Can anyone identify the maker of the shell?
on the Guardian page http://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2014/jul/31/gaza-crisis-israel-calls-up-reservists-as-it-maintains-offensive-live-coverage
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Posts from July 2014
31 July 2014
Before and After in Gaza
This requires no comment. It reminds me of street scenes in Frankfurt am Main when I lived there as a child just after WW2. And we are giving the IDF more bombs? How can we pretend to be seeking a cease-fire when we are doing that? pl
30 July 2014
A Note on IS in Iraq - 30 July 2014
We have been distracted by Gaza and the R2P campaign against Russia. While we have been so deflected, IS in Iraq have been busy.
The idiot press has interpreted IS' consolidation of its gains as exhaustion or some other nonsense. In fact they have been; prosecuting their war against the Syrian Arab Government, chopping heads as the opportunity presents, and bringing their forces, both guerrilla and conventional into position for an offensive against the Iraqi "Government." Yesterday, they destroyed a bridge across the Tigris between Samarra and Tikrit thus isolating the Tikrit and Beiji areas from any movement north toward these key places. At the same time IS forces sit on the eastern and western flanks of the supply lines of GOI forces at Samarra.
It is now clear that the happy, reveling Shia crowds celebrating Eid al-Adha face the prospect of Sunni cooperation with IS west of the Tigris in the Adhamiya Sunni barrio of Baghdad . That is where the airport and the US Embassy are located.
To "top things off," there are now a lot of of suicide attacks and fighting in the Sunni towns south of Baghded that are located just south of the capital and on the roads leading to them. Closure of the two main roads leading south from Baghdad will isolate the capital. It is inevitable in that case that the airport will be attacked at least enough to make it unusable. That will seal the fate of Shia Baghdad. IS must be sharpening their machetes (or whatever they use). To quote Eddy Izzard, "kill, kill, kill, ah. lunch."
All this will add another burden of defeated adolescent fantasy to the Obama seminar.
Judy Miller, once of the NY Times, used to tell me that I was a pessemist. Do they still employ the hasbara shill (maybe?) Michael Gordon? pl
Ukraine Fired SS-21 Ballistic Missiles - TTG
In the past two days Kiev’s forces have launched several short-range ballistic missiles into areas in east Ukraine controlled by self-defense forces, CNN reports, citing US government sources. The move “marks a major escalation” in the Ukrainian crisis, CNN said.
“Three US officials confirmed to me a short time ago that US intelligence over the last 48 hours has monitored the firing of several short-range ballistic missiles from territory controlled by Ukraine government forces into areas controlled by the pro-Russian separatists,” Barbara Starr, CNN’s Pentagon correspondent, said in a live report. Short-range ballistic missiles can carry warheads of up to 1,000 pounds (450 kg) and are capable of killing dozens of people at a time, Starr said.
A Moscow correspondent for another American television network, ABC, tweeted Tuesday that the Kiev forces fired three ballistic missiles at self-defense forces near the town of Snezhnoe (Snizhne in Ukrainian) in the Donetsk Region. According to Kirit Radia, this is what a US official told ABC’s Pentagon digital journalist Luis Martinez. “In last 48 hours Ukraine's military fired 3 SS21 short range ballistic missiles at separatists near Snizhne, US official tells @LMartinezABC” (RT.com)
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Oops! Somebody at the Pentagon didn’t get the memo. I cannot understand how advertising the Banderistas’ use of SRBMs helps sell the message that Putin is the devil. That’s not the worst part of this story. A correspondent for the Saker’s blog just put this news out this morning.
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Information from very reliable sources. These sources are in Novorossiya, Russian Federation, EU and Ukraine:
29.07.2014 in afternoon Ukraine time 4 SS-21 Tochka tactical ballistic missiles were fired by Ukraine Armed Forces. At least two were clearly aimed at Saur Moglia with the idea of the Ukes trapped in The Cauldron having a sudden escape route opened for them. Moments before launch Russian Federation units surged toward the border at The Cauldron area and to the north of The Cauldron.
Continue reading "Ukraine Fired SS-21 Ballistic Missiles - TTG" »
Israel/Afghanistan diary - 30 July 2014
“Under those circumstances, Israel would potentially have to contend with tens of thousands of casualties, the paralysis of all its systems and the need to create defensive measures for individual neighborhoods and even for streets. And all of that is based on the assumption that West Bank Arabs and some the Israeli Arabs will not join the campaign. Counter-attacks by the air force won’t help when everyone is dug in deep underground, laughing all the way to Jerusalem.”
This horrific scenario that he so ardently etched in the consciousness of the Israeli masses justifies the killing of civilians in Gaza and the deaths of Israeli soldiers in battle. It ends with an apocalyptic prediction: “In the best-case scenario, international forces would be brought in to demilitarize the state,” the popular status update says, continuing, “Israel’s nuclear weapons and the whole dream of a Jewish state would disintegrate for another thousand years.” According to this article, the kidnapping and murder of the three teens paved the way for a military operation that resulted in the discovery of a “brilliant plan” to destroy Israel." Akiva Eldar
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Hysteria and skillful use of IO has brought about this image in Israeli minds and the same bilge is being sold to American audiences by Zionist spokesmen like Steve Schmitt who mouthed this line on Morning Joe" yesterday.
In fact, what we are talking about in the actual, as opposed to the fantasy, combat situation is posession by Hamas of a mass of homemade artillery rockets that are wildly innacurate and that are easily defeated by the American funded "Iron Dome." In addition, Hamas has some tunnels which penetrate as much as a mile into the Israeli desert and which can be used for raiding in Israel.
This is an existential threat? Does the IDF not station troops in the desert near Gaza? Do the Israelis in all their genius not posses Ground Penetrating Radar? No? Well, the Americans can always give them the equipment and/or training or can provide them with the imagery.
Natanyahu is smarter than to believe this silliness. His real purpose is to destroy Hamas so that he can dominate the PA. pl
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"Vice President Cheney knew all along Saddam had zero nukes. His main interest was to establish a democracy in Iraq which he believed would have a rippled effect among Israel’s neighbors and provide the Jewish state with 25 years of peace and security. Given the bloody failures of Afghanistan and Iraq, President Obama is understandably gun-shy, reluctant to get more deeply involved in a geopolitical game he clearly does not understand.
John Kerry, his Secretary of State, while well-equipped intellectually for the job, showed yawning gaps of Middle Eastern knowledge, when he made 12 roundtrips to the Middle East in almost as many weeks — in the mistaken belief that Israel and Hamas in Gaza were ready for a Middle Eastern settlement." De Borchgrave
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What is it with Cheney and Israel? Rumors have circulated in Washington for years that he has some undisclosed family or other personal connection with the Zionist cause. Is that what all this has been about? Alternatively, does he harbor resentment against the "Aghabs" for slights received during his business years. God knows it is easy to be offended by the behavior of a lot of Arabs in the business world.
Kerry is an "Innocent Abroad." He has been a striver with beautiful hair for a long time. His vanity is apparent. For such people it is easy to imagine that the irresistable charm of your manner gives you leverage in interpersonal relations that, unfortunately, does not exist.
The thought of John Kerry trying to cozy up to a hyper-nationalist fascist like Natanyahu is sadly amusing. pl
Read Latest Breaking News from Newsmax.com http://www.newsmax.com/ArnauddeBorchgrave/Afghanistan-Iraq-Iraq-in-Crisis/2014/07/29/id/585556#ixzz38xUGS9NH
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground-penetrating_radar
29 July 2014
Bibi/Obama phone transcript
Barack Obama: "I demand that Israel agrees to an immediate, unilateral ceasefire and halt all offensive activities, in particular airstrikes."
Benjamin Netanyahu: "And what will Israel receive in exchange for a ceasefire" politifact
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And what will Israel "receive in exchange?" How many billions do we give Israel every year? pl
28 July 2014
The Hannibal Directive
"Harel writes however that a kind of "Oral Law" has developed inside IDF which is supported by many commanders, even at brigade and division level, that goes further than the official order, including the use of tank shells or air strikes. "A dangerous, unofficial interpretation of the protocol has been created," a senior officer told Haaretz. "Intentionally targeting a vehicle in order to kill the abductee is a completely illegal command. The army's senior command must make this clear to officers."
wiki on "The Hannibal Directive"
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Well, well, the US Army will do almost anything to retrieve a captured soldier alive, or even his dead body. "We leave nobody behind" has become an impractical but hearfelt mantra inherited from the SOF raiding forces. Apparently, the IDF equivalent would be "we leave no man behind alive."
This policy, however cloaked in silence by the IDF certainly must be a matter of concern for conscripts and reservists in the context of Palestinian and Lebanese fighters who are increasingly willing to "mix it up" in close combat. In such circumstances the possibility of capture is great.
Richard Silverstein in his blog Tikkun Olam has recounted the story of an IDF NCO killled at Gaza in such an incident and as a reward for his account has been subjected to a deliberate campaign among the Zionists to drive him from the public square. Hmm. they do that? pl
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hannibal_Directive
http://www.richardsilverstein.com/2014/07/28/israelis-take-gaza-war-to-facebook-disable-my-account/
27 July 2014
Evil − and its manifestations (FB Ali)
Evil has many faces.
Once it was a bespectacled jackbooted 'specialist' working assiduously to increase the throughput of the gas chambers.
Today it is a bunch of drunken louts on a hilltop cheering as bombs and shells destroy apartment building after apartment building along with their occupants.
Or, the fanatics steeped in religion who brutally kill people because they hold different beliefs.
Evil arises in the human heart. When it fills it to the brim the heart becomes a blackened, putrid bit of flesh, instead of the repository of the feelings and emotions that make us human.
