Tag: US Military

For Taiwan, Trump’s ‘protection’ money may mean new and early big ticket arms deals

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

For Taiwan, Trump’s ‘protection’ money may mean new and early big ticket arms deals

“Watch for Taiwan on the defence side to try and start engaging them on a big arms package – to do something significant, very large,” Rupert Hammond-Chambers, president of the U.S.-Taiwan Business Council which helps broker defence exchanges between Washington and Taipei, told Reuters, adding it could come in the first quarter of next year.

“But think of it as a down payment, an attention getter,” he said. “They’ll stack up several big platforms and big buys of munitions.”

The U.S. is already Taiwan’s most important arms supplier, although Taiwan has complained of an order backlog worth some $20 billion. A new order, almost $2 billion of missile systems, was announced last month.

Related:

Profile at BowerGroupAsia: Rupert Hammond-Chambers

Trump taps Hegseth as defense secretary, vows ‘no Marxism, no communism’ in military

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)
YouTube

Trump taps Hegseth as defense secretary, vows ‘no Marxism, no communism’ in military

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Pentagon report warns of threat from white supremacists inside the military

A Defense Department report highlights disturbing examples of white supremacy inside the military, calling for changes in how the department screens recruits for possible ties to domestic extremism.

The report, which the Trump administration drafted last year before the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, was sent to Congress in October, but it has not been made public until now.v

Purge at the Pentagon! 

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Purge at the Pentagon!

Purge at the Pentagon! Reuters reports that the incoming Trump administration is drawing up a list of generals to be fired. These are generals associated with former Chairman of the JCS Mark Milley and anyone else branded with a scarlet “W” for woke. The current Chairman, Air Force General C.Q. Brown, may also be fired, as some within the Trump camp suspect he may have been a DEI hire.

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As Army officer Paul Yingling famously wrote (“A Failure in Generalship”), a private is severely punished for losing a rifle but generals get promoted for losing wars. I doubt this is going to change. Instead, under Trump it appears the firing of generals is another leg of his vengeance tour, a purge of those who are perceived as disloyal.

H/T: Der Friedensstifter

A friendly fire death, a platoon’s 20 years of trauma

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Bryan O’Neal has spent two decades grinding his way up the U.S. Army ranks, from lowly private to command sergeant major — the highest rank for a non-commissioned officer. He could write a textbook on modern warfare history — and his own unique place in it — but much of what he’s seen and done could be hard for anyone to hear. Significant numbers of the men and women under his command weren’t even born until after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that inspired him to enlist.

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In the spring of 2004, perhaps the last thing President George W. Bush’s administration needed was another war-related PR problem. No one could find Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, which the administration had used to build a case for war. Less than a month before Tillman’s death, four contractors for the Blackwater private security firm in Iraq were ambushed and dragged through the streets, and their corpses were hung from a bridge. In April came shocking images of torture at the Abu Ghraib prison.

A friendly fire death, a platoon’s 20 years of trauma

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