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The Weakling Wunderwaffe

By William Schryver – imetatronink – December 20, 2024

The F-35 Lightning II “Joint Strike Fighter” is destined to go down in military history as arguably the most ill-conceived, incompetently engineered, and combat-ineffectual large-scale production aircraft of the jet propulsion era.

It is notoriously under-powered, cripplingly frail, and fatally under-armed.

Its maintenance requirements are so onerous as to render it a net liability in the context of a major air campaign against a peer adversary. For every hour of flight, it requires at least 20 hours of maintenance, including frequent engine swap outs because its feeble powerplant basically fries itself after a few hours of high-demand conditions.

With a full weapons and fuel load, the F-35 struggles to achieve Mach 1 speeds.

Its internal weapons bay can carry only FOUR units.

Fewer than 450 of all types have been delivered to the US military (~300 F-35A to the US Air Force; ~100 F-35B to the US Marine Corps; ~30 F-35C to the US Navy).

Peace-time “Full Mission Capable” rates: F-35A: ~35%; F-35B: ~15%; F-35C: ~30%.

This means that the entire global US air fleet could launch fewer than 130 F-35s at any given time. Under high-intensity conflict conditions, the “full mission capable” rates would likely be reduced by half or more after just a single combat sortie.

In the context of an air campaign against Russia in eastern Europe, it must also be understood that the US simply does not have sufficient basing and maintenance capabilities in the region. In order to supply the logistical requirements of a major air fleet at war, it would be necessary to transfer the equivalent of a half-dozen fully staffed and equipped Hill Air Force Bases to the vicinity of the battlefield – this is of course an impossibility.

So people who talk about the US humiliating the Russians with overwhelming “5th Generation Air Power” are spouting ridiculous nonsense. The reality is that any US air campaign against Russia would be fought almost exclusively with decades-old 4th generation platforms going up against best-in-class Russian air defenses and a significantly upgraded Russian Air Force that would outnumber and outrange US air frames in the theater.

And those aircraft that survived the initial strike mission would discover their bases had been blasted to pieces in their absence.

As I have written on several occasions over the past few years: The US could not win an overseas war in a non-permissive environment against a peer-adversary – least of all against the Russians. It would be a logistical power projection challenge well beyond the current capabilities of the American military.

December 21, 2024 Posted by | Militarism | | Leave a comment

West has pumped over $300 billion into Ukraine – Orban

RT | December 20, 2024

The US and the EU have provided over $300 billion in financial aid and military assistance to Kiev since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said.

Such a huge amount of money “could have done wonders” had it been spent to improve the lives of people within the EU, he said in an interview with Kossuth radio on Friday.

Orban highlighted the evolving military situation, noting that “the balance of power on the frontlines is shifting day by day” in Russia’s favor. He also pointed out the political changes expected in the US following Donald Trump’s return to the White House next month.

These developments call for leaders in EU capitals to embrace a more pragmatic approach to ensuring stability and economic resilience within the bloc, Orban believes. However, the prime minister argued that Brussels remains out of touch with global realities, pointing to a recent European Parliament decision to continue sending substantial funds to Kiev – a move he described as a clear example of misplaced priorities.

“During the negotiation with the Americans, I received the figure that Europe and America together have spent €310 billion so far. Those are huge numbers!” the Hungarian prime minister stressed.

He argued that the hundreds of billions of euros already spent to fund the conflict could have been used to bolster European infrastructure, to develop countries in Western Balkans to the level of the EU, or beef up military capabilities. This “enormous” amount of money could have been given to Europeans to make people’s lives much better, the Hungarian leader concluded.

Russia has repeatedly warned that no amount of Western aid will stop its troops from achieving the goals of the military operation or change the ultimate outcome of the conflict. By backing Kiev, they only prolong the conflict, Moscow has argued.

Earlier this month, Orban proposed a Christmas ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia, describing it as a last-ditch attempt to mediate a diplomatic resolution of the conflict. He floated the idea to Kiev and Moscow, as well as to Trump, who he personally met at his residence in Florida.

The Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow “fully supports Orban’s efforts aimed at finding a peaceful settlement and resolving humanitarian issues related to the exchange of prisoners.”

However, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky rejected Budapest’s offer.

December 20, 2024 Posted by | Economics, Militarism | , | Leave a comment

Slovakia warns of ‘serious conflict’ with Kiev

RT | December 20, 2024

Slovakia is considering retaliation against Ukraine over its refusal to continue transit of Russian gas to the EU nation, according to Prime Minister Robert Fico.

Kiev is determined not to renew a multi-year transit contract with Russia, which allowed the fuel to flow across its territory despite the armed conflict between the two nations. Slovakia is one of the recipients of the gas, which Ukraine intends to halt next year.