When Evil fills a heart it makes it easy to commit the greatest of all crimes − kill another human being. When Evil fills the hearts of a whole people it makes it easy for them to annihilate another people. It makes no difference if that is done to seize their land or to purify one's own; the crime remains the same.
Such manifestations of Evil pose a challenge to the rest of humanity. Either we stand up and condemn or oppose them, or we become complicit in the crime − there is no middle, neutral ground.
While few indeed can summon up the shining heroism of a Rachel Corrie, or even the courage of a young Lucas Koerner (who stood up in Jerusalem to say: Not in my name), it is important to disassociate oneself from the abomination being perpetrated by bearing witness to one's opposition, each according to their circumstances. That is how one affirms one's own humanity.
As for those who support, excuse, or even condone this crime, or use mealy-mouthed circumlocutions to avoid showing their true colours, they become a part of the Evil abroad in the land. The Evil descends into their hearts, and they begin to recede from humanity, and join its enemies.
Rick Perry and the National Guard
"When National Guard units are not under federal control, the governor is the commander-in-chief of the units of his or her respective state or territory (such as Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands). The President of the United States commands the District of Columbia National Guard, though this command is routinely delegated to the Commanding General of the DC National Guard.[19] States are free to employ their National Guard forces under state control for state purposes and at state expense as provided in the state's constitution and statutes. In doing so, governors, as commanders-in-chief, can directly access and utilize the Guard's federally assigned aircraft, vehicles and other equipment so long as the federal government is reimbursed for the use of fungible equipment and supplies such as fuel, food stocks, etc. This is the authority under which governors activate and deploy National Guard forces in response to natural disasters. It is also the authority under which governors deploy National Guard forces in response to man-made emergencies such as riots and civil unrest, or terrorist attacks."
Wiki on The National Guard of the United States
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"The Act, as modified in 1981, refers to the Armed Forces of the United States. It does not apply to the National Guard under state authority acting in a law enforcement capacity within its home state or in an adjacent state if invited by that state's governor." Wiki on The Posse Comitatus Act
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Having been both an enlisted (sergeant E-5) National Guardsman and an officer (colonel O-6) of the Regular Army of the United States, I have a deep interest in the employment of these forces.
"Increasing number of Syrians joining Islamic State, says UN." Irish times
He said there was an estimated 10,000 to 15,000 foreign fighters with various groups battling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s troops.
Karen Koning AbuZayd, a member of the commission, said most of the Syrians joining Islamic State were defecting from other armed opposition groups fighting in the country’s civil war, now in its fourth year.
“They see it’s better, these guys are strong, these guys are winning battles, they were taking territory, they have money, they can train us,” Mr AbuZayd told reporters." Irish Times
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Syrian IS and Iraq IS are quite different. Iraq IS remains the same coalition of ISIS/Tribal allies/ex-army that it has been since the beginning of the "Breaking the Borders" campaign. Syrian IS is morphing into a much more Syria oriented force.
It will be interesting to see if the IS "high command' will be able to bring these Syria focussed fighters into Iraq or Saudi Arabia to continue their declared war against the existing regional governments. pl
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"Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria fighters have seized a Syrian army base in the northern province of Raqa, killing scores of troops and beheading some of them, an activist group said Saturday.
Continue reading ""Increasing number of Syrians joining Islamic State, says UN." Irish times" »
26 July 2014
The IDF ground force - reposted 26 July 2014
I associated with and/or conducted liaison with The Israel Defense Force (IDF) for many years. This activity occurred as part of my regular duties as a US Army officer and later as a civilian executive of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). Since my retirement from US government service I have had many occasions to visit Israel and to watch the IDF in action against various groups of Palestinians all over the West Bank. I have many friends who are retired and/or reserve members of the IDF. My observations concerning the IDF are based on that experience.
I write here of the ground force. The air force and navy are unknown to me from personal experience except that I know some of their officers from their service in joint (inter-service) assignments like general staff intelligence.
IMO, the IDF is an army built to very specifically suit Israel's individual circumstances, needs, and philosophy. It is in some ways, a singular force. It actually more closely resembles the Swiss military establishment than it does a large standing force backed by reserve units in the way that the US Army is built.
The IDF ground force is essentially a reserve or militia army that keeps most of its forces in inactive status while maintaining a handful of units on active duty as a training base and a force in being to meet short term contingencies.
In this post I am writing of the "line" of the ground forces as represented by armor, infantry, paratroop and artillery units at brigade level and below, i.e., battalion and company.
The special operations forces are a small part of Israeli capabilities and are manned and maintained on a very different basis. In many ways they are more like a "SWAT" team than a military force.
Continue reading "The IDF ground force - reposted 26 July 2014" »
Gaza and West Bank Casualties
Let us keep a running account of Israeli and Palestinian casualties here both civilian and military. It appears to me that one of the reported Israeli civilian deaths was that of a Beduin Arab.
It appears that the number of Gazan civilian deaths is now over 1,000. The number of IDF deaths now seems to be 37?
Fill us in. pl
Hamas, the murdered Israeli teenagers and the 24-hour news cycle - by Confused Ponderer
We now live in an age of 24-hour reporting of news and are being bombarded with innumerable bits of information and soundbites that need processing. IMO Twitter is by far the most onerous of these soundbite machines. This is a time of information saturation. Yesterday's news is being rapidly discarded in pursuit of the next new thing.
Wikipedia's entry offers a critical assessment of the phenomenon:
According to former journalists Bill Kovach and Tom Rosenstiel, 24 hour news creates ferocious competition among media organizations for audience share. This, coupled with the profit demand of their corporate ownership, has led to a decline in journalistic standards.
With little time to react, there is little time for research, and the perpetual risk that somebody beats them to the story. So they run a story, even with incomplete information, which makes the news vulnerable to disinformation and propaganda. The result is a poor quality of reporting even without companies enforcing policy as US networks did by removing troublesome journalists for the crime of not sticking to network narrative.
With all that information around - a fact lost on many a twitterer - journalists need to have an a attention span beyond a 24-hour news cycle. It is hardly an impossible task: The internet makes yesterday's news available through tools like Google.
25 July 2014
The Menace of the Crowd By Richard Sale
You cannot speak falsely about a party or country simply because they are your rivals. I confess that I am stunned by the sudden resurrection of Cold War sentiments in the U.S. media. But much worse, is the U.S. government’s attempt to make a judgment that declares Russia’s wickedness to be the cause of the terrible Ukraine shoot-down of an airliner ,when it knows it lacks adequate information to make such a judgment stick. Our judgment that we are always right never leads to a genuine truth. That kind of predominating certainty flatters the national conceit, and national conceit is a hungry deity that soon casts about for victims. Nothing can be more ridiculous indeed than the way in which we exaggerate another’s vices and extenuate our own. The whole is an affair of prejudice on one side of the question, and of partiality on the other. The administration doesn’t act as if it’s judgments are merely hypotheses. No, instead, they desire to think in decrees.
So what you see happening today is the transformation of individual convictions that become overwhelming in force because they are repeated endlessly by those in authority. The cautious restrictions of what once was called, “Iron objectivity” had been discarded as too ineffectual and cumbersome. Few in the media have the intellectual or moral strength to resist what is told them by their leaders. The collectivities have the habit of drowning anything that is private and not collective.
Continue reading "The Menace of the Crowd By Richard Sale" »
Middle East and State Department Diary - 25 July 2014
"Israel must be permitted to crush Hamas." Michael Oren
"I have seen no confirmed reports, however, of Hamas using force to keep people in targeted areas so they can serve as human shields — and perhaps sway world opinion by boosting the body count. When people decide they must leave their homes, they can do so. But where are these evacuees supposed to go? To the nearest school or hospital? Not if these, too, are considered legitimate targets by the Israeli Defense Forces.' Eugene Robinson
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Oren is undoubtedly a spokesman for the real Israel. He is CNN's leading man on the Middle East. Was that apointment happenstance? He is "Ambassador in Residence" at the Atlantic Council, etc. There has been a lot of prevarication on the part of the Zionists here and there, a lot of talk of "limited objectives," "desperate efforts to avoid civilian casualties," and of the "traumatization of Israeli civilians" by Hamas/IJ rockets. (This last in spite of the nearly complete ineffectiveness of Hamas/IJ rockets). But, here, in former American Oren's oped we see a little honesty. Israel means to destroy Hamas in order to make a peace of subjugation with the PA, and that is the whole story. Hamas is not crushed yet. It fights on and therefore Israel does not want "peace." Next stop will be rebellion on a large scale in the West Bank and I am still waiting to know what Hizbullah will do to back up their statements.
Robinson, after the still obligatory oath of fealty to Israel, opines that they have gone too far. Amen, brother. pl
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"Hundreds have found shelter in areas between Mosul and Irbil – the capital of the Kurdistan regional government – that are controlled by Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, but they face an uncertain future.
"If Isis stays, there is no way the Christians can return," Father Boutrous Moshi said from Qara Qoosh, a Christian area south-east of Mosul. "It is up to God whether we return or not. They have not burned the churches but they did set fire to the pictures and the books and broke the windows."
Monks at the 4th-century Mar Behnam monastery, a major pilgrimage site run by the Syriac Catholic church, were allowed to take only the clothes they were wearing.
Sarab Hazem, from the Zehoor neighbourhood of Mosul, said that initially there were no attacks on Christians when Isis took the city in a lightning offensive in June, though Isis fighters did capture and take away police, security agents and soldiers. "No one knows what becomes of them," he said.
Then, statues of Christ and the Virgin Mary were destroyed. "They are savages," Hazem said. "This is oppression for no reason. I believe it is no longer possible for Christians to live in Iraq."" The Guardian
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There are still vast numbers of Americans who have no grasp of the idea that there are Arabic and Aramaic speaking Christians in places like Iraq and Palestine, and that these Brethren in Christ lived well under secularists like Saddam and the Assads as well as under the Hashemites in Jordan. Jesus was an Aramaic speaker. These are among the oldest Christian communities in the world. ISIS gave them a choice of conversion, the Jizya (capitation tax) or death. At least they had a choice. Correct me if I err but I thnk the Shia and the Yazidis are simply killed as murtadoon (apostates). Non-wahhabi Sunnis are given one chance to "repent."
