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Bring Them Home for Christmas

November 14, 2020

Bring Them Home for Christmas


Pablo Picasso Dans l’atelier 1954
“There is nothing in Afghanistan worth the life of a single American soldier.”
– Douglas Macgregor

I’m having a bit of a problem finding the right format for this essay. I want to highlight a whole number of quotes, but I also would like you to read the original setting they came from. Please bear with me.

CNN: “A Pentagon spokesman confirmed Wednesday that retired Army Col. Douglas Macgregor “will be serving as a Senior Advisor to the Acting Secretary of Defense. Mr. MacGregor’s decades of military experience will be used to assist in the continued implementation of the President’s national security priorities.”

Also CNN: “Macgregor once advocated for the use of lethal force against unarmed migrants [..] and has made a litany of racist comments.”

I must admit even my encyclopedic brain had never heard of Macgregor, and I’m sure most of you hadn’t either, but I’m taking a liking to the man. “The use of lethal force against unarmed migrants” sounds bogus off the bat, that’s “Putin eats babies” territory, and accusing someone of “a litany of racist comments” without naming even one, doesn’t do it for me either.

And even then. The man wants to bring US troops home. Oh wait, but that’s why you accuse him of all these unsubstantiated “facts”. Gotcha. What I do know is for instance this Nov 6 2019 interview Macgregor did with Tucker Carlson, in which he sounds like a reasonable yet worried man. And while opinions may differ on how big of a threat drug cartels may be to the US, his view appears to have its merit.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Images Of British Troops Deployed In London

May 24, 2017

Images Of British Troops Deployed In London

As Prime Minister Theresa May promised, troops have been deployed to guard “key  locations,” including the Palace of Westminster, several embassies and “other sensitive sites,” in London and other British cities, the Evening Standard reported.

The mass deployment follows Monday’s attack at Manchester Arena, which killed 22 kids attending an Ariana Grande concert, as well as the 23-year old attacker. It was the worst terror attack in the U.K. since 2005.

The Financial Times reports that nearly 4,000 military personnel have been deployed across Britain to help police with counter-terror efforts after May raised the threat level to “critical” on Tuesday as authorities scramble to apprehend any accomplices that may have aided Salman Abedi, the chief suspect in the bombing who was known to police prior to Monday’s attack.

“There are fears an Islamist bombmaker may be on the loose because of the sophistication of the device used in the Manchester attack on Monday,” the Evening Standard noted.

The FT also noted that the attack occurred at a time when police chiefs across Britain have warned about difficulties recruiting the extra 1,500 police the U.K. government promised following the attacks in Paris and Brussels.

Counter-Terrorism forces have arrested Hashem Abedi, the younger brother of the Manchester attacker, in Tripoli, according to media reports.

Parliament has been closed to the public, the changing of the guard at Westminster has been cancelled and the Old Bailey’s public galleries were also shut, the Evening Standard reports.

Soldiers are likely to be on duty at this weekend’s FA Cup Final at Wembley. And Chelsea have cancelled Sunday’s victory parade to celebrate their premier league win, ESPN reported.

Here’s a few photos showing troops arriving outside the Palace of Westminster, Scotland Yard and 10 Downing Street:

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

NATO Troops moved from Germany to Poland on Weekend

March 27, 2017

NATO Troops moved from Germany to Poland on Weekend 

Vilseck-Orzysz

Soldiers were moved over the weekend from the Garrison at Vilseck and were stationed at Orzysz in Poland close to the border with Belarus. This was a NATO unit consisting of units from the USA, Great Britain and Romania. With tensions building between Belarus and Russia, this particular troop reassignment is interesting to say the least.

The Great Western Retreat

May 5, 2016

The Great Western Retreat

  • Of all French soldiers currently engaged in military operations, half of them are deployed inside France. And half of those are assigned to protect 717 Jewish schools.
  • This massive deployment of armed forces in our own cities is a departure from history. It is a moral disarmament, before a military one.
  • Why does anyone choose to fight in a war? Civilized nations go to war so that members of today’s generation may sacrifice themselves to protect future generations. But if there are no future generations, there is no reason whatever for today’s young men to die in war. It is “demography, stupid.”