A “serious conflict” is possible if Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky “doesn’t release our gas,” Fico wrote on Facebook on Friday. He included excerpts from his press conference in Brussels on Thursday, after he and Zelensky discussed the issue at a meeting held behind closed doors in the Belgian capital.

Bratislava is sympathetic towards Kiev’s situation and Zelensky’s predicament, the prime minister said, but Slovakia is “not at any war” either with Russia or Ukraine, and the Slovaks are not servants doing the bidding of Zelensky. Kiev is “losing decisively,” while Zelensky “absolutely rejects any ceasefire,” he said.

Fico said the proposals regarding the gas situation, which Zelensky outlined to him at a European Council meeting, seemed “absurd.” One idea was to allow the flow to continue on condition that Russia would not receive any payment until the end of the Ukraine conflict.

“What fool will give us gas for free?” Fico asked journalists.

Slovakia is helping Ukraine by providing non-military assistance, including by transferring electricity to its capacity-starved power grid, the prime minister said. Relations between the two nations cannot be a one-way street, Fico asserted, adding: “I cannot completely rule out reciprocal measures.” His government will consider its options over the next week, he said.

Kiev previously floated the idea of letting gas that is not Russian in origin to be pumped through the Soviet-built pipelines on Ukrainian territory. Azerbaijan could be the source of such supplies, according to officials.

On Tuesday, European buyers of Russian pipeline gas, including Slovakia’s SPP, warned the European Commission that the looming termination of Ukrainian transit posed significant risks to members of the EU, and urged Brussels to act.

The escalating row has been caused by Kiev, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday, during his annual Q&A marathon. Russian gas giant Gazprom “can live” without the transit, he insisted.

December 20, 2024 Posted by | Economics, Militarism | , , | Leave a comment

No, Spending on the Ukraine War is Not Benefitting Americans at Home

Military Keynesianism, creating humanitarian disasters to stimulate economic activity, is fruitless and dangerous.

By Zachary Yost | The Daily Economy |

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022, those in favor of ever-increasing US involvement in the war have tossed around numerous justifications for their dangerous and escalatory policy that is detached from American national interest. We are of course served the normal pablum about defending freedom, that the Ukrainians are fighting “them over there, so we don’t have to fight them over here,” and that if not stopped the Russian army will soon be marching down the Champs-Élysées (although the Russian army, we are told, is also simultaneously full of starving demoralized conscripts forced to fight with shovels.)

Yet among the many flimsy excuses for continuing to risk nuclear escalation with Russia, few surpass the foolish argument that many billions of dollars of military aid to Ukraine are actually being spent here in the US, so it doesn’t even count as foreign aid and is therefore great for the economy.

The loudest institution promoting this line of thinking has been the American Enterprise Institute, and especially Iraq War cheerleader and Bush administration speechwriter, Marc Thiessen. The Biden administration has echoed this talking point as well.

Their logic runs as follows. We have to spend money to build and/or replace the weapons we are sending to Ukraine. That money is spent at American factories employing American workers. This helps to generate prosperity and economic growth and happy American families who can pay their bills and go on vacation.

These arguments are little more than military Keynesianism, and their reasoning falls to pieces if one thinks about it for more than 30 seconds.

As the nineteenth century French political economist Frédéric Bastiat succinctly put it, “Between a good and a bad economist this constitutes the whole difference — the one takes account of the visible effect; the other takes account both of the effects which are seen and also of those which it is necessary to foresee.”

Thiessen and others are being very bad economists (assuming they are not knowingly spreading propaganda and hoping it sticks), and repeating an age-old mistake that Bastiat identified as the broken window fallacy. In short, Bastiat reflects on a hypothetical broken window at a bakery and how at first one might say that this is good, since it will stimulate demand and lead to money being spent in the glass industry. But that is merely the visible effect. The unseen effect is that now the baker will no longer be able to invest that money into improving his business by acquiring more capital goods, or even spending it on personal consumption at a restaurant, hairdresser, or shoe shop.

A broken window does not result in an increase in wealth for society and leaves the victim poorer than before.

If this were not true, then we should pray for powerful and destructive hurricanes to wreak havoc every year since they generate so much economic activity in their wake. Similarly, its proponents would have to admit that the war is great for the Russian economy, as well. Look at all the jobs and productivity generated by the conflict!

Such thinking is nonsensical.

Yet, somehow this same line of thinking can pass muster for usually economically literate people who want to justify America’s fruitless and dangerous involvement in the Ukraine War.

We are told not to fret, since many tens of billions of dollars are being spent in America. But that is merely the seen effect. What are the unseen effects? There are many.

