20th+: March 2014

"Russia has been in the process of reclaiming its buffer zones – the areas in its periphery such as the Caucasus, the Baltics, Central Asia and Eastern Europe that give Moscow strategic depth from potential enemies – for some time.

At the end of World War II, the Russians occupied the Baltic states, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania and the eastern half of Germany. None of them had been occupied by the Soviet Union before the war. The conquest of this area was the result of defeating Germany and dividing Europe with the West based essentially on the areas each held at the end of the war.

With this, Russia expanded its strategic depth dramatically. The distance it would take from the Fulda Gap to Moscow was so great that a NATO offensive designed to break Russia was impossible. As important, it reduced the strategic depth of the Anglo-Americans to just a few hundred miles. Forward deployed Soviet forces were, for example, 200 miles (320 kilometers) from Hamburg, a major German port. It was accepted that Western Europe could be defended only by massive reinforcement and resupply from the United States. With the western ports under attack or captured, the ability to support forces trying to hold the west would collapse.

The Anglo-Americans, and later NATO, faced a massive Soviet force occupying Eastern Europe and the eastern part of Germany without strategic depth and with fewer troops. The West had air and naval forces, well-trained troops and, most important, nuclear weapons. The U.S. had a massive bomber force that could deliver a nuclear strike to the Soviet Union, but the Soviets had no equivalent ability to strike the United States until much later in the Cold War. Thus, the Soviets’ strategic force and American nuclear bombers canceled each other out.

Even so, Soviet control of Eastern Europe provided a degree of defense Moscow never had previously. It was a profound problem for the U.S. and NATO. Washington had never intended a nuclear exchange for Europe, and it had what was likely a sufficient air-land capability to break the first wave of a Soviet attack and threaten the next. But for leaders in Western Europe, Eastern Europe was a geographic nightmare that facilitated a Soviet attack on a line from the Black Sea to the Baltic Sea.

For this reason, the collapse of the Soviet Union relaxed the West. Until 1991, NATO had been a formidable force. After Eastern Europe broke from the Russians, the West had gained strategic depth. This meant that the ready-alert status of NATO and the U.S. nuclear arsenal was no longer relevant. The added distance of a Soviet attack, ignoring the shambles of the former Soviet Union, made conventional attack impossible. Of all the reasons offered for NATO’s operational decline, this is the most persuasive: that the strategic reality of the Continent had simply changed, and that the threat from the Soviet Union was no longer there. This was later consummated by the integration of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania into Western institutions.

This, in turn, created the problem Russia faces today. From Moscow’s point of view, the expansion of NATO eastward might eventually ensnare countries like Belarus and Ukraine, and even Georgia in the Caucasus. The Maidan revolution of 2014 only worried Moscow more. If NATO integrated Ukraine, it is reasonable to believe that Moscow would be indefensible. For Russia, hoping for the extended restraint of the United States is not a good bet.

At the same time, if Russia were to control both Belarus and Ukraine, an assault on Eastern Europe, coupled with subversion operations, could recreate in Russia’s favor the geography of the Cold War. NATO is a shadow of what it once was. The U.S. no longer guards the Fulda Gap. If Ukraine is taken, then conventional and even advanced technology might not be able to limit a Russian advance to the east.

In that sense, one of the West’s greatest problems is that the former Soviet satellites, especially those in Eastern Europe, lack the strength to deter a Russian advance. Size is not the issue. Russia’s population is about 145 million. The population of the countries above is about 84 million. Given that they would be in defensive positions, and if properly armed and organized, they do not have to be a negligible force. The problem is twofold. First, most have taken NATO membership too seriously, not considering that NATO is hollowed out. They see themselves as too weak to defend themselves and expect an American miracle. The miracle could come, but not without a united, armed and motivated Intermarium, a term I have used for the alliance of the states between the Black and the Baltic seas. Ultimately, this group of countries was unable to envision the force it could bring to bear, and therefore psychologically was incapable of united action, but always waited for another country to protect it." - George Friedman

Gulf War - Op Granby

Gulf War And Op Granby | Forces TV > .

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23-11-5 [XIR] Corrupt, Sanctioned Iran's Military, Proxies, Power Projection - Perun > .

23-7-22 Saudi Arabia’s Catastrophic “Everything” Problem - Real > .

23-6-3 Iraq, Iran, Syria, Hezbollah - Invasion +20 Years - gtbt > .

UK's First Gulf War - Operation Granby | BFBS > .

Geopolitics of Saudi Arabia - CaRe > .

History of Saudi Arabia - CaRe > .

Operation Granby was the UK Armed Forces' contribution to the First Gulf War, which was also known as Operation Desert Storm. In 1990 the Iraqi Dictator, Saddam Hussein, illegally invaded neighbouring Kuwait. When negotiations failed to resolve the crisis one million troops, from a coalition of 30 countries, assembled in the Saudi Arabian desert to forcibly remove the Iraqi troops and liberate Kuwait.

The First Gulf War (2 August 1990 – 28 February 1991) was a war waged by coalition forces from 35 nations led by the United States against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait arising from oil pricing and production disputes. It was codenamed Operation Desert Shield (2 August 1990 – 17 January 1991) for operations leading to the buildup of troops and defense of Saudi Arabia and Operation Desert Storm (17 January 1991 – 28 February 1991) in its combat phase.

