Posted on 10/08/2016 10:20:12 AM PDT by MarchonDC09122009
Putin’s Activation of ‘Iskander-M’ Ballistic Missile Is a Message to Obama
http://observer.com/2016/10/putins-activation-of-iskander-m-ballistic-missile-is-a-message-to-obama/
Putin’s Activation of ‘Iskander-M’ Ballistic Missile Is a Message to Obama
The KGB officer in the Kremlin seeks one last, grand strategic humiliation for our president before he leaves office By John R. Schindler • 10/07/16 11:00am Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Prince Albert II of Monaco (not pictured) at the Kremlin in Moscow on October 6, 2016. / AFP / POOL AND AFP / YURI KADOBNOV
Russian President Vladimir Putin. Yuri Kadobnov/AFP/Getty Images
It’s long been obvious that Vladimir Putin and his inner circle view Barack Obama with utter contempt. To the hard men in Moscow, who got their schooling in the KGB, our diffident, wordy Ivy League lawyer president is a weakling—almost a caricature of everything they despise about the postmodern West.
Here the Kremlin mirrors most Russians, who find Obama a puzzling and contemptible man. This is nothing new. I’ve heard remarkable put-downs of our commander-in-chief for years, going back to 2008, even from the mouths of highly educated Russians. Their comments are invariably earthy, insulting, and nowhere near politically correct.
It’s therefore no surprise that Russians view Obama with contempt—and so does their leader. As our president winds up his second term and prepares to move out of the White House, the Kremlin simply isn’t bothering to hide that contempt any longer, even in high-level diplomacy, where a modicum of tact is expected.
Take Syria, the foreign policy nightmare that hangs darkly over Obama’s legacy. The pathetic attempts of John Kerry, Obama’s sad-sack secretary of state, to assert America’s role in that sordid conflict have been rudely rebuffed by Moscow. The Kremlin has made it indelibly clear that it has no interest in further parley with Washington about Syria: We won, you lost, get over it.
This has now descended into farce, with Russia’s foreign ministry tweeting mocking insults at America’s top diplomat. Like the infamous honey badger, the Kremlin simply doesn’t care one whit what we think. We can at least count our blessings that Secretary Kerry hasn’t dispatched James Taylor to Moscow.
To be fair to the Kremlin, why on earth would the Obama administration think it had a dog in the Syrian fight anymore? Over three years ago, the White House outsourced American policy there to Moscow, as was obvious to everybody except Obama and his coterie of self-styled foreign policy geniuses. We gave Putin what he wanted in Syria—preserving his Assad client regime while demonstrating Russian resolve and power—and for that we have nobody to blame but ourselves.
Such reckless antics have worked well for the Russians so far, given Obama’s preference to avert eyes and hope for the best whenever Moscow misbehaves.
This has become deeply embarrassing as the Syrian nightmare has descended into war crimes and even genocide on a truly horrifying scale. For an administration that prided itself on its alleged humanitarianism, this is an appalling ending which the world will not soon forget. The Russians, of course, have acted like Russians, bombing and shelling haphazardly, adding impressively to the death toll among Syrian civilians. This, too, was easily foreseeable by anyone who witnessed what happened to Chechnya. Moscow does not believe in tears, as they say.
Not content with diplomatic gloating, Moscow is flexing its muscles in Syria now, showing off its strength for political effect. Russia has just sent more late-model anti-aircraft missiles to that country—an odd choice in weaponry given that the Islamic State, which the Kremlin boasts of fighting energetically while accusing Washington of collaborating with it, has no aircraft.
Just in case anybody in the Pentagon missed that unsubtle move, Russia’s defense ministry this week bluntly stated that any effort by American airpower to change “facts on the ground” in Syria will be countered with live fire. Responding to rumors that the U.S. military wants enhanced airstrikes against the Assad regime, the Kremlin spokesman minced no words: “I would recommend our colleagues in Washington to carefully weigh possible consequences of the fulfillment of such plans.”