The US is running trillion dollar deficits and at risk of a debt trap with over a trillion dollars in interest payments. All this money being spent is either being borrowed from the capital markets, meaning the government is crowding out other borrowers, or is being financed by the Federal Reserve creating money to purchase bonds, therefore fueling further inflation.

But the effects do not stop there. Even if the US was not drowning in debt, building Javelin missiles (2023 estimated cost of $197,884 a pop), 155mm artillery rounds ($3,000 a shell), and Patriot air defense missiles ($4 million per missile) requires the use of labor, time, capital goods, and resources.

These resources obviously cannot be used to supply the other wants and needs that Americans have. Someone working at the bomb factory can’t be working at the car factory. Steel used to build an artillery shell can’t be used to make girders for buildings.

As Dwight Eisenhower noted back in 1963

Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.
This world in arms is not spending money alone.

It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children.

The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities…

We pay for a single fighter plane with a half million bushels of wheat.

We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people…

Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.

The cost of supplying weapons to Ukraine is not limited to money alone, but also the many and myriad things that we either will not have, or will have at more expense, than we did before.

The core logic put forward by military Keynsians is essentially no different from arguing that it is great for the economy to invest billions of dollars in building luxury cars and then dropping them down the Marianas Trench. (You don’t oppose money going to hard-working auto workers do you!)

At least with that plan there is little risk of stumbling into a great power war (unless Cthulhu gets annoyed at all the Cadillacs disturbing his slumber), unlike the current proxy war in Ukraine where the Biden administration has escalated the conflict even further in the wake of his defeat in November.

People are free to argue that America should be waging a proxy war in Ukraine and risking nuclear escalation. But don’t tell us that doing so will somehow make Americans more wealthy.

December 20, 2024 Posted by | Economics, Militarism | | Leave a comment

Ukrainian missile strike targets chemical plant in southern Russia – MOD

RT | December 19, 2024

Ukraine launched a missile attack against a massive chemical plant in Russia’s southern Rostov Region, the Russian Ministry of Defense has reported. According to the military, the attack happened on Wednesday. Six American-made ATACMS tactical missiles and four air-launched Storm Shadow cruise missiles were used in the assault.

Russian air defense units engaged the incoming missiles, successfully intercepting all ATACMS and three out of the four Storm Shadow missiles using S-400 and Buk-M3 surface-to-air missile systems, as well as the Pantsir air defense system. One of the Storm Shadows veered off course. However, it still impacted the facility, resulting in damage to a technical building on the premises, the ministry said.

Moscow condemned the attack, claiming that these actions by the Kiev regime, supported by Western sponsors, would not go unanswered.

The Kamensky plant is one of the largest chemical enterprises in southern Russia. Established in 1939, the plant has been intensively developed, producing essential chemical products to address issues of national importance and strengthening the country’s defense capabilities.

December 19, 2024 Posted by | Militarism | , , | Leave a comment

The Ford Follies: Yes, It Can Get Worse

By Bill Buppert | The Libertarian Institute | December 19, 2024

Brent Eastwood does a splendid job elucidating so many of the problems of the fatally flawed Ford super-carrier. I suspect he had to say “promising” but there is nothing here for the 21st century; this is the chariot and crossbow of the next generation. This is the sunken cost fallacy afloat. The prudent policy is to retire these behemoths immediately and completely rethink US and Western surface naval combat. The era of manned combat aircraft is over, whatever is aloft is a zombie force on borrowed time. The US Navy is quite literally playing chicken with thousands of lives in a gamble that the opponents will blink.

They won’t.

They can’t.

As we have discussed before, the strike package projection from a single super-carrier is less than ten birds with a combat radius of less than 750 nautical miles. China, Russia and Iran (not to mention the Houthis in Yemen) have the capacity right now to disable or sink a carrier near their homelands. They have been perfecting this amelioration effort for years if not decades, they are ready.

Key Points: The U.S. Navy’s Ford-class aircraft carriers represent technological advancement but face five significant challenges.

–First, the cost is staggering, with the Gerald R. Ford exceeding $13 billion and maintenance costs nearing $27 billion over its lifetime.

–Second, construction delays have plagued the program, with delivery timelines stretching years.

–Third, evolving threats like anti-ship missiles, hypersonics, and drones put carriers at significant risk.

–Fourth, resupplying the massive vessel for long deployments remains logistically challenging.

–Lastly, advanced technologies like EMALS and Advanced Arresting Gear have faced reliability issues.

-While promising, the Ford-class program has sparked debates about cost, delays, and future survivability.

The U.S. Navy’s Ford-Class Aircraft Carriers: 5 Biggest Problems

Not only is the super-carrier crippled by existential problems in capability, its very existence is reminiscent of the Battleship Hypnotism that enthralled admirals of the West prior to 8 December 1941.

