Politics: the gap between official statements and reality- Analysis of a meeting between Hitler and C.G.E. Mannerheim.

A Finnish friend of mine forwarded me yesterday a recording of a conversation between Adolf Hitler and Marshall Mannerheim, taped on 4th June 1942 at the occasion of Mannerheim's birthday.

Here is the link to the recording: (Yle).

Although the sound is rather poor and difficult to understand for non-native speakers, following points can be underlined:

-A first part is composed of the official statement of both Hitler and Mannerheim, who both promise backing each other in their war against the Soviet Union.

-A second part is Hitler's monolog on WWII and many considerations, which show, beyond some strategic analysis, the importance of a sound and accurate intelligence and preparation for war.

Iranian Military Capabilities: intoxication as a way of life

For many years, Iran has been depicted as a major threat against its neighbours, Israel, and the rest of the world. Undoubtedly this country can inflict severe damages via its subsidiaries, as the Hezbollah in Lebanon. As well, this country is certainly able to launch some ballistic missiles or pay for terrorist movements.

However nobody could reasonably think that they are able of producing any high-tech armament, despite all their claims. As a consequence, their capability to destabilize the region should not be overestimated, or more precisely be wrongly assessed. Iran as an asymmetric threat: of course. Iran as a symmetric threat: certainly not.

As an illustration, I propose you to have a look on their latest so-called 'stealth UAV', named 'Hemaseh', described in most media with words directly copied-pasted from the Iranian press statement.

Let us analyze the official pictures of this unmanned aerial vehicle.

Hägar the Horrible: soldier's code of honor

In an old issue of German Armed Forces weekly newspaper, I could read this funny cartoon of Hägar the Horrible:

Lucky Eddie: "Hägar, the guys would like to change our motto from: "Victory or Death", to "Victory, or, if things don't happen that well to us, let us disappear" (with the meaning of taking the French leave).