Official Global Military Thread

[SO143]

Russia to build sea-based 'missile shield' - diplomat



Russia is planning to develop its own sea-based missile defense system, a Foreign Ministry official said on Thursday.

"According to our analysis, this system will be very efficient and meet the norms of international maritime law," said Vladimir Kozin, a deputy director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's information and press department.

Kozin did not give any further details on the future missile defense system. He was speaking at a video conference between Moscow and Kiev on European security.

The move is almost certain to be interpreted as Russia's response to NATO's European missile shield, which it says it needs to counter potential missile attacks from "rogue states," such as Iran and North Korea.

The NATO "shield" includes U.S. warships equipped with Aegis ballistic missile defense systems capable of shooting down short- and medium-range ballistic missiles.

Russia has retained staunch opposition to the deployment of missile defense systems near its borders, claiming they would be a threat to its national security.

Moscow has repeatedly warned NATO it would create both defensive and offensive means to counter any missile threat and to penetrate any missile defense if the sides did not agree to cooperate on the issue.

http://en.rian.ru/mlitary_news/20110922/167048033.html

[LondonFox]

No one gives a flying fuck about Russia any more.... they are still blowing hot air like the cold war was still on. Let them do what they like, they will come crawling back when they need the UK to save one of their failed and sunk subs... again.

British rescuers of the Russian submarine crew after receiving awards from Russian President Vladimir Putin in London (l to r): Captain Jonathan Holloway, remote vehicle operators Stuart Gold and Peter Nutall, RAF Squadron Leader Keith Hewitt and Commander Ian Riches. Photograph: Fiona Hanson/PA


"Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, today honoured the courage and professionalism of a British rescue team that saved the crew of a Russian submarine trapped on the Pacific Ocean floor.

The ceremony, held at Downing Street on the second day of Mr Putin's British visit, was the first time that Russian medals have been given to foreign military staff.

In another first, Mr Putin stepped where no other foreign leader has been before: He was given a tour of the Cobra crisis management bunker during a meeting with Tony Blair on increased cooperation over counter-terrorism.

Mr Putin, a former KGB head, was briefed on the terrorism threat by security chiefs who were once dedicated to spying on him.

Above ground, Russia's highly exclusive Order for Maritime Services was awarded to the Royal Navy team leader, Commander Ian Riches, together with Stuart Gold and Peter Nuttall from contractors James Fisher Rumic Ltd, who operated the Scorpio remote-controlled rescue vehicle.

Squadron Leader Keith Hewitt - the captain of the RAF C17 transport aircraft which flew the Scorpio from Scotland to Russia's Pacific coast - and Captain Jonathan Holloway, the British naval attaché in Moscow, received the Order of Friendship.

At the ceremony in No 10's Pillared Room, Mr Putin said he was "honoured" to present the medals.

"I would like to thank you for the work done, for the mission accomplished and rescue of the Russian seamen.

"The work was done quickly, at a good professional level and most importantly it succeeded."

The rescue team used the Scorpio to free the AS28 submarine after it became entangled in cables.

The seven-man crew of the AS28 had just four to six hours of oxygen left when their vessel was freed in early August by the Scorpio after three days on the ocean floor.

The incident threatened to be a repeat for Mr Putin of the Kursk disaster, in which 118 submariners died. Russian authorities received sharp criticism for their handling of the crisis, in which they delayed asking for international help.

After Kursk, the Russian navy was thought unwilling to ask for international assistance in case it revealed the declined state of some of its capabilities.

In Downing Street, Mr Putin praised the cooperation between the Russian and Royal navies: "In this regard, I can't help mentioning that this year we jointly marked the 60th anniversary of VE Day - victory over Nazis," he said.

"We in Russia remember vividly remarkable examples of outstanding heroism demonstrated by the British seamen in the operation of the so-called Northern Convoy.

