Miscellaneous News

Biscuits said:

I don't know where would be the right place to post this, but it's too off topic/speculative for the Ukraine war thread.

An interesting video on how Russia keeps growing it's army while making the war popular.

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Monday, December 30, 2024 8:36 PM

New Emirati mediation between Russia and Ukraine succeeds in releasing 300 prisoners​

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Biscuits said:

What I was thinking is that should, or is it even possible for China to emulate the same system? China also has a booming overall economy to pay essentially unlimited money, and fairly populated inner regions that are not as rich compared to the rest of the country.

Basically the drawback of this system is that things can become disorganised and "crowdfunded", but perhaps that is no drawback at all when thinking about infantry whose job is simply to occupy enemy territory and sometimes participate in assaults. Compared to the Russians, the vast majority of China's fighting will be from the air. It seems less viable to give pilots bonuses on the basis of just blowing things up. Or maybe it's also fine?

If US makes a move on Taiwan, China should strive to keep the war popular, and going full Ukraine with forced mobilisation is at least a sure way not to. But while China can rely on home territory boost in Taiwan, the war does not stop there and will encompass all of Asia, in many places China has never invaded or feel ties to in recent history.

China needs a way to create the "people's war" under modern conditions. The Russians might have the right idea with their decentralised, crowd funded and self-replicating (bounty money are reinvested in better kit, so soldiers can hunt even more bounties) model.

Unlike Russia, China's core troops will be very professional (in the sense that they don't post photos of themselves or care about bounties), since these are essentially patriotic career soldiers. But China can also create a huge 2nd echelon of mobiks who are not held to the same standards, these mobiks would only be unleashed in specially designated low intensity combat zones roughly on par with GWOT operations, and in addition to normal salary, they would be paid in bounties.

Unlike with Russia's system, many of China's mobiks do not need to risk themselves at all, as they can be drone operators sitting in safe territory. They would fly cheap(er) crowd funded drone designs and focus on pacifying the enemy's ground forces.

In this way, China would solve the problem of war popularity, of the military losing knowhow retention, and also how to keep occupations going at low cost.

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Russian pilots set daily sorties record An informed source told Sputnik that Russian attack pilots in the special operation zone can perform up to ten sorties per day on the Su-25 aircraft per person, which is a record for jet​

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GulfLander said:

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1873208018206400576

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Ringsword said:

And look what happened to Shinzo Abe...a "buckshot breakfast"- to hell.Wow this week's debut of literally a generational transformation-dare I say a "Great Leap Forward" in military spheres has all of a sudden changed Japanese attitudes toward China for the "better".Let us hope it is sincere,profound and deep lest little Japan see the rest of China's arsenal-from its massive PLARF,to who knows what marvels-back by hate and desire for blood vengeance served cold,very cold.BTW my deepest apologies to KJ3000(Chubby Girl 2.0)",Z9 ,MD22 and 076 LDA-all absolutely superb.I am still gorging on this veritable "feast" and will take time to digest.

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Ringsword said:

And look what happened to Shinzo Abe...a "buckshot breakfast"- to hell.Wow this week's debut of literally a generational transformation-dare I say a "Great Leap Forward" in military spheres has all of a sudden changed Japanese attitudes toward China for the "better".Let us hope it is sincere,profound and deep lest little Japan see the rest of China's arsenal-from its massive PLARF,to who knows what marvels-back by hate and desire for blood vengeance served cold,very cold.BTW my deepest apologies to KJ3000(Chubby Girl 2.0)",Z9 ,MD22 and 076 LDA-all absolutely superb.I am still gorging on this veritable "feast" and will take time to digest.

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mossen said:

I know the news of Jimmy Carter's passing is known by now, but I didn't know just how awesome he was.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1790891267234070978

He selflessly went into a nuclear reactor to repair it after being told he would never have children if he did. He had radioactive urine for months afterwards. Thankfully he was able to make a full recovery, have kids and live a long life.

He was brave not just in a physical sense but also morally (see his early critique of Zionism). I agree with those who said that he was the last decent US president.

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A plot in paradise and India’s struggle for influence in Asia​

MALE, Maldives — In late 2023, Mohamed Muizzu became a problem for India.
In fiery speeches, the newly elected president of the Maldives pledged to expel Indian troops stationed in his island nation. He was instead friendly with China, India’s regional rival, and sought to sign a military assistance pact with Beijing. By January 2024, agents working at the behest of India’s intelligence agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), began quietly discussing with Maldivian opposition leaders the possibility of removing Muizzu, according to people involved in the discussions. And within weeks, a plan emerged.

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In an internal document titled “Democratic Renewal Initiative” and obtained by The Washington Post, Maldivian opposition politicians proposed bribing 40 members of parliament, including those from Muizzu’s own party, to vote to impeach him. The document also proposed paying 10 senior army and police officers and three powerful criminal gangs to ensure Muizzu’s removal. To pay off the various parties, the conspirators sought 87 million Maldivian rufiyaa, or $6 million, and according to two Maldivian officials, it would be sought from India.

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After months of secret talks, the plotters failed to gather enough votes to impeach Muizzu, and India did not pursue or finance an attempt to oust him.
Still, the Maldivian plot and its backstory offer a rare view into the much broader, often shadowy struggle between India and China for influence over a strategic swath of Asia and its surrounding waters. This competition has unfolded particularly in the smaller nations around the Indian Ocean, where the continent’s two largest powers have offered generous loans, infrastructure projects and political support — both public and covert — to bolster their preferred politicians.

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In January, after Muizzu had won and taken office, an adviser to the Muizzu family said, a senior RAW intelligence officer at New Delhi’s embassy in Washington explored a plan to overthrow the president with two Indian intermediaries who had political and business contacts in the Maldives. One intermediary was Shirish Thorat, a former Indian police officer who has worked as a private military contractor and who advised Mohamed Nasheed when he was the Maldivian president on how to curb Islamist radicalization. The other was Savio Rodrigues, a publisher based in the Indian state of Goa who previously served as a spokesman for India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
The Muizzu family adviser provided The Post with surveillance records of phone calls and meetings held by the RAW official and Thorat, who now lives near Washington, but did not explain how the records were obtained.

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mossen said:

I know the news of Jimmy Carter's passing is known by now, but I didn't know just how awesome he was.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1790891267234070978

He selflessly went into a nuclear reactor to repair it after being told he would never have children if he did. He had radioactive urine for months afterwards. Thankfully he was able to make a full recovery, have kids and live a long life.

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coolgod said:

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A plot in paradise and India’s struggle for influence in Asia​

Secret contacts between Indian agents and politicians in the Maldives over ousting its pro-China leader reflect the growing contest between Asia’s great powers.





Loincloth imperialists ending 2024 with massive Ls. I know we poke fun at Iranian OPSEC, but Indian OPSEC is a complete joke.

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