17 Comments

In the Red Sea I believe the idea is to finally give Iran the control of that waterway. At least for now, Europe is weak, Canada is more inclined to allow the sea to be closed and Australia is a long way away in both politics and will.

The US needs to have a come to Jesus moment. Do or not do, there are no half measures.

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"Do or not do, there are no half measures." True, very true.

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Since I follow Dr. Smith, I will mention that he has his own Substack and his Log tab is populated with hyperlinks to articles he has had published in traditional journals. Unfortunately I will be unable to join live this week since I am driving to Athens Sunday for a few days at the University of Georgia. I do look forward to listening to a replay on the podcast.

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Pax Americana is a thing of the past. Accepting this reality will allow us to set a new course. Our current course is not sustainable and is not what the founders intended.

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If Rome would have just worked on itself following the 2nd Punic War. What might have been.

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If our political class understood Roman history what could have been?

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Pax Americana is certainly dormant, and will die soon, if not reenergized....

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Seablindness? I'd say it's just lousy government in a nation (the UK), formally run by generally competent Anglo-Saxon bureaucrats. As for the US, I blame leftism, multi-culti, "diversity" and tampon dispensers in the men's room (or head, if you prefer).

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The UK WAS a nation formerly run by competent Anglo-Saxons...

Have you seen who's running the place now?

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Flight-ER-Doc: Indeed. Was as nation. Now, it's a just a socialist healthcare system with its own king and parliament.

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And a military "for display, with lovely guns, tanks, little soldiers, fan~

fares, staffs, distinguished and doddering generals, and dear little

regimental officers who would be deeply concerned over their general's

bowel movements or their colonel's piles: an army that would be shown

for a modest fee on every fairground in the country."

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Not much of a military overall, anymore. Which is not a slight on the men and women of the UK forces, but there are so few of them...really now, who is being fooled?

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It's from Jean Larteguy, The Centurions The full quote:

Colonel Raspeguy, veteran of Dien Bien Phu: "I'd like France to have

two armies: one for display, with lovely guns, tanks, little soldiers, fan~

fares, staffs, distinguished and doddering generals, and dear little

regimental officers who would be deeply concerned over their general's

bowel movements or their colonel's piles: an army that would be shown

for a modest fee on every fairground in the country.

"The other would be the real one, composed entirely of young enthusiasts

in camouflage battledress, who would not be put on display but from

whom impossible efforts would be demanded, and to whom all sorts of

tricks would be taught. That's the army in which I should like to fight."

Colonel Mestreville, veteran of Verdun: "You're headed for a lot of

trouble."

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Well, we have the "display" part, anyway. I guess that's a start.

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And not a good socialist health care system, either....

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I know of 5 Eyes from the IC space. I had no idea there is any operational connection beyond NATO and general Anglosphere vibes

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I wonder how much of this is the product of Carrier Astigmatism. We have these amazing platforms -11 or 12 of them!- that are so far beyond what anyone else can put to sea that we assume the maritime competition has concluded, and we won. Outside of the military thinktank/naval profession (and maybe even within it) it is hard to see how fresh approaches can negate the power of our keystone assets.

When you win walking away it is easy to forget about the iterative nature of competition. There is always another round, and the loser of the last round is more likely to make an adjustment than the dominant player.

Bless me Father for I have mixed metaphors. It has been a couple hours since my last confession.

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