"I am very pleased to note that even today you have made your contribution in substantially increasing, up-levelling, deepening and broadening our cooperation."

Mr Blair and Mr Putin met yesterday for an EU-Russia summit in London."

[SO143]

^ Yea indeed but much more things are being invented and produced in Russian military these days, we can't ignore their effort as well as threat lolz Russian Navy is currently building about 15 nuclear-powered submarines ( originally planned was 20 ) and they just tested their new stealth fighter jets successfully and those are expected to be sold to anti-west countries in a few years lol

Finnish defense ministry sounds alarm as Russian defence reforms double of troops on border

The English press ignored this, but this Finnish MoD report has been all over the Russian media today.

Basically, the Finnish MoD has concluded that Russian army reforms are working, and this has them worried.

The Finnish report is quite detailed, but I cant find an English language translation.

They conclude that Russia could march through Finland and the Baltics without so much as a hiccup, that Ukraine and Belarus wouldnt even be speed bumps.

Resistance would be had in Poland, but they say the Poles wouldnt last a month without serious Western European involvement.

They advocate for serious Eastern European defense spending increases, and not relying on the Western EU powers.

It reads a lot like that RAND study a few years back that talked about a Russia vs NATO fight over the Baltics, but they conclude that this current buildup gives Russia the muscle to push quite a bit further than just the Baltic midget states.

http://news.err.ee/politics/313f0974...4-b02963c537cd

http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Fin.../1135269498092

Russian strategic nuclear forces

Cosmos-2473 - Garpun-type relay satellite

On September 21, 2011 at 02:47 MSK Space Forces successfully launched a Proton-M rocket from the launch pad No.

24 of the launch complex No. 81 of the Baykonur launch site. The rocket and the Briz-M upper stage successfully delivered the satellite, Cosmos-2473, to a geosynchronous transfer orbit.

Cosmos-2473 is reported to be a new military relay satellite.

Cosmos-2473 was given an international designation 2011-048A and NORAD number 37806.

It is believed to be a satellite of a new type, identified as Garpun (Harpoon), which was developed to replace older Geizer satellites of the Potok system.

This system was built to relay information from reconnaissance satellites in real time.

The last Geizer satellite, Cosmos-2371 (26394), was launched in July 2000 and stopped operations in 2009.

Satellites of the Potok system have three GEO stations reserved for them - 13.5W, 80E, and 168W.

Only the first two have been used so far. Cosmos-2473 will most likely be deployed in the station at 80E.

http://russianforces.org/blog/2011/0...ype_rela.shtml

[LondonFox]

Russia won't do anything of the sort.. outright war would follow if they did any invading on that scale.. especially so close to the EU.

[SO143]

Kosovar Serbs In Cat-And-Mouse Game With NATO On Border



September 23, 2011
MITROVICA -- NATO peacekeepers are busy blocking "alternative" border crossings into Serbia set up by Kosovar Serbs as they continue to protest the presence of Kosovo police and customs officials on the border, RFE/RL's Balkan Service reports.

The Serbs have reverted to using back roads to cross into Serbia and bring food and other supplies to the territory they control in the north of Kosovo since NATO-led KFOR troops helped Kosovo and EU officials take over the main Jarinje and Brnjak crossings on September 16.

One of the alternative roads winds around the Jarinje crossing and to the village of Rudnica in southern Serbia. The Serbs cleared the path and prepared to asphalt it on September 22, but KFOR moved in and ringed the border with barbed wire to prevent people from using it.

Afterward the Serbs unloaded truckloads of gravel around KFOR troops to prevent them from using the road, just as they had previously done at the official Jarinje and Brnjak crossings, which remain unpassable.

Krstimir Pantic, a local Serbian leader, told RFE/RL on September 23 that the Serbs have begun using another back road to alleviate "a small humanitarian crisis because it is not possible to transport food, medicine, and fuel into the north of
Kosovo."

