Omar!

This is coolbert:

“'There is no out, . . . 'He’s in too deep.'”

Yet more instance of where my intuition has failed me.

This is a must ready for devoted followers to the blog.

Thanks to the New York Times a very exclusive story that clarifies with exacting detail some questions raised in previous blog entries.

That masked jihadist fighting with the Somali group Al Shaabab now categorically and unquestionably identified. And NOT who I thought it was. A fully committed American-born jihadist fighting with Al Shaabab, in a senior leadership role, a most dangerous person and someone surely in the cross-hairs of a whole lot of folks.

The jihadist known to the world as Abu Mansoor Al Amriki! Better known by his real name of Omar Hammami.

From those prior blog entries here and here:

"Abu IS a convert, A zealot, an ex-Special Forces [SF] man leading jihadi warriors in the way of the Salafist, emulating the first three generations of Muslims?"

"This man is a naturalized American Muslim who served in the SF and later went bad? Or was a native born American SF man who converted to Islam and has taken up the cause of jihad with the ferocity of the zealot??"

"The Jihadist Next Door"

Omar Hammami a native-born and raised American citizen, having a Syrian immigrant [Muslim] father and an American Southern Baptist mother. Raised as a Baptist, reverting as the Muslim would say back to his basic nature, adopting the life of the devout Muslim as a teenager. NOW WAGING JIHAD IN SOMALIA!

[Muslim jurisprudence states unequivocally so that any child born of a Muslim parent is a Muslim at birth and will always be so, no matter what!!]

Omar not having a military background, only a high school education, surely the zealot, a "white moor", NOT American Special Forces, but trying nonetheless to emulate T.E. Lawrence, the "Seven Pillar of Wisdom", etc.

A salafist for sure, emulating those first three generations of Muslim, attempting to follow Islam as originally practiced during the time of Muhammad. Sword and only by the sword!

The identity of Omar now fully established, the man no longer escaping and seeking refuge behind the masks the jihadist is so fond of! Open and notorious as they say, without any compulsion fighting for a cause against the land of his birth, treasonous and zealous both, a very extreme combination and again, a man MOST DANGEROUS!! For Omar - - "by the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air" - - and let it be a Hellfire missile!

See here page one of the entire NY Times serial! Once more - - a must read!!

coolbert.

NYPD.

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Well, you can well imagine that this headline caught my attention right away.

The police commissioner of NYC, Kelly, admitting that the NYPD [New York Police Department], does indeed have an organic anti-aircraft [AAA] capability. Able to shoot down an intruder aircraft that is observed and reasonably thought to be on a terrorist mission, mass destruction against the city and residents of NYC the goal.

And that the authorities of NYC too have thought through the process and protocols in advance if indeed an aerial terrorist mission is detected in progress, NYC the target.

"NYPD Can Take Down Small Planes: Kelly"

"New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly clarified a statement he made that the NYPD could shoot down a plane, adding the department only had the ability to shoot down small planes, like crop dusters."

"Kelly told the television news show '60 Minutes' Sunday that the NYPD had a weapon that could blow a plane out of the sky. It was later identified as a .50-caliber gun that could be affixed to a police helicopter."

"At a news conference on Wednesday, Kelly was asked whether that weapon could take down a commercial aircraft. 'No'"

"[the weapon would be used] only in extreme circumstances and after consulting with the mayor and federal authorities."

Comments:

* A fifty [.50 inch] machine gun would have the obvious capability to take-down a small private aircraft. This is certain. NOT, however, able to bring down a large commercial airliner however, of the type as was used in the attacks of 9/11 - - WTC!

* Even a shoulder-fired pea-shooter surface-to-air-missile [SAM] say of the Stinger or Soviet/Russian SA-7 variety probably could not bring down a large commercial airliner. An informant of mine says a shoulder-fired SAM would make the plane MORE difficult to fly and steer, beyond that it is a "crap-shoot".