Why do they do things like destroy Jonah's Tomb? As strict muwahiddoon (wahhabis) they believe that reverence for any object, whether grave, shrine, or a person is shirk (a form of idol worship). pl
http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/24/world/iraq-violence/
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"The latest invented story appears to have been produced primarily as a replacement for Harf’s increasingly debunked allegations surrounding the MH17 shoot-down, a talking point which has gained her no small mocking in the press over the past week, as she directly contradicts the US intelligence community’s own releases on the matter.
Harf’s latest allegations included the phantom artillery fire and secret evidence of Russia planning to maybe send a bunch more weapons to the rebels. One member of the assembled press, humorously, asked if there was “a YouTube video or something that you can point us to,” calling back to Harf’s regular use of social media as “proof” for her claims.
Harf declared “I just said I wasn’t going to give you the underlying source,” and asked if the press preferred she keep things to herself that she can’t prove. This led to another exchange, with someone shooting back “Marie, I think that it would be best for all concerned here if when you make an allegation like that, you’re able to back it up with something more than just “because I said so.”" Anti-war.com
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Women like this one and Mika B give women a bad name. They can't find a woman spokesperson for State who looks like something more than a sorority girl homecoming queen? pl
http://news.antiwar.com/2014/07/24/us-invents-reports-of-russia-attacking-ukraine-bases/
24 July 2014
Netanyahoo tried blackmailing Clinton over Lewinski for Pollard? - by Confused Ponderer
"WASHINGTON — Israel attempted to use tapes of former US president Bill Clinton’s steamy conversations with intern Monica Lewinsky to leverage the release of Jonathan Pollard, a new book on the Clinton family’s political enterprises has claimed. In the book, titled “Clinton Inc: The Audacious Rebuilding of a Political Machine,” author Daniel Halper relies on on-the-record interviews with former officials together with a close analysis of documents termed “the Monica Files” to paint a salacious – and uncomplimentary – picture of one of the most prominent political families in the United States.
Halper reviewed hundreds of pages of documents compiled as a contingency to use in case the former intern ever was involved in legal action against Clinton.
According to the author, the documents indicate that during the Wye Plantation talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, held in Maryland in 1998, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pulled Bill Clinton aside to press for Pollard’s release.
Halper said that Israel had found new leverage to push for Pollard’s release.“The Israelis present at Wye River had a new tactic for their negotiations–they’d overheard Clinton and Monica and had it on tape. Not wanting to directly threaten the powerful American president, a crucial Israeli ally, Clinton was told that the Israeli government had thrown the tapes away. But the very mention of them was enough to constitute a form of blackmail,” Halper wrote, adding that “according to information provided by a CIA source, a stricken Clinton appeared to buckle.”
http://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-said-to-have-offered-lewinsky-tapes-for-pollard/
Manifest Destiny -- A Reprise by WP
Wounded Knee 1890 – Gaza 2014
Manifest Destiny in the United States and Israel
"Charles Marion Russell - The Custer Fight (1903)" by Charles Marion Russell - The Library of Congress. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons
"There is no good Indian except a dead Indian.” Gen. Phillip Sheridan 1869
“Stay as long as you need to stay. Go wherever you need to go to deal with the vipers nest called Hamas.” Sen. Lindsay Graham 2014
As the process of extirpating the Palestinians from Israel comes to its final culmination, a little bit of historical comparison between the United States and Israel is appropriate. Analysis of the prevailing myths and memes can be helpful in understanding how two groups of people living in the same neighborhood can reside on different planets.
American “Manifest Destiny”, the total conquest of the North American continent by the Europeans from the Atlantic to the Pacific, was the predominant theme of U.S. culture up until the end of the nineteenth century, after which the U.S. joined the colonialists.
The final act in Manifest Destiny was the completion of the subjugation of the Native Americans by finally forcing all of the free-roaming Native Americans onto Indian reservations. From the beginning in the 1600s, the European settlers invaded a land populated by a people who had no effective way to resist the germs, guns, agriculture, and advanced technology of the settlers. Ultimately, the Native Americans were killed, acculturated, or put on a reservation out of the way of American Progress. Their primitive societies were fully outmatched by European science and organizational practices. The indigenous peoples never had a chance of winning.
23 July 2014
Another Look at the AA Missile Theory - TTG
Most have discounted the possibility of an air to air missile taking down MH17 as the recent Russian MOD briefing suggested as a possible scenario. Up to now, I’ve also considered this as the least likely explanation. All eyes are on the BUK. But is this a case of sleight of hand, a misdirection? Perhaps.
Let’s take a closer look at the air to air missile theory. The most probable missile that would have been used is the R-60. The NATO designation is AA-8 Aphid. The R-60 weights only 44 kg (100 lbs) and can be launched from a wide range of high performance jets, including the SU-25. Even the HIND attack helicopter can use it. It’s warhead uses either a 3 or 3.5 kg high explosive charge surrounded by a tungsten expanding rod. Some versions have an additional 1.6 kg of depleted uranium for increased lethality. It uses a proximity fuze. That is an important point.
Some analysis of damage found on part of MH17 suggest a proximity explosion slightly below and ahead of the planes port wing. NBC News use this information to confirm that it was an SA-11 missile because an infrared guided air to air missile would have hit an engine. I always thought that would be the case since my experience was with the Redeye which tracks the aircraft’s hot exhaust and detonates on impact, usually up a jet engine’s ass end. The NBC News analysts obviously were working with the same limited and dated understanding as I had.
Continue reading "Another Look at the AA Missile Theory - TTG" »
Once again the USG is fabricating casus belli
"WASHINGTON (AP) — Senior U.S. intelligence officials said Tuesday that Russia was responsible for "creating the conditions" that led to the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, but they offered no evidence of direct Russian government involvement.
The intelligence officials were cautious in their assessment, noting that while the Russians have been arming separatists in eastern Ukraine, the U.S. had no direct evidence that the missile used to shoot down the passenger jet came from Russia.
The officials briefed reporters Tuesday under ground rules that their names not be used in discussing intelligence related to last week's air disaster, which killed 298 people.
The plane was likely shot down by an SA-11 surface-to-air missile fired by Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, the intelligence officials said, citing intercepts, satellite photos and social media postings by separatists, some of which have been authenticated by U.S. experts.
But the officials said they did not know who fired the missile or whether any Russian operatives were present at the missile launch. They were not certain that the missile crew was trained in Russia, although they described a stepped-up campaign in recent weeks by Russia to arm and train the rebels, which they say has continued even after the downing of the commercial jetliner. " Saker
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Iraq in 2003, Syria last year, Russia now. The US government has become a machine for manufacturing falsehoods based on half truths, whole untruths and political agenda.
There does not seem to be any difference in the desire to do this between the two major US political parties.
The motivation for the desire to lie the public into an hysteric war frenzy is claimed to be a search for justice, etc., blah, blah...
In fact the motive is apparent. It is the desire of the foreign policy clique in the academy, government and media to maintain its imagined imperial supremacy in the world and any lie will do if the lie contributes to that goal. pl
http://vineyardsaker.blogspot.ca/2014/07/the-most-pathetic-case-of-backpedaling.html
http://www.bigstory.ap.org/article/us-present-intelligence-data-plane-crash-0
Holy Land War Diary - 23 July 2014
The IDF evidently claims it has lost 32 killed so far but from my count of the dead mentioned in this Haaretz piece I would make that 34 counting the two armored corps captains killed by snipers who are mentioned farther down in the article. Armored officers are killed by small arms fire usually when parts of them are outside the vehicle. A head sticking out of a hatch where visibility is better makes a good target. IDF casualties will continue to accumulate and IMO will increase in number if the IDF presses farther into Gaza City.
Richard Engels' linked video makes it clear that the IDF is targeting clearly marked ambulances employing the lame excuse that they are being used to transport armaments. They are doing the same with marked medical facilities. The IDF has long done such things. A Givati lieutenant once told me in Bethlehem that they "normally shoot people giving first aid to Palestinian wounded."
IMO the whole Gaza strip is one big undergraound fortified zone with interconected bunkers, tunnels, fighting positions, supply points, etc. The underground facilities are very well built, have electric power and uninterceptable communications.
Hamas/IJ want a big bite out of the IDF and if this continues they will get it.
At the same time Ben Gurion airport remains closed. People like Bloomberg have flown over there to show "solidarity." IMO he should volunteer for service in the Golani Brigade and stay there. The Israeli government wants more US money for Iron Dome so that it can continue to defy the US government's desire for a cease fire? Bloomberg should show his solidarity by donating the money. pl
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/1.606735
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"I’d like to propose a new rule of thumb for writers: When your op-ed’s first sentence reads “Let’s state the obvious: No one likes to see dead children,” you should step away from the keyboard, take a look in the closest mirror and think long and hard about exactly the argument you’re about to make. Otherwise, you may end up with an execrable screed like the one New York University law professor Thane Rosenbaum published in the Wall Street Journal on Monday. Rosenbaum argues that the adult residents of Gaza are not innocent civilians, as even Israeli leaders (sometimes begrudgingly) admit, but part of a “citizen army.”" Washington Post
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This linked oped by Rosenbaum is contemptible, racist, fascist evidence that some Jews evidently learned a lot from their experience if the Shoa. Unfortunately, what they learned were the worst things possible. pl
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"Hanin Zoabi, a favourite target for the right, was briefly arrested at a rally in Haifa on Friday. Lieberman called her political party Balad "a party of traitors", and suggested that she be barred from running for office in the next election.