The U.S. Navy’s Ford-Class Aircraft Carrier ‘Nightmare’ Has Begun

A live-fire battle with China would answer many of the following questions. Can a carrier survive a direct hit from an anti-ship missile? Do carriers need to patrol outside the range of the Anti-Access/ Area Denial defensive bubble that the Chinese have so deftly created around their First Island Chain? Will manned or unmanned submarines be the death of a U.S. aircraft carrier?

These questions will have to be pondered by some of the best thinkers in the U.S. Navy. Otherwise, the Gerald R. Ford will not be worth the exorbitant cost, and future aircraft carriers of the Ford-class may be reconsidered.

The next war may include anti-ship missiles, drones, and submarines. Carrier-based combat could be made obsolete by asymmetric weapons and a determined enemy who is likely to try anything to slow down or destroy the Gerald R. Ford.

A chilling report was just issued by the CRS on 13 December 2024 filled with foreboding and magic thinking.

Navy Ford (CVN-78) Class Aircraft Carrier Program: Background and Issues for Congress

December 19, 2024 Posted by | Militarism | | Leave a comment

Vulnerabilities in Israeli-made GPS systems may delay weapons delivery to Denmark by 3 to 4 years

MEMO | December 18, 2024

Controversial weaponry deliveries to Denmark from Israeli military firm, Elbit Systems, may be delayed for three to four years due to issues with GPS functioning in battle zones, which Copenhagen believes are vulnerable to jamming on the battlefields and could cost more, state media outlet, DR, reported Wednesday.

Jyllands-Posten daily and the DR broadcaster in late November reported that the procurement deal signed early last year for weaponry with so-called civilian GPS systems was particularly vulnerable to jamming on the battlefield, as seen during Russia’s conflict in Ukraine, Anadolu Agency reports.

This vulnerability could render the systems unable to accurately navigate or strike targets, severely compromising their effectiveness in combat.

The DR report noted that Danish military commanders acknowledged the urgent need to replace civilian GPS units with military-grade systems capable of operating in adversarial environments.

However, DR reported, citing sources familiar with the situation, expressed scepticism that it is not feasible to replace all GPS units in the systems.

According to insiders cited in the report, the upgraded artillery systems could take three to four years to fully operationalise, a delay that will have a significant impact on Denmark’s defence readiness timeline.

Without the upgrades, the weapons are expected to face major limitations in electronic warfare environments similar to those seen in Ukraine.

Last month, an independent legal investigation submitted to the Danish government revealed flaws in the procurement deal for self-propelled guns and rocket launchers from Elbit Systems in January 2023.

December 18, 2024 Posted by | Militarism | , | Leave a comment

Is Seeking to Stop a War a Crime?

Whistleblowers and other government activists need to be heard

By Philip Giraldi • Unz Review • December 18, 2024

The early November detention of Asif Rahman, a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer, indicted in a federal national security court in the Eastern District of Virginia on two counts of “willful retention and transmission of national defense information under the Espionage Act,” was largely downplayed in the national media. He was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Tuesday November 5th at the US Embassy in Phnom Penh in Cambodia where he was stationed and was sent to appear in the nearest federal court in Guam on Thursday the 7th to be charged. After his initial court appearance and indictment, Rahman, was transferred to a federal prison in Virginia.

Rahman was a CIA analyst with a top-secret clearance that gave him access to the classified material that passed through the Agency’s Cambodia Station, which would have included much of the routine collection and dissemination of information on developments in Asia. Rahman allegedly selected one report containing two files relating to plans by Israel to attack Iran, which he then placed on an Iranian frequented site on the Telegram messaging app called the “Middle East Spectator,” which in turn claimed that the information came from a Pentagon source. After being posted it attracted a considerable audience, including US security monitors, numerous Iranians and, inevitably, the Israelis. The two top secret documents were marked as having been produced by the US government’s National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency. They included satellite imagery from October 15th and 16th that showed that Israel was moving Air Force military assets preparatory to conducting a military strike on Iran. Bear in mind that Israel has long sought to eliminate Iran as an adversary in the Middle East region they share, up to and including assassination of Iranian scientists and government officials and air attacks on targets in places like Syria that have been regarded as Iranian allies. Iran, for its part, has never attacked Israel prior to recent developments relating to the Gaza conflict.

