OF GOLD AND WARGAMES: TWO SEEMINGLY UNRELATED ARTICLES
When Mr. V.T. and Mr. E.G sent along the following article about wargames, my ears perked up, because as some readers here might or might not be aware, playing wargames has been a hobby of mine since I was young. When time permits (and it usually doesn't) I still enjoy playing them. By wargames, I don't mean the roll-playing stuff that kids play nowadays. I mean the actual thing; there are commercial versions of the types of game systems that were developed by various general staffs prior to World War One, and they're very sophisticated and, back then, used to take forever to play as one had to do endless calculations, roll dice and so on. They came with real maps printed out with an overlaid hex grid, and small cardboard square pieces with the standard NATO symbols printed on them to represent various units, divisions, corps, armor, infantry, artillery and so on. If nothing else, it was a way to "relive" military campaigns one read about in books, and the maps were an education in where places were and what the topography was. Well-known, and not so-well-known, places - Moscow or Leningrad or Novi Sad or Cluj - became part of the landscape. Today the large maps and cardboard unit counters and dice have been replaced by computerized games, automatic calculations of battle resolutions, and so on, and take lots less time to play. In fact, in the picture accompanying this article, you can see what one of those old wargames with its hexgrid map and cardboard unit counters looked like. They're still enjoyable, and they make you think.
And needless to say, this story made me think:
U.S. "Gets Its Ass Handed To It" In World War III Simulation: RAND
This little excerpt from the article says it all: the U.S. would not prevail in a general confrontation with Russia and China:
We lose a lot of people. We lose a lot of equipment. We usually fail to achieve our objective of preventing aggression by the adversary," he warned.
In the next military conflict, which some believe may come as soon as the mid-2020s, all five battlefield domains: land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace, will be heavily contested, suggesting the U.S. could have a difficult time in achieving superiority as it has in prior conflicts.
The simulated war games showed, the "red" aggressor force often destroys U.S. F-35 Lightning II stealth fighters on the runway, sends several Naval fleets to the depths, destroys US military bases, and through electronic warfare, takes control of critical military communication systems. In short, a gruesome, if simulated, annihilation of some of the most modern of US forces.
“In every case I know of,” said Robert Work, a former deputy secretary of defense with years of wargaming experience, “the F-35 rules the sky when it’s in the sky, but it gets killed on the ground in large numbers.”
So, as Russia and China develop fifth-generation fighters and hypersonic missiles, “things that rely on sophisticated base infrastructures like runways and fuel tanks are going to have a hard time,” Ochmanek said. “Things that sail on the surface of the sea are going to have a hard time.”
"That’s why the 2020 budget coming out next week retires the carrier USS Truman decades early and cuts two amphibious landing ships, as we’ve reported. It’s also why the Marine Corps is buying the jump-jet version of the F-35, which can take off and land from tiny, ad hoc airstrips, but how well they can maintain a high-tech aircraft in low-tech surroundings is an open question," said Breaking Defense.
Reading between the lines a bit, the article is highlighting a problem I've mentioned before, namely, that with so much money chasing high tech military weapons systems, the US military is actually getting much bang for the buck than its major potential enemies, who spend far less, but get greater returns on what they do buy. Or to put it differently, the USA has invested in the wrong systems.
Now tuck that wargame story in the back of your mind, with the added insight that, if RAND's wargames are showing these types of results, the likelihood is that similar wargames in Moscow and Beijing are probably showing more or less the same results. With that in mind, now consider this "completely different" story shared by Mr. H.B.:
Romania Introduces a Bill to Repatriate its Gold Reserves
With that, you can add Romania to the list of countries that are trying or in part have succeeded in repatriating its gold reserves: Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Venezuela. And if one adds in stories about other nations concerned about their gold, you can include Italy and Australia.
So what's the connection between the stories? It's simple: the backing of the US dollar as a reserve currency is the US military, and in particular, the US Navy, though as we move into the space age, that would also include the air force and now the space force. Wargames such as this - and virtually every major power plays them periodically - are showing acute vulnerabilities in the US military, and hence in the US dollar, and countries are moving accordingly into gold until such time as a new reserve currency (or currencies) emerges.
See you on the flip side...
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LBMA: their word is as good as… tungsten. Survey of the so-called “good delivery bar”.
https://youtu.be/JJzhm8P27vo
He who has the real gold last, wins.