* Prior to 9/11, the authority to shoot-down an aircraft within the airspace of the United States had to come direct from the President. That authority since 9/11 has been delegated, two four-star Air Force general officers NOW can also give the "go" command, the city of New York through vested civil authority ALWAYS having the power to use lethal force if necessary in a proactive manner if threats to the general public are obvious and certain.

Such is the danger and peril to NYC in the ten years now since 9/11. The threat as perceived is real - - no one should minimize the danger NOW and for the foreseeable future. Kelly and the NYPD are on the ball? Let us hope so!

coolbert.

Silver II.

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Conclusion.

Silver - - Manhattan Project.

As to the demand and need for silver as used by the Manhattan Project during World War Two [WW2]. That demand, unprecedented and without parallel, a tip off, an indicator that was of great interest to Soviet Red Army intelligence [GRU]. The GRU through inspired and very correct analysis able to make very reasonable inferences regarding the development of atomic energy for military purposes.

From the book by Victor Suvorov: "Inside Soviet Military Intelligence":

"During the Second World War a section of the tenth directorate [GRU] (economics and strategic resources) was studying the trends in the exchange of precious metals in the United States. The specialist were surprised that an unexpectedly large amount of silver was allocated 'for scientific research'. Never before, either in America or in any other country, had such a large amount of silver been spent for the needs of research. There was a war going on and the specialists reasonably supposed that the research was military. The GRU information analysed all the fields of military research known to it, but not one of them required the expenditure of so much silver. The second reasonable assumption by the GRU was that it was some new field of research concerning the creation of a new type of weapon. Every information unit was brought to bear on the study of this strange phenomenon. Further analysis showed that all publications dealing with atomic physics had been suppressed in the United States and that all atomic scientists, fugitives from occupied Europe, had at the same time disappeared without trace from the scientific horizon. A week later the GRU presented to Stalin a detailed report which had been complied on the basis of ONE [my emphasis] unconfirmed fact, but its contents left no room for doubt about the correctness of the deductions it made. Stalin was delighted with the report: the rest is well known."

Silver, rather than ordinary copper being needed in such abundance for those electro-magnets used to extract the weapons grade uranium [U-235] in the quantities needed to assemble a uranium [gun-type] atomic bomb of the type as dropped on Hiroshima.

From several Internet sites we have the full dope on:  "Silver and the Manhattan Project"

"The Manhattan Project was using hundreds of large electro-magnets to make weapons-grade uranium [U-235]. Since the war was on, copper (needed for the wiring) was in short supply. The Manhattan Project went to the Treasury and was given enough silver to make the wiring that was necessary."

"the magnets needed so much copper for windings that the Army had to borrow almost 15,000 tons of silver bullion from the United States Treasury to fabricate into strips and wind on to coils as a substitute for copper. Treasury silver was also used to manufacture the busbars that ran around the top of the racetracks."

Those busbars conducting the enormous amounts of electricity required by the assemblage of electro-magnets. It is no wonder that both Oak Ridge and Hanford were built in proximity to hydroelectric sources of magnitude, TVA [Tennessee Valley Authority] and Grand Coulee Dam [Columbia River].

[it is for good reason that the Soviet code word for the Manhattan Project was "Enormoz"]

"The borrowed silver was used for the windings in the coils to construct these electro-magnets. A total of 940 magnets were constructed with coils fabricated from about 28 million pounds of silver in the Phelps-Dodge Copper Products Company located in Bayway, New Jersey and another 268,000 pounds of silver was shipped to Oak Ridge to be fabricated into busbar pieces"

Comments:

* Electro-magnetic separation of the weapons grade U-235 no longer is done. The current effective method is the centrifugal separation process as currently in use by the Iranians using thousands of centrifuges and subjected to attack by the Stuxnet virus.

* That "borrowed silver" only twenty-five years later returned to American reserves,  the cost of that silver [$20/ounce as of 1944] alone I would have to assume indeed a pretty hefty percentage of the overall cost for the Manhattan Project [$2 billion U.S.].

coolbert.

