that what Zakharchenko was saying to the junta is this: “if you continue like this, we will soon be coming for you”.
Anyway, let’s see what the latest negotiations bring (if anything). I am personally very skeptical. We shall soon find out.
The Saker
Regarding The Saker’s comment above, I am immediately reminded of Black Hawk Down.
Low Tech Rocket Propelled Grenade Launcher plus one grenade: — $2,000
Super High Tech Black Hawk heli with lots of missiles and other shit: — $7,000,000 – $10,000,000.
$500 grenade wins.
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Translation: “Angela, don’t force my country to fuck up Germany. Again.”
T4C,
“And who is this? He is sitting there from the beginning”.
Take a gander at this map connecting all the war for profit dots and you’ll see why war in the immediate and far-flung future is not only inevitable, it is mandatory. Any POTUS that attempts the kibosh of such a lucrative albeit horrendously destructive to life, liberty and national wealth will catch a bullet in the back of the head…or front whichever the case may truly be.
What you never knew about defense contracting…
By the republican Mother
…will shock you!
This is my biggest map EVER! So check it out and pass it along to anyone who wants to understand where 25% of the Federal Budget goes. It really is mind-blowing! What I’ve got here is a fully fleshed-out map of the top ten defense contractors.
According to this article from Defense Procurement News, profits for these contractors are up. I would venture to say that profits have always been up for these companies since any of us can remember. We had the Cold War buildup, the Reagan buildup, and now the Islamic Terror buildup. It just keeps giving billions and billions of dollars to these contracting companies, who’ll always get the money because the government owns a printing press called the Fed. Nice arrangement, huh? You see, the American citizen would get tired of all these wars a lot faster if there was butter rationing and tires were hard to come by. It’s just easier this way, too bad it will all come crashing down sooner or later. But when it does, hey we’ve got martial law plans in place to be implemented by the … defense contractors!!! The circle completes itself, no?
Let’s really get into it because there is so much to pick out -this thing is HUGE, so it may take awhile to load:)
http://www.leftcoastrebel.com/2012/01/what-you-never-knew-about-defense.html
Stucky the only reason a 500 dollar grenade has any impact at all is related to a poor choice of applied weapons, tactics, and rules of engagement. Once again in Mogadishu we went after a single individual leader and the tactics failed.
Either go to War with the entire country or stay home. Either everyone in country is an enemy combatant or no one is an enemy combatant. No more police actions.
Disclaimer: I am not an advocate of war
Was listening to the Mike Church radio show this morning. According to his sources the US army already has military advisors in the Ukraine helping the government fight the pro Russian forces. This could turn into a major problem . I think what they are really fighting over is all the oil ,minerals and natural gas that is under the Caspian and Black sea.American oil companies want a seat at the table.There’s also another pipeline in the works.
Oil and natural resources likely have much to do with our interference.
The other thing? Russia’s attempts to get rid of the petro-dollar …. going to the gold standard ….. we bombed the fuck outta Libya for less.