Will Schryver has a very nice map in one of his tweets today. It illustrates how modern warfare has changed with the advent of long range, high precision, and—especially—hypersonic missiles. I agree with those who believe that the presence of such an enormous US Navy force in the Mediterranean is probably mostly a desperate attempt to head off a wider war, to freeze the conflict in place. That’s a strategy that shows no signs of working in Ukraine, but it may work in the Middle East, where many of the main players don’t really want war—not Israel, not Hezbollah, not most anyone else. The map is self explanatory, but I append Schryver’s speculation:
One would hope the fleet is there to facilitate evacuation of US personnel if needed and not to start making money for the MIC. US government usually isn’t that forward thinking though, ask Benghazi.
The map shows Incirlik. What a juicy target that is for all of the hardware that the Russkies have around. If Turkey decides that it wants its turf back plus a few nukes found we hold them at bay long enough to evacuate? What if our fleet is there to try to protect an evacuation of nukes and sensitive material from Incirlik? How about Syria? We have small forces there that the Turks could run into the ground. What if the Turks just decide to go for it?
It sounds as if our government is encouraging restraint. Perhaps someone managed to get a ‘Don’t forget to avoid great power war!’ Slip under the White House residence bedroom door. Or perhaps Admiral Rachel Levine wrote it on the bathroom mirrors with lipstick. Gotta love that gal! Or maybe they just need a bit more time to do something really stupid. In medicine it is said ‘If the patient is not dead we can still do things that will make them worse.’
One would hope the fleet is there to facilitate evacuation of US personnel if needed and not to start making money for the MIC. US government usually isn’t that forward thinking though, ask Benghazi.
The map shows Incirlik. What a juicy target that is for all of the hardware that the Russkies have around. If Turkey decides that it wants its turf back plus a few nukes found we hold them at bay long enough to evacuate? What if our fleet is there to try to protect an evacuation of nukes and sensitive material from Incirlik? How about Syria? We have small forces there that the Turks could run into the ground. What if the Turks just decide to go for it?
It sounds as if our government is encouraging restraint. Perhaps someone managed to get a ‘Don’t forget to avoid great power war!’ Slip under the White House residence bedroom door. Or perhaps Admiral Rachel Levine wrote it on the bathroom mirrors with lipstick. Gotta love that gal! Or maybe they just need a bit more time to do something really stupid. In medicine it is said ‘If the patient is not dead we can still do things that will make them worse.’