Silver I.

This is coolbert:

Silver - - SS Gairsoppa.

My instantaneous and intuitive reaction to this major news story was that the sailing and subsequent sinking of this merchant vessel during World War Two [WW2], with that large quantity of silver being carried, was in some manner related to the MANHATTAN PROJECT. Known as TUBE ALLOYS in England at the time. Silver an integral part of the process to separate the weapons grade fissionable uranium-235 necessary to built the URANIUM BOMB [the gun type device as dropped at Hiroshima.].

"Shipwreck of SS Gairsoppa reveals £150m silver haul"

"A shipwreck containing 200 tonnes of silver worth about £150m has been found in the Atlantic - the largest haul of precious metal ever discovered at sea."

"The SS Gairsoppa, a UK cargo ship sunk by a German U-boat in 1941, was found by US exploration firm Odyssey Marine."

"The vessel was on its way back to Britain from India when it ran low on fuel in stormy weather, and tried to divert to Galway harbour, but it was spotted and sunk by the German submarine."

It seems on this particular occasion that my instantaneous intuition has failed me. The ship was bound from India to England and not from England to the U.S., the cargo more general in nature and not strictly that mass of silver!

"On her final voyage from Calcutta, India she was loaded with nearly 7,000 tonnes of cargo - including pig iron, silver, and tea"

The Gairsoppa located at a depth of 5,000 meters [15,000 feet] BUT recovery and salvage of the silver, worth about $200 million U.S. "do-able"! Truly amazing.

coolbert.

Famine III.

This is coolbert:

Conclusion.

Famine - - Somalia.

The most current and worst famine in that southern part of what used to be the nation-state of Somalia the conditions and the amount of aid available to those stricken only exacerbated by the military dimension.

The military forces of the African Union, Ethiopian army and American Special Operations in conflict with the Islamic fundamentalist and jihadist group of "militants" Al Shabaab!

A TEN YEAR LONG DROUGHT having hit the pastoralists of the area very hard, most if not all of their livestock dead, no respite from the overwhelming climatic conditions, refugees in the teeming millions seeking  aid from foreign forces, their plight greatly increased by the fighting intermittently occurring between the warring factions in that part of Africa.

About 4 million persons currently suffering starvation and malnutrition, caught between the proverbial rock and hard place, AID NOT FORTHCOMING AS NEEDED, a goodly number of those refugees in peril, the sick, old, very young at most risk, again, all this made much worse by the conditions of insurgency and WAR!

Al Shabaab dissuading the imperiled under their control from accepting foreign aid, all the while encouraging those same starving persons to rally to their "cause".

The news reports conflicting - -  Al Shabaab either gaining or losing adherents, none of this seems to be clear.

FOOD AID AND THE ACCESS TO SAME A WEAPON OR WAR AND CONTROL!! If you are with us you eat, if you are not with us you starve!!

"Famine weakens and divides al Shabaab militants"

"Popular support for al Shabaab has been dwindling in Somalia with the food crisis and the al Qaeda-linked group’s merciless response to aid efforts."

"Refugees fleeing the area have recounted harrowing tales of al Shabaab militants attempting to stop civilians from reaching aid centers, with some refugees telling reporters that al Shabaab militants had killed men trying to flee, saying it was better to starve than accept help from the West."

"Could Somali famine deal a fatal blow to al-Shabab?"

"Somalia's militant Islamist group al-Shabab is in crisis, as it battles to cope with the famine that is far worse in areas under its control than other parts of the country, leading to reports of splits in the leadership of the al-Qaeda-linked group."

"Somalia: Famine Helps Al-Shabaab To Find New Recruits"

"GENEVA — Islamic militants in Somalia who deny there's famine and block most aid are enjoying a boon in recruitment by giving people money at a time of rising food prices, United Nations officials said Friday."