"That road is open for traffic of passenger cars and to my knowledge it is not used for the transport of commercial goods," he said. "We are fully ready for a compromise with [Kosovar] Albanians and the international community but we cannot alow that there are [official] border crossings between Serbia and the north of the province [of Kosovo]. All other issues are open for negotiation."

Serbia and Kosovar Serbs do not recognize Kosovo's independence, which was declared in 2008. But 83 countries do recognize Kosovo as an independent state.

KFOR officials said they are working on a solution to the dispute.

"At the moment we are working on [some measures to] resolve it. I am sure we will find a solution," KFOR spokesman Ralf Adametz told RFE/RL.

The situation with the crossings has affected the implementation of a customs-stamps agreement between Kosovo and Serbia.

The continuation of talks between Kosovar and Serbian officials on technical issues is due to resume on September 27-28.[/quote]

http://www.rferl.org/content/kosovar.../24338307.html

Finnish defense ministry sounds alarm as Russian defence reforms double of troops on border

The English press ignored this, but this Finnish MoD report has been all over the Russian media today.

Basically, the Finnish MoD has concluded that Russian army reforms are working, and this has them worried.

The Finnish report is quite detailed, but I cant find an English language translation.

They conclude that Russia could march through Finland and the Baltics without so much as a hiccup, that Ukraine and Belarus wouldnt even be speed bumps.

Resistance would be had in Poland, but they say the Poles wouldnt last a month without serious Western European involvement.

They advocate for serious Eastern European defense spending increases, and not relying on the Western EU powers.

It reads a lot like that RAND study a few years back that talked about a Russia vs NATO fight over the Baltics, but they conclude that this current buildup gives Russia the muscle to push quite a bit further than just the Baltic midget states.

http://news.err.ee/politics/313f0974...4-b02963c537cd

http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Fin.../1135269498092

[xterra2]

Originally Posted by LondonFox

Russia won't do anything of the sort.. outright war would follow if they did any invading on that scale.. especially so close to the EU.

they wont
bs article

[xterra2]

Originally Posted by LondonFox

No one gives a flying fuck about Russia any more.... they are still blowing hot air like the cold war was still on. Let them do what they like, they will come crawling back when they need the UK to save one of their failed and sunk subs... again.

sometime ago in putin early presidency
a russian sub had a torpedo inside and it wasnt well maintaned when the torpedo was shifted BOOM, explosion the sub sank Russiahad no equipment for rescue, and russia rejected foreign help it took putin;s involment dyas later for the rescue and when the rescuers whet there they were dead already
if they had accepted the help the first time, the officers wouldnt have died

that right there is bad

[xterra2]

bad english
maybe my keyboard was drunk
cant be bothered to edit it

[SO143]

Here s why the USAF never bombed Israel

"THE ORION GROUP"
- Exposing SATANISM in the USAF and NWO AGENDA -
-by Pamela Schuffert, investigative journalist

THE term "ORION GROUP" refers to an utterly clandestine group of hard-core satanists within the USAF whose names and purposes will never be officially published nor acknowledged as such by the USAF and for obvious reasons. They are high level USAF officers by DAY, working hard to bring down the NEW WORLD ORDER, and by NIGHT they are hard-core human-sacrificing SATANISTS.

You will never know about their clandestine activities nor their names by USAF publications, nor by their official website and related government sites.

Satanism/Illuminism hides continually under a cloak of CLANDESTINE SECRETS.

All you will ever read about in USAF publications and related websites, is that which is general run-of-the mill type military information.

There are many different operations in the USAF and US military, going by names that may indeed include ORION GROUP, OMEGA GROUP, etc.

But their hard-core black-ops like the hidden SATANIC NWO "ORION GROUP" you will never read about openly. That would destroy their covertness, obviously.

There are numerous military/intelligence community black ops that you will never read about or know about, and they happen every day.

There are numerous SATANIST/Illuminati black ops and dark activities that news media bias/blackout will NEVER inform you of, and they happen every day.

