CONSEQUENCES KEEP COMING. Moscow's story is that the Israeli F16s (or at least one) hid behind the Russian aircraft. Jerusalem denies this but the Air Force commander did immediately hustle off to Moscow. Other theories. Minister of Defence Shoygu sets out the consequences here. S300s with IFF ASAP. But, to my mind, the most significant is his third point: "In the regions adjacent to Syria and over the Mediterranean Sea, all satellite navigation, on-board radars and communications systems of aircraft engaging targets in Syrian territory will be jammed". Everybody suspects that Russian communications jamming technology is very effective and powerful. We've had some revelations of what they can do with their capture of drones and the last cruise missile attack on Syria (unless you believe the Pentagon's idiotic statement of 76 missiles at one complex). Given that the US and its allies have been fighting enemies without any such capacity for decades, I suspect that Russia is far ahead of anyone in these capabilities. (And I would make the same argument about its air defence: it's probably the world leader there too. And I would also bet that the Russians practise operations with no communications and no air superiority and that nobody in NATO does.) The mere fact that Shoygu – nobody's idea of a blowhard – has made the statement shows that he is confident that Russia can do it. Given that the armed forces of the USA & Co cannot function without GPS and easy secure communications, Russia turning off the switch would be a stunning blow. Which leads me to suspect that whatever capabilities Russia reveals in the coming time will not be its full powers. I reiterate: NATO has already lost any future fighting war with Russia on its own territory or near to it. The consequences of "light-hearted actions" just keep coming: "Of course there is going to be a bad reaction from Russia, and then [the NATO expanders] will say that we always told you that is how the Russians are — but this is just wrong.”
MH17. Russia was immediately blamed and it's been a fact-free Gish gallop since then: flight routes changed retroactively, sudden discoveries of "evidence" defying the laws of physics, faked up intercepts, a potential suspect gets a veto but the owners of the airplane are shut out, blame Russia before the inquiry is finished, no sign of Kerry's promised data but "social media and common sense" instead, radars switched off, damage ignored when it doesn't fit the story. But, finally, a mistake: the Ukrainians came up with a fact. Missile parts have serial numbers, those serial numbers are recorded in logbooks, logbooks exist and the numbers can be looked up. Those parts were from a Buk missile supplied to a Soviet AD unit in the Ukrainian SSR in 1986 and the missile remained there when the USSR broke up. Oh, and Bellingcat's favourite video is a fake. Conclusions: 1) that particular missile had nothing to do with MH17; 2) the Ukrainians shot MH17 down either on purpose or by accident (wouldn't be the first time). But let's gallop round the fact-free track again.
SYRIA. As I suspected, lots of talking and manoeuvring in the background. Russia holds most of the cards. Putin and Erdoğan have cut a deal and the battle is postponed. You can watch the rough cuts of the next "CW attack" yourself. (Was the whole thing a ploy to get the White Helmets to expose themselves?) In any case, with Shoygu's new jamming decree, a FUKUS attack would be much more difficult.
WADA YA KNOW? Ban lifted, sour grapes. But, again, the damage has been done. The purpose of propaganda is to leave an impression when the details are forgotten. (A theory that dear little Canada was behind the accusation. I dunno: I just put it out there for interest: but two Canadians led the charge.)
WHO'S DRIVING THE CLOWN CAR? "Mnuchin's slip-up forced Treasury officials to scramble to come up with a plan that would match the secretary’s under-oath statement, according to four congressional sources directly involved in the sanctions process. And in April, the department sanctioned Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska and his aluminum company Rusal". Daily Beast – not a Trump-friendly source but the story sounds plausible to me. As experience shows, US knowledge and intelligence about Russia is pretty poor. Nevertheless, more sanctions for some reason or other. Soon, the way things are going, the only country the USA won't be sanctioning will be itself.
SKRIPALMANIA. Poisoned, not poisoned. "Murderers" says BoJo. More Bellingcrap.
NEW NWO. Trump blew up some more of the globalist NWO in his UN speech. But still the rubbish about Iran the "leading sponsor of terrorism" and let's sanction Venezuela for the "restoration of democracy". Confused? So am I: is it the "right of every nation in this room to pursue its own customs, beliefs, and traditions" or does the USA still "tell you how to live or work or worship"?
© Patrick Armstrong Analysis, Canada Russia Observer