"The hardline militant group al-Shabab, whose control of much of southern Somalia and ties to al-Qaida discourages Western aid, is boosting its ranks as other options dwindle for Somali families who cannot find handouts or afford to pay for food, the U.N. refugee agency said."

In a war-torn and destitute place like Somalia, merely getting the food aid to the refugees is difficult enough even if there was no fighting. Those persons starving and in grave danger of death from a lack of food have their condition made just magnitudes worse by the chaos and instability for which there seems to be NO amelioration!

A truce, a cease-fire allowing the foreign aid to flow unimpeded is the answer, but that is not in sight and is not  even on the agenda? Very sad!

coolbert.

Famine II.

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Famine - - Mizoram.

Mautam!

Here with an instance of a famine that resulted in a war.

The Mizo Rebellion. A guerrilla insurgency in part a reaction to a famine the origins of which were not man-made but naturally occurring.

The Mizo people of that most eastern part of India, suffering starvation and famine, the year is 1958, Mizoram that portion bordering Burma, rising up in rebellion in response to what they perceived as a lackadaisical and indifferent response to the famine on the part of the local state and central government in Delhi. War!

Thanks for the idea for this blog entry from a recent PBS television broadcast on the topic.

Mautam - - a forty-eight year cyclical die off of the bamboo forest. The entire forest within a short span of time flowering, fruiting, dying. Again, a naturally occurring phenomenon happening once every forty-eight years, 1958 [again in 2006] - - that die off resulting in a catastrophic and overwhelming situation for the local people [Mizo]. That flowering, fruiting and die off allowing the local black rat population to reproduce in prodigious numbers, spawning a plague of rat infestation of biblical proportions, the Mizo people having their subsistence rice crop utterly and totally destroyed. For one year the Mizo having to endure famine. This again historically occurring every forty-eight years!!

"Every 48 years, a cyclic ecological phenomenon called Mautam leads to widespread famine in this region. When such a famine started in 1959, the Mizos were left disappointed by the Assam Government's handling of the situation"

[the Mizo are subsistence farmers, their needs for food crops satisfied only on a year to year basis.]


"Mautam . . .  is a cyclic ecological phenomenon that occurs every 48 years in the northeastern Indian states of Mizoram and Manipur . . . creating a widespread famine in those areas."

"This event is followed invariably by a plague of Black Rats in what is called a rat flood. This occurs as the rats multiply in response to the temporary windfall of seeds and leave the forests to forage on stored grain when the bamboo seeds are exhausted, which in turn causes devastating famine"

The Mizo are almost literally eaten out of house and home by the black rats, so great and terrible is the infestation!

The Mizo rebellion in large measure due to the "a lackadaisical and indifferent response" on the part of various governmental authorities, the Mizo initiating a guerrilla insurgency that lasted to some degree for TWENTY YEARS, THE INSURRECTION ONLY RESOLVED BY NEGOTIATED SETTLEMENT!

[the Mizo people by geographic location, language, race, ethnicity and religion very much different from the rest of the Indian population, to a degree desirous for autonomy or even independence - - as absurd as that idea might sound!! Mautam only exacerbating an already tense situation!]


"The March 1966 Mizo National Front uprising was a revolt against the Government of India, aimed at establishing a sovereign state for the Mizos . . . The Government suppressed the uprising and recaptured all the places seized by the MNF by 25 March 1966. Counter-insurgency operations continued over the next few years, although the intensity of the rebellion diminished over time progressively till its complete resolution in the 1986 peace talks"

Armed guerrilla insurgency is endemic to that area of India! That very northeast portion of the country bordered by Bangladesh on the west and Burma on the east? The South Asia Terrorism Portal [SATP] continues to show rebellion as occurring in Mizoram, but NOT the same insurgency that began in 1966.

That response to the mautam in 2006 by the local state and central government in Delhi was far better this time than it was forty-eight year prior? So it would seem. That negotiated settlement seems to have worked and for the better. Quite often that is how insurgencies are brought to an end, a conclusion satisfactory for all concerned parties and for the betterment hopefully of all!

coolbert.