So let's become realistic in seeking to understand these facts, and not dumbed down as the government wants us to be.

My father was recruited into Pentagon/USAF satanism and the NWO agenda, and NO ONE EVER knew from official USAF publications or websites.

In fact, the satanists and the Illuminati always provide A COVER FOR THEIR OWN, to conceal the truth from the public.

My father's cover was "THE ICON CARTOONIST FOR THE USAF" and he was always given laud and perks and kudos from within the USAF.

http://www.af.mil/news/airman/1298/world10.htm

And the airmen who read his cartoons with every publication of AIRMAN MAGAZINE, distributed on every USAF military base worldwide, NEVER HAD A CLUE.

My Christian mother and I DID, and we fought this NWO programming and satanism in my father for 30 years, before he came out to become a born again Christian and was finally set free.

Military Chaplain Col. Jim Ammerman of FULL GOSPEL CHAPLAINCY sent one of his USAF chaplain contacts, Chaplain Ailsworth, to confront my father with the truth from the WORD OF GOD in our Washington DC home, and my father repented and found Jesus Christ.

http://www.chaplaincyfullgospel.org/biojim.aspx

Col. Jim was a co-worker of mine as well, traveling nationwide to expose the NEW WORLD ORDER agenda. He referred to this as "THE IMMINENT MILITARY TAKEOVER OF AMERICA." We both knew many of the same truths regarding the NWO. Col. Jim as able to confirm much of the information I was receiving while I performed investigative journalism.

One of the main purposes of investgative journalism like mine, is to EXPOSE this kind of terrible darkness in our nation, and help the American people to understand the level of deception and darkness and cover-up that goes on all the time throughout our government, military, etc.

The American people will have to choose in this hour to be DECEIVED..or NOT deceived...and THAT is the question."

http://ezinearticles.com/?Satanism-and- ... &id=473028

" The truth is, there is no Islamic army or terrorist group called Al Qaeda. And any informed intelligence officer knows this. But there is a propaganda campaign to make the public believe in the presence of an identified entity representing the devil only in order to drive the TV watcher to accept a unified international leadership for a war against terrorism. The country behind this propaganda is the US." ROBIN COOK EX UK FOREIGN SECRETARY.......he died of a massive "heart attack" not long later

http://americanholocaustcoming.blogspot ... usafs.html

[SO143]

Japan Worries About China Nukes

TOKYO – Never mind natural resources or national pride.

China's rapid military modernization and aggressive territorial claims are rooted in the calculus of nuclear deterrence, according to defense analysts in Japan.

Sumihiko Kawamura, deputy director of the conservative Okazaki Institute in Tokyo, says China has claimed virtually all of the South China Sea and is developing aircraft carriers and stealth fighter planes largely to secure a haven for ballistic missile submarines.


This would allow China to strike back if the US or other opponent were to destroy China's land-based missiles in a first strike. China's shallow coastal waters currently leave little room for nuclear submarines to hide.

“You cannot understand China's maritime policy without considering the nuclear dimension,” says Kawamura, a retired admiral in Japan's maritime self-defense forces – aka, the Japanese Navy.

“China wants to become a military superpower. To do that, it has to acquire a second-strike capability, and they are eager to grow that capability. That is the reason they want to control all of the South China Sea, “says Kawamura.

In recent years, China increasingly has sent its navy and armed patrol ships into surrounding waters to assert control over territory variously claimed by Japan, Vietnam, the Philippines and others.

A particular flashpoint has been the South China Sea, which China claims virtually in its entirety.

One-third of the world's shipping passes through that waterway, including 90 percent of Japan's imported oil. It is rich in commercial fishing resources and is believed to hold large deposits of oil and gas.

In July, Vietnam and the Philippines conducted live-fire military exercises to protest the intrusion of Chinese warships into parts of the South China Sea that each country claims.

