Tag: Romania

TOC Ready Room 26 October 2022: 101st Airborne in Romania; Kanye, China, and other wonders

What’s wrong and right with Russia-Ukraine, China and computers, and Ye.

This will be a rough-and-ready Ready Room, intended to spray a few current topics out there without going in-depth on any of them.  I really mean it this time, so throw rotten fruit if you catch a glimpse of over-analysis out here in the heathery rough.

The first topic is the headline teaser:  deployment of the U.S. 101st Airborne to Europe.  CBS did a segment this past week in which its crew accompanied soldiers of the 101st on field activities in Romania, just “a few miles” from the border of Ukraine.

A great deal was made of the point that the 101st hasn’t deployed to Europe since World War II. Continue reading “TOC Ready Room 26 October 2022: 101st Airborne in Romania; Kanye, China, and other wonders”

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BREAKING: Russia cuts off major supply route for U.S., NATO in Afghanistan

Not quite “Moscow is burning,” but a similar concept.

Attack on a NATO convoy in the Khyber Pass, June 2014. (Image: EPA, Gullamullah Habibi via NY Daily News)
Attack on a NATO convoy in the Khyber Pass, June 2014. (Image: EPA, Gullamullah Habibi via NY Daily News)

Well, this is bad.  This is a real, no-kidding move against U.S. and NATO interests, one that could significantly increase the peril to our forces in Afghanistan.  It creates the potential for things to go south very quickly for NATO troops.

That, in turn, increases the likelihood of divisions within NATO over the alliance’s Afghanistan commitment.  The divisions could well affect NATO’s posture on the political conflict with Russia.  And assuming the Obama administration is passive and ineffective in the face of this latest move by Moscow, the alliance will find an existential crisis – at least the beginnings of one – inescapable.

The basic story is that the U.S. and NATO have relied throughout the Afghan operation on supply routes that run through both Pakistan and the former-Soviet republics of Central Asia.  In 2008, the route called the Northern Distribution Network, or NDN, was consolidated, with a portion of it running through the territory of Russia.  Russia has benefited from transit fees, along with the Central Asian ‘Stans, and has been content to hold in reserve the pocket veto she possesses by agreeing to let our supplies flow through her transportation network. Continue reading “BREAKING: Russia cuts off major supply route for U.S., NATO in Afghanistan”

Peace in our time: Russia, NATO approach Black Sea flashpoint without CFE

No trust, less verify.

Russian military convoy near Ukrainian border, late 2014. (Image: CNN)
Russian military convoy near Ukrainian border, late 2014. (Image: CNN)

New post up at Liberty Unyielding.  Enjoy!

Ukraine: So now we wait * UPDATE *

Peace in our time.

Ex-Kara CG Ochakov, now bottling up the Ukrainian fleet. (Ukrainian Defense image)
Ex-Kara CG Ochakov, now bottling up the Ukrainian fleet. (Ukrainian Defense image)

As predicted, Vladimir Putin has established a foothold in Ukraine, and now he has to be negotiated with.  He’s in no hurry to start negotiating at this point, because circumstances haven’t lined up sufficiently in his favor yet.  He’s in a position he can’t be dislodged from, Continue reading “Ukraine: So now we wait * UPDATE *”