On 2 August 1990, the Iraqi Army invaded and occupied Kuwait, which was met with international condemnation and brought immediate economic sanctions against Iraq by members of the UN Security Council. UK prime minister Margaret Thatcher [29] and US president George H. W. Bush deployed forces into Saudi Arabia, and urged other countries to send their own forces to the scene. An array of nations joined the coalition, forming the largest military alliance since World War II. Most of the coalition's military forces were from the US, with Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom and Egypt as leading contributors, in that order. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia paid around US$32 billion of the US$60 billion cost.

The war marked the introduction of live news broadcasts from the front lines of the battle, principally by the US network CNN. The war has also earned the nickname Video Game War after the daily broadcast of images from cameras on board U.S. bombers during Operation Desert Storm.

The initial conflict to expel Iraqi troops from Kuwait began with an aerial and naval bombardment on 17 January 1991, continuing for five weeks. This was followed by a ground assault on 24 February. This was a decisive victory for the coalition forces, who liberated Kuwait and advanced into Iraqi territory. The coalition ceased its advance and declared a ceasefire 100 hours after the ground campaign started. Aerial and ground combat was confined to Iraq, Kuwait, and areas on Saudi Arabia's border. Iraq launched Scud missiles against Israel and coalition targets in Saudi Arabia.

The United Kingdom committed the largest contingent of any European state that participated in the war's combat operations. Operation Granby was the code name for the operations in the Persian Gulf. British Army regiments (mainly with the 1st Armoured Division), Royal Air Force, Naval Air Squadrons and Royal Navy vessels were mobilized in the Persian Gulf. Both Royal Air Force and Naval Air Squadrons, using various aircraft, operated from airbases in Saudi Arabia and Naval Air Squadrons from various vessels in the Persian Gulf. The United Kingdom played a major role in the Battle of Norfolk where its forces destroyed over 200 Iraqi tanks and a large quantity of other vehicles. After 48 hours of combat the British 1st Armoured Division destroyed or isolated four Iraqi infantry divisions (the 26th, 48th, 31st, and 25th) and overran the Iraqi 52nd Armored Division in several sharp engagements.

Chief Royal Navy vessels deployed to the Persian Gulf included Broadsword-class frigates, and Sheffield-class destroyers; other R.N. and RFA ships were also deployed. The light aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal was deployed to the Mediterranean Sea.

Several SAS squadrons were deployed.

A British Challenger 1 achieved the longest range confirmed tank kill of the war, destroying an Iraqi tank with an armour-piercing fin-stabilized discarding-sabot (APFSDS) round fired over 4,700 metres (2.9 mi)—the longest tank-on-tank kill shot recorded.

Podcast series Granby-Storm in the desert: https://radio.bfbs.com/podcasts/granby .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_War .

Sunday, March 30, 2014

●τ 1992

1992-2-7 - 1993 Maastricht Treaty (Treaty on European Union)

The Maastricht Treaty (officially the Treaty on European Union) was signed on 7 February 1992 by the members of the European Communities in Maastricht, Netherlands, to further European integration. On 9–10 December 1991, the same city hosted the European Council which drafted the treaty. The treaty founded the European Union and established its pillar structure which stayed in place until the Lisbon Treaty came into force in 2009. The treaty also greatly expanded the competences of the EEC/EU and led to the creation of the single European currency, the euro. The Maastricht Treaty (TEU) and all pre-existing treaties has subsequently been further amended by the treaties of Amsterdam (1997), Nice (2001) and Lisbon (2007). Today it is one of two treaties forming the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU), the other being the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.

Saturday, March 29, 2014

●τ 1993

93-10-3 Black Hawk Down ..

93-10-3 Black Hawk Down

.3rd October 1993: The Black Hawk Down incident ~ Battle of Mogadishu - HiPo > .

The vacuum of power that resulted from the overthrow of Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre in January 1991 led to the emergence of armed factions that competed for control of the country. By September bitter fighting had broken out in the capital, Mogadishu, that spread across the country and destroyed Somalia’s agriculture. As starvation took hold, international aid shipments were stolen by the warring clans who used it to pay for weapons.

Following a ceasefire in July 1992 the United Nations sent observers to monitor food distribution, and the following month America bolstered this with military convoys. Nevertheless it was clear that a larger military operation was necessary to stop the death and displacement of the Somali people.

Operation Restore Hope began in December, and by March the Unified Task Force had helped to improve the delivery of aid. Although progress was made towards restoring peace and democracy, the faction led by Mohamed Farrah Aidid began to broadcast anti-U.N. propaganda and killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. Meanwhile a U.S.-led attack on a house where Aidid was believed to be resulted in the deaths of over 50 Somalis and consolidated local opposition.

Despite a $25,000 reward being offered for Aidid’s arrest the warlord remained at large, and attacks on U.N. forces continued. Eventually, on 3 October 1993, a special task force of the elite Delta Force and U.S. Army Rangers launched an assault on two of Aidid’s lieutenants. During the operation, two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down and 19 Americans lost their lives, while at least 200 Somali militiamen were killed as well as hundreds of civilians.

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

●τ 1997

1997 - 1999 Amsterdam Treaty .

Friday, March 21, 2014

●τ 2001

2001 - 2003 Nice Treaty .

Saturday, March 15, 2014

●τ 2007

2007 - 2009 Lisbon Treaty .

Thursday, March 6, 2014

●τ 2016

2016-11-8 — selfish disaster ..

2016-11-8 — selfish disaster

Yuval Noah Harari - Global or Local? > .

No, Yuval, shifting socioeconomic conditions allowed political manipulators to peddle an ancient emotional CON—a blame-the-scapegoat "politics-of-eternity" story—to credulous self-obsessed voters.