Well, it’s apparently official. There’s news online including this article that says for sure North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un is slowly making his way to Moscow to meet with Russian dictator Vladmir Putin who I like to call “Pootie.” Oh, I say slowly not just because NK’s tiny tinpot DICK-tater is travelling by train (his own 40 year old Russian executive jet is unfit to fly and he got made fun of for using a Chinese owned 747 to travel to Singapore years back) but as the article notes: “The train has an average speed of just 37 mph — likely because every carriage is bulletproof, making it much heavier than a regular train.” Now why on earth would a leader who is sooooooo popular and beloved by his people (and he is – just ask him!) need such a heavily armored train just to move about his own country? (It’s his preferred mode of Transport between parts of NK) Perhaps he knows he’s not quite so beloved by his people after all, although (snark) I can’t imagine why.
Anyway, just so you know the article frankly is mostly about the freaking train. It’s history, how plush it is and so on. Lots of pictures although more of the exterior than those plush furnishings, with some of the pics dating back to Kim’s dad using it. All that misses the point though. What matters is that Kim is making a rare trip out of his own country to have a face-to-face meeting with one of the few willing to suck up to him. Or the other way around. Two pea-brains in a pod so to speak, or an armored railway war. (Given Pootie’s situation do you think Kim would actually leave the security of his armored train?)
Here’s what all this boils down to. Over the decades, hell my entire life Russia (and the USSR before it) has given a lot, a LOT of assistance to North Korea. (Same with China but Kim isn’t headed to China) Economic assistance. Technical/engineering assistance. Weapons and weapon systems. Hell, without Russian rockets to start with NK wouldn’t have those ballistic missiles that are causing actual and real concern. Nor mostly likely working nukes. But Russia has all that already.
What matters, and what Pootie desperately needs is more basic stuff. Artillery delivery systems and shells, short range tactical battlefield rockets and missiles. Maybe even some tanks and heavy trucks that actually work and can hold up in a battlefield environment for a while. Right now Russia needs all it can get. And hey, given what they’ve given to NK for so long they probably feel they have every justification for some help in return. Even if it’s just a bunch of their old stuff back. I’ll bet it’s in better working order than the Russian Army maintained stuff for so long prior to invading Ukraine.
What all this really boils down to is a variation of that famous line at the beginning of Oliver, only in this case the Putin as Oliver character will say “Please sir, can I have some of it back?”
If this wasn’t war and one outlaw regime talking to another about how to drag it out the whole thing would be funny. Pathetic too of course, but still it would make for a lot of joking and memes that would mock the hell out of this Dynamic Dumbass Duo. There is however one thing to keep an eye on because I’m certain our intelligence agencies along with our military will. I mentioned China earlier and although it’s been sort of “weak tea” they’ve granted assistance to Russia. Like NK helping them work around some of the sanctions. China has also proven less helpful than the rest of the world would like when it has come to reigning in North Korea over the decades but especially since NK developed nukes.
If there’s something to actually worry about, given that the reality is that NK won’t wind up providing much more than token assistance to Russia is that China will, using North Korea as a conduit.
But for now, get ready for a show of two of the world’s most discredited and despised dictators making a big fuss. You want some actual funny in all this? Here you go. A key audience Pootie and Kim will want to convince is right here in the U.S. And we all know there’s one person who “loves” them both who won’t be in on the action. Does anyone think Trump will be able to just sit there and let those two hog the spotlight even for part of a day? Nope, he’s going to take a giant “LOOK AT ME!” dump all over their little summit! So, we can at least look forward to that bit of entertainment.
I can guess why pootie would want former guy in the audience-trump will, stupidly as usual, make it all about trump. Letting a moron take up all the oxygen in the room might be a good strategy for the pootster. Might make people look away from what’s being done between these two wretches.
Serious question, Do you think the North Koreans are any better at storing munitions than russia? Just as in russia, North Korean commanders are better off lying than admitting that whatever is in their stockpiles to actually going to work. just my two cents
Actually yes. It’s likely there are vast caverns underground on in mountains where boatloads of stuff is stored and maintained. Unlike Russia NK is a small country with a smaller military and those at the top of it likely keep a much closer watch on things to make sure underlings don’t go gundecking readiness reports. Sure, if there are problems those down the line face severe punishment but if they “fail” but are open about it instead of trying to hide it at least they get to live. Those caught fudging? A quick trip to an umarked grave.