The US military is almost entirely dependent upon China and Russia for a metal used in many military applications, such as explosives and armor-piercing bullets. The metal is antimony, and China currently owns 53 percent of the world's supply. However, it processes over 80 percent of antimony ore through contracts with other producers. The US's last source of antimony, the Stibnite mine in Idaho, ceased operations in 1997.
It isn't just the military that relies on antimony, though it does appear insane to import the key element in manufacturing modern military munitions from your most likely adversary; the private sector is also heavily reliant on the metal.
This issue has hit the front burner of Capitol Hill. The House Armed Services Committee is investigating the status of the Defense National Stockpile, which is charged with maintaining a strategic reserve of rare minerals. Our stockpile and the infrastructure to operate it will largely cease to exist by 2025 unless urgent action is taken.
Crap like this simply validates the idea that we are ruled by fools and buffoons. Congress has nearly sold off the stockpile of to, according to Defense News, " over the past several decades to fund other programs."
The stockpile was valued at nearly $42 billion in today’s dollars at its peak during the beginning of the Cold War in 1952. That value has plummeted to $888 million as of last year following decades of congressionally authorized sell-offs to private sector customers. Lawmakers anticipate the stockpile will become insolvent by FY25.
“A lot of what happened is Congress just getting greedy and finding politically convenient ways to fund programs that they weren’t willing to raise revenue for,” said [Massachusetts Democrat Seth] Moulton.
Between Biden's cavalier attitude and the observable results, this is starting to look like a tabletop exercise in how to create regional instability and a global economic downturn.
Perhaps most important is US prestige. American diplomatic, economic, and military influence has kept the peace since 1945. Biden's timidity and the collection of third-string midwits that he's moved into critical positions are shattering that hard-won credibility. //
As if to add insult to injury, the French have started to escort French ships
Ryan Petersen @typesfast
·
The French Navy just posted these photos as they escort French container ships through the Red Sea. Before the American-led order that followed World War 2 this is how trade was done, with each nation protecting its own ships. Is this the future of globalization?
11:48 AM · Jan 16, 2024 //
The chorus of the Marine's Hymn honors America's history of suppressing piracy for the common good. Instead of trying to micromanage possible "escalation" and worrying about making Iran angry, we should be laying down a marker that says interfering with international trade is a terrible evolutionary strategy.
We can't complain about broken supply chains, high prices, inflation, unemployment, and regional instability if we won't take even a baby step toward teaching rogue actors that there are limits on acceptable behavior. Most of all, we can't let ourselves become a laughingstock. Without American power lurking on the horizon, other areas of the world could take a page from the Houthi lesson and interfere with global trade to get attention.
Rampant corruption comes with the territory when it comes to having complete control over every aspect of your country, including the economy. //
The corruption, however, has resulted in some hilarious setbacks for Xi, according to the Bloomberg report, "including missiles filled with water instead of fuel and vast fields of missile silos in western China with lids that don’t function in a way that would allow the missiles to launch effectively." //
U.S. think tanks and defense contractors believe that Xi aims to have a completely modernized military that is capable of taking on any global power by 2027. One such example is the rapid assembly of aircraft carriers and other naval vessels at a rate that far outpaces the U.S. Navy. But just because they can be rapidly assembled doesn't mean they're ready to go right away.
puhiawa in reply to rduke007. | December 29, 2023 at 1:54 pm
No. What they are saying is the Chinese have no military communications satellite above America, a rather startling discovery. //
starride | December 29, 2023 at 12:13 pm
Notice the flight path is a direct line through our northern icbm installations.
Now, when the chips are down, we see that our "allies and partners" have figured out what the rest of us have. The US is an erratic, unstable, and unreliable ally. It will abandon you at the drop of a hat. It will do profoundly stupid stuff without a second thought. American military leadership is so weak and feeble that you need to think twice about placing your men and ships under American command.