The US government declared the leak of the classified files to be “deeply disturbing” and investigators who finally focused on Rahman declared that he might have been “ideologically” motivated to expose the information. Rahman has declared himself to be not guilty and as the case relates to intelligence on a non-allied foreign country’s military making preparations for war it raises some ethical problems as well as political issues connected to Israel’s unofficial special relationship with the United States government. It is, for example, not normal for someone detained for leaking classified information to be imprisoned as the preparations for trial are underway unless they are likely to flee jurisdiction. Rahman is from a prominent and wealthy family based in Vienna Virginia and his father Muhit Rahman and lawyer Amy Jeffress sought to have him stay at home with family in custodial pretrial, which is normal, but a ruling by US District Judge Patricia Tolliver Giles overruled a magistrate who said a week before that Rahman could be free of additional restrictions including detention while he is awaited his trial. Jeffress has indicated that she will be appealing the detention order which was restored by Giles.

In the event, Israel decided to proceed with its plans and carried out the attack targeting Iran’s air defense systems and missile manufacturing facilities in late October. Citing no actual evidence, court papers related to the case reveal that the US government claims the leak of the files caused Israel to delay its attack plans. Prosecutor Troy Edwards said the volatile nature of the developing situation in the Middle East made the leak especially dangerous. He explained that “It is hard to overstate what other circumstances present graver risks of danger to human life than unilaterally deciding to transmitting information related to plans for kinetic military action between two countries.”

Actually, stopping the planned “kinetic action” is the solution if one wants to save lives. Edwards’ line of reasoning, encouraging one side to proceed, could be considered to be the reverse of what might be true if one is truly seeking to mitigate the “danger to human life.” While it is unquestionably true that a government employee who takes classified information and shares it is committing a serious crime under the Espionage Act as well as other legislation, one might argue that Rahman, if actually guilty as charged and convicted, may have been responding to what he might have considered to be mitigating circumstances. By exposing information on Israeli plans to attack Iran he might have believed that he was actually saving many lives as well as avoiding an escalation of a developing major war in the Middle East. He may have revealed information that the US government considered to be classified due to the way it was obtained by satellite but which, apart from that fact, did not in any way impact on the national security of the United States. Quite the contrary, as it would be quite plausible to argue that the United States would have been dragged into any conflict escalated by Israel against Iran, which does not in any way threaten the US, and which would serve no American national interest. Examining the leak from that perspective it would be quite reasonable to argue that Rahman, if he is guilty of mishandling the classified information, was trying to avert escalating a war that would quite plausibly do damage to all countries involved, including the United States and Israel.

The Rahman case is just one more indication of how anything having to do with Israel is not quite treated by government and media in the same fashion as for any other country. It is clearly a response to the immense power of the Israel Lobby in the United States. There is a strong tendency by the US to always defer to actions and behavior that Israel exhibits while also giving the Jewish state a pass when the results are awful or even genocidal as they are in Gaza. And there is a certain irony in how it all plays out going in the other direction. Israel, in fact, has a history of actively spying against the United States without any real consequences to make it pay a price for such behavior. The most devastating spy ever to steal American defense secrets was Jonathan Pollard, a Jewish civilian employee of the US Navy, who stole whole rooms full of classified information in the 1980s, including the beyond top secret National Security Agency‘s ten-volume manual on how the US gathers its signal intelligence, to include the technical details of how the US collected information on its actual enemies during the Cold War, revealing aspects of US intelligence gathering’s “sources and methods.” The defense information went to Israel where it was used in part to trade for visas from Moscow so Russian Jews could emigrate, certainly arguably a good cause, but paid for by damaging US security. Other US classified information went from Tel Aviv to China. Condemned to a life prison sentence, Pollard actually spent years in jail, where, in 1995, he became an Israeli citizen, but he was eventually released under parole in 2015 requiring him to stay in the United States. The parole requirement was canceled by President Donald Trump and Pollard immediately returned to Israel where he was celebrated as a hero. So much for Israel as America’s good friend and ally.

By another definition, Rahman, even if found guilty as charged over the sharing of classified documents, might easily be viewed as a whistleblower, revealing information that the United States government had collected on a foreign government that might lead to a war and many deaths. Rahman may have believed that the exposure of the war plans would make Israel pause and reconsider. And maybe it would also lead the United States to also reexamine its often touted “ironclad” support of everything that Israel does as excessively risky in a volatile part of the world where Washington has considerable real interests in terms of energy issues and national security.

If Rahman were to consider himself a whistleblower acting as he did as a matter of conscience, he would not be the first CIA officer to do so. John Kiriakou was an analyst and later a case officer and counterterrorism specialist for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) who worked in the Middle East, Pakistan and Greece. After leaving the Agency he became a senior investigator for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and later a consultant for ABC News, after which he became the operating manager of a political risk analysis consulting firm in Arlington Virginia. To John’s credit, he became the first US government official to confirm, during an interview with a reporter in December 2007, that waterboarding, which was simulated drowning, was routinely used to interrogate terrorist suspects, which he described as torture. One victim was reportedly waterboarded 183 times in a secret prison.