The vitriol directed at Zoabi, Barakeh, and others, is rarely applied to Jewish politicians who make incendiary statements. Ayelet Shaked, a prominent member of Bennett's Jewish Home party, penned a status on Facebook earlier this month suggesting that Israel kill the mothers of Palestinian fighters, lest they give birth to more "little snakes". There was no public outcry or official censure.
"When they are under fire, soldiers killed, rockets flying in the centre [of the country], they become irrational, totally irrational," said Basel Ghattas, another Knesset member from Zoabi's party.
Public criticism has come mostly from the relatively liberal enclaves of Tel Aviv and Haifa. But those voices are being drowned out in a society that has drifted steadily to the right over the past decade.
Knesset members have pursued laws to declare Israel a "Jewish state", drive Palestinian parties out of politics and crack down on left-leaning NGOs. Opinion polls find that younger Jewish Israelis are increasingly right-wing and hold negative views of Palestinians. Al-Jazeera
------------------------
Bennett is frequently interviewed in US TV as a supposedly rational actor on the Israeli political scene. pl
And then there is the question of Hizbullah. What will Nasrallah say on Friday? pl
22 July 2014
Middle East Diary - 22 July 2014
While conventional states try to win hearts and minds abroad before necessarily resorting to military force, the jihadist group is also achieving its aims by psychological means - backed up by a reputation for extreme violence.
The Islamic State, which in June captured a vast stretch of territory in the north including the largest city Mosul, used this strategy when its fighters met armed resistance from the town of al-Alam for 13 days running.
They kidnapped 30 local families and rang up the town's most influential citizens with a simple message about the hostages: "You know their destiny if you don't let us take over the town."
Did Kiev shoot down MH -17? by TTG
The Twisted Genius (TTG) posted this comment on SST in response to another member of the committee. I think it deserves front page publication. pl
"Judging by your analysis and comments, I gather that you find it near inconceivable that the Ukrainian junta forces could have shot MH17 down intentionally or accidentally. To be fair, I find it very conceivable that either junta or rebel forces could have shot it down accidentally and just as conceivable that the junta forces shot it down intentionally. Kiev is desperately trying to pin the blame on the rebels and the Russians. So far their efforts to offer proof have proved rather inept. The "smoking gun" video of rebel conversations was produced before MH17 was shot down and was pieced together from several conversations. The "smoking gun" video of the rebel BUK heading to Russia was shown to be filmed in junta controlled territory. This stinks of either cover up at best or false flag at worse. Today's briefing by the Russian MOD offered commercial ATC radar images and satellite imagery to show a Ukrainian military aircraft (probably a SU-25B1) performing unusual maneuvers in the vicinity of MH17 just before it was shot down and the presence of several Ukrainian BUK systems in the same area. They didn't claim the Ukrainians shot down MH17 at this briefing, but they did demand explanations for these finding from the government in Kiev. In the next few days, we'll see if Kiev can rebut or explain Russia's findings or poke serious holes in the evidence. NATO or the U.S. have yet to offer comparable evidence. Why do I think the junta in Kiev is capable of deliberately shooting down MH17? A majority of that government is from Svoboda and Pravy Sektor, right wing extremist groups with a virulent hatred for Russia and the rebels of Novorossiya. Kiev's military forces are now made largely of these right wing groups' paramilitary forces. They have had no problem killing hundreds of civilians in their efforts to exterminate the rebels. They are not a professional military force. I seriously doubt these right wing thugs would have any problem shooting down an airliner if it would further their mission to destroy the rebels." TTG
21 July 2014
Middle East Diary - 21 July 2014
His eminence praised the persistence of the Hamas resistance and the tremendous patience of the people of Gaza and strongly supported their rightful demands to end the current battle.
Sayyed Nasrallah heard from Meshaal comforting and confident stance, as he reassured that Hamas resistance was ready to make a second victory in July." al-Manar
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Israel should seriousl think about agreeing to a cease fire. It has been suggested by some of our European friends on SST that Hizbullah does not care about Gaza and will not fight the Israelis over the "destiny" of th eGazans. IMO Nasrallah is not making an empty gesture. If the IDF continues its ravishment of Gaza, Hizbullah will begin to fire into nothern Israel. They can target just about anything in th enoerthern half of the country and have many, many weapons. A good question now would be the degree of redundancy in Iron Dome. pl
http://www.almanar.com.lb/english/adetails.php?eid=162072&frid=23&seccatid=14&cid=23&fromval=1
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Hasbara work - "Now, there are 40 people in the interactive unit of the Israel Defense Forces, including videographers, animators, graphic artists and computer programmers, pumping out missives in six languages, on many platforms, in a tone much punchier than the typical news release. “Israel uses the Iron Dome to protect its civilians,” it said on Twitter over the weekend. “Hamas uses civilians to protect its rockets.”
"What Did US Spy Satellites See in Ukraine?" by Robert Parry
"What I’ve been told by one source, who has provided accurate information on similar matters in the past, is that U.S. intelligence agencies do have detailed satellite images of the likely missile battery that launched the fateful missile, but the battery appears to have been under the control of Ukrainian government troops dressed in what look like Ukrainian uniforms.
The source said CIA analysts were still not ruling out the possibility that the troops were actually eastern Ukrainian rebels in similar uniforms but the initial assessment was that the troops were Ukrainian soldiers. There also was the suggestion that the soldiers involved were undisciplined and possibly drunk, since the imagery showed what looked like beer bottles scattered around the site, the source said.
Instead of pressing for these kinds of details, the U.S. mainstream press has simply passed on the propaganda coming from the Ukrainian government and the U.S. State Department, including hyping the fact that the Buk system is “Russian-made,” a rather meaningless fact that gets endlessly repeated." Robert Parry
---------------------------------
Parry has it right except that the resolution claimed in the imagery is unrealistic. I will leave it at that. pl
http://consortiumnews.com/2014/07/20/what-did-us-spy-satellites-see-in-ukraine/
MH-17 = Ghouta Redux? by Confused Ponderer
Though I am undecided on what to think, the parallels between how the Ghouta incident was 'handled' and MH-17 are striking:
MH-17
The US and US media have put forth the argument that since the airliner was shot down with a Russian missile, that means Russia did it. Pretty much Ukraine's entire arsenal is of Russian/Soviet origin. When a Russian missile was used, that proves nothing.
The State Department has now released a so-called "government assessment" that holds Russia responsible for the airliner shoot down.
In light of Ghouta, the issuing of another 'government assessment' suggests to me that there was serious doubt in the intelligence circles as to Russia's actual guilt in this matter, and that the policy side insisted and proceeded on their own.
Ghouta redux
When Kerry and his Amazons blamed Assad for the chemical incident at Ghouta, they argued similarly: Since Syria had Chemical weapons, and Chemical weapons were used at Ghouta, Assad must have done it. No mention of indications that, indeed, the Syrian Jihadi opposition was thought to have just such a capability.
Since apparently the intel community couldn't be cajoled into confirming the official line, the White House and State Department people made up something so-far unheard of - a "government assessment" that held, of course, Assad responsible.
http://consortiumnews.com/2014/04/07/the-collapsing-syria-sarin-case/
Propaganda and media collaboration
The Whitehouse and State department people apparently believe in that 'the early bird catches the worm'.
They strive to, and usually succeed at, getting out their narrative as early as possible to have it further their objectives. Truthfulness is in this fully optional. What counts is to get on message first, frame the issue, and then persistently stay on message.
Being the first on message achieves that, for lack of other available information on the new story, the media, to be competitive, run with what's available first, and that is the administration's cue, often helped with themes deliberately generated on social media.
After that, the media proceed on their own, and usually follow their own biases: Putin is a thug and Assad a tyrant. That apparently translates in media assuming both guilty by default. The self-censorship involved is probably the worst aspect of this media complicity. In practice it means that facts that would run against the narrative, and would support Assad or Putin, are being actively not reported, misreported or outright suppressed, lest the thug or tyrant be helped.
Case study: Svoboda in Ukraine
Just as the Whitehouse has persistently denied it, Russians have frequently pointed out that the Svoboda and Right Sector people are, well, Nazis. Point is, the Russians are absolutely correct. And on 13 December 2012 the EU parliament also stated just that.
"The European Parliament
...
8. Is concerned about the rising nationalistic sentiment in Ukraine, expressed in support for the Svoboda Party, which, as a result, is one of the two new parties to enter the Verkhovna Rada; recalls that racist, anti-Semitic and xenophobic views go against the EU’s fundamental values and principles and therefore appeals to pro-democratic parties in the Verkhovna Rada not to associate with, endorse or form coalitions with this party;"
So it isn't as if this is a secret. The Whitehouse just lies brazenly. The media by and large don't challenge that. Since it is Putin who says they are Nazis, American media apparently cannot bring themselves to agree with him and state the bloody obvious. After all, it would support that devil Putin, and US media don't support thugs, truth be damned.
In doing so, they let the US administration get away with lying to the US public, and allow them to not have to explain why the US is supporting an administration in Kiev with Nazis in key positions of power. If American values mean anything, a US alliance involving Svoboda’s racist, anti-Semitic xenophobes would, I feel, not be a natural match. That should be worth an explanation.
Alas, this interesting question remains unasked, and as a result the media serves not just as a willing conduit but as an integral and indispensable amplifier for what, put plainly, is government propaganda.
Propaganda abroad = Domestic Propaganda
In the US domestic propaganda is prohibited by law. The lawmakers who enacted the law understood that propaganda at home is a serious threat to policymaking because it prevents a sober assement of policy in the electorate and elected bodies alike, and besides - on a gut level - probably because that's something Nazis and Commies do i.e. is un-American.