Just like [$]elections;
he who cheats last, wins.
seems like an admission that if the next war uses weapon systems that we know about and are therefore archaic then the ussa gets beat. ooops. guess we better get more funds set up to buy more archaic weapons systems that can now only be manufactured from the countries who will win in the next conventional big war.
it’s a safe distraction from the current hot wars already rolling with weapons that we all live in denial about all the time. 3 skyscrapers vaporized with 3000 civilians in broad daylight? how many smaller false flags (real and faked) done by so-called white nationalist lone nutters or muslim extremist lone nutters (but never skilled professional mercs) against any and every civilian target. attackers so skilled as to cause body counts beyond our comprehension, imagination or tolerance to look at pictures of the carnage on the news networks. attackers so amazing that they slip through all the surveillance states’ incredible omniscient visions. even with every social media transaction and transcript tapped, logged and processed in real time, we just can’t seem to stop those pesky lone nutters with no previous nor professional training nor experience.
how many civilians vaporized in wild fires that burn buildings, cars, bridges, boils water in lakes and rivers and leaves forests of green untouched?
how many flooded off their lands? how many droughted off their lands?
Attackers brought to you by Crisis Solutions Limited.
Thanks, I missed the one about Romania wanting its gold back – 60% of it is (presumably) stored with the BoE. Good luck with that!
When this article originally came out, Bill Whittle (pilot and great friend of our armed forces) came out with this discussion among his group: https://www.billwhittle.space/commentary/u-s-loses-wwiii-fast
His response is that this conclusion is laughable.
Great post, Origenschild!!!
I can’t help but think that The War is already underway with what might call, Weather Warfare! It seems huge areas of population can be taken out through various forms of weather manipulation.
The neat thing about THAT is one can claim it was an “Act of God” resulting in no one being held accountable for the damages done! I happened upon Mike Morales, Above Ground World News. This “hillbilly”(said lovingly!) from MO follows what is going on in the skies nightly & has put together the pieces of how it IS possible to control the weather!
There ARE companies that advertise openly their abilities to influence the weather, which means, I assume, they are in competition! Oh Great!!!
We also have the Tesla-type weapons, the results of which can be seen in the weird fires that have been going on around the world…..our own country being hit severely. No one is held accountable….people lose their homes, are are not allowed to rebuild….living in FEMA camps! What HAS this world come to????
But then, my personal opinion is that we are engaged in a multidimensional war which is why it is difficult to understand on our 3-D level….”What the hell is going on?!” Maybe some of our “cousins” are helping one side while other “cousins” are helping the Dark Side??
What we DO know is that those who try to speak “truth” are often silenced, so each of us must sift through the fog of info to try & figure out where we are at!
May we each be an influence in whatever Sphere of Influence we inhabit!! That seems to be the only level on which each person can operate!
Blessings upon All!!
Foxie Grandma! 😉
Hear, hear!
If you eliminate U.S. carrier groups, then the game is already over. A carrier group is a mighty weapon, but it’s also very vulnerable. It’s the achilles’ heel of America’s military power.
My brothers and I used to play those complex, zero-tech games as teens. “Panzer Blitz” comes to mind. Tedious and exciting at the same time. They did ‘teach’ that you had to be aware of the whole field at once, and then act both strategically and tactically. Good practice for life…
Modern wargames (real ones) are also good practice in sorting-out pride and jingoism from what is actually likely to happen. Opponents will not play fair. They will do unexpected things; things you have not anticipated. They will play to their strengths and your weaknesses. Etc. Good generals and colonels take these ‘facts’ away with them, and are much more subdued about “the military option.” And then, we have the politicians – who have never seen these games…
It is pretty clear we are reaching the end of an era. The absolutely overwhelming debt in the US (and the world) is the cliff coming-up quickly. For the PTB, it is a little like “beware of what you wish for.” The hidden policy of running-up debt everywhere and in every possible manner to force subservience and compliance is coming home, big time. We could have a debt jubilee; we could have a worldwide “French Revolution;” it could be anything (including spiritual possibilities). But the wall is coming up fast. Everyone can feel it: an inflection point. “May you live in interesting times” is an old blessing/curse. Well, these are ‘interesting times’…
(Gold requests and movements are just a sign of the underlying ‘uneasiness’. Psychological ports-in-a-storm. Unfortunately, you cannot eat gold…)
I think the gold movements are more than a reflection of ‘uneasiness.’ They are a dismantling of the Bretton-Woods machinery by those in the know in preparation for the reset, which will be a manifestation of a ritual. You can eat monatomic gold, and the ancient bloodlines of the tribes of Israel are rather partial to it 😉
As for Rand’s report, my guess is that that “study” was done primarily to prop up defense spending. I can’t remember the numbers, but the proposed budget is already calling for significant more defense spending, this will probably be used to up it even more. Don’t get me wrong, I thing Russia and China would likely wipe the floor with the US, especially the Navy and their Aegis system. Venezuela may be where things go hot. Jim Stone has been covering this closely. To me, it seems obvious that their power grid is being attacked. Russia and China are already there “helping” on the ground with vested interest. China runs their infrastructure and holds much of their debt, and Russia essentially operates their oil state firm. The US Navy has been loitering off coast, no doubt enforcing the Monroe Doctrine.