Famine I.

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Famine - - Bengal.

"Those killed by the sword are better off than those who die of famine; racked with hunger, they waste away for lack of food from the field. - - Lamentations 4:9"

The Bengal famine of 1943. A little known episode of history, the results of which were a catastrophic loss of civilian life during a time of war, the number of those Indians perishing from the famine massive, in the millions, the exact total unclear. NOT dying from battle or combat but hunger, the result of policies, indifference, and just plain ineptitude. Bengal that area of Indian in the eastern part of the nation, the largest city in the area being Calcutta!

"The Bengal famine of 1943 . . . struck the Bengal province of pre-partition India. Estimates are that 1.5 to 4 million people died of starvation, malnutrition and disease . . . The consensus is moving towards 2 million dead"

That figure of 2 million dead if correct and the most accurate, far exceeds the battlefield losses of British Indian Army troops fighting on all fronts during the Second World War [WW2].

Reading over the wiki entry for the "event", it seems that there IS NO ONE CONSENSUS OPINION AS TO WHY THE FAMINE, STARVATION AND DEATH OCCURRED. NO  overriding reason why this catastrophe transpired as it did. Everyone has his own opinion?

It should be recognized that this was not a deliberate and carefully planned effort to starve the people of Bengal. NOT pre-meditated and cold-blooded murder by the denial of food to those persons in need. Rather, death by callousness, the war effort, indifference and just plain ineptitude and stupidity.

As to the"cause" of the famine, the "experts" conclude:

"The proximate cause of the famine was a reduction in supply, with some increase in demand."

As to those other reasons for the famine as mentioned in the wiki entry:

1. Shortage from natural disaster.

"The winter 1942 ‘aman’ rice crop which was already expected to be poor or indifferent was hit by a cyclone and three tidal waves in October"

"A fungus hit the weakened crop and this was reported to have had an even greater effect on yield than the cyclone".

2. Shortage from lack of "carry over stocks" [that left over from the previous year crop was nil!].

"It was argued that the normal carry over stocks did not exist in Bengal"

3. Shortage of imported rice from Japanese occupied Burma.

"Bengal had been a food importer for the last decade. Calcutta was normally supplied by Burma. . . .. Burma was the world's largest exporter of rice in the inter-war period. By 1940 15% of India's rice overall came from Burma, while in Bengal the proportion was slightly higher given the province's proximity to Burma."

4. Shortages from an influx of refugees from Japanese occupied Burma.

"Bengal’s food needs rose at the same time from the influx of refugees from Burma."

5. Shortage of transport [the inability to move grain].

"British authorities feared a subsequent Japanese invasion of British India proper by way of Bengal (see British Raj) and a scorched earth policy was hastily implemented in the Chittagong region, nearest the Burmese border, to prevent access to supplies by the Japanese in case of an invasion. In particular, the Army confiscated many boats (and motor vehicles, carts and even elephants), fearing that the Japanese would commandeer them to speed an advance into India."

"The Indian Congress Party organized a campaign of bombing and sabotage of railways going to Eastern Bengal"

6. Shortage due to high food prices, those least able to pay now were now less able.

"Food prices were high in mid-1942, reflecting the belief that India was in deficit."

7. Shortage due to administrative malfeasance and ineffectiveness.

"Lack of statistics was an important cause of the failure to recognize and tackle the famine"

"trade barriers were introduced by the democratically elected Provincial governments"

"The failure to set up a food administration in 1939 and prepare for rationing was the key failure."

8. Food being exported during a time of famine.

"India as a whole probably had a deficit, but exported small quantities to meet the urgent needs of the Indian Army abroad, and those of Ceylon"

[we have to be clear here. "India as a whole" had a slight food deficit, "as a whole" to include crops of wheat and rice combined. Those persons of Bengal predominantly rice eaters, the rest of India being predominantly wheat eaters. That "total" crop of rice and wheat combined.]