And yet, as a result of technological advances, American use of propaganda abroad, comes back to screw the US at home. In that sense, domestic propaganda is the collateral damage of secret policy and deception abroad.
In today’s globalized world with instant information access, there is no border between malign 'domestic propaganda' and benign 'overseas propaganda' anymore. They are one.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith%E2%80%93Mundt_Act
by
Confusedponderer
PS: An excursion into the sewers of Ukrainian politics I provide some links that may help shed some light on Svoboda and their ilk.
20 July 2014
“We Choose The Moon” - TTG
Forty-five years ago this night, Neil Armstrong became the first man to step onto the moon. It was an exhilarating event in the U.S. and in much of the world. I did not see it on TV. Instead, I was camping with two of my friends. On this night, forty-five years ago, we were lying in our sleeping bags on a thick bed of pine needles on the crest of a pine covered hill overlooking a local reservoir. The land was posted, but we were adept at stealth camping. We had a perfect view of the full moon on that clear, warm night. Normally, we never had a radio or even a watch when we camped. But this time we made an exception. I carried a small transistor radio to listen to Walter Cronkite narrate the landing. Looking back on it, we made the right decision. It was glorious to be surrounded by nature looking at the moon with our own eyes while listening to history being made.
Given the state of the world today and the craven cowardice of so many of our politicians and pundits, I find solace in what we once were. It's either that or rum.
Each evening, from December to December,
Before you drift to sleep upon your cot,
Think back on all the tales that you remember
Of Camelot.
Ask ev'ry person if he's heard the story,
And tell it strong and clear if he has not,
That once there was a fleeting wisp of glory
Called Camelot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7c-PbfnQuw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prqFuBp2DcQ
TTG
Fertile Crescent Diary - 20 July 2014
"On Sunday, 13 Israeli soldiers were killed in a series of attacks in the Gaza Strip, where the death toll is believed to have climbed beyond 400." abc news
"Israel's defence force have not yet confirmed if any of its soldiers are among the dead, but it is understood 44 wounded soldiers are in Ashkelon Hospital with more in other hospitals. It comes amid unconfirmed reports that the military wing of Hamas destroyed an Israeli tank in a suicide bombing. Israelis are yet to comment on the reports." abc news
"On Israel's side, two civilians have been killed by cross-border fire and 18 soldiers have died in fighting. More than 50 Israeli troops have been wounded, hospital officials said." abc news
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As sad as it is to say, the main effects of this round of fighting in Gaza will be found; 1- in the worldwide political damage done to Israel for the callous massacre of civilians and 2- the impact on Israeli and more importantly American popular opinion of a high Israeli military body count. Throughout previous Israeli operations intended to "mow the grass," in Gaza, the IDF has operated with impunity, able to continue from day to day without major fear of the likelihood of its own casualties in dead and wounded. If these present reports are correct, that has changed. The American people have many admirable characteristics but their inability to see virtue in "losers" is not one of them. An ability on the part of the Hamas/IJ fighters to inflict casualties on the IDF would raise the public image of the Palestinians in America. According to the Israel FB page, Hamas now says that it will equip large numbers of Gazan youth with grenades and send them against IDF forces in suicide attacks. The Israelis do not seem to understand how potent a weapon that would be. pl
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-07-20/gaza-death-toll-soars-beyond-400/5610270
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/20/us-palestinians-israel-idUSKBN0FP00U20140720
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"... residents are proud that their sons both fiercely resisted U.S. invaders and then joined forces with their former adversaries as part of the so-called Awakening movement, in which the U.S. military paid ex-insurgents and others to fight Al Qaeda-style hard-liners. Hatem, 36, a father of four, was one of hundreds of Sunnis in Adhamiya who signed up.
But the residents of Adhamiya and other mostly Sunni areas are now facing a more entrenched foe: the Shiite-dominated government of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki and its heavy-handed security forces.
In interviews here, Adhamiya residents complained of a pattern of harassment, random arrests and illegal imprisonment: the kinds of grievances that helped detonate the uprising raging in Sunni-dominated provinces to the north and west.
Those interviewed said they empathized with Sunni fighters who have seized large swaths of Iraqi territory, but insisted that they did not back the Islamic State, the Al Qaeda breakaway faction leading the uprising. Whether their professed antipathy for the militants was authentic or meant for Western consumption was not clear." LA Times
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The inhabitants of the Sunni parts of western Baghdad are a potential fifth column likely to assist IS coalition forces in penetration of Baghdad between BIA and the US Embassy. pl
http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-iraq-adhamiya-20140720-story.html
Belgium Centenary Reprise - Dinant 1914 - Gaza 2014 by WP
“Profoundly moved” by this picture of desolation wrought by his troops, General von Hausen departed from the ruins of Dinant secure in the conviction that the responsibility lay with the Belgian government “which approved this perfidious street fighting contrary to international law.” The Germans were obsessively concerned about violations of international law. They succeeded in overlooking the violation created by their presence in Belgium in favor of the violation committed, as they saw it, by Belgians resisting their presence. With a sigh of long -tried patience, Abbé Wetterlé, Alsatian delegate to the Reichstag, once confessed, “To a mind formed in the Latin school, the German mentality is difficult to comprehend.” The German obsession had two parts: that Belgian resistance was illegal and that it was organized from “above” by the Belgian government or by burgomasters, priests, and other persons who could be classified as “above.” Together the two parts established the corollary: that German reprisals were righteous and legal, regardless of degree. The shooting of a single hostage or the massacre of 612 and the razing of a town were alike to be charged to the Belgian government —this was the refrain of every German from Hausen after Dinant to the Kaiser after Louvain. The responsibility must “fall upon those who incited the population to attack the Germans,” Hausen protests constantly. There can be absolutely no doubt, he insists, that the whole population of Dinant and other regions was “animated— by whose order?— by one desire to stop the advance of the Germans.” That people could be animated to stop the invader without an order from “above” was inconceivable.
Tuchman, Barbara W. (2009-07-22). The Guns of August: The Outbreak of World War I; (Kindle Locations 5890-5902). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinant#The_Old_Regime_and_World_War_I
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakba
WP
"This Country's Going to War" - TTG
Regarding the shoot-down of the Malaysian jetliner on Thursday, I’m [Robert Parry] told that some CIA analysts cite U.S. satellite reconnaissance photos suggesting that the anti-aircraft missile that brought down Flight 17 was fired by Ukrainian troops from a government battery, not by ethnic Russian rebels who have been resisting the regime in Kiev since elected President Viktor Yanukovych was overthrown on Feb. 22.
According to a source briefed on the tentative findings, the soldiers manning the battery appeared to be wearing Ukrainian uniforms and may have been drinking, since what looked like beer bottles were scattered around the site. But the source added that the information was still incomplete and the analysts did not rule out the possibility of rebel responsibility. (Consortium News)
——————————————————————
If these serious doubts exist in the IC, why are Obama, Biden, Power and the other usual suspects so cocksure that MH17 was “blown out of the sky” by that devil Putin and the equally evil Novorossiyan rebels? Obviously they are fixing the facts and intelligence around the policy. Where have we heard that before?
For god’s sake, we have five billion invested in this project. We can’t walk away from Nuland’s neocon dream for Ukraine. Can you imagine some poor young imagery analyst being badgered by the R2P harpies to come to the “correct” interpretation of the aerial photos?
Those analysts need top cover from powerful men of honor in our government. They may be few and far between, but it doesn’t take many to make a difference. One or two will do. We haven’t heard from General Martin Dempsey yet. He’s saved us before. General Michael Flynn is short. He might as well go out in a brilliant blaze of honor and glory. Gentlemen, stop the rush to an unnecessary and dangerous war. Make this old soldier proud.
TTG
19 July 2014
Fertile Crescent Diary - 19 July 2014
The defeat brought to an end a three-week campaign by the government in Baghdad to recapture Tikrit, which fell to the Islamic State on June 11. Military spokesmen earlier this week had confidently announced a final push to recapture the city.
Instead, Islamic State forces turned back the army’s thrust up the main highway Wednesday. Beginning late Thursday, the Islamist forces stormed Camp Speicher, a former U.S. military base .
Witnesses reached by phone, who asked not be identified for security reasons, said that by Friday morning the final pocket of government troops had collapsed, an ignominious end for a counteroffensive that had begun with a helicopter assault into Tikrit University but ended with troops trapped at Camp Speicher.
18 July 2014
Dr. Strangelove is back.
"There were earlier Russian reports that the rebels had captured Ukrainian surface-to-air defense but no details. The SA-11 or SA-17 are, however, logical systems for rebels to have used earlier in shooting down a Ukrainian AN-26 military transport at a reported altitude of 26,000 feet.
A passenger aircraft would have no warning of such an attack, and its black box would not record any data on the intercept. It is extremely unlikely to pilots ever saw the incoming missile or could accurately characterize it if they had only seconds in which to speak in ways the black box could record." CSIS
----------------------------
The Yellow Media are creating a Doctor Strangelove situation. They do not seem to grasp the idea that the war between Russia and the USA toward which they are groping will destroy both countries altogether. Once more, a war between the USA and Russia WILL DESTROY BOTH COUNTRIES and much of the rest of the world.
As Cordesman notes there are many unanswered questions concerning the fate of Malaysia Flight 17. The evidence that has been revealed is sketchy. There is still the possibility of an electro/mechanical failure of some sort. Nevertheless, people who should know better than to do this are participating in jacking up public hysteria that pushes the country toward war with Russia. I guess the money must be good.
Perhaps the neocon/R2P crowd in power do not understand what nuclear war would mean. pl
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Strangelove
http://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/2008/09/the-siop-and-th.html
Israel’s ambassador to US ‘justifies bombing hospitals’
"Yesterday saw Israel come in for particular criticism after the al-Wafa hospital, which cares for patients suffering from brain and spine trauma, was damaged by the Israeli air offensive.