On March 11, 2004, 192 people were killed and 1,400 wounded in a series of terrorist attacks in Madrid. Three days later, Spain’s Socialist leader, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, was elected prime minister. Just 24 hours after being sworn in, Zapatero ordered Spanish troops to leave Iraq “as soon as possible.”

The directive was a monumental political victory for extremist Islam. Since then, Europe’s boots on the ground have not been dispatched outside Europe to fight jihadism; instead, they have been deployed inside the European countries to protect monuments and civilians.

“Opération Sentinelle” is the first new large-scale military operation within France. The army is now protecting synagogues, art galleries, schools, newspapers, public offices and underground stations. Of all French soldiers currently engaged in military operations, half of them are deployed inside France. And half of those are assigned to protect 717 Jewish schools. Meanwhile, French paralysis before ISIS is immortalized by the image of police running away from the office of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo during the massacre there.

You can find the same figure in Italy: 11,000 Italian soldiers are currently engaged in military operations and more than half of them are used in operation “Safe Streets,” which, as its name reveals, keeps Italy’s cities safe. Italy’s army is also busy providing aid to migrants crossing the Mediterranean.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

US To Send “Thousands” Of Troops, Attack Helicopters, Artillery, To Europe To “Deter Russia”

November 9, 2015

US To Send “Thousands” Of Troops, Attack Helicopters, Artillery, To Europe To “Deter Russia”

On Sunday, we highlighted a keynote speech delivered in California last week at the Reagan National Defense Forum by a man who isn’t afraid to venture into the “danger zone” (so to speak):

Yes, that’s Ash Carter in a V-22 Osprey hovering above the USS Theodore Roosevelt and that rather hilarious snapshot was taken just days before the Pentagon boss warned that Moscow may intend to nuke the US (and no, that’s not us being hyperbolic, he actually suggested that) and that Washington needs to be careful to monitor China’s “rise.”

This all comes against a backdrop of absurd sabre rattling from all sides when it comes to The South China Sea and the Baltics and frankly, it would be pure political comedy gold were it not for the fact that things have recently taken a turn for the very serious now that it looks like US spec ops could end up in a shootout with the Russians and Hezbollah near Aleppo and/or with the Iranians near Raqqa, depending on where Washington decides to place its Syrian field “advisors.”

But despite the fact that Russia has built an airbase at Latakia and looks set to literally take over the Mid-East alongside the Ayatollah, those “in the know” seem to think that the bigger threat is in Eastern Europe where NATO is hell bent on “countering” Russian “aggression,” even though to the extent The Kremlin is being “aggressive”, it certainly seems like Putin is taking it out on Sunni militants in the desert and not on far-right volunteer battalions in Ukraine.

Concerns about the potential for an epic Baltics battle have prompted officials to conduct a series of war games in an effort to determine the likely outcome, and as we noted a few months ago, the US loses everytime.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

 

NATO Looks To Station Thousands Of Troops On Border With Russia

October 29, 2015

NATO Looks To Station Thousands Of Troops On Border With Russia

Russia’s dramatic intervention in Syria has served to push the conflict in Ukraine (a country that is now partially governedby Star Wars characters) to the back of the world’s collective mind. After all, separatists exchanging fire with government forces and/or far-right “volunteer” battalions every couple of days against a dreary backdrop of rundown Eastern European towns isn’t nearly as exciting as Sukhois dropping bombs on sword-waving desert bandits and so, Ukraine’s crisis has gradually receded into the background.

That said, it’s important to remember that one of the principal reasons for deteriorating relations between Moscow and the West is the conflict in Ukraine. 

Indeed, Russian “aggression” in the region has triggered a series of snap drills on NATO’s part, the most amusing of which involved a set of war games centered around the capture of a fictional Ukrainian separatist leader called “Birdman” who lived in a shack in the forest. But all humor aside, NATO has also moved to beef up its capabilities near Russia’s border, as the US prepares to place heavy weapons in Poland and the Pentagon runs simulations to determine who would win a Balkan battle.