Earlier, a Chinese helicopter buzzed a Japanese destroyer in disputed waters near Japan. And in 2009 Chinese warships attempted to destroy equipment operated by the US Navy surveillance ship Impeccable.

Tetsuo Kotani, senior research fellow at the Research Institute for Peace and Security in Tokyo, says the push into the South China Sea – half-again the size of the Mediterranean and five miles deep in places -- is an integral part of China's nuclear weapons strategy.

China is building a submarine base on Hainan Island in the South China Sea and plans to introduce up to five Type 094, or Jin-class, submarines outfitted with new JL-2 missiles. Those missiles have an estimated range of 8,000 kilometers – enough to strike US bases in Asia and Hawaii.

“Possessing a credible sea-based nuclear deterrent is a priority for China's military strategy,” Kotani wrote in The Diplomat in July. “Without understanding the nuclear dimension of South China Sea disputes, China's maritime expansion makes no sense.”

During the Cold War, the Soviet Pacific Fleet deployed some 100 attack submarines and 140 surface warships and strengthened its land defenses to create a similar safe haven for ballistic submarines in the Sea of Okhotsk, north of Japan.

China currently has a small arsenal of land-based nuclear missiles that could reach the continental United States, and a handful of submarines armed with relatively short-range missiles.

China's stated policy is to never use nuclear weapons preemptively, and for defensive purposes only.

China's first aircraft carrier, a refurbished model purchased from the Ukraine, finished its maiden sea trials last month, and officials have announced the construction of a second carrier. In January, China began test flights of its first warplane with stealth technology.

Kawamura says that while China would need a decade or more to build enough carriers and escort ships to challenge the US on the open seas, one or two carriers operating with support from land-based warplanes could provide critical protection for nuclear-equipped submarines.

“It's a very dangerous situation for us,” Kawamura says. “We don't want China to become an equal nuclear power with the United States.”

http://battleland.blogs.time.com/201...t-china-nukes/

[Eaglenest]

Aren't the japanese already have a sizable navy that can always be beefed up on the backs of their industry?

[desertpunk]

DefenseNews

Brazil in 'Urgent' Need Of Fighter Jets: Minister

By AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Published: 30 Sep 2011 11:54

BRASILIA - Brazil's defense minister has reignited speculation about a multi-billion-dollar fighter jet deal by saying his country is in "urgent" need of new combat aircraft despite this year's budget cuts.

The French Dassault's Rafale fighter, the U.S. Boeing's F/A-18 Super Hornet and the Swedish Saab's Gripen NG have long been in stiff competition for the estimated $4-7 billion contract, as Brazil has postponed a final decision. Brazil earlier this year postponed the expected purchase to 2012, citing the need for budget cuts in 2011 due to the deteriorating world economy.

But Defense Minister Celso Amorim said Sept. 29 that there was little time to waste, as Brazil's current fleet is aging rapidly. "By the end of 2013, none of the 12 Mirage (aircraft) at the Anapolis air base will be in full flying condition. This is something that is really urgent, very important," Amorim said, according to a state-run news agency. "The need to defend the Amazon, the borders - we need to have adequate combat aircraft," he said.

He reiterated Brazil's position that the "transfer of technology" is the key sticking point, as the emerging economic giant is keen to develop its own fighter aircraft manufacturing capability.

Brazil has repeatedly delayed making a decision on the tender for 36 new fighter jets. Former Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had promised to declare a winner before leaving office at the end of 2010, but instead handed the tender over to his successor, Dilma Rousseff, who has put off making a choice and shown no preference for any of the jets.

[...]

[Aaronj09]

Originally Posted by LondonFox

Russia won't do anything of the sort.. outright war would follow if they did any invading on that scale.. especially so close to the EU.

Russia has no need to do anything of the sort, either.