In Kiriakou’s case, as it was and still is illegal for the US government to torture people to extort a confession, the same Virginia court that is trying Rahman had to avoid allowing the potential war crimes issue to surface. So on April 5, 2012, Kiriakou was indicted, not for exposing torture, but rather for one count of violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act, three counts of violating the Espionage Act, and one count of “making false statements” for lying to the Agency’s Publications Review Board regarding a book that John was writing. Kiriakou pleaded not guilty and was released on bail. His time in court began on September 12th, 2012, at the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. It was conducted as a closed hearing in line with the Classified Information Procedures Act. On October 22, 2012, Kiriakou agreed to a plea bargain of guilty to one count of passing classified information to the media, violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act and thereby avoiding a formal trial. All other charges were dropped. On January 25th, 2013, John Kiriakou was sentenced to 30 months in a federal prison. On February 3rd, 2015, Kiriakou was released to serve a final three months under house arrest at his home in Virginia. Following his release, Kiriakou said his case was not about leaking information but about exposing torture, continuing, “and I would do it all over again.”

Kiriakou, to his immense credit, never walked away from what he did, declaring firmly that the torture regime and the lies that supported it was wrong, both illegal and immoral. Was Asif Rahman a whistleblower like Kiriakou? The answer to that depends on one’s point of view as he might have been seeking to stop a war rather than start one. He may have thought that it was something that his conscience and sense of shared humanity obligated him to do without regard for the possible consequences to himself. We will see how he defends himself when he finally appears before the judges. It will possibly be a very interesting discussion about America’s values as a nation vis-à-vis the questionable behavior of the state of Israel, but instead of listening to what Rahman has to say, the public will likely be hearing something like this from those in government as echoed by the captive media: Michael Waltz, Trump’s foreign policy advisor nominee recently said “When [Secretary of State] Blinken touched down in Israel yesterday, I hope he apologized to Bibi for leaking their battle plans, and told the Israelis that they were right all along. Because the Ayatollah is in hiding right now, not because of Biden, but because of Bibi.” The sad reality is that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has overwhelmed Joe Biden and will likely do the same to Donald Trump, has been allowed to become the prime architect of the shambles that the Middle East has become with no one but a handful of whistleblowers seeking to restore sanity.

Philip M. Giraldi, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest, a 501(c)3 tax deductible educational foundation (Federal ID Number #52-1739023) that seeks a more interests-based U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. Website is councilforthenationalinterest.org, address is P.O. Box 2157, Purcellville VA 20134 and its email is inform@cnionline.org.

December 18, 2024 Posted by | Militarism, Wars for Israel | , , , | Leave a comment

US declassifies explosive documents on ‘Israel’s’ nuclear arsenal

Al Mayadeen | December 18, 2024

Declassified documents cited by the US National Security Archive reveal that the United States has been aware since the 1960s of “Israel’s” ability to produce weapons-grade plutonium at its Dimona nuclear research center.

The US National Security Archive, established in 1985 by journalists and academics, has released a new collection of documents shedding light on “Israel’s” nuclear program.

Among these documents is a December 1960 report from the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), described as “the first and only known report that correctly and unambiguously states that the Israeli Dimona project would include a plutonium reprocessing plant and would be linked to a weapons program,” according to the archive.

An undeclared nuclear entity

However, subsequent US intelligence remained uncertain about “Israel’s” reprocessing activities until the late 1960s, when “Israel” reached the threshold of nuclear weapons capability. Around this time, a secret understanding was reportedly reached between “Israel” and the United States, acknowledging “Israel’s” status as an undeclared nuclear entity.

By 1967, evidence suggested that the Dimona reprocessing plant was either complete or nearly so, and the reactor was operating at full capacity. This progress meant that “Israel” could potentially produce a nuclear weapon within “six to eight weeks,” the report noted. In the following decade, according to declassified documents, the United States appeared to have adjusted to the reality of “Israel’s” nuclear weapons potential.

Dive deeper

A newly released briefing book, titled 1960 Intelligence Report Said Israeli Nuclear Site Was for Weapons, exposes shocking revelations about the US government’s early awareness of “Israel’s” nuclear weapons program.

The 20 declassified documents, which include intelligence reports and diplomatic exchanges, reveal that the US had serious concerns about “Israel’s” covert nuclear activities at the Dimona facility in the al-Naqab Desert.

These documents paint a striking picture of how the US monitored “Israel’s” nuclear schemes from the late 1950s and 1960s, knowing all along that Dimona was more than just a research center—it was the heart of “Israel’s” secret nuclear weapons development.

