Michael Peel in Brussels and David Bond in London ‘reporting’ for the Financial Times provide this:
Admiral Lennon said the rise in submarine operations highlighted Russia’s broader “strong investment” to revive maritime capabilities that withered after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
“Russian submarine . . . activity is higher now in the last three years than it has been since the cold war,” he said. “What we have observed over the past three years are more deployments [annually] of Russian submarines away from their local waters than we have observed in the prior decade.”
More pieces of quotations from the Admiral highlight the remainder of the Peel/Bond reportage , more pointedly, call it bricolage :
“strong investment”, “Russian submarine . . . activity is higher now in the last three years than it has been since the cold war,” , “What we have observed over the past three years are more deployments [annually] of Russian submarines away from their local waters than we have observed in the prior decade.” , “a lot of activity” , “clearly taking an interest in Nato nations’ undersea infrastructure”, “mother ship” , “We believe they may be equipped to manipulate objects on the ocean floor,” , “So that’s clearly a concern because our nations rely so much on the internet and communications.” , “asymmetric”, “into a kind of a military competition in the centre of Europe”*
Quotes from Alexander Grushko, Russia’s ambassador to Nato:
“into a kind of a military competition in the centre of Europe”, “This is not our choice, we see the future of security in Europe in a different way,” , “We are convinced that the real security can only be strengthened through collective efforts.”
Paraphrase of Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach:
…the UK’s chief of the defence staff and the chairman of Nato’s military committee from April, last week alleged that Russia posed a growing threat to undersea internet and telecommunications infrastructure.
A paraphrase of what anonymous ‘Analysts say’ :
…one reason for the ramped up rhetoric is the desire of western defence chiefs to make the case — and win popular support — for more military spending.
Paraphrase and quotation from Malcolm Chalmers, an analyst at the Royal United Services Institute think-tank:
…said Nato chiefs also had a “duty” to make political leaders aware of heightened Russia activity. “The Russian defence budget has increased significantly since 2008 and as part of that they have spent a lot more money on increasing training exercises . . . they are simply getting out there more and that means Nato states have to track them,” he said.
The Financial Times editors, ‘reporters‘ and readers needn’t fear, here is bellicose Neo-Conservative Sen. John McCain’s statement about ‘the sale of lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine’ . Ukraine is the current manufactured flashpoint of that New Cold War.
Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, released the following statement today on reports that the Trump administration has approved the sale of lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine:
“I welcome reports that the Trump administration has approved the sale of lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine. This decision is years overdue, but nonetheless, it comes at a pivotal moment. Ukrainians are enduring some of the worst fighting in several months as Russia has withdrawn its officers from a key ceasefire implementation mechanism and Russian-led forces have escalated their attacks in eastern Ukraine. At every turn, Vladimir Putin has chosen war instead of peace in Ukraine. So long as he makes this choice, the United States and the Free World should give Ukraine what it needs to fight back.
“That is why the reported decision to authorize the sale of sniper rifles and ammunition must only be a first step. I urge the President to authorize additional sales of defensive lethal weapons, including anti-tank munitions, and to fully utilize security assistance funds provided by the Congress to enable Ukraine to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity. I also urge the President and congressional leadership to ensure that any budget deal fully supports the $350 million in security assistance for Ukraine authorized by the National Defense Authorization Act signed into law this month.”
https://www.mccain.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2017/12/statement-by-sasc-chairman-john-mccain-on-trump-administration-approving-the-sale-of-lethal-defensive-weapons-to-ukraine
The New Cold War is being waged, but not quite as swiftly as the Financial Times nor Senator McCain would like.
Old Socialist
https://www.ft.com/content/40236a0a-e711-11e7-97e2-916d4fbac0da
Added 12/24/2017 2:25 PST:
*What would have been appropriate in the use of the words and sentence fragments is this: …XXX… these ellipses would have indicated that these words and sentence fragments were abstracted from a whole, in sum, they had been foreshortened. The absence of these ellipses indicates that Peel and Bond’s bricolage is made to measure propaganda!