[SO143]

France releases 2012 defense budget


31.72 billion Euro (42.59 billion dollar) defense budget or 39.37 billion if you include pension liabilities. With pension liabilities you are looking at 1.9% of French GDP. The 2012 defense budget will be some 550 million euros larger than the 2011 budget.


Major procurements include:
1 C-160 Gabriel
7 Areos rec pods
11 Rafales
2 Falcon 2000 LX's
5 C-295 transport planes
228 AASM's
2 SAMPT/T systems with a total of 61 Aster missiles for them.
10 MICA missiles
15 Mistral ALBI air defense systems
2 EC725 Caracal helicopters
8 NH-90 helicopters
4 modernized Cougar helicopters
6 Tigre attack helicopters
4036 FELIN future soldier kits
100 VBCI armored vehicles
38 VHM's
16 Exocet MM40 Block 3's
1 FREMM frigate
1 Universal landing ship (Mistral)
Kit for 1500 paratroopers (basically FELIN but for dropping out of planes)
200 PVP armored vehicles
3 SPRAT systems
12 full RIFAN-2 systems to upgrade naval C4ISR
51 ASTRID-2 modules
11 naval and 1 ground based TELCOMARSAT systems
17 SI Terre systems
10 Syracuse III communications systems

Most of the money is clearly going into upgrade of C4 systems. Armor, and small arms is getting almost nothing spent on it. Drones are also largely being ignored for the most part.

http://lemamouth.blogspot.com/2011/0...commandes.html

http://bmpd.livejournal.com/

[SO143]

France is becoming a laughing stock (well like the rest of Europe really) when it comes to drones. France is buying 8 more SDTI drones

[SO143]

It’s time to find new allies as NATO withers away

By ERIC ROSENBERG

WASHINGTON This is what the end of the world's most powerful military alliance looks like:

When outgoing Defense Secretary Robert Gates delivered a blistering critique of European "allies" recently, it wasn't to cajole them to pony up and act like NATO alliance members for once. That ship had long before sailed and sunk.

Rather, it had the effect of bellowing to the world that NATO as a defender of European and U.S. freedom for decades - first against the Soviets and then against the perils that followed - is pretty much a sham and has been for some time.

For the better part of the last 25 years, Washington has made the occasional public nudge of the European allies to share some of the burden and pull their weight in an alliance that served as the principal tool of containment against the Soviet Union.

But the twin effects of the debt crisis in Europe, which has forced governments to pare their already paltry defense budgets, and massive budgetary pressures in the U.S. that have put Pentagon spending in the cross hairs have provided Gates the platform for a very public, and much deserved, lashing.

"What I've sketched out is the real possibility for a dim, if not dismal, future for the transatlantic alliance," Gates told the allies earlier this month.

Libya underscores the point. A nation at the doorstep of Western Europe convulses in civil war. The alliance commits military forces, but it can't sufficiently project and sustain power a mere 90 minutes' flying time from Rome without the U.S. taking over. That isn't an alliance.

That's an addiction to weakness on their part, enabled by the U.S. arsenal whose caretakers are usually eager to put it to use.

"Frankly, many of those allies sitting on the sidelines (in Libya) do so not because they do not want to participate, but simply because they cannot. The military capabilities simply aren't there," Gates said. "The mightiest military alliance in history is only 11 weeks into an operation against a poorly armed regime in a sparsely populated country - yet many allies are beginning to run short of munitions, requiring the U.S., once more, to make up the difference," he said.

The Bosnia and Kosovo crises of the 1990s. The current Libyan crisis of 2011. Not much has changed in the intervening years.

While our European allies bristle at the U.S. position in the world and lament what some regard as American hegemony, they rely heavily on American might to protect their status as very junior NATO partners. The result is that the U.S. and Europe are drifting apart, so far apart that the alliance is merely an acronym at this point. As Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the NATO secretary general, said earlier this year, "The United States might look elsewhere for reliable defense partners."
While NATO was the bedrock by which we and our allies had guaranteed our collective security for more than 60 years, the alliance now has become a shining example of European neglect and European abdication of global leadership. When roused, the alliance is a mere lever of American power, guided by Americans, largely funded by Americans, with the most risk assumed by Americans.