On the whole, I think we can safely say that Joe Biden has fully implemented Barack Obama's "lead from behind" strategy. Our military is so physically weak that it can't do some missions alone and is perceived as so incompetent that no one cares to follow us. //
Proud American Patriot
11 hours ago
Another major foreign policy failure by the Biden Administration. We cannot expect other countries to follow the U. S. lead when we have a weak, compromised and corrupt president who cannot make clear and decisive decisions. //
streiff Proud American Patriot
11 hours ago
Bingo. I needed to see this before I finished the post. It is a great summary. //
Laocoön of Troy Brubaker5
6 hours ago
And the failure to figure out what exactly were we trying to accomplish was what the Weinburger Doctrine was designed to fix. It failed because the Bush family loved interventions and they were jealous of Reagan's success. They shelved the Weinburger Doctrine because it limited them too much. They wanted to engage in world affairs independent of what Reagan accomplished. //
Asurea streiff
6 hours ago
Near as I can figure, the most sensible goal to take on for Iraq and Afghanistan would have been to find a dictator we could stomach and with the personal ability to keep their country under control, and support them. Alternatively, just keeping chopping heads off the snake until one fits those criteria... that would have probably been more effective, if far bloodier. //
Dieter Schultz Asurea
5 hours ago
I've argued this before... we need a 'failed state' protocol that, while we neutralize any threats to targets outside of the "states'" borders, we leave the state in both incapable of striking other nations and, this has to be right up there as a priority, prohibited from exploitation by other nations like China, Russia, and Iran.
The 'failed state' protocol must allow us to, like in the case of Yemen, take out any power within the states' borders that are threatening other nations' shipping or, like Afghanistan, coordinating attacks on other countries like the US.
The idea that a national boundary in a 'failed state' is sacrosanct needs to be rejected if, and only if, they are allowing extra-territorial attacks on other countries' interests.
Previously, we focused on the sheer physicality required of close-combat unit members, in this particular case, tank crewmen. Today, we will focus on two competing issues. First, we can recognize that it is indeed possible to find women who can meet minimum standards for just about any given position. Second, the effort required to do so, must be an analysis of the costs, versus any expected benefits of doing so…especially when finding men to exceed the standard is so much easier than finding women to can barely meet it. We’ll get into that particular discussion in a follow-on piece.
Here’s why the discussion. It’s just biology. Let’s look at one physical act in detail to explain the point. These two extracts show the “military/shoulder press” capability of both men and women, aged 25, at varying levels of weight lifting experience/ability. The source is from Strength Level website, where you can compare and contrast various factors in physical fitness. I chose this particular exercise as experience shows it’s closest to the movement required to lift a main gun round overhead and hand it to another crewman on the tank deck. //
At this point, we have determined that for this particular requirement (and there are a host of others in this category) it takes extra effort to bring females up to the physical standard of the average male. When we begin to consider national-level personnel policy for our armed forces, we need to consider this and a number of other factors as we weigh the cost versus benefit of deciding to put/keep women in close combat units.
There is a piece of video propaganda making its way around the news services and the internet. It features imagery of an all-female, Israeli Army tank crew. //
That crew of dedicated Israeli patriots deserves nothing but kudos. They have stepped up to defend their nation against an evil force of terrorists who murdered infants in the crib among other atrocities. My beef, is with Americans who want to use those achievements to promote the provably and long-proven, false proposition, that generally speaking, females perform just as well as males in close combat units–moreover that somehow this Israeli example justifies the continued feminization of the American military. That’s. Just. Not. True. //
Two (of many) things left out of the video would demonstrate why women are physically unsuited for the role of tank crewman. What occurs inside the tank during combat isn’t relatively speaking, the physically demanding part. It’s what occurs prior to and after the battle that beats your body to death and requires strength and stamina to perform.
One of these crew tasks, is the manual upload of the “basic load” of tank ammunition from the ammo carrier or ground pallet, into the turret of the tank. Tank main gun rounds, depending on the type, weigh between 40, and over 50 pounds each. The Israeli Merkava 4, carries 48 rounds of 120 mm main gun ammo. Each round must be manually uploaded and placed into the vehicle’s storage magazine. //
Another onerous task required to be performed by armored vehicle crewmen, is “breaking track.” This physically demanding operation takes place when one or more of the track shoes must be taken out and replaced by a new one…or when the tank, or other armored vehicle, “throws” a track and it must be manually put back in place.
Bahrain is the only regional country playing. This is significant because Egypt has a major role in CTF 153, and command of CTF 153 has rotated between US and Egyptian admirals. If this is a test of strength between the US and Iran (and China), the fact that Egypt and Saudi Arabia have bowed out shows which way the political winds are blowing.
