War

Submitted by Nan Li via Strategic-Culture.org,

After months of negotiation, the United States and South Korea announced on July 8 their decision to deploy the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system in South Korea. During a press briefing, China’s Defense Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun said that Beijing is “firmly opposed to the proposed THAAD deployment… and will take necessary measures to maintain national strategic security as well as regional equilibrium”.

Why Is China Opposed to THAAD Deployment?

Submitted by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,

The re-miliarization of Japan has been on my radar and caused me much concern in recent years. I’ve covered the topic on several occasions, with the most recent example published over the summer in the post, Japanese Government Shifts Further Toward Authoritarianism and Militarism. Here are the first few paragraphs:

Shortly after Russia admitted that it was moving nuclear-capable rockets to the exclave of Kaliningrad in explicit retaliation for NATO encroachment on its borders, something it had not done until today, another old hotzone has flared up again when moments ago the Russian military reported that Ukranian security operatives have abducted two Russian servicemen in Crimea, and are attempting to press criminal charges against them, the Russian military is reporting.

Police used tear gas, rubber bullets, mace, and water cannon against demonstrators protesting the North Dakota Access pipeline. Activists at the scene say that police had used water jets in sub-freezing temperatures and fired rubber bullets reportedly targeting demonstrators’ heads and legs. More than 167 demonstrators have been injured, according to a medic on site, as cited by Indigenous Rising Media. Seven people have been hospitalized for severe head injuries and hypothermia. Three of those injured were reportedly elders of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe.

While the detente between Russia and US president-elect Donald Trump could not have come at a more tense time, the Kremlin appears to be accelerating its head-on collision course with NATO, and as a highly placed defense official said on Monday, Moscow will deploy S-400 surface-to-air missiles and nuclear-capable Iskander systems in the exclave of Kaliningrad in retaliation for NATO deployments, confirming previous media reports of Russian intentions to once again blanket central Europe with potential nuclear ICBM coverage.