Asked if Israel “has the right to defend itself by bombing hospitals”, Dermer said: “Actually, if you turn your hospital into a command post & missile launching site you do. But Israel hasn't.
“Israel cares more about Pal civilians in Gaza than Hamas,” he continued. “We try to get them out of harm’s way. They put them in harm's way.”"
--------------------------
Well, at least he is no longer an American. pl
17 July 2014
17 July 2014 News
"He'd previously been called a "spokesman" for Hamas, and criticized for "a pro-Hamas rant" by media critics sensitive to an anti-Israel bias.
It's also entirely possible that the network felt Mohyeldin's objectivity had been compromised after witnessing such tragic violence up close. Or, fearing post-traumatic stress, felt he needed, emotionally, to be extricated from the war zone. But if that's the case, NBC should say it, rather than broadly claiming "security concerns."
The network has not responded to a request for comment." NY Magazine
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"A spokesman for Hamas?" What more do you need to know? pl
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/07/nbc-ayman-mohyeldin-pulled-gaza-palestinian-kids.html
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"A Malaysian airliner crashed over eastern Ukraine Thursday, killing all 295 people aboard and sharply raising stakes in a conflict between Kiev and pro-Moscow rebels in which Russia and the West back opposing sides.
The total number of dead in the crash near the Russian border includes 23 U.S. citizens, a Ukrainian interior ministry aide said. No other independent confirmation of the total was available. " Chicago Tribune
------------------------------
The lunatic "yellow" US media has immediatedly leapt into pursuit of the theory of a missile shootdown by rebel forces aligned with Russia. Like Obama and the R2P Harpies they seem to have no concept of the risk of provoking Russia into an irrationally hostile act towards the US. US DoD has stated that in spite of continuous surveillence of the scene they have no indications of the cause of this event. I will observe that we now have seen two Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 aircraft that have come to an ill end at approximately the same altitude. pl
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-malaysia-plane-ukraine-20140717,0,3092919.story
Passenger Jet Shot Down Over Ukraine by Walrus
Multiple news services are reporting the shooting down of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH 17 over Ukraine. The aircraft was a Boeing 777 with 229 passengers and 15 crew en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. None survived, 23 held American passports. The aircraft was in cruise at approximately 33,000ft, so it is alleged that the culprit was a heavy SAM. The crash site is some 50 km from the Russian border.
Claims and counter claims are already swirling around the internet as to the authors of this deed. Russia, the rebels, the Ukraine? All apparently own capable systems. My personal view is that neither Russia nor the rebels have anything to gain from such an action while it might be construed that the current Ukrainian government could want to encourage NATO intervention on its side as a result of this tragedy.
Russia allegely has a sophisticated and multi layered air defence system with I assume very good command and control systems so there should be radar evidence as well as forensics to identify the missile and the culprit.
My personal view is that if Washington does not approach the investigation of this matter in a bipartisan cooperative manner with Russia, then we can assume that the Obama Administration contemplates bringing Ukraine under NATO protection with the associated risk of direct military confrontation with Russia. Will the tone of Whitehouse press releases tell us which course, for better or worse, the Administration has chosen? Walrus
The Ruin of Athens by Richard Sale
"It was in 440 BC that Greece set up a group of Greek city states called the Delian League, founded by Cimon, which would end up becoming the Athenian Empire led by Pericles.
There was one central conception that gained strength after the Greek’s victory in the Persian Wars and that was establishment of the democratic political system in which the numerical majority possessed all authority and all power of decision in the state. Under Pericles, this became “Imperial Democracy,” and the success of this system set in motion the seeds of its own destruction, just as it always does and has. Too put it simply, Athens was a city state that could not stay still. It was always meddling, always stirring up and attacking its allies and enemies alike. In the past, Persians had been the most deadly and constant enemies of Athens, as was Sparta and other Greek city states. Slowly, Pericles seized control of the allies’ wealth in order to fight the Persians, but in attempting to block a Persian move in Egypt, the fleet of Athens was almost totally destroyed. The Athenian Empire ended when the Spartans defeated Athens in the Peloponnesian War, and Sparta itself would thereafter be defeated by the Thebans. On the heels of the Thebans came Macedonia. But during that time Athens’ greed for power, its mania for expansion prevented any chance of stability in the region and that greed produced its ruin.
The communal life of Athens was the climax of the Greek development of the state or the polis. The government of Athens was so constituted that it would be compelled by its very nature to strive for power over its neighbors. The classic city state was held in place by two competing forces, education and power, according to an outstanding Greek scholar, Werner Jaeger. (Jaeger and Jacob Burckhardt are the best interpreters of Greek culture that I know of.) The antagonism between education and power was inevitable. When the state asked the citizen to sacrifice himself to serve the purposes of the state, it was assumed that the individual’s purposes were more or less identical to the state’s. There was no room for personal judgments and no personal freedom in the modern sense. The individual’s aims had to agree with the aims of the whole community and its parts, and they agreed to serve those ends with all their energy and determination. There was a widespread belief among the Greeks that the welfare of the community and its parts can be measured by an objective standard. Earthly justice was based on the justice of heaven. The Greeks had long considered that their ethical standard rested on justice (dike). The happiness of the state was founded on that idea. The crisis of the state was therefore a crisis in education. Education always reacted very strong to any attack on established authority, because the city’s greatest pride was founded on being the defender of justice and the defender if the unjustly oppressed.
Complications
The career of Pericles was made possible only by the great new extensions in the power of the masses. Plutarch says that Pericles’s bought the people off, thanks to grants of land. But beneath the surface smoldered the inextinguishable spark of revolution among the politically dispossessed aristocrats, or what were called oligarchs, and the rest of the citizens. While the foreign policy of Pericles won success after success, the aristocrats were loyal or feigned loyalty and contorted them self into grotesque forms paying flattery to those in power in feats of gigantic hypocrisy.
Gaza Diary - 17 July 2014
JC, an old Army friend with long experience in Israel and Gaza sent me the following today.
"In that the current situation is unfolding somewhat similar to the 2006 Lebanon "fiasco", I am forwarding a brief summary of the Winograd Commission (edited, but courtesy of Wikipedia). I suspect that we may see a repeat of the final statement.
According to the Winograd Commission Report, the Second Lebanon War was regarded as a "missed opportunity" and that "Israel initiated a long war, which ended without a defined military victory". The report continued to state that "a semi-military organization of a few thousand men resisted, for a few weeks, the strongest army in the Middle East, which enjoyed full air superiority and size and technology advantages". Furthermore, Hezbollah's rocket attacks continued throughout the war and the IDF did not provide an effective response to it. Following a long period of using standoff firepower and limited ground activities, the IDF launched a large-scale ground offensive close to the UN Security Council's resolution which imposed a cease-fire. "This offensive did not result in military gains and was not completed".
..."The fact Israel went to war before it decided which option to
select and without an exit strategy, all these constituted serious failures of the decision making process."" JC
As JC observes this situation appears similar. Once again, Israel has initiated hostilities with an Arab group without any clear idea of the result to be rationally expected or of an "exit plan" from the war itself. The "strategic thnking' involved appears to have consisted of an unbounded hatred for the Palestinians and a desire to smash and humble them while using the worldwide resources of the Zionist cause to silence criticism. A humilation like that which resulted from the Second Lebanon War now seems likely to emerge from a "permanent" cease fire unless Israel decides to "double down' in a large scale ground incursion into the Gaza Strip. pl
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/17/us-palestinians-israel-idUSKBN0FI04420140717
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/17/us-palestinians-israel-britain-idUSKBN0FM1DX20140717
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winograd_Commission
16 July 2014
Middle East Diary - 16 July 2014
"Government troops and allied Shi'ite volunteer fighters retreated from Tikrit before sunset on Tuesday to a base four km (2.5 miles) south after coming under heavy mortar and sniper fire, a soldier who fought in the battle said.
Residents said there was no fighting on Wednesday morning in Tikrit, which lies 160 km (100 miles) north of Baghdad. It is a stronghold of ex-army officers and loyalists of executed former dictator Saddam Hussein's Baath Party who allied themselves with the Islamic State-led offensive last month.
Tuesday's military attack was launched from Awja, Saddam's birthplace some 8 km (5 miles) south of the city, but ran into heavy opposition in the southern part of the city.
Pictures published on Twitter by supporters of the Islamic State showed a fighter holding a black Islamist flag next to a black armored car it said had been abandoned by a military SWAT team, as well as vehicles painted in desert camouflage - one of them burnt out - which it said retreating troops left behind." Reuters
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We wrote here some time back that the Iraqi "Army" would have one major opportunity to conduct a counter-offensive to the north and that if that failed they were finished as a force and would not be able to establish the Iraq government's authority north and west of Baghdad. They have now failed in that attempt and Iraq is effectively partitioned unless Iran, Turkey or some other regional power intervenes massively. All the baloney in the world about "soft power" is not going to change the situation. At the same time the unstable cooperation between; ISIS fanatics, Sunni tribals and nationalist soldiers from Saddam's army will soon start to break up. IMO the soldiers and the tribesmen will eliminate ISIS in Iraq. This may take some time but it will happen. pl
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/16/us-iraq-security-idUSKBN0FL0U720140716
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" Israeli experts predicted overland raids to destroy command bunkers and tunnels that have allowed the outgunned Palestinians to withstand air and naval barrages on Gaza and keep rockets flying." CBC
----------------------------
Hamas has offered Israel a ten year truce (hudna). This is a relgiously sanctioned temporary cease fire contingent on; release of prisoners whom the Israelis earlier released in an exchange and then re-arrested. Hamas also wants the borders of Gaza opened and an end to the naval blockade. The Israelis don't want peace with Hamas. They want to destroy the group so that they can continue to dominate the non-peace process farce. Therefore, there is no chance of the Israelis accepting such an offer and Hamas knows this.