The Chinese have six warships stationed in the Red Sea/Persian Gulf area of operations. They are not participating, and they are not aiding commercial traffic under attack. Draw your own conclusions. //
In my view, this is just another case of the Biden national security apparatus trying to give the impression of doing something while doing nothing. The obvious reason they are doing nothing is that Biden, Sullivan, etc., don't want to offend Iran. Instead of looking after our national interests (safe and rapid transit of sea lanes) and showing confidence and leadership, the Biden White House has elected to show weakness and uncertainty. Nothing good will come from this.
The stay of removal comes after a group called Defend Arlington, which is affiliated with Save Southern Heritage Florida, filed a lawsuit Sunday seeking the restraining order. The lawsuit accuses the Army, which oversees the administration and maintenance of the cemetery, of moving too fast in seeking the memorial's removal. Per the lawsuit, "The removal will desecrate, damage, and likely destroy the Memorial longstanding at ANC as a grave marker and impede the Memorial’s eligibility for listing on the National Register of Historic Places."
In issuing his order, Judge Alston acknowledged there was merit to the argument by the plaintiffs that the work involved in removing the statue would disturb nearby gravesites. Alston ordered participants in the matter to be ready to argue their cases this Wednesday, and also noted that he "takes very seriously the representations of officers of the Court, and should the representations in this case be untrue or exaggerated, the Court may take appropriate sanctions.” //
The statue, unveiled in 1914, features a bronze woman, crowned with olive leaves, standing on a 32-foot pedestal, and was designed to represent the American South. According to Arlington, the woman holds a laurel wreath, a plow stock and a pruning hook, with a Biblical inscription at her feet that says: “They have beat their swords into plough-shares and their spears into pruning hooks.” //
smagar
3 hours ago
If Congress really wants to see this statue come down, wouldn't it speak up and object to the TRO?
Anyone who's studied this issue knows that the Naming Commission recommendations were buried in an NDAA. Hardly anyone saw them before they began to be implemented.
Since then, the House of Representatives has approved an amendment by Andrew Clyde (R-GA) to this year's defense appropriations, which would prohibit federal dollars from being spent to remove this memorial. If you put two and two together, this is a clear sign from one half of Congress that it doesn't want to see this memorial moved. Now that everyone's had a chance to read all the commission's recommendations and weigh their impact, it's telling that one house of Congress has voted this way.
Let's hope the judge considers this. Sounds as if it's time for the House to hold hearings on the Naming Commission recommendations themselves. Seems as things aren't as cut-and-dried as they were depicted to be.
About 10 percent of the world's sea traffic goes through the Red Sea. Rerouting ships around the Cape of Good Hope lengthens the trip by about twelve days, adding considerable cost to freight and disrupting supply chains. The frequency of the attacks has led two of the world's largest shipping companies, Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd, to order their ships to avoid the Red Sea until further notice; see Major Shipping Lines Avoid Red Sea; Is It Just the Houthis or Should We Be Looking Deeper?.
The new coalition, to be called Operation Prosperity Guardian (is it too much to ask that we begin calling military operations things that don't suck?), will involve ships of several nations. The concept of the operation is not yet known, but it is expected to combine the protection of individual ships with convoys. In fact, very little is known about the operation (number of ships, which countries, when it starts, its Mission) other than its name.
Shipping companies are taking it seriously. Automatic Identification System beacons are showing that Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd ships are forming up for a convoy. //
As I wrote in Major Shipping Lines Avoid Red Sea, Is It Just the Houthis, or Should We Be Looking Deeper? we need to look beyond the possibility of the Israel-Hamas War expanding if Israel carries out retaliatory strikes against Yemen. This is an exercise in testing the US and NATO response to a critical maritime route being obstructed and the tactics, techniques, and procedures we will use in keeping the sea lanes open.
“House Republicans are aiming to block the Pentagon from removing a Confederate memorial from Arlington National Cemetery.”
The Democrats’ march to Year Zero continues apace with the Biden regime’s proposed removal of a Civil War Memorial that marks the grave of the memorial’s Jewish sculptor who is buried at its base. The memorial’s removal would also necessarily desecrate the graves of numerous Confederate soldiers buried nearby. //
The memorial is intended to celebrate the post-war reconciliation of the North and South, a celebration of unity that apparently rankles Democrats and their rabid desire for division and destruction.