Meanwhile, Robert hit the nail on the head in the comments already, with Gold poised to become a Tier 1 asset. I have a sneaky suspicion that London has a hand in this, with the looming Brexit on the horizon. No doubt, the British Pound has been threatened by the banking vipers, perhaps London is prepared to drop the fiat status and back it in gold? Time will tell…
The UK cannot do much backing of fiat with an alleged 310 tons of monetary gold, not even at USD20,000/oz.
With combined populations of 1.5 billion I don’t need a war game to tell me who’d win this contest.
War games purpose?
To game the system for more money & power.
The BIS plans to resurrect the gold standard on March 29, 2019. The day the BREXIT was never going to happen.
With the new rules of Basel 3 gold is given the same status as that is recognized for sovereign bonds in the bank’s balance sheet.
Looks like government securities are in the crosshairs[Italy, Spain, Portugal & Greece/PIGS].
Economic war games going live-in-action 3/29/19?
U.S. will probably revalue gold at $80.00, or some figure;
as to adjust to the new global reality?
Where’s that fly on the wall when you need one?
It won’t be the US’s decision.
Dr. Jim Willie has been preaching this for a while too. The media is silent…
From Willies website (public side of the house):
““Gold Breakout: Three Major Factors”
February 25th: Gold fundamentals are seeing 3 major factors at work positively. A Gold price breakout is imminent, or else very soon. 1) QE is the internal factor, from a new QE FOREVER to be announced. It is urgently required to avoid a systemic breakdown. 2) SGE is the external factor, from the Shanghai Gold-RMB window. It assures the death of the LBMA gold market and the demise of the USDollar itself. 3) BIS is the systemic factor, from the Basel Plan kicking into gear. It calls for Gold counted as Tier-1 Asset in the banking reserves system. Many details surround each of the 3 major factors. The major central banks are all insolvent after serving as bond buyers of last resort. The Basel Plan calls for a much higher Gold price after significant acquisition by central banks, in order to restore them to health. The QE monetary policy for the last seven years has created a terrible reality: US TREASURY BONDS ARE THE GLOBAL SUBPRIME BOND. The Gold price is looking strong in short-term, intermediate term, and long-term. The Global Financial Crisis grows worse by the month, and it will blossom in a magnificent manner.”
Re-valuation of gold has always been a no-brainer. The Gold Reserve Act of 1934 worked well for Roosevelt and gold could play a valuable role in the forthcoming reset, too. But this reset will be a global affair, not made in America.
Agree.
While sitting at a pizza palor one afternoon in Brooklyn, NY on Sept 12, 2001 I found myself discussing the possibility of future wars in Afganistan, Iraq and Iran. My best friend asked me then why I thought war was imminent. I told him then that those elements within the military industrial complex wanted to field test their latest creations in real-time against human opponents. I expected then a host of drone and robot deployments–and still wonder is some of these were deployed for limited scope then. How much of what I suspected then actually happened I will never know–but I believe more of it happened than would make some of us comfortable. That was then, this is now.
It’s been almost 20 years since that NYC event that changed out nation so dramatically. (Can anyone believe it?) By now we’ve had at a minimum 4 generations in drone and robotic technology. We’ve had huge changes in the technical sophistication of our military hardware that renders these systems extremely vulnerable and expensive. To top it off, we have off-shored so much of our technical component production capacity that we’ve emasculated our national security interests efforts. (I mean, geez! Why have a Patriot Act when you offshore our PC and software production to Asia? Weren’t these technical items considered relevant to our national security umbrella?) To say that we look bad in our war games is one thing. I expected this outcome to justify additional expenditures on behalf of the military industrial complex to fix the problems. The whole point in the western production engineering philosophy is the idea of planned obsolescence. This idea is completely anathema to national security when the nation state does not have direct control over the research, development and procurement capacity of the products it purchased within its domestic reach. (One of the reasons Germany was so successful in WWII was precisely because it had this control within its domestic reach. Don’t these clowns know this?) These have been corporatized and globalized to international status–which means the technology is open for public participation in research, development and purchase as long as the price is right. What’s the point in building empires when you cannot even build your own food supply, energy chain and armaments capacity? The real problem wasn’t performance. The real problem is structural. We see that in their trepidation over bases, ships and stationary platforms. In other words, this is an advertisement and not an admission. This planned obsolescence at its American finest!