9. Shortage from lack of imports from foreign nations.

"Starvation could have been reduced towards the end of 1943 if people in other countries had made it available."

"Shipping could not be spared for India [foreign supplies lacking]"

[Churchill in particular denied merchant shipping, it being thought that all resources at the time needed to be concentrated for the Normandy invasion!]

Comments:

* If the historians and "experts" cannot agree on a definitive answer as to the "cause" of this famine, ask yourself what the average citizen and casual observer is to make of the situation!

* I would suspect that the vast majority of those deaths during the famine were of those persons least able to endure the starvation, malnutrition and lack of food. The old, the very young, those adults already sick with some sort of illness or those adults susceptible in some manner to disease or sickness, etc.

* You can speculate too that those most senior British military commanders in the area either were indifferent to the plight of the Bengali or even saw the lack of food as a means to stymie further Japanese advance. NO food for the Bengali NONE either for the Japanese. That Japanese soldier on the offensive, while advancing, carrying only one to two days of rations and EXPECTED BY DOCTRINE to sustain himself on CAPTURED FOOD!!

* It is generally understood that the Second World War was the first conflict where the number of civilian deaths was far in excess of those military personnel killed in combat on the battlefield. Count among the many tens of million civilian deaths during the war those of the Bengal Famine!

coolbert.

Bar-Lev.

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Found this item quite by accident.

During the 1973 war between the Israeli and the various Arab states, the Israeli Southern Front opposite the Suez canal quite in chaos - - General Gonen the overall commander of the NOT able to handle the situation. For a time it DID seem to appear that the hitherto invincible Israeli had met their match and then some, unanticipated and unexpected, Gonen unable to control his subordinates, Ariel Sharon foremost among them, command and control of those Israeli units in the Sinai untenable!

The arrival of General Haim Bar-Lev under the personal authority of the Israeli Prime Minster [Meir] a MAJOR STEP FORWARD TO BRINGING CALM, COOLER, AND RIGHT-HEADED THINKING TO THE ISRAELI COMMAND STRUCTURE!

"Bar-Lev brought calmness on all of us. Finally there was a feeling that we had a real commander in charge. This feeling spread between us and later also in the battlefield radios like fire. Bar-Lev also managed to calm Gorodish [Gonen] down. Prior to his arrival, general staff meetings were one loud shout out of Gorodish's mouth. Bar Lev instituted orderly working routines. No one challenged his authority. The country owes much to him. 'Dovaleh' [the Southern Front command post?] went back to being a real war-room, a departmentalized one. No one [who did not belong there] was allowed entry. Serenity descended on the war room. The general staff officers switched to carrying out their tasks in well organized shifts. Even Arik [Sharon’s] tone of voice changed when Bar Lev arrived." - - Uri Ben-Ari, deputy of General Gonen.

See from the Military Thoughts blog those entries pertaining to this very topic. The inability of General Gonen to control his subordinates and fight the battle [1973] in the Sinai in a coherent manner. Sharon in particular most insubordinate, down rightly and most egregiously so.

http://militarythoughts.blogspot.com/2006/07/this-is-coolbert-gonen-gorodish.html

http://militarythoughts.blogspot.com/2006/07/this-is-coolbert-gonen-ii-gorodish.html

That arrival of Bar-Lev created such a profound change! The man was highly respected as would be a "father figure" [Israeli ex-Chief of Staff until 1972]? Arrival too under the personal auspices of the Prime Minister herself was an omen that all heeded as well?

Gonen unquestionably a very brave soldier and an able commander at THE LOWER ECHELONS! Not so successful at the higher command levels, mentioned for special condemnation in the aftermath of the 1973 war and for the rest of his life suffering severe stigma which he attempted fruitlessly to expunge!

coolbert.

Pseudo III.

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Pseudo - - conclusion.

Middle East - other.

As can be expected, the use of pseudo units among the various warring parties and combatants in the volatile Middle East is not restricted to merely the Israeli.

