TV Reruns: Saturday Night at the Funnies
German satire about double standards in international law and democracy as it relates to media coverage of Ukraine story ....
Bruce Gagnon is coordinator of the Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space. He offers his own reflections on organizing and the state of America's declining empire....
The collapsing US military & economic empire is making Washington & NATO even more dangerous. US could not beat the Taliban but thinks it can take on China-Russia-Iran...a sign of psychopathology for sure. @BruceKGagnon
As a demonstration of our continued efforts to provide a ballistic missile defense (BMD) capability for U.S. and European NATO Allies against established and emergent threats, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), U.S. European Command (EUCOM), the U.S. Navy, and the Polish Ministry of Economy hosted U.S. Industry Day in Warsaw, Poland, on Feb. 11 and 12.
The two-day event was designed to help provide information on the general scope of work.... to support a planned U.S. missile defense asset deployment in Poland.
"Missile defense is a critically important part of NATO security, and the United States deeply appreciates Poland’s contributions to the NATO missile defense effort," said Ambassador Stephen Mull, U.S. Ambassador to Poland. "Poland plans to spend an estimated $10 billion USD on integrated air and missile defense systems over the next ten years. This is in addition to Poland’s decision to host an American missile defense base at Redzikowo."
As approved by the President in September 2009, the purpose of the European Phased Adaptive Approach (EPAA) to ballistic missile defense is to protect European NATO allies, and U.S. forces in the region.... This key event demonstrates that we are moving forward with deploying an Aegis Ashore site in Poland in the 2018 time frame and that the U.S. continues to work in close cooperation with NATO allies to integrate BMD capabilities into a NATO missile defense system.
The US Air Force dispatched a dozen A-10 Thunderbolt II attack jets and about 300 airmen to Germany as part of a military exercise, which is expected to involve NATO allies in Eastern Europe amid simmering tensions over Ukraine.
The Cold War-era aircraft, nicknamed the Warthog, on Monday departed Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona for Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve.
Lt. Col. Christopher Karns, a spokesman for the Air Force at the Pentagon, said the aircraft would “forward-deploy” to sites in Eastern European NATO states, where the units will participate in training with allied forces to “strengthen interoperability and…demonstrate US commitment to the security and stability of Europe," he told military.com.
The highly reliable A-10 carries a seven-barrel GAU-8/A Avenger Gatling gun that fires 30mm rounds designed to destroy tanks and other armored combat vehicles.