The most retarded thing we ever did was get between the IDF and the PLO in Beirut. This could have been over 40 years ago.
The absolute last thing we should do now is try to get between the IDF and Hamas in Gaza, under any pretense or circumstances.
Hamas poked the bear. Let the bear have his luncheon, uninterrupted.
And if Turkey keeps rattling their tiny butter knife saber on the periphery, they need to find out how strategic a mistake it is to screw with carriers using surface ships, when you also don't have any submarines.
Erdogan could also find out about regime change, first-hand.
13 comments:
The threat of support for Israel is appreciated and effective. If it becomes necessary to implement, we will be eternally grateful.
I don't think Turkey needs submarines(although they might like to have the capability down the road) to have an effective deterrent against carriers or surface ships. Their army is quite professional, although hampered to a degree by older technology(which is well integrated into their system). The TAF is lagging, but they seem to be trying to improve it without busting the bank. Opting out of the F-35 "Turd" was a smart decision on their part.
What they do have are army controlled anti-ship missiles, both domestically produced and purchased. I wasn't able to find any unclassified summaries of totals, and my NTK clearance doesn't cover quantities. I'm "guessing" that they have enough to render a carrier or two hors de combat, especially considering the rust buckets that the surface fleet has become.
I'll note in passing that Putin has not been foolish enough to anger the Turks by interfering with their trade with Ukraine, despite the feverish ravings of some of their military oriented bloggers. There have been a few "incidents", but nothing major, and being on a Turkish flagged freighter traversing the Black Sea is safer than living in most large American cities.
I was a participant in a wargame exercise soon after Erdogan went despotic and started talking about re-establishing the Ottoman caliphate. The version of the game that I was on was unclassified because of the number of outside observers. The conclusion of the game saw the Turks battling it out with the Israelis for control of Jerusalem, ala Berlin 1945. The Israelis lost, without ground force intervention from the US. Some factors that were explored were Egypt opening a second front, Jordan joining in the ruckus, among others. Russian involvement was explored in the classified version, I believe.
Supposedly the classified version went even worse for the US, but I never saw even a summary of that game.
The TL;DR of my two comments is that Turkey is a more formidable force than many people realize. There is enough uncertainty involved over their actual capabilities that, IMNSHO, assuming that Turkey would be a pushover if war comes would be ill-advised.
They'll swarm with small craft containing suicide charges.
The US Navy will defend.
The world press will decry the "slaughter of innocents".
The issue is that the Navy ships aren't set up for that sort of defense, and it is like smashing flies with a shotgun.
It is always an easy choice to mind your own damn business, our govt seems unable to make this choice.
Let 'em have at it.
I could swear I've seen this movie b4...
Not much of a wargame exercise, if they overlooked what a handful of Mk 48s would do to the "Turkish Navy", the minute anybody decided they were more than an annoyance.
It would also precipitate throwing them TF out of NATO, and give Greece the green light to go medieval on them as well, leaving them trapped between NATO and Russia, and liable to be invaded to a small degree. Stranger things have happened when former allies flipped.
Erdogan is about to find out how dispensable Turkey is in the grand scheme, and lose them their European foothold and probably Istanbul/Constantinople and the Bosporus in the bargain.
Erdogan wants to be Suleiman, but he's going to re-launch the Crusades. And then get Qaddafi'ed into regime change in another hot minute.
The funny bit is.... now the PLA is hunting down Hamas. Guess they have have had enough of being kicked in the sack.
And where would this Crusader army come from? Europe? Which has it's own internal conflict with the moslem invaders.
I think that the MK 48 torpedo is only one concern for small boats attacking a CVBG, although my thoughts depend on how low the squids can depress the barrels on the CIWS. If CIWS can detect and engage small, fast-moving, surface targets (which it likely can) - 70 radar controlled rounds a second is quite a deterrent. Until they're dead, which is the ultimate deterrence.
Original Grandpa
Hi. long time lurker, turned on to you by The Woodpile report.
By way of introduction, vet, I live in north central Ohio. I was known as BenZacharia at Little Green Footballs. Okay. My Rabbis’ son, JS, is a Merkava MBT Commander in the IDF. I have sent him links to various of your postings. So you have at least one friend in the IDF. AM ISRAEL CHAI!
Yes. The first paragraph is perfect.
Post a Comment