I'm only going to touch on a few of the things swirling around in the news, and mostly to complain about how little I truly know. I can't tell if I'm seeing shadows or being realistic. Sometimes I kind of regret not being in the intelligence industry any more.
In the last 24 hours came across three really disturbing articles, when you put them all together:
First, yesterday was an article saying the Russians had asked their government officials to come back home, and bring their families with them. Now, looking at Snopes this morning it appears it was an informal request, ostensibly because of domestic perception that officials had too many ties to the West.
Thing is, there's a darn good reason why militaries are especially careful whenever another state is conducting 'training maneuvers' near a border. It's hard to surprise an opponent when they know you're moving to attack, but if you can make them think something different is happening then you can gain the advantage.
So, does that mean this was something more serious than it sounds? Who knows. I don't have the intel access or the basic information needed to really say. I do think that an 'informal request' from Putin would probably have the effect of a formal order, regardless of what the Russians say. And I think the perceptions about government officials have probably been around for a while, so I don't know why this would be a major concern right now. But who knows? I don't know what's going on with domestic Russian politics.
So on to the second article, Russia's use of inflatable weapons and maskirovka as a strategy. Now, the Allies used inflatable weapons during World War II to deceive the enemy, so this isn't exactly a sign that the Russians are any trickier than we are. It does, however, mean it's wise to always look two or three times at what the Russians say they are doing. Again, I wish I still had a clearance. And access.
The third article is the one that really spurred writing this post...though again, it's not a direct or obvious threat. Or rather it is...if this is Putin's roundabout and indirect way of threatening us through surrogates. Otherwise, it's just another bit of hot air.
Basically, a Putin ally said Americans need to vote for Trump or face nuclear war. Now, I'm not exactly a war-mongerer...but if they seriously think they can force us to vote for that jack ass all I can say is - "Bring it."
In the last 24 hours came across three really disturbing articles, when you put them all together:
First, yesterday was an article saying the Russians had asked their government officials to come back home, and bring their families with them. Now, looking at Snopes this morning it appears it was an informal request, ostensibly because of domestic perception that officials had too many ties to the West.
Thing is, there's a darn good reason why militaries are especially careful whenever another state is conducting 'training maneuvers' near a border. It's hard to surprise an opponent when they know you're moving to attack, but if you can make them think something different is happening then you can gain the advantage.
So, does that mean this was something more serious than it sounds? Who knows. I don't have the intel access or the basic information needed to really say. I do think that an 'informal request' from Putin would probably have the effect of a formal order, regardless of what the Russians say. And I think the perceptions about government officials have probably been around for a while, so I don't know why this would be a major concern right now. But who knows? I don't know what's going on with domestic Russian politics.
So on to the second article, Russia's use of inflatable weapons and maskirovka as a strategy. Now, the Allies used inflatable weapons during World War II to deceive the enemy, so this isn't exactly a sign that the Russians are any trickier than we are. It does, however, mean it's wise to always look two or three times at what the Russians say they are doing. Again, I wish I still had a clearance. And access.
The third article is the one that really spurred writing this post...though again, it's not a direct or obvious threat. Or rather it is...if this is Putin's roundabout and indirect way of threatening us through surrogates. Otherwise, it's just another bit of hot air.
Basically, a Putin ally said Americans need to vote for Trump or face nuclear war. Now, I'm not exactly a war-mongerer...but if they seriously think they can force us to vote for that jack ass all I can say is - "Bring it."
No comments:
Post a Comment