One of the most significant revelations, as per the book, comes from a December 1960 report by the Joint Atomic Energy Intelligence Committee (JAEIC), which explicitly states that the Dimona project was designed for plutonium production with the goal of developing nuclear weapons.

This marked the first known US intelligence report to confirm the weapons-related purpose of the Dimona facility.

‘Not a satellite of America’

A second explosive document unveils then-Israeli Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion’s fiery rebuttal to US questions about Dimona, where he defiantly declared that “Israel” was “not a satellite of America.” Rejecting any calls for international inspections or oversight, Ben-Gurion’s response reveals “Israel’s” bold strategy of nuclear secrecy—refusing to let outside scrutiny threaten its covert weapons program. At the time, this response highlighted “Israel’s” deliberate efforts to present itself as a sheep in wolf’s clothing in the external arena while pursuing its controversial nuclear program in the internal arena.

Documents detailing US inspections of Dimona between 1965 and 1967 highlight a growing sense of skepticism among US officials regarding Israeli assurances of “peaceful nuclear use.”

Despite “Israel’s” claims, US inspectors observed inconsistencies between the information provided and what was seen at the facility. These limited inspections fueled suspicions about “Israel’s” nuclear ambitions.

A 1967 intelligence assessment delivered a bombshell revelation: “Israel” was just “six to eight weeks” away from producing a nuclear weapon. This alarming disclosure marked a seismic shift in US intelligence, moving from mere suspicion to near-certainty about “Israel’s” covert nuclear weapons capability—exposing how close the entity was to an unprecedented arms escalation.

The big picture

The documents collectively highlight “Israel’s “strategy of nuclear ambiguity, known as “amimut”, which allowed it to maintain a nuclear deterrent without officially acknowledging it. This policy complicated US efforts to enforce global non-proliferation while preserving its alliance with “Israel”.

In short, the declassified documents revealed that by the early 1960s, the US possessed substantial intelligence indicating “Israel’s” nuclear program was geared toward weapons development, a fact that remained hidden from public view for decades. They also underscore the intricate balancing act of US foreign policy, where national security priorities and strategic alliances often clash with non-proliferation goals.

As “Israel” continues to maintain its policy of nuclear ambiguity, the question remains: what role does “Israel”, as an undeclared nuclear power, play in shaping the current landscape of regional and global nuclear politics—particularly when paired with its actions in Gaza, widely criticized as genocidal?

Should the global community be more alarmed?

December 18, 2024 Posted by | Deception, Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, Militarism | , , | Leave a comment

Nuclear war would be good for Ukraine – neo-Nazi activist

RT | December 18, 2024

Ukraine would benefit from being targeted by a Russian nuclear strike, which is why Moscow will never undertake such a step, a notorious far-right activist and head of a hate group has claimed.

Prominent Ukrainian neo-Nazi Evgeny Karas has said he would welcome a nuclear escalation in the Ukraine conflict, in an interview on Tuesday with Ukrainian broadcaster Radio Bayraktar. Karas is leader of the S14 far-right group, whose members have a record of harassing minorities and have been accused of high-profile political murder.

”Nuclear war is good,” he told the station, named after a Turkish-made attack drone. “When it happens, we’ll have no more reasons to whine. Nothing worse could happen after a nuclear strike.”

Countries like India and China would turn against Moscow, Karas argued, adding that nuclear fallout in Ukraine may even be good for evolution. “A nuclear war may help us evolve in a way that we could see through an official and tell whether he is a thief or not.”

Karas claimed that the November release of the video game ‘S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl’, which was developed in Ukraine, has prepared the country for a nuclear war. The country will come through a nuclear crisis and make a leap forward in technology, producing artificial intelligence and advanced robots, Karas believes.

The remarks were part of his dismissal of Russia’s new hypersonic ballistic missile Oreshnik, which he called poorly-named and not really scary.

Russia demonstrated the Oreshnik’s capability in late November in response to Ukraine’s use of long-range Western-donated weapons for strikes deep inside its territory. It fired a non-nuclear version of the medium-range missile at a Soviet-built arms factory in the city of Dnepr, Ukraine.

December 18, 2024 Posted by | Militarism | | Leave a comment

US Withdrew From Arms Treaties to Develop New Weapons – Russian General

Sputnik – 18.12.2024

The US pulled out of the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM), Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) and Open Skies treaties so it could build more destructive weapons, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov has said.

“The situation is also aggravated by the crisis in the system of international arms control commitments and agreements,” Gerasimov told a briefing for foreign military attaches.

“Since 2002, the United States has destroyed all the agreements in this area signed during the Cold War — the ABM Treaty, the INF Treaty and the Open Skies Treaty,” he noted.