This was all predictable. Ever an opportunist, Putin is simply running the table in the waning months of Obama’s presidency. The Kremlin may never see an American president this weak-willed again, so the Russians are making the most of this undeserved geostrategic gift while they still can. Signs of this aggressive opportunism are everywhere.
Although we are accustomed to Moscow playing dangerous games when American warships are close to Russian shores—jets buzzing our vessels low and fast, usually—this is now spreading far beyond the Black Sea. Reports that the Russian navy has created a new strategic bomber division in the Far East to monitor and harass the Americans across the Pacific region indicate where this is headed. Soon Tu-22M3 Backfire bombers, long-range carrier-killers, will be shadowing the U.S. Navy as far east as Hawaii, in a manner not seen since the 1980s.
Obama has gone to great lengths to deny that we’re in Cold War 2.0, as I explained after Moscow’s annexation of Crimea, but Putin isn’t playing along with that script. This week, his defense ministry announced that it’s considering re-opening military bases in Cuba and Vietnam. These were shuttered after the last Cold War, and any indications that the Kremlin wants them back, particularly in Cuba, conveniently close to Florida, likewise indicate where this is headed.
Much of this is just for show, hardly more than chest-thumping by Moscow. News that Putin is building up his nuclear arsenal while Obama cuts ours as rapidly as possible—Russia’s military today has over 400 more nuclear warheads than the United States—means more politically than militarily.
That said, some of the Kremlin’s current military moves are deeply alarming and indicate a risk-taking mood in Russia’s leadership that ought to seriously worry NATO and the Pentagon. Things are getting scary in the tightly packed and jumpy Baltic Sea region, where Moscow is eagerly flexing its military muscle, seeming not to care what anybody thinks or feels about it.
Overflights of Finland and Estonia—the latter is in NATO while the former is not—by Russian aircraft have become almost routine, an on-going demonstration of Kremlin honeybadgerness. But those aerial cat-and-mouse games are customarily done by slow, unarmed Russian planes, just to send a message to the Finns and Estonians to not get any ideas about disobeying Moscow.
This week, however, Putin upped the ante by sending armed fighter jets to intimidate Helsinki and Tallinn. Yesterday, two Su-27 fighters of the Russian air force, called Flankers by NATO, overflew Finland. Their incursions were brief but, significantly, the Flankers were armed for combat.
Then, early this morning, another Flanker violated Estonian airspace—fully armed and with its transponder turned off. This incident, the fifth violation of Estonian airspace by the Kremlin so far this year, is significant since that country belongs to NATO. None of the Baltic republics have their own fighter jets. That’s handled by a composite Alliance jet squadron. If the Russians keep sending armed jets over Estonia, the odds of a confrontation with NATO fighters rise dramatically.
Today’s biggest news, however, comes from Estonian reports that the Russian military is sending Iskander-M missiles to Kaliningrad on a civilian freighter. It’s expected to dock in Kaliningrad today with its alarming cargo.
The Iskander-M system, called SS-26 by NATO, is the replacement of the Scud missile of American Gulf War memory. It has a range of 300 miles and can carry either a conventional or a nuclear warhead. An Iskander-M based in Kaliningrad can strike targets deep in Poland and across the whole Baltic region. Make no mistake, this is primarily an offensive weapons system.
There’s a reason that the Kremlin promised to not ship this missile system to Kaliningrad back in 2009, in exchange for President Obama’s scuppering of missile defense in Poland and the Czech Republic. Activating an Iskander-M unit in Kaliningrad, west of the Baltic republics, is rightly seen as destabilizing by NATO’s whole eastern flank which, despite security promises by the White House, remains vulnerable to Russian attack. For Warsaw and several other NATO capitals, this move resembles a Baltic version of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
This constitutes a direct challenge to Washington by Moscow—and by Vladimir Putin to Barack Obama, personally. The KGB officer in the Kremlin is seeking to get in one last, grand strategic humiliation for our president before he leaves office. And why not? Such reckless antics have worked well for the Russians so far, given Obama’s preference to avert eyes and hope for the best whenever Moscow misbehaves.