Now, with tensions running higher than ever thanks to the escalating situation in the Mid-East, NATO is set to bolster its Eastern flank to guard against what the West imagines is an imminent Russian invasion. Here’s WSJ with more:

NATO countries are discussing increasing the number of troops stationed in members bordering Russia and putting them under formal alliance command, part of a new effort to deter aggression from Moscow, according to diplomats and military officers.

Under one plan, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization would have a battalion in Poland and each of the three Baltic states—roughly 800 to 1,000 soldiers in each unit. A more modest version would have a single NATO battalion in the area.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Iran Sends “Thousands” Of Troops To Syria For Russian-Backed Assault On Key City

October 14, 2015

Iran Sends “Thousands” Of Troops To Syria For Russian-Backed Assault On Key City

As those who follow Mid-East affairs are acutely aware, the regime in Syria has enjoyed both military and financial support from Iran for the duration of the country’s civil war.

Syria cannot fall to the West if Tehran intends to preserve the regional balance of power and an Iran-friendly Damascus ensures the supply lines remain open between the IRGC and Hezbollah. Lose Syria, and suddenly, the Mid-East tide turns in favor of the Saudis and Qatar and that, clearly, is an unacceptable outcome.

That said, Iran’s role on the ground in Syria has taken some off guard of late. Perhaps it’s the fact that Tehran’s participation on the ground has become more overt even as one would imagine that Iran would be keen to not antagonize the West on the heels of the nuclear deal which has the potential to facilitate the lifting of crippling economic sanctions. The key seems to be Russia’s involvement, which effectively gives Iran’s Syrian ground operations the superpower stamp of approval.

The strategy, as we’ve noted on several occasions of late, is that Russia clears the way with aggressive aerial bombardments and then Iran, operating through either Hezbollah, Iraqi Shiite militias, and/or the IRGC sweeps in on the ground and takes care of whatever anti-regime forces may be left in the wake of the Russian airstrikes.

This has worked well thus far and now apparently, Iran has sent “thousands” of troops to Syria in preparation for an assault on Aleppo. Here’s Reuters:

A delegation of Iranian lawmakers arrived in Damascus on Wednesday in the build-up to a joint operation against insurgents in northwest Syria, and said U.S.-led efforts to fight rebels had failed.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Russia Warns May Send Troops To Ukraine After Congress Unanimously Votes To Give Lethal Aid To Kiev | Zero Hedge

December 14, 2014

Russia Warns May Send Troops To Ukraine After Congress Unanimously Votes To Give Lethal Aid To Kiev | Zero Hedge.

While the market, and America’s media, was focusing over the passage of the Cromnibus, and whether Wall Street would dump a few hundred trillion in derivatives on the laps of US taxpayers once again (it did), quietly and unanimously both houses passed The Ukraine Freedom Support Act of 2014, which authorizes “providing lethal assistance to Ukraine’s military” as well as sweeping sanctions on Russia’s energy sector.

The measure mandates sanctions against Rosoboronexport, the state agency that promotes Russia’s defense exports and arms trade. It also would require sanctions on OAO Gazprom (GAZP), the world’s largest extractor of natural gas, if the state-controlled company withholds supplies to other European nations (yes, the US is now in the pre-emptive punishment business, and is enforcing sanctions on a “what if” basis).

But while one may debate if additional sanctions will do much to impact a Russian economy which is already impaired due to the plunging ruble, the clear escalation is that unlike previously, when the US limited itself – at least on paper – to non-lethal assistance to the Ukraine, now the US is finally preparing to send in weapons, and potentially “military advisors” as well. We say “on paper”, because in late November hacked US documents revealed the extent of secret US “Lethal Aid” for the Ukraine army. And since America’s under-the-table support for Ukraine’s insolvent armed forces has been revealed, there is little point in pretending to keep a moral upper hand (especially in light of recent “other” revelations involving the US, most notably its intelligence services).

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

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