“The reason why the United States withdrew from these agreements was the desire to ensure the possibility of creating new types of weapons, which were considered the most destructive.”

Gerasimov said the first and foremost issue was medium- and short-range missiles, as well as the US deployment of its missile defense systems in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

The general said Russia’s Armed Forces in 2024 had met all the tasks set by the government.

“Summing up the performance of the Armed Forces this year, I would like to note that all the tasks set by the country’s leadership have been fulfilled,” Gerasimov said.

He noted that the renewal of weapons and military equipment was underway and the level of training of the command and units was increasing.

Much practical experience had been gained during the special operation in combat operations by various formations, use of aviation, air defense and other units.

More than 30 countries have provided Ukraine with $350 billion in financial aid, including about $170 billion for military needs, and more than 165,000 Ukrainian servicemen have been trained to NATO standards, Gerasimov said.

But the goals of the special military operation would definitely be achieved, he insisted.

The general added that the proportion of strategic nuclear forces units equipped with the newest weapons was now at 95 percent.

Gerasimov announced that the first regiment equipped with the S-500 surface-to-air missile system, which is capable of strategic missile defense, was on the verge of completion.

December 18, 2024 Posted by | Militarism | , , , , | Leave a comment

Sen. Mitch McConnell Fights On for US Foreign Intervention and the Military-Industrial Complex

By Adam Dick | Peace and Prosperity Blog | December 17, 2024

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is set to no longer be the leader of Senate Republicans when Donald Trump is sworn in as president next month. But, McConnell will remain in the Senate. McConnell signaled on Monday, via an editorial at Foreign Affairs, that he will be using his position in the legislative body to focus on supporting increasing both the United States government’s intervention oversees and the flow of money to the military-industrial complex.

Of all things, McConnell, in the second paragraph of his editorial, complained that President Joe Biden has pursued “engagement and accommodation” in foreign policy. This is the president who has been funding, and supplying weapons and intelligence to, Ukraine and Israel without halt for two wars with big tolls in destruction of life and property. Further, these are two wars with large and growing potential to spiral into world war and nuclear annihilation.

Where is Biden’s “engagement and accommodation” in regard to Russia? Biden refuses to even talk with the nation’s leader and persistently prevents peace negotiations for the Ukraine War. Meanwhile, tensions build with China due to US bellicose statements regarding, and actions in, the Asian economic and nuclear power’s neighborhood.

The rewards, meanwhile, have been bountiful for the military-industrial complex.

Yet, Biden’s intervention overseas and military funding are insufficient, proclaimed McConnell. McConnell wants more, and he will be pressuring Trump as president to deliver on that. For a taste of McConnell’s advice for Trump, consider this paragraph from McConnell’s editorial:

Trump would be wise to build his foreign policy on the enduring cornerstone of U.S. leadership: hard power. To reverse the neglect of military strength, his administration must commit to a significant and sustained increase in defense spending, generational investments in the defense industrial base, and urgent reforms to speed the United States’ development of new capabilities and to expand allies’ and partners’ access to them.

And McConnell calls for that military might to be ready for use to help allies and fight foes around the world. Indeed, McConnell’s greatest fear appears to be that Trump will let even some of the rest of the world be. Warned McConnell in his editorial, “the response to four years of weakness must not be four years of isolation.” Further commented McConnell, “Trump will hear from neo-isolationists who discount the importance of American allies to American prosperity, ignore the need for the United States’ credibility among fence sitters in critical regions, and misunderstand the basic requirements of the U.S. military to deter or win faraway conflicts.” Be assured, McConnell will from the Senate work to ensure that, contrary to such so-called neo-isolationist advice, the US will not give peace a chance.

Trump’s effort to run as the “peace candidate” may alone have made the difference in his winning the presidential election last month. While not portraying himself as a noninterventionist in regard to foreign policy, Trump did make many comments through the election that indicated he was much farther toward supporting peace than was Biden. The distinction was clear for all to see.

Trump then continued on this course on election night, making the following succinct comment in his acceptance speech: “I’m not gonna start a war; I’m gonna stop wars.” Talk like that to McConnell is like a crucifix to a vampire.

I am hopeful that Trump, as he has continued to suggest in the time between his election and inauguration, will pursue as president a foreign policy significantly less interventionist and militaristic than the one Biden has pursued. But, I am not sure that will be the case. It is not wise to take politicians’ promises to the bank.

More certain is my expectation the McConnell will follow through with his effort to ensure the US government is extreme in its interventions abroad and its feeding of the military-industrial complex. Doing just that has been a large part of McConnell’s career in the Senate over many years.

December 17, 2024 Posted by | Militarism | , | Leave a comment

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