Fast Draw – The Virus Has Attacked Again

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By Arie Egozi

This virus does not have a name yet, but it is affecting a lot of countries in the West. Now it is the US, before that it was Israel, and then, not so long ago, it was countries in Europe.

This virus develops with a mixture of misunderstanding raw intelligence data, a little cockiness and a little contempt.

It happened to Israel with the tunnels from Gaza, it happened to European countries with the threat of radical Islam and now it’s happening to the US with the returning military might of Russia.

Unbelieveable. These very days the pentagon is running a secret plan to learn Russia’s new military capabilities.

“It is clear that while our Army was engaged in Afghanistan and Iraq, Russia studied U.S. capabilities and vulnerabilities and embarked on an ambitious and largely successful modernization effort.” This was said by a senior general in the US military last week to the Senate Armed Services Committee, a general who is considered to be a top intellectual in the American forces.

Lieutenant General Herbert Raymond McMaster was one of the leading generals who fought the pentagon in the past decade to introduce a new line of thinking in the US regarding the war on terror in Afghanistan, in Iraq and other places. Now it seems that he is focusing his attention of the American military to a new trouble looming over it, and must be keeping him awake at nights: Russia’s massive military strengthening with advanced equipment and war tactics.

The American site Politico claims that McMaster is overseeing a high-level government panel, intended to figure out how the Army should adapt to this Russian wake-up call. According to US sources, this plan is a really an admission of failure both of the heads of pentagon and the government in dealing with the threat of the Russian bear.

One of the examples McMaster presented to the Armed Services Committee was the support Moscow’s army gave to rebels in Ukraine. “In Ukraine, for example, the combination of unmanned aerial systems and offensive cyber and advanced electronic warfare capabilities depict a high degree of technological sophistication,” explained McMaster, referring to the pro-Russian rebels in the country, supported by the Kremlin, to use deadly tanks, artillery and antitank weapons, and cyber attacks to cut off roads of supply, to disrupt Ukraine’s communications and even stop the navigational systems from working in the country.

The combination of the all these abilities has led the heads of military and intelligence in the US to a very disturbing conclusion: The Russians are ahead of them and have the advantage in several fronts. Thus, for example, the Americans are worried about anti-tank missiles the Russians possess, and even the dismissal that many showed in Washington towards the T-90 tank has already expired, clearing its way to understanding that this is a lethal vehicle with quite the ability. Furthermore, according to McMaster, Russia’s artillery – rocket, missile and cannon artillery systems – outrange and are more lethal than U.S. Army artillery systems and munitions. Another general, Wesley Clark, explained that Russia’s tanks upgrade has become so are so improved that they are “largely invulnerable to anti-tank missiles” the US possesses.

Alongside these improved abilities, Washington is not ignoring the Kremlin’s audacity: While the Russians have flexed their muscles in the Syrian civil war and in Ukraine, they don’t seem to shy away from other arenas as well. So, for example, two Russian fighter jets and a military helicopter repeatedly buzzed a U.S. Navy warship in the Baltic Sea, despite radio warnings.Yesterday a US reconnaissance aircraft was reportedly intercepted.

So this virus is attacking many countries in the West, including Israel. Here we try to fix the failures which preceded operation Protective Edge, but in Europe they don’t really understand the dangers they are facing with the Islamic terrorism tzunami. Not only do they not understand, but worse – they fail to realize the need for re-organizing in light of this terrorism.

The US didn’t realize what might happen in Libya after the fall of Gaddafi. The US also didn’t realize what might happen in Egypt after Mubarak steps aside.

This virus is practically lethal and the world seems to fail to realize all the dangers it can bring.