Not to mention that Putin is surely aware that his window of opportunity is closing soon. The campaign of the very Kremlin-friendly Donald Trump is in free-fall, so Moscow will likely have to contend with an angry Hillary Clinton in the White House in a little more than three months. She knows all too well that the Kremlin has pulled out all the stops to hurt her election chances—between spying, hacking, intimidation, and leaks of Democratic emails—and if the Clintons excel at anything it’s personal vendettas. The time for Putin to act, therefore, is now. Get ready, it’s going to be a bumpy autumn.
John Schindler is a security expert and former National Security Agency analyst and counterintelligence officer. A specialist in espionage and terrorism, he’s also been a Navy officer and a War College professor. He’s published four books and is on Twitter at @20committee.
These news articles, while sounding innocent, are warnings between Russia and the US. Most people are completely unaware of how out of hand things are getting.
No problem. It’s the only html that I know.
Donald Trump slammed President Obama Thursday on TODAY for failing to take a stronger line against President Vladimir Putin in dealing with Ukraine, saying he feared Obama would now make up for lost time with imprudent moves to "show his manhood."
The real estate mogul and reality-TV star, who has criticized Putin for sending military troops into Crimea, said Obama must now take fierce steps to prevent the situation from escalating further.
"We should definitely do sanctions and we have to show some strengths. I mean, Putin has eaten Obama's lunch, therefore our lunch, for a long period of time," Trump said. ..."
http://www.today.com/news/donald-trump-putin-has-eaten-obamas-lunch-ukraine-2D79372098
Huh??
First of all, in addition to Trump's statement on Putin that I just posted regarding Crimea, his VP pick, Mike Pence, in the recent (first) debate just blasted Putin. I'll post his remarks from the transcripts when I get a chance.
Glad you reminded us of Obama’s previous give aways to Russia and weakening of our missile superiority.
What should we make of the sum of Obama’s 2009 - 2012 concessions to Russia, and his treasonous statement caught on mic: “tell Vladimir I’ll have more flexibility after the (2012) election.”, contrasted with escalating hostility with Russia?
Is it possible that this has been planned all along to let Russia become the World’s military super power even if we have to take the brunt of attack?
All of the following geopolitical developments Obama has facilitated work to Russia’s favor:
America has completely lost its moral authority.
Our economy and military is weak.
Iran will shortly have nuclear capabilty.
Muslims are creating havoc throughout Nato countries.
EU economy is near collapse.
Nato resolve and capabilty is a joke.
Russia is now considered a better stabilizing force for peace in the Middle East versus continued America presence.
Is this managed opposition with the ultimate goal to left Putin seriously bruise / take us out?
I doubt very much that it’s Putin making the threats. It’s our very own Terrorist in Chief who’s doing anything and everything to destroy the US.
BBC just confirmed the missiles have arrived in Kaliningrad. Not good...
not meaning any trouble, but how many “NATO” countries do not pay their share of the BUDGET, yet expect to be defended against any attack?
Both in money and personnel?
And the Americans elected this "bus driver", knowing full well that he was a drunk and a fool. No pity here for the idiotic US voters.
Not really. Most of his supporters either agreed with him or were/are too stupid and/or ignorant to even know and understand the issues.
Remember when Obama said something like this to Republicans when he won “The Kremlin has made it indelibly clear that it has no interest in further parley with Washington about Syria: We won, you lost, get over it.”
See Obama, words matter. Jerk
Sh1t, you’re right - this posturing is getting serious.