Nevertheless, the Izzies are in the "hurt locker." They are locked into their own bluster concerning the terrible things they are going to to do to Gaza if the Gazans do not abandon Hamas politically. So far, it appears that the Gazans blame Israel, not Hamas for their predicament. The pro-zionist US media are eagerly waiting for some sign that such a shift is happening but, alas, it does not seem to be so.
In the absence of that development, Israel's internal politics is driving it toward a decision to begin to conduct ground operations. This will probably begin as more raids against Hamas and Islamic Jihad sites. These will, of course, be defended and there will be IDF casualties. Failures like the naval commando raid this week will lead to demands for larger operations.
At the same time it is now reported in the Israeli press that ISIS is recruiting in Gaza. pl
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/israel-poised-to-invade-parts-of-gaza-as-rocket-salvos-resume-1.2708280
http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-israel-gaza-conflict-20140716-story.html
http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/isis-makes-headway-into-gaza-and-sinai/2014/06/29/
"The Betrayal of Solitude" By Richard Sale
“According to new research from psychologists at the University of Virginia and Harvard, people would rather do something -- even engage in a little masochistic distraction -- than sit and do nothing but think.
“The researchers conducted a series of studies involving nearly 300 men and women, ranging in age from 18 to 77. Subjects were asked to sit alone in a room for six to 15 minutes, away from cell phones and other distractions, and "entertain themselves with their thoughts." Afterwards, they were asked what they thought about the experience.
“How did people react? On average, most subjects said they didn't enjoy having nothing to do. And this effect was found across all ages.
"What is striking is that simply being alone with their own thoughts for 15 minutes was apparently so aversive that it drove many participants to self-administer an electric shock that they had earlier said they would pay to avoid," the psychologists wrote in a paper describing the research.
“The paper is scheduled to be published July 4 in the journal Science.”
It is apparent from those studies, that the bulk of the American people are a very deeply demoralized people. Clearly we have learned to think and experience in unison. The old adage that to know more is to be more is being discarded. We are rapidly becoming a people who intellectually perform the dead man’s float instead of trying to learn something new or even try to examine and reflect about the events of our personal biographies. The goal of our lives is to be ceaselessly entertained. We have become “characters unable to undergo the effort of sustaining thought,” in the words of John Dewey.
Divided Minds
A child, whatever else it is or does lives wholeheartedly. No young mind begins as being jaded or bored. The life of a young child is full of fascination and wonder. Children are little souls in the making, and what they are interested in finding out makes clear what kind of child we really are. Activity works hand in hand with discovery. No person of common sense strives to be mediocre. My life has abounded with talented, colorful characters, brilliant episodes death threats, narrow escapes that result from the thirst of a broad experience, and I am not alone in this. The contributors to this site such as William Cummings, F.B. Ali, (who has written a beautiful memoir,) Walrus, David H., Neill Richardson, Harper, are people of wide experience and broad culture and could say the same thing about episodes in their own lives.
The child is full of energetic joy and vigorous curiosity. When we are little and can discern an interest that appeals to us, we hurl ourselves at it without reservation and attack it with persistent energy. When I was a kid, I found life enormously interesting. What did I think about? Well, of course, the major figures in my life were my dad, mom and my older sister.
But aside from my family life, my mind was always aboil with interests and a thirst for experiences. When I was a very little kid I built miniature trains, even building the tracks using a tiny hammer and tiny nails to hammer the rails down into the ties. I would then work to create landscape for the trains to snake about in, and that activity gave me great satisfaction.
We did not yet have TV yet, so as a kid of five, left alone to myself, I once dug up the skeleton of a horse that had been buried behind the rural barn behind our house in Connecticut. I remember standing in the kitchen, holding the horse’s thigh bone, thinking my mother was on the verge of fainting dead away. I constantly explored the woods. I loved the countryside and the quiet, sun-speckled forest with their little brooks. I loved field mice and toads, chipmunks and birds, and big green frogs, and all kind of snakes. During the summer, I would keep a chipmunk in a little cage and feed it with peanut butter and take it out and hold it, completely fascinated, until it was time to set it free. Such encounters develop our compassion.
Continue reading ""The Betrayal of Solitude" By Richard Sale" »
15 July 2014
Iron Dome May Not Be As Effective as Everyone Thinks
Adam L. Silverman, PhD*
Captain of Engineering Montgomery Scott was right (or will be as his character lives in the 23rd Century): "Ya canna change the laws of physics..."
One of Israel's major defenses against the Hamas rocket attacks emanating from Gaza is their Iron Dome missile defense system. According to experts it is NOT actually doing what it is designed to do. Richard Lloyd, a former Engineering Fellow at Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems, recently stated that: "The Iron Dome interceptors need to hit an incoming rocket head-on to have much hope of detonating a warhead... And initial visual analysis of the engagements in recent days shows that the interceptions that are occurring are from the side or behind, which provide 'essentially a zero chance of destroying the warhead,' based on the basic physics of such engagements".
It is, apparently, very hard to hit a bullet, no matter how big and how advanced one's software, head on with another bullet. Who could have known?
* Adam L. Silverman is the Cultural Advisor at the US Army War College. The views expressed here are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of the US Army War College and/or the US Army.
Middle East Diary - 15 July 2014
"... even though Israel resumed bombing Gaza, it would stop if Hamas accepts the truce and that the coming hours are critical. If not, the military has a plan in place to significantly amp up its offensive, including a possible ground operation, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was discussing military strategy.
On Tuesday evening, rocket sirens and blasts were heard in Tel Aviv, as Israel's "Iron Dome" missile defense system intercepted two rockets, according to the Israel Defense Forces Twitter account.
In addition, the military said three rockets were fired at the southern city of Eilat. The military did not immediately know who was behind the rocket fire." Foxnews
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It will be interesting to see who has more "sack" as the British say. IMO the Israelis fear the losses they might suffer in a ground campaign. OTOH the Gazan defense believes that it will gain a great deal politically from the kind of Israeli losses that Hizbullah inflicted on them in '06. People in general are savages and respect the ability to kill one's opponents. Media pictures of bombed buildings in Gaza often show reinforced concrete tunnels under them. My suspicion is that these are part of an interlocked system that would enable the fighters to move around and emerge at pre-planned points to fight on ground organized for defense. That worked well for Hizbullah. Iranians taught Hizbullah to build that system and use it. Hamas talks to Iran and has done so for a long time. This evening LTC Lerner, the IDF spokesman, told Blitzer that they, too, have taken notice of these tunnels. IMO the Israelis fear this possibility and may well decide to sit outside the city and pound it, pound it, pound it. That will do nothing for Israel. In a few years they will face Hamas again. pl
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/07/15/israel-cabinet-approves-gaza-cease-fire-egypt-offer/
**************
"... clashes have been ongoing in Jerusalem and Palestinian cities and towns inside the Green Line since the kidnapping and killing of teenager Mohammed Abu Khdeir by settlers on July 2. The confrontations have expanded in scope, diversified and intensified.
On the ground, one can sense that the situation in the West Bank is rife with tension, as protests have spread throughout cities and towns. The clashes have been most violent in Bethlehem, Hebron, Jerusalem and Ramallah. During the July 11 protests, Palestinian youths set the Qalandia military checkpoint ablaze, which forced Israeli soldiers to briefly evacuate it and allow young Palestinian men to take control of it.
Al-Monitor noted that more than 30 towns and villages witnessed violent clashes on July 11-12, involving thousands of young people. Dozens of Palestinians were wounded by live ammunition and rubber bullets. One young man who participated in the clashes in front of the Bethel settlement told Al-Monitor, “We will rise against Israel. We will stage daily protests in front of Bethel and Awfar, and we will throw stones and Molotov cocktails.”"
-----------------------
The possibility exists that a sympathetic response to the Gaza battle will spread to the West Bank, Hizbullah and Europe. You won't see much of this on the MSM. pl
14 July 2014
Infiltration of the Iraqi Army by Adam L. Silverman, PhD
"On January 30, 2005, the United Iraqi Alliance, a coalition of Shiite political parties, won elections for the Iraq National Assembly. Ibrahim al-Jaafari became prime minister; Bayan Jabr, a member of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) was named interior minister. The victors, particularly SCIRI, saw MOI as a prize. The Defense Ministry was under U.S. military control and American soldiers were embedded with Iraqi Army units. MOI had only a small number of foreign advisors and security forces that were largely under Iraqi control. Minister Jabr used his position to place members of the Badr Brigade (SCIRI’s militia) in key positions in the ministry and to replace Sunnis in the commando units with Badr Brigade militiaman. After the February 22, 2006 terrorist bombing of the Shiite al-Askari Mosque in Samarra, police commando units were used to terrorize, torture and kill Sunnis." US Institute of Peace, 2008.
In today's Middle East Diary post, COL Lang highlights reports of infiltration of the Iraqi Security Forces. That this should surprise any current US military or civilian official that was involved with Iraq, or those who have retired since their involvement, is somewhere between amazing and mindblowing. The news media, as well as blogs and websites that linked to or aggregated news media reports in regard to events in Iraq** during Operation Iraqi Freedom, and even US government agencies like the US Institute of Peace (USIP) and think tanks like CSIS, clearly indicated that a significant portion of the Iraqi Army were former Badr Corps members. Most of this coverage was from 2009 and earlier. The Badr Corps, now the Badr Organization, was the militia/military wing of the al Hakim's Supreme Islamic Council for Iraq (ISCI or SCIRI). It was stood up, funded, trained, and overseen by Iran's Revolutionary Guards and many of its members are still receiving Iranian pensions.