I’m sure you’re right about this being an advert more than an admission.
A great deal of new technology of many kinds was deployed and/or tested in Iraq/Afghanistan. It’s true that procurement policies make no sense from a national-security perspective, but the mistake is to imagine that The Deep State has the interests of any one nation at heart. It doesn’t. It thinks in timescales of centuries and plays one nation off against another to fit the plan.
exactly.
Thank you for the agreement. For the record I have not made the mistake of confusing the two. Though speaking primarily of the nationalists, I was not tightly coupling the two as you might suppose. Those nationalists in our country desiring empire should not have trusted the devices and services of the Deep State to achieve it. If I erred anywhere it was failing to make the distinction—though there was another motive too. Whether Deep State or nationalists with designs for empire, they’re all fools. The Deep State will try to play the long game—but they don’t live long enough, nor are they wise enough, to ever perfect it. In the end they’re more likely to commit the same crimes as their master Lucifer—and suffer the same fate in the doing.
Venezuela may be the test bed for a cyber war first strike. While that may work there, I have my doubts that it would work in Russia and may/may not work in China. Once the various military’s get involved and the war goes hot, I have little doubt the USSA loses, we simply don’t have the industry to support such a war and we are stretched way too thin.
it doesn’t seem like the rottenchild cabal have allowed investment and development that would allow the ussa to succeed in war does it? police actions allowing for rape and pillage of various colonies perhaps, but success in war? look at the resource flow and control in wwII and wwI by comparison to any such scenario now.
In my day we used to train officers in very analogue Tactical Exercises Without Troops (TEWTs). Field officers would be taken by Directing Staff out into The Field, presented with a scenario (“The enemy are here, here, here and here.” “What, sir? You mean we’re surrounded?!”), told what imaginary resources they had and given a set period of time to develop their orders before presenting them as is for real to the Directing Staff. On the other hand, staff officers would be trained in spare bunkers or command centers to respond to real-time inputs from Directing Staff. These staff-officer TEWTs would usually run 24/7 and sometimes run for weeks. It all became much more challenging when staff officers were exercised in co-ordination with field officers, and even more challenging when army, navy and air force were expected to work together. When the armed forces of different countries exercised together, it was called anarchy. The ultimate were joint Tactical Exercise WITH troops, which were complex, costly and infrequent. Sadly, they often ended prematurely when the pre-determined level of acceptable fatalities (accidents) had taken place before the end of the exercise. The complexities of modern-day digital warfare no doubt elevate battlefield intelligence to a whole new level; but the same is no doubt true of offensive and defensive capabilities. However, I’m sure that much still depends on the skill of commanders, the judgement of politicians and – above all – luck! Meanwhile, the players position their cardboard unit counters in preparation for the military, political and financial reset.
No doubt many game changing weapons on the electronic battlefield have yet to make their debut; at least in direct confrontations. So, how is the intelligence[fly on the wall]?
You’ve got your traditional HUMIT vs TECHINT. Your other alpha caps: SIGINT, IMINT, MASINT, OSINT; then the unmentionables in paranormal/psychic/occult and their ilk.
Personally I prefer the human versus the technical. Both are inherently deceptive; but at least one is natural/living.
After the dust clears,
does anybody really win
except the unliving?
The crucial battlefield today is data/digital and even inter-dimensional. Kinetic weapons have become of secondary importance, troops on the ground tertiary. Intelligence is and always has been at least half the battle. These days it’s easier to cross-check intelligence from technical sources but mind reading often scared and/or fickle human sources is more difficult and therefore still vulnerable to an old-fashioned cross, double-cross and ad infinitum.
Will the ultimate double cross will be when the robots revolt[w/o being programmed to]?
Then no intelligence has weight.
[has it already happened?]
Well, perhaps that would at least partly depend on how many robot sources (ROBINT?!) you had working for you, what they knew, and what you knew about what they knew, etc.?
SQUARE POINT THEATER 33
Raising gambling odds
in head-on rodeo bullfight
Jones against Trump.
Olé.