Russia deploys nuclear-capable missiles in Kaliningrad - BBC News
www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37597075 Proxy Highlight
3 hours ago ... Russia deploys nuclear-capable Iskander missiles in its Kaliningrad region bordering Poland and Lithuania.
Your point is valuable and Very much appreciated.
I had no idea it was this bad, as Mr. Trump alluded to:
These NATO countries are not spending their fair share on defense -
http://money.cnn.com/2016/07/08/news/nato-summit-spending-countries/
all countries are expected to chip in. NATO’s official guidelines say member states should spend at least 2% of their GDP on defense.
Of the 28 countries in the alliance, only five — the U.S., Greece, Poland, Estonia and the U.K. — meet the target.
The rest lag behind. Germany spent 1.19% of its GDP on defense last year, France forked out 1.78%.
Iceland, which doesn’t have its own army, spends just 0.1% of its GDP on defense, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Five other countries spend less than 1%, according to NATO’s estimates for this year: Canada, Slovenia, Belgium, Spain and Luxembourg.
If Hillary wins are we going to war with Russia? It appears possible.
Shootdown- Obama/Hillary are trying to provoke just that.
Nonsense. Obama was an active part of the nuclear freeze movement which was funded and organized by the USSR and his policies in that regard haven’t changed from his early activism.
His parents met in a Russian language class.
Everything he’s ever done has been and is for the benefit of Russia.
He’s a human asset of Putin’s, the best one the old KGB boss ha ever had at his disposal.
Because they are in complete control, we have nothing to say. As a result, we peasants and our children will die like flies in massive conflicts causing great suffering.
Only ONE MAN might be able to put a stop to this planned nonsense, if you know what I mean and I think you do.
Ungodly government and elites would send us to the camps.
*God willing?
[DOC] Instructor notes for Session No - FEMA
training.fema.gov/hiedu/docs/crr/cat%20readiness-response%20-%20session%209%20-%20planning%20strategies%20and%20skills%20-%20response.doc
Instructor notes for Session No. 9 _____ Course Title: Catastrophe Readiness and Response. Session Title ... mass graves / cremation
*does anyone know where the love of god goes when:
110 MILLION innocents were killed by Communist and Fascist Democide?
400 MILLION innocents during Islam’s reign of terror from 680 AD to present in: The Middle East, India, Africa, Europe, Asia.
Innocent massacred victims were no less special and deserving of mercy than we presently are.
Reality of it is largely: there’s no fate but what we make.
This insanity is getting scarier every day.
Tonight, when I was watching the Bama game, the TV made a popping sound similar to when the cable goes off. The screen became a little darker and I heard the dreaded “Beep beep” of the EMS. On the screen I saw the words “EMS alert” and I froze and I thought that barky had finally lost his mind and started WW3.
It turned about to be an Amber alert but it scared the living H### out of me for a few seconds.
I just hope Trump is elected and takes office before all hell breaks loose.
“Bet this would back off is Obama would stop his insane quest to replace Assad with a Caliphate.”
I bet you’re right.
Some think Russia is better, but if Russia were to regain its former means (a la USSR), it’d be dangerous. Though, Russia at present is as commie as Germany is Nazi or neo-Nazi.
That said, the U.S. has had a series of policy failures and a distinct lack of Will and foresight to see matters successfully through to completion. These didn’t start and will not finish with 0bama - no matter who wins the upcoming election.
For now, the climate is that ordinary people, internationally, are generally fed up with the U.S. intervening, only to set the wrong direction, and then fail. Whatever positive gained meantime has been mostly by default. That’s why many gravitate towards Putin. Fact that 0bama is and/or has appeared to be a toothless bulldog is secondary.
“while simultaneously doing everything to set up Eastern Europe for another round of Western Betrayal.”
This isn’t only Obama. It’s been a continual approach since Bill Clinton administration, at least. Bosnia-Herzegovina, serbs, croats, ex-Yugoslavia. Some call it the “Seagull approach”. And, that’s only for Eastern Europe.
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