If US and coalition leaders are now indicating that they did not know this or did not understand this, then something is very, very wrong. Leave aside the cultural operations info papers and responses to requests for information that I did for my Brigade Combat Team, which were shared with our provincial reconstruction team (PRT - made up of State Department and Interagency personnel), this material was being regularly reported in the news media. If US leadership, military, civilian, on the ground in Iraq, back in DC, were not tracking on this than we have a HUGE problem. Either senior leaders' staffs were not doing their jobs, there was an intelligence failure, or some combination. Given that this stuff was being reported in the news media, I find either of the latter to be highly unlikely and the former somewhat improbable as the material would have made it into Commander's Update Briefings.
There were some good reasons to bring the Badr guys into the Iraqi Security Forces. Namely the same ones for bringing parts of the Kurdish Peshmerga and the Awakenings/Sons of Iraq folks. Specifically to facilitate societal reconciliation and coalition building. That the Badr Corps and the Pesh were brought in and the Awakenings/Sons of Iraq largely locked out, shows exactly how far that reconciliation went, which was certainly not far enough. Instead the transition for the Awakenings/Sons of Iraq was short circuited in 2008 - same year the Iraqis rolled us on the provincial elections and the SOFA negotiations - by PM Maliki demanding and being granted control over the transition program for the Sons of Iraq.
* Adam L. Silverman is the Cultural Advisor at the US Army War College. The views expressed here are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of the US Army War College and/or the US Army.
** This link transcribes Nir Rosen's Rolling Stone article entitled "The Myth of the Surge". For some reason the link to it at Rolling Stone is dead, so I've linked to Professor DeLong's trancription of it on his blog.
"The Battle for Baghdad" by Patrick Cockburn
"‘The army is still dissolving,’ Dhia’a al-Assadi said a month after the disaster at Mosul. ‘It is dysfunctional and so is the police force.’ A brief counteroffensive towards Tikrit to boost Maliki’s political fortunes had petered out. Sistani’s fatwa had produced many volunteers, and officers from Iran’s Revolutionary Guard are trying to build up a military force parallel to the army, drawing on their experiences in Syria. The government has asked the Americans for drone and air strikes on Isis’s convoys of trucks: the trucks are packed with fighters skilled at waging guerrilla war, suddenly attacking and withdrawing, since experienced fighters are never used to hold captured territory. Isis describes the strategy as ‘moving like a serpent through rocky ground’. Not that they are short of recruits: Safa Hussein told me studies showed that where Isis takes over an area it can recruit five or ten times the number of its original force, so if it starts out with a hundred men it will soon field five hundred or a thousand. These wouldn’t be experienced fighters, and some would simply want to protect their families, but with its large new recruiting grounds Isis is rapidly expanding its forces. A hope in Baghdad is that Isis is simply the fanatical edge of a more moderate Sunni revolt. This comforting argument holds that one day tribal and other leaders, having used their extremist allies to defeat the Baghdad government, will turn on them as they did in 2006-7. On the other hand, the world’s cemeteries are full of people who thought they could use extremists for their own ends and then dispose of them. Isis has taken measures against betrayal, insisting that other armed groups in Mosul lay down their arms and pledge allegiance to its new caliphate, the Islamic State. It isn’t going to implode." Patrick Cockburn
-----------------------------
It's all over folks. The Potemkin country that the neocons created in Iraq has come apart. Someone wrote on SST today that he has just realized that the process working itself out now is a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. That formulation implies a post Wesphalia sense of statehood in these ME peoples and their politically primitive and religously inspired states that just does not exist and never has except in a nascent condition in pre-2003 Iraq. General officers of the US armed forces played a despicable role in deceiving themselves and everyone else by distorting reporting on Iraqi training and by punishing those who tried to tell the truth. They should be shunned and punished. pl
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v36/n14/patrick-cockburn/battle-for-baghdad
Middle East Diary - 14 July 2014
"A classified military assessment of Iraq’s security forces concludes that many units are so deeply infiltrated by either Sunni extremist informants or Shiite personnel backed by Iran that any Americans assigned to advise Baghdad’s forces could face risks to their safety, according to United States officials.
The report concludes that only about half of Iraq’s operational units are capable enough for American commandos to advise them if the White House decides to help roll back the advances made by Sunni militants in northern and western Iraq over the past month." NY Times
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Basically, the Iraqi "army" is not worthy of the term. LTG (Ret.) Dubik who now works for !SW and who "trained" this "army" says the same thing although I am told by people who were there when he was so engaged that he was fulsome in the praise of these "troops" at that time. pl
*********************
"Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Friday that Iran and Russia were helping Iraq battle a Sunni extremist insurgency but that the U.S. was not coordinating its own assistance with either country.
"We are aware of the Iranian and Russian efforts to help the Iraqis, but we are not involved in coordinating any missions," Hagel said.
Hagel’s comments came after reports quoted Iraqi military officials saying that Iran and Russia were conducting airstrikes in their country, hitting Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) targets.
A Pentagon official said the U.S. believes Iranian pilots are in the air in Iraq but not Russian pilots.
13 July 2014
Middle East Diary - 13 July 2014
"Those who fail to comply with the instructions will endanger their lives and the lives of their families. Beware," read a leaflet dropped by the Israeli military in the town of Beit Lahiya, near the border with Israel.
Despite intensified Israeli military action - which included a commando raid overnight in what was Israel's first reported ground action in Gaza during the current fighting - militants continued to launch rocket after rocket across the border.
Commandos targeted what Israel called a rocket-launching site. Authorities said four Israeli soldiers were slightly wounded during an exchange of gunfire with Palestinian fighters." VOA
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IMO the raid last night was a combat patrol intended to determine the intensity of Hamas/Islamic Jihad resistance. What the IDF will think of their loss of four wounded, I do not know. pl
http://www.voanews.com/content/israel-makes-first-ground-incursion-in-gaza/1956454.html
*****************
"The worshipers and other Sunnis interviewed in Baghdad said they have little affinity for the al-Qaeda-inspired Islamic State that routed Iraqi forces last month and declared a “caliphate” across a vast swath of the country.
But as the militants take aim at Iraq’s Shiite-dominated government, these educated, professional Sunnis leave no doubt that their sympathies lie with the insurgents.
“It’s a revolution against oppression,” Moussa said. “We believe there will be a zero hour here in Baghdad soon. The Sunnis have nothing to lose.”" wshpost
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As I thought the Sunni residents of western Baghdad will nt be loyal to the Shia run government. pl
Fort Stevens and all that...
The Battle of Fort Stevens was fought in Washington, DC on 11 and 12 July, 1864. The fort was part of the defenses of the capital. As the map shows, Jubal Early's small army corps had marched from Lynchburg, Virginia all the way down (north) the Shenandoah Valley, circled through Maryland and approached Washington from the north. The fort was five miles from the White House. Brigadier General Claude Devereux, USV, who appears in this tale is a Confederate agent.
I wrote my own description of this engagement in my novel, "Down the Sky." I hope you enjoy it. pl
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_Campaigns_of_1864
12 July 2014
Middle East diary - 12 July 2014
"A ground operation is looking more likely. This assessment is strengthened by the impression that Hamas has rejected various mediation efforts so far, and has relayed the message to whoever they speak to that currenty there is nothing to be discussed. The question of how deep Israel's ground maneuver will go is still open, however. The numbers are interesting: In Operation Pillar of Defense, which didn't see a ground operation in the end, some 75,000 IDF reservists were called up. This time the cabinet approved calling up 40,000 reservists, but the army has still not called up more than half that number. Those who were called up don't belong to the reserve divisions that will be deployed in the Strip. They are mainly soldiers in different roles in the 'Gaza envelope' (logistics, intelligence and other non-combat roles) from regular divisions, the Home Front Command, and in infantry battalions that replaced regular battalions that were sent from the West Bank and the northern border to the south." Haaretz
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I will be surprised if there is not a ground invasion and I would think that it is likely to begin when Shabat ends today. Hamas actually seems to be inviting an Israeli ground operation. That indicates to me that either Hamas will accept heavy civilian casualties as a political warfare burden for Israel or that they have prepared the ground for a close encounter with the IDF or maybe both things. pl
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.604601
****************
"The overall impact is the opposite of what the United States has long sought in the Middle East — a strengthened hand for Abbas and marginalization for Hamas and other militant groups.
Bitter Abbas aides acknowledge that the president is fast losing relevance, but they say this is what Israel intended all along: hopeless negotiations followed by a fight that would elevate militant Palestinian elements at the expense of relative moderates. The timing, they say, is aimed at derailing a fragile Palestinian reconciliation deal that brought together the various factions, including Hamas, under Abbas’s leadership." washpost
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IMO the underlined text is correct. This is all about disassembling the PA coalition in order to prevent effective peace negotiations. pl
***************
"Ammar and his comrades said they never had any illusions about the virtue of their officer corps. Iraqi soldiers could often avoid showing up for duty by giving half their salaries to their commanders, who in turn paid off the generals. Even before Mosul fell, this cycle of bribery and absenteeism had deprived the military of almost one-third of the 1 million troops receiving paychecks, according to Knights.
Still, Ammar said what happened after the June 23 battle shocked him. At sunset, a minibus was ushered through a refinery gate. His commanding officers — including a brigadier general, a colonel, and a lieutenant, he said — quickly began boarding." washpost
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An army is a social institution that lives by tradition and discipline. mostly self discipline. We Americans destroyed an Iraqi army that had learned to fight well by the end of the Iran-Iraq War and then had been largely destroyed by Saddam, sanctions and us in the First Gulf War. The neocon CPA finished the job by abolishing the army altogether and outlawing most of its officers.
It takes a long time to grow a real army, a long time. The American generals including the Great Captain, David Petraeus, not only failed in creating an army but certainly faked the data in reports about the mess they were creating. They must have done this to make themselves look good. I have seen this kind of thing many times. pl
11 July 2014
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