A picture tells the story. At U.S. bases in Afghanistan, visitors and troops can buy military-style patches with the acronym "ISAF," the official name for the NATO International Security Assistance Force. But one popular joke patch also for sale translates ISAF as "I Saw Americans Fight."

The patch reflects the grunt-level, foxhole view that Afghanistan is largely an American show augmented by a small segment of brave NATO allies doing the bulk of fighting and dying. This despite that after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, NATO for the first time invoked its "Article 5," the central tenet of the NATO Treaty that says an attack on one member is an attack on all.

As Gates points out, the allies have struggled in Afghanistan to maintain a small deployment of 25,000 to 45,000 troops, compared to 100,000 Americans, while facing shortages of key combat and support gear.
The wasting away of the alliance, and indeed Europe's ability to defend itself, is an important security problem with stark implications. The European abandonment of NATO is a reality we and our allies must come to grips with as the crisis in Libya drags on, as other security issues arise down the road as they surely will (Iran, Syria, terrorism), and as the European debt crisis spurs our allies to invest even less in defense and their national security for years to come.

Earlier this year, Rasmussen chided European governments for their hesitance to support the alliance. "Ten years ago, the United States accounted for just under half of NATO members' total defense spending. Today the American share is closer to 75 percent," Rasmussen said. He warned against suggestions in some European capitals that the continent should engage in humanitarian projects, leaving the U.S. to do most of the fighting. Rasmussen added: "As a committed European, I find this suggestion at best naive, and, at worst, dangerous."
Gates believes that Europe already has made that choice, tempting what he called "collective military irrelevance."

It's time to find new allies.

Rosenberg is a former national security correspondent for Hearst Newspapers. His email address is eric.rosenberg@jhu.edu.

Its time to find new allies as NATO withers away | Viewpoints, Outlook | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

[LondonFox]

*Yawn* Shut up Rosenberg you cunt... Perhaps a mention of the UK sacrificing itself for the US war cause for the last 16 odd years just slipped his mind... prick.

[SO143]

War With America

October 5, 2011: In Pakistan, decades of anti-American and anti-Indian propaganda, and support for Islamic radicalism, has brought the country to the brink of disaster. The U.S. has stopped being discreet and secretive about Pakistani military and intelligence (ISI) attacks on Americans during the last decade. These attacks were played down in the hope that Pakistan could be persuaded to eliminate the pro-terrorist people in the army and ISI. This didn't happen. The army and the ISI needed the Islamic radicals, to keep tensions with India high (via Pakistani-backed terror attacks in Kashmir and elsewhere in India.) The army/ISI leaders fear loss of their large share of the national economy if the Indian "threat" is viewed more realistically. The political parties, which are corrupt, and often allies of the military, have backed the generals in their opposition to American demands to crack down on Islamic terrorism. Most Pakistanis believe that the United States cannot possibly operate in Afghanistan without the support of Pakistan. This despite vigorous NATO efforts to shift their supply lines from Pakistan to Central Asia. Pakistan believes that possession of nuclear weapons will keep the United States from doing anything drastic, like more raids into Pakistan to destroy terrorists. The May raid to kill Osama bin Laden shows that the U.S. could, and would, do this. Now Pakistan has said it will not shut down Islamic terrorist sanctuaries in North Waziristan (in the northeast) and Quetta (in the southwest). The U.S. says that if the Pakistanis won't the U.S. will. Pakistan says that if America tries that, it will mean war. It's no secret that the U.S. has made plans to seize Pakistani nuclear weapons, and India has just signed a cooperation treaty with Afghanistan. Pakistanis like to believe that they have America in a corner, but it's becoming more likely that it is Pakistan that has painted itself into a corner. Pakistan has long complained of being surrounded by conspiracies and enemies. Now, because of Pakistani support for Islamic terrorism, those fears are about to become true. Pakistan denies any responsibility for this, insisting that it is the victim. That will make no difference in the end, other than to provide some incredulous footnotes in the histories of the late, great, Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has more immediate threats to deal with. The possibility of American invasion is, for the moment, theoretical. But violence in Karachi has been out of control for most of this year. A massive influx of security personnel has quieted down the violence in Karachi. But when the additional police and troops are withdrawn, it's believed that the ethnic, religious and political violence will resume. Recently, popular demonstrations to protest power blackouts, because of insufficient electricity supplies, have been growing. Government officials have been warned about this shortage for years, but the corruption did what it usually does, and prevented a solution. That's how it goes in Pakistan; lots of problems, which creates more conspiracy theories than solutions.

