German military leak: Clown show or casus belli?

Read Uwe Parpart’s hard-hitting analysis of the German Air Force’s Ukraine blunder from the latest edition of the Global Risk-Reward Monitor — Asia Times’ subscription-only weekly newsletter examining event-driven trends and trading opportunities across world markets. Subscribe now for access at a special price of only $99/year.

Clown show or casus belli? I’d have to say, “both” … as is often the case when a combination of ignorance and arrogance conspire to ignite and cause the outbreak of war. Or in this case, the escalation of a regional war to a global and potentially nuclear confrontation.

This is highlighted by the incredibly stupid non-secure teleconference between Lt. Gen. Ingo Gerhartz, Generalinspekteur der Luftwaffe (Commander of the German Air Force), and three other German air force officers of general’s rank. For 38 fascinating minutes intercepted by Russian Intelligence and made public via the RT Telegram channel, these clowns in soldiers’ garb discussed in a casual and cavalier tone the potential and difficulties of deploying the Taurus long-range cruise missile in Ukraine and, as an example, attacking and destroying the Crimean Bridge (also called Kerch Bridge) and nearby munitions storage facilities.

One of the generals noted that the bridge (at 19 km the longest in Europe) is the size of a major airfield and would require at least 10 to possibly 20 Taurus missiles to fully destroy rather than merely poke a hole in a pillar.

And that’s a problem. Who’s to do this? It might take up to 6 months of training Ukrainian personnel to pull this off. And Germans can’t be seen there. It can’t be done in the “old Luftwaffe style” one speaker remarks. Another remarks, “If we’re asked about delivery methods, I know