Other nations have hit upon this novel and effective concept, the use of impostors, assuming quite effectively the guise of the military adversary, and for a variety of uses, intelligence gathering and other.

1. Iran. 

The Iranian, as has been mentioned in a previous blog entry, evidently have used pseudo units in Iraq. Iranian nationals able to assume the identify of an American soldier, wearing American uniform, carrying American weapons, driving American vehicles, familiar with and able to use American military tactics and techniques.

Iranians able to speak perfect [?] American English and PASS as an American. Ethnic Iranian perhaps even NATIVE BORN AMERICANS THAT HAVE REPATRIATED TO IRAN TO FURTHER THE ISLAMIC CAUSE!

Iranian pseudo units the personnel of which have been known to kill American soldiers and commit atrocity against Iraqi civilians, creating a lot of mayhem in the process, stirring up trouble in a very big way, that being the intention.


2. Jordan. 

Palestinian nationals [?] at the beck and call of Jordanian intelligence, again, able to assume quite well the manner and guise of an Israeli soldier. Wear the uniform, carry the weapon, speaking perfect Hebrew, behave and carry on as would a typical Israeli soldier. All this UNKNOWN TO THE MOSSAD OR AMAN [Israeli military intelligence].

According to the reckoning of the disaffected Israeli Ostrovsky: 

"The soldiers were Palestinians from a special unit of the Jordanian intelligence; they'd been working the West Bank almost from 1968. They had several storage locations with Israeli uniforms and arms and would assist in all kinds of reconnaissance jobs. They worked all over the country, and all of them spoke excellent Hebrew. At first, they were to be used in case of war   . . . the Jordanians . . . decided to use them all the time. The monitored exercises and brought in ample tactical information regarding the front line."

Pseudo! Today, tomorrow, forever. An eternal and valid tactic of use and always will be. Dirty pool to some, not so to others.

coolbert.

Pseudo II.

This is coolbert:

Pseudo units - - continued.

Israel - - the Mista'arvim.

The use of pseudo units during war and peace has been an INSTITUTIONALIZED PRACTICE of the Israeli defense forces and security apparatus even BEFORE the declaration of the state of Israel.

Pseudo forces, the Jewish personnel of which were able to impersonate with great skill the Arab adversary - - referred to as Mistaravim. .

Mistaravim . . . is the name given to those counter-terrorism units of the Israel Defense Forces [and other units of the Israeli security apparatus, to include the national police!]  in which soldiers are specifically trained to disguise themselves as Arabs in order to kill or capture a wanted terrorist.

Mista'arvim able to perform a variety of activities to include traditional espionage, sabotage, assassination, etc., all the while assuming most successfully the guise of the Arab. Dress, speech, mannerisms, even wearing the uniform and carrying the weapon of the enemy soldier or irregular fighter.

The earliest Jewish military striking force and the forerunner of the modern IDF, the Palmach, creating and using with effectiveness the "Dawn Unit" of pseudo forces. This all during the British Mandate and prior to 1948.

"The Palmach's Arab Unit, which was also called Mahleket Hashshar (the Dawn Unit), operated between 1943 and 1950. Its members were the Mista'arvim (warriors disguised as Arabs) and in the framework of its special activity . . . would enable them to infiltrate and remain in the enemy's territory in Palestine and in the Arab countries in order to collect intelligence and execute specific and varied missions."

"Dawn" now in the modern context called the Duvdevan! Specialists very active in the "occupied territories" [West Bank] again able to assume the manner and guise of the Palestinian, anti-terrorism operations at the core of Duvdevan operations. As was the case during the Jenin operation?

"During the Jenin incursion, the document says, elite undercover commandos known as the 'mista'arvim'--literally 'those who turn into Arabs' in Hebrew--played a critical role as human intelligence (HUMINT) agents within the Palestinian population. The 'mista'arvim,' who are part of the Israeli Special Forces, often found themselves working 'from behind enemy lines--or even from inside enemy lines,'"

"Duvdevan . . . is an elite special forces