Russia's President Vladimir Putin (C), Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu (L) and head of the Russian army's main department of combat preparation Ivan Buvaltsev watch military exercises at the Kirillovsky firing ground in the Leningrad region, March 3, 2014. Credit: Reuters/Mikhail Klimentyev/RIA Novosti/Kremlin
The Pentagon is working on force structure plans for continuing to advice and assist Afghan forces well past the 2014 drawdown date previously set between NATO and the Kabul government. US Army. (US Army)
From Wikipedia: The Red Beret (retitled Paratrooper for the US release) is a 1953 British war film directed by Terence Young and starring Alan Ladd, Leo Genn and Susan Stephen. It is the fictitious story about an American who enlists in the British Parachute Regiment in 1940, claiming to be a Canadian. It is notable as the first film made by Irving Allen's and Albert R. Broccoli's Warwick Films, with many of the crew later working on various films for Warwick Films and Broccoli's Eon Productions. It is partly based on the 1950 non-fiction book with the same title, about the Parachute Regiment and its first operation, Operation Biting, in February 1942, written by Hilary Saint George Saunders.
The lead character was originally intended to be British, but when Richard Todd, who had been a paratrooper during the war, turned down the role because he felt it was "too far fetched",[2] Albert R. Broccoli offered it to the American Alan Ladd and the story was rewritten by Ladd's personal screenwriter Richard Maibaum to fit him in.
The growing Chinese-Russian alliance is one of the most important geopolitical developments of the century.
WNU Editor: This is not a case of China helping Russia .... this is a case where both countries have mutual interests and one in which both parties have made the decision to support each other economically and politically. Russia has a new market for its resources in China .... China has a new and stable source for its energy needs and resources .... this is a win-win for both countries. The political consequences of this arrangement are also significant .... China does not have many friends in Asia .... in fact, it has border disputes with everyone .... everyone but Russia. Russia has also been politically isolated .... but not with China. The world has pushed these two countries together .... and they are going to be consequences from this development.
In regards to Ukraine .... to put everything in context .... the EU and the U.S. have promised a few billion dollars to aid the Kiev government .... money with strings attached and only doled out over a period of time. Russia and China have recently signed energy agreements that total in the hundreds of billions of dollars (with hundreds of billions more pending) .... and it is being dispersed right now to set up the necessary infrastructure to make it happen. With such dynamics at play ... it is easy to predict who will be the victor when this is all finished.
WNU Editor: It's always about the money ... and Ukraine has no money .... they do not even have any credit. But here is an ominous warning/prediction from the Polish Defense Minister .... Polish defence minister: Conflict in Ukraine can last for years (Charter 97).
