Memo to OSD Mattis: Thank you, Thank you, THANK YOU for being the only adult in the room, and walking back the know-nothings Bolton and crew from the precipice of what in the end would have been nuclear confrontation. (I hope this not just a temporary reprieve, especially given the NEOCONs continuing hammering for nuclear confrontation)
Note: The NEOCONS will push for President Trump to fire General Mattis as some are saying will happen in the coming days, if that happens as some say is coming, as the expression goes — duck.
Sadly, President Trump's body language doesn't bode well, he had a dejected look of a man defeated. Maybe he was just worn out with the incessant whispers of the Bolton NEOCON/LETS-GO-TO-WAR IDIOTS who want to crack our planet in half. I wouldn't have blamed Trump if he had headed for the liquor cabinet and had a couple, but he's not built that way. In that way, Trump appears to be like Putin, he's got better things to do than drown his sorrows.
Who get's the Liar of the Week Award, D.C. or Moscow? For their claims of strike success versus more defense success regarding the 'allied?' strike on Syrian facilities whose intelligence data is probably as old as Methuselah (20 plus years old at least), who is truthful and who isn't?
DoD claims success with their missiles, Russian MOD says NOT and claims that 71 out of 103 were neutralized by the Soviet (notice I didn't say Russian) built Air Defense Systems currently in use by the Syrians.
Note to DoD: Russian MOD has said they'll be sending the Syrians S300 systems to defend their air-spaces in the near future.
What do you think the success or failure rate was? I'll go with those who see a probable 50% knock-down rate.
Some claim that DoD and MOD had a line of communication to deconflict and choreograph the missile strikes, so both would look good in the outcome. I dunno, it's possible.
Now to the 'good stuff'…..
Russian FM Lavrov claims he has irrefutable evidence that a Foreign State was involved in the Douma False Flag Chemical, stuff. Could he be referring in cloaked terms to the U.S. and its CIA, the U.K. and their MI6, the Israelis and their Mossad? Both MI6 and Mossad are known to use Misdirection aka False Flag as one of their trade-craft tactics. So to whom is Russian FM Lavrov referring to? It'll eventually come out in the wash just exactly whom FM Lavrov was talking about.
FM Lavrov has an excellent record of not bluffing, he only says things when he can back it up.
Now for some news that is both bad and good given one's perspective, it appears that Moscow has D.C. in a corner, militarily and economically speaking. On the military side, according to a Belgian economist, the U.S. aircraft industry is 40% dependent on Russian sourced titanium that's used in the production of both military and civilian aircraft. In space operations, the U.S. is dependent on bilateral cooperation with Russia as Russia supplies rocket engines for use in commercial and satellite launches. Imagine a total embargo by Moscow, 'could' hamper D.C.'s intelligence gathering (in space anyway). The Russian Federation economic blockade of U.S. imports of tobacco and wines and spirits would put sad/grim faces on U.S. business. On the economic side, the U.S. appears to have more muscle than Moscow, and 'could' choke the Russian economy, which Russia has a trump card in it's pocket — it's force of arms.
So who is telling the truth, Moscow or D.C.? One or the other, or both?
J
