Kasparov’s checklist is perfect…skip planning, bully allies, trust Putin, what could go wrong?
As a chess player myself (amateur, my wife destroys me regularly), I recognize brilliant strategic thinking when I see it. The “dredge a new strait across Saudi Arabia and Iran will pay for it” might be my favorite move on the board. There’s a certain schadenfreude watching Trump stumble through geopolitical disasters he created.
The sad part?
Iranians suffering twice—once under theocratic regime they didn’t choose, now under Trumpian stupidity they definitely didn’t choose. Як кажуть в моїй українській родині, це темна комедія.
Looking forward to the Ukraine dispatches, actual strategic thinking from people playing the long game. ;-/)
That was one line among many I really loved, especially the Iran will pay for it. Did it ever dawn on MAGA that Mexico never paid one penny for the wall that donny built??
Garry, I really enjoy your posts. I find them provocative and taking on interesting angles.
Over the last week, I've been trying to dig into one question that's been really nagging at me: if the Straits of Hormuz are such a vulnerable point, why hasn't more infrastructure and defence mechanisms been put in place to defend it? This week, everyone has suddenly become an expert on the Strait of Hormuz, but surely, if this has been a known issue for the last 50 years,
I don't understand why bordering states (i.e., Saudi Arabia and the UAE) haven't made the investment, or whether shipping companies, port operators, insurers, or other invested parties have been providing continuous surveillance, monitoring, and interception capabilities. More than 25 billion has been spent by the US so far due to turmoil driven by such a significant oil price, which must easily overshadow the investment for submarine drones, etcetera
Is it simply that we've all had our eyes gazing into the skies for missiles, or to the ground for troops, and framed it as a military target to recognise and respond to the commercial and civic order threat?
I'd be fascinated by your views, as well as those of anyone else who reads this post, for their perspectives. Thanks in advance, Patrick
>>Want to see other musings and contrarian views? Restack this note and subscribe to me
Ah. Sir Basil Liddell-Hart interviewed senior generals of the Wehrmacht after WWII. They commented on American operational skills in command.
American generals tended to follow US Military doctrine in a fairly uninspired plodding way- then would respond suddenly in a surprise way, off-book, without warning. It would catch the Wehrmacht off-guard. There was absolutely no evidence that superior command ordered a change. Americans would do this.
Of course, the real German generals—not the Nazis—had studied American doctrine for years, so they knew the exact deviation from book.
They were intrigued; then they realized that the Americans didn’t know their doctrine all that well, and just improvised when they didn’t know what else to do.
Befehl durch Idiotie. Command by Dummkopfs. Had they only seen Warmaster Hegseth and Supreme Kommandissimo Trumpf, they would be impressed.
Kasparov’s checklist is perfect…skip planning, bully allies, trust Putin, what could go wrong?
As a chess player myself (amateur, my wife destroys me regularly), I recognize brilliant strategic thinking when I see it. The “dredge a new strait across Saudi Arabia and Iran will pay for it” might be my favorite move on the board. There’s a certain schadenfreude watching Trump stumble through geopolitical disasters he created.
The sad part?
Iranians suffering twice—once under theocratic regime they didn’t choose, now under Trumpian stupidity they definitely didn’t choose. Як кажуть в моїй українській родині, це темна комедія.
Looking forward to the Ukraine dispatches, actual strategic thinking from people playing the long game. ;-/)
—Johan
That was one line among many I really loved, especially the Iran will pay for it. Did it ever dawn on MAGA that Mexico never paid one penny for the wall that donny built??
What I’ve always wondered is what stopped them from invading Mexico and taking whatever they wanted by force.
Just you wait.
Thank you for this piece of art ! Worth reading for pleasure 😉
Garry, I really enjoy your posts. I find them provocative and taking on interesting angles.
Over the last week, I've been trying to dig into one question that's been really nagging at me: if the Straits of Hormuz are such a vulnerable point, why hasn't more infrastructure and defence mechanisms been put in place to defend it? This week, everyone has suddenly become an expert on the Strait of Hormuz, but surely, if this has been a known issue for the last 50 years,
I don't understand why bordering states (i.e., Saudi Arabia and the UAE) haven't made the investment, or whether shipping companies, port operators, insurers, or other invested parties have been providing continuous surveillance, monitoring, and interception capabilities. More than 25 billion has been spent by the US so far due to turmoil driven by such a significant oil price, which must easily overshadow the investment for submarine drones, etcetera
Is it simply that we've all had our eyes gazing into the skies for missiles, or to the ground for troops, and framed it as a military target to recognise and respond to the commercial and civic order threat?
I'd be fascinated by your views, as well as those of anyone else who reads this post, for their perspectives. Thanks in advance, Patrick
>>Want to see other musings and contrarian views? Restack this note and subscribe to me
http://preceperi.substack.com or drop me a message. <<
**Mens otiosa mundum fingit**
🎯
You, apparently, were not only World Champion, but a 5 dimensional grandmaster as well. For only a 5D chess player could lay out such a genius plan.
Step 1) Ram the peg through the hole. Full send, no surrender.
Step 2) Figure out how to make the square peg fit through the circular hole
Step 3) Patiently wait for the circular hole to shape itself into a square hole
Step 4) Ram the peg through the hole
Step 5) Throw a tantrum and bash the hole with the peg until physics capitulates
If there is one true statement about Trump he is his own worst enemy, and if there’s another truth is that he has a proverbial horseshoe up his ass.
Headed to Ukraine? Do not miss the opportunity to meet up with Tim Mak’s team at The Counteroffensive and The Arsenal.
There is a wonderful story about American battlefield doctrine in WWII by lidell-hart I will share later.
Ah. Sir Basil Liddell-Hart interviewed senior generals of the Wehrmacht after WWII. They commented on American operational skills in command.
American generals tended to follow US Military doctrine in a fairly uninspired plodding way- then would respond suddenly in a surprise way, off-book, without warning. It would catch the Wehrmacht off-guard. There was absolutely no evidence that superior command ordered a change. Americans would do this.
Of course, the real German generals—not the Nazis—had studied American doctrine for years, so they knew the exact deviation from book.
They were intrigued; then they realized that the Americans didn’t know their doctrine all that well, and just improvised when they didn’t know what else to do.
Befehl durch Idiotie. Command by Dummkopfs. Had they only seen Warmaster Hegseth and Supreme Kommandissimo Trumpf, they would be impressed.