Archive for the ‘NATO’ Category
Posted on June 16, 2011 - by Venik
NATO Says It Won’t Attack Russia
You have to agree that it would look rather strange if you were to approach some random person on the street and tell him that you you will not punch him in the face. From time to time NATO leadership likes to reassure Russia of the Alliance’s friendly intentions. But in the past couple of [...]
Posted on December 1, 2010 - by Venik
NATO, Russia, and Romania
In the recent interview for Romania Libera, Basescu announced that Romania will absorb its poor neighbor Moldova within twenty five years. According to Basescu, this “reunification” is a done deal and would have happened earlier if it wasn’t for the interference from the evil Russians. Acquiring Moldova’s territories is a key aspect of the Greater Romania concept.
Posted on August 30, 2010 - by Venik
Global Moron Alert
Here’s my scientific study* on the density of morons in various almost randomly-selected countries. We deal with morons on a daily basis. Some of us would swear we are surrounded by morons. But how many morons are there? I decided to try to answer this question and arrived at some unexpected results. Wikipedia defines “moron” [...]
Posted on July 27, 2010 - by Venik
The Biggest Secret
While the US Army is revving up its investigation of Bradley Manning, those of us with a gift for diagonal reading are sure to be very busy for the next couple of weeks. However, I think it is safe to say that the Afghan war’s two biggest “secrets” have been sufficiently exposed. And they are [...]
Posted on August 9, 2009 - by Venik
Russians in Afghanistan
AP’s recent “Safety of Russian planes in Afghanistan questioned” by Catrina Stewart is exactly why female journalists should stick to writing about Gucci purses, chihuahuas, and SUVs. After some, no doubt, extensive research on the subject of military transport aviation, this broad came to the conclusion that the reason NATO keeps hiring Russian cargo aircraft [...]
Posted on July 15, 2009 - by Venik
Talking to Taliban
Coalition losses in Afghanistan continue mounting. Most casualties are sustained when troops are at their bases or on routine patrol missions. Recent reports suggest that the coalition is short on operational helicopters. Available fleets of attack helicopters and ground attack planes are stretched thin providing cover to supply convoys and ground patrols. The overall situation [...]
Posted on April 30, 2009 - by Venik
The Road to Afghanistan
The expedient defeat of NATO-sponsored Georgian army last August by the Russians left many hardliners in Washington and Brussels itching to respond. NATO’s decision to break formal contacts with Russia was a testament to NATO’s own political weakness. To add to the Alliance’s humiliation, the economic crisis forced the West to seek improved relations with [...]
Posted on April 16, 2009 - by Venik
Costly NATO Ambitions
Besieged in his new glass-domed presidential palace in Tbilisi by thousands of protesters demanding his resignation, Mikheil Saakashvili is desperately searching for any opportunity to strengthen his slipping hold on power. The EU, rattled by the brief but eventful 2009 gas war between Russia and Ukraine, is almost just as anxious to help Misha keep [...]
Posted on April 4, 2009 - by Venik
Misunderestimated Enemy
Obama’s election campaign put the war in Afghanistan on a pedestal as the single most important national security goal of the post-Bush era. Currently, the NATO-led international force in Afghanistan numbers about 55,000 troops from forty one countries, including about 23,000 American soldiers.The NATO force in Afghanistan has virtually no heavy armor – just a [...]
Posted on February 17, 2009 - by Venik
When subs collide
As we now know, a British and a French nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed submarines collided in the Atlantic earlier this month. Amazingly, the first newspaper to report the incident and to prompt the official admission of the accident was The Sun tabloid. The Royal Navy said that the subs “came into contact at very low speeds”, calling [...]
Posted on February 9, 2009 - by Venik
Russia Stepping on Obama’s Afghan Plans
For nearly eight years Manas International Airport in Kyrgyzstan has been a key element in the US tactics and strategy in Afghanistan. The airport supported a high volume of flights by USAF aircraft, primarily by heavy-lift transports and aerial tankers but also by F/A-18, F-15E, and A-10 ground attack aircraft, as well as by other [...]
Posted on December 27, 2008 - by Venik
Uncomplicated Perspective
Long time, no posts. I resolved to not use a computer during my vacation. Quitting smoking was easier. Anyway, I just ran across an amusing editorial in NY Times about what Obama should do vis-à-vis Vladimir Putin. I am not sure if the author was trying to be entertaining, being coyly naive, or if he [...]
Posted on September 22, 2008 - by Venik
The Joint Strike Fighter Dilemma
As Australia is considering buying a hundred Lockheed-Martin/Boeing F-35A fighter-bombers for USD 83 million a piece, reports have emerged that the much-advertised stealth aircraft was comprehensively defeated by Sukhoi Su-35 in August 2008 during classified computer-simulated war games in Hawaii conducted by the USAF with participation from other NATO members. While Pentagon and Lockheed-Martin officials [...]
Posted on April 4, 2008 - by Venik
Putin and NATO expansion
A little bit of history first. In 1948 the Treaty of Brussels was signed by the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France and the United Kingdom to protect themselves from unspecified evildoers (the Soviets). All parties involved clearly realized that the combined military might of post-war France and Luxembourg was probably not enough to counter hundreds of Soviet [...]