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-travesty-at-arlington-national-cemetery/
Luke AFB, Arizona-56th Fighter Wing
about 5 years ago
#TBT In 1967, Capt Bob Pardo’s wingman was hit over Vietnam and didn’t have enough fuel to make it to Laos. Pardo told him to lower his tail hook and he pushed him 90 miles over the border where they all ejected and were rescued.
Lt Col Pardo retired from Luke in 1974.
For the whole story click here: https://www.luke.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/1397511/legendary-pilot-inspires-new-generation-of-air-warriors/
U.S. defense aid to Ukraine is not only bolstering the defense of a friendly nation but also creating jobs for American workers and revitalizing the defense manufacturing base that has been in a death spiral since 1992. According to an exhaustive meta-analysis of Ukraine defense spending in the Washington Post, well over 90 percent of the military-related aid provided to Ukraine is spent domestically. The spending has resulted in the opening of new production lines, increased operations at existing facilities, and thousands of direct and indirect jobs created. //
The end of the Soviet Union resulted in a bacchanalia of Department of Defense cuts. Not only were the military services offered up as Bill Clinton's "Peace Dividend," but a round of "cost savings" under the Base Realignment and Closure Program savaged facilities that had little peacetime use but would be critical in wartime. One of the major targets was government-owned, government-operated (GOGO) and government-owned, contractor-operated (GOCO) factories that built munitions and military hardware. Even those facilities that survived found themselves deprived of money for modernization and partially mothballed. The ammunition plants operate very much like they did during World War II. //
But this automated capability isn’t available for the nuances of mixing explosives or filling shells, Brig. Gen. Gavin Gardner, commander of Joint Munitions Command, told Defense News on a tour of the ammunition plant’s production line for the Mark 82, a 500-pound bomb used by the Air Force. Operators still manually mix explosives — like tritonal, which is 80% TNT and 20% aluminum powder — using steam heated kettles, then adding it to the weapon mostly by hand.
That last sentence needs to be read carefully. The number of people alive who know how to steam-sweat tritonal and pour it into shell casings is in the low double digits. The number of those who are not Social Security recipients is a fraction of the total. With few facilities and limited production lines, providing a career path that would encourage someone to train for that job is very difficult. //
Another underlying problem is that the machine tool component of the defense industrial base is so decrepit that when we went to expand production of 155mm shells, we found we did not have the machine tools to build equipment for new production lines. //
As we've seen from the Israel-Hamas War, it is impossible for any friendly nation to defend itself without our assistance. Just three weeks into the war, Israel was making emergency calls for ammunition and equipment. What the Ukraine War is showing us is that we cannot help Taiwan provide a credible defense against China. Worse, we don't have the capacity to provide the United States military with the ammunition or equipment they would need to prevail should we end up in a shooting war with China.
they aren't expensive either, but I digress. All told he was missing probably a dozen or so pieces of equipment that added up to $500 to $1,000. He was being screwed over for actions he was ordered to do by his superiors and now he's paying the price for it, literally.
That ladies and gentlemen, is getting what we called in the Marines, screwed by the big green weenie. We actually have an acronym for it, BOHICA. Which stands for Bend Over, Here It Comes Again.
The sad part is that it is a common occurrence, both the green weenie and paying for losses of gear and or other equipment that was lost or destroyed in the course of our duties at no fault of our own. Some examples that I saw of these were both hilarious and infuriating at the same time. //
It is more than just an administration problem, it is a problem within the military as a whole. //
But sure, let's tack on an extra $500-$1,000 to repay the government, along with a Defense Department, that has enough resources, money, or credit, to absorb that cost for miscellaneous gear like an e-tool. That is a giant slap in the face to the very people who literally put their lives on the line in some jobs, to defend this Nation. They need to do better, much much better. //
thinkingoutloud
3 minutes ago
So, did Biden's paycheck get used to pay back the US taxpayers for the "gear" he intentionally left in Afghanistan?
On Monday, Israel shot down a ballistic missile in flight outside of the Earth's atmosphere. This marks a historical first time that an anti-ballistic missile has successfully intercepted a target in space during combat. The missile was fired by Houthi rebels in Yemen and was targeting Israel. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) used their Arrow anti-ballistic missile defense system, which is a joint American-Israeli project first deployed in Israel over 20 years ago.
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