Quick Takes – Enemies Not So Far Abroad: Russia In The Americas; Putin And Kim; Axis Of The Devils

     Another “quick takes” on items where there is too little to say to make a complete article, but is still important enough to comment on.

     The focus this time: They want us to blame ourselves; that makes it easier for them to dominate more and more and more.

     First, a little mood music:

     Carrying on…

     We’ve been told by some that Ukraine is a “peripheral” interest of the U.S. and we shouldn’t insert ourselves in what is a core interest of Russia. So, is the Caribbean also a core interest of Russia and only a peripheral one of the U.S.?

“Russia is preparing to deploy aircraft and combat naval vessels to the Caribbean to conduct military exercises in the coming weeks, its first exercises in the Western Hemisphere involving both air and sea activity in five years, a senior administration official told McClatchy and the Miami Herald.

“…

“The official said the administration expects Moscow will ‘conduct heightened naval and air activity near the United States’ that will likely include port calls by combat naval vessels in Cuba, and possibly Venezuela — two longstanding Russian allies that have seen occasional visits from Russian naval assets in the past two decades. The exercises may also include “aircraft deployments” and flights in the region, the official said.

“Administration officials suspect that Cuba approved the Russian port call ‘at least in part’ over an incident last year in which a U.S. nuclear submarine docked at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, angering the Cubans, a second U.S. official said.”

     And the self-proclaimed enemies of the U.S. are getting awfully friendly with each other!

“Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed an agreement Wednesday that pledges mutual aid if either country faces “aggression,” a strategic pact that comes as both face escalating standoffs with the West.

“Details of the deal were not immediately clear, but it could mark the strongest connection between Moscow and Pyongyang since the end of the Cold War. Both leaders described it as a major upgrade of their relations, covering security, trade, investment, cultural and humanitarian ties.

“The summit came as Putin visited North Korea for the first time in 24 years and the U.S. and its allies expressed growing concerns over a possible arms arrangement in which Pyongyang provides Moscow with badly needed munitions for its war in Ukraine, in exchange for economic assistance and technology transfers that could enhance the threat posed by Kim’s nuclear weapons and missile program.”

     Thick as thieves they are, and the Chinese Communists are, of course, in the midst of it all.

“The Axis of a**holes, or Axis of the Devils, or whatever you want to call the opportunistic cooperation between China, Russia, Iran, and other states hostile to the United States and its allies, is constantly probing the borders of the West, testing new provocations and watching how we react. As Elizabeth Braw wrote in the Financial Times last month, ‘Russia and China are challenging the global system of national boundaries at sea and in inland waters.’

“In the eyes of Moscow and Beijing, what’s mine is mine, and what’s yours is negotiable. One day you’ve got marker buoys in a river between Estonia and Russia, the next morning they’re gone. In case you’re wondering how that shook out, Estonia has not replaced the marker buoys, the U.S. issued a firmly worded statement, and the Russian Pravda.ru website scoffs, ‘Small European state of Estonia has no guts to tease Russian bear.’

“…

“Tamsui is a district of New Taipei City, in north Taiwan, sitting at the confluence of the Taiwan Strait and the Tamsui River, which flows into the sea through the national capital of Taipei. Military planners in both China and Taiwan still study the battle of Tamsui in 1884 for lessons to apply to a potential future battle.

“Somebody might accidentally drive their speedboat up the Tamsui River without authorization, communications, or warning if they were drunk, high, or particularly dumb. But when that speedboat driver is a former Chinese PLA Navy captain, it’s much harder to believe it’s an accident”

     TTFN.

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