US wins against Russian and Chinese air defenses in other countries may risk teaching the wrong lessons

“While the US can draw a certain degree of confidence in its capabilities from the success of the mission, there’s a risk of reading too much into that success, especially when it comes to weapons made by American rivals in the hands of other militaries.

Some of the failures of the Venezuelan-operated foreign air defenses, for example, have been attributed to issues like inactivity, incompetence, and a dearth of functional cohesion between different systems.

Wins in Venezuela during Operation Absolute Resolve or in operations against Iranian-operated Russian-made air defenses may not translate the same in fight with Russia or China.”

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/us-wins-against-russian-chinese-121301439.html

Why Didn’t Early Modern Armies Always Dig In?

Early modern armies knew about trenches and fortifications and used them often, but these wars didn’t turn into WWI style trench wars because trenching takes a lot of labor and locks in positions that the enemy can just go around. There were fewer scenarios where you could know that the enemy would attack you in a particular position, so building a trench would just get you avoided. Part of warfare is maneuvering around and trying to start a battle when you have the advantage, but if you want to engage the enemy, they wouldn’t fight you if you are entrenched in too strong a position, unless they had to.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfxcgJsEWY0

“JEWISH TERRORISM!” Destiny & Benny Morris on Israel-Palestine

The biggest block to peace in Palestine is Israelis who are not willing to compromise for peace and Palestinians who are not willing to compromise for peace. Such positions are strong among the right in Israel, and appear to be the majority position among Palestinians. A peace deal can’t last when a terrorist is willing to blow it up and return the nations to war.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uu3WtCS-FrM

The Greenland Situation Just Got Worse

Trump appears to personally want Greenland because he thinks expanding the territory of the United States is cool and because he’s mad about not getting the Nobel Peace Prize.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzhGteAL4iU

Why America Is Better Off With Allies

The US saves a lot of money on military spending because our greatest rivals would have to go through our allies and partners to seriously get to us. Without those allies and partners, those rivals could more easily reach out and touch the US, which would require greater military spending.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KmuWGT__yc