By siding with the United States after September 11, 2001, Pakistan turned many Islamic terrorists against it. Despite long support for Islamic terrorists, Pakistan has to deal with growing Islamic terrorism against the state. The only thing that will calm down the Islamic terrorists is turning Pakistan into a religious dictatorship (an "Islamic republic.") That is not acceptable to most Pakistanis. In the meantime, the military continues to count the Islamic terrorists as a national asset.

Pakistan has turned to long time weapons supplier China, and asked for the kind of economic and military support the United States has provided during the last decade. China politely refused, and it was no secret that China considered Pakistan a failed state, and not efficient or reliable enough to justify large Chinese investments. For example, China recently withdrew from a major mining project because of the terrorist threat. China will trade with Pakistan, and sell them weapons. But large scale aid is not seen as prudent. Many other potential investors, and aid donors, agree. The corruption and prevalence of Islamic radicalism bring with it a high degree of violence, or the threat of it, along with massive theft and mismanagement.

Pakistanis do share one thing with India, a yearning to deal with the pervasive corruption and mismanagement in government. It's bad in India, but worse in Pakistan. Popular Pakistani demands for solutions has resulted in some former generals being put on trial, and admissions that a lot of the money lavished on the military, and the many businesses the military is allowed operate, are stolen or mishandled. That's as far as it goes for the moment.

The corruption creates problems with neighbors, especially Afghanistan. Some 80 percent of the explosives used by the Taliban in Afghanistan come from Pakistan. Not in the form of explosives, but as ammonium nitrate fertilizer that is easily turned into explosives. This fertilizer is forbidden in Afghanistan, and nearly all of the fertilizer smuggled in can be traced (via chemical analysis) to the one factory in Pakistan that produces it. Pakistan refuses to do anything to halt the illegal flow of fertilizer into Afghanistan, for that would be loss of sales, profits and bribes.

Bangladesh is indicting 52 people for helping purchase (from China) and smuggle weapons to India separatist rebels. This can be traced back to a 2004 incident, in which ten trucks of weapons were seized before they could get across the border into northeast India.

http://www.strategypage.com/qnd/indi.../20111005.aspx

[WatcherZero]

The American budget deficit is finally catching up with the military and their being forced to make cuts. Their currently budgeting to cut:

2 Carrier Battle Groups
50 Surface Warships
30 Bombers
125,000 soldiers
Fewer F-35 purchases

[AdmiralAnthony]

Originally Posted by WatcherZero

The American budget deficit is finally catching up with the military and their being forced to make cuts. Their currently budgeting to cut:

2 Carrier Battle Groups
50 Surface Warships
30 Bombers
125,000 soldiers
Fewer F-35 purchases

2 whole carrier battle groups? You realise there is 11 warships in a battle group?
Carrier, 2 x support ships, 2 x SSN's, 2 x destroyers, 2 x cruisers and 2 x frigates.

This cut is beyond comprehension.

If anything they should cut their fleet of SSBN's. They only need 8-10 of them probably.