ARE THE GLOVES COMING OFF? PART TWO

Last Monday of this week, in the initial installment of this two part article, an article that was itself a continuation of last week's News and Views from the Nefarium for June 15th, I wondered if Russia was signaling that the gloves were coming off to an escalation of covert warfare against the Western leadership and their infrastructures of power, an escalation that could conceivably include preemptive surgical nuclear strikes against those leaders and centers.

With that in mind as the context of backdrop, I want people to consider the following story shared by M.D.:

Russia and China’s space weapon plans spur high-level Pentagon meeting

In the first installment of this blog last Monday, I pointed out that the talk of Russian nuclear escalation ratcheted up  considerably in the wake of three events on Russian soil (1) the bombing attack on the daughter of Russian geopolitical thinker Alexander Dugin, which killed Ms. Dugina, (2) the unsuccessful  drone attack on the Kremlin itself a few weeks ago, and (3) the more recent drone attacks on apartments in west Moscow, where President Putin himself is rumored to maintain a residence. In that blog I pointed out that Dmitri Medvedev, Deputy chairman of Russia's security council, had been quoted as saying that the Russian President had been given the green light to conduct covert operations targeting western infrastructure, including internet and underwater cabling.

As I indicated in that blog, this measure appears to be a deliberate response to the attacks on and sabotage of Russia's Nordstream gas pipeline. In responding in this manner, Russia is also clearly signaling that all other forms of attack on Russia can be escalated to similar response, i.e., that drone attacks on western leadership targets and infrastructure are now "on the table."

Now go back to this article from M.D., and ponder the following statements:

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will hold a classified meeting at the Pentagon next week to grapple with Russia and China’s possible pursuit of novel space weapons, according to a publicly posted agenda.

The discussion comes after two key events last year: Russia launched a missile to destroy a defunct Soviet-era satellite, creating more than 1,500 pieces of space debris, and defense officials say China tested a new combination of a hypersonic glide vehicle and a fractional orbital bombardment system ― an unpredictable capability that can stay on orbit as long as the user determines and then de-orbit as part of its flight path.

According to the chief of U.S. Strategic Command, Adm. Charles Richard, China successfully tested that capability, which was “never before seen in the world.” Richard, speaking at the Space and Missile Defense Symposium earlier this month, said the military must now overhaul its missile defenses and develop systems to better warn against launches aimed at the U.S.

“I am not convinced at all we’ve fully thought through the implications of what that weapon system means,” he said. “You’re gonna get decreased warning timelines, difficulties in attribution and an increased threat to our traditional space and missile defenses and forces.”

One wonders if these space-based platforms and capabilities can be used to direct drone attacks launched on western territories by covert teams. I strongly suspect that they can.  That's bound to be bad news, if you've been following the story of the disaster on America's southern border, including those scarcely reported stories of Chinese nationals trying to sneak into the country. Remember during the Trump administration that strange "Covid" press conference with all the military brass in attendance, talking about the deployment of massive naval and marine resources to the Caribbean, and General (Thoroughly Modern) Milley's repeated statement "You're not getting in! You're not getting in!" Remember that?

All this to say that I strongly suspect that the Pentagon meeting, while ostensibly about these new space threats from Russia and China, is about far more than that.

And to put that into a nutshell, Cliff Notes version, the current conflicts are becoming "existential" for the ruling elite of the Swamp, not, mind you, for those whom it governs, but just for the ruling elite.

With that in mind, notice this statement from the article:

The huddle will focus “on how China and Russia’s potential development of fractional orbital bombardment systems and space-to-ground weapons could impact U.S. deterrence and strategic stability, as well as to consider U.S. response options to the potential development of such capabilities by any adversary,” the agenda says.

Could such systems include orbital drone-launching platforms, drones capable of entering the atmosphere, and then being directed to a pin-point target?  Unfortunately, I suspect the answer to that is a yes as well.

With that answer, I strongly suspect, again, that the gloves have come off, and that it has the technocrats in the Pentagram justifiably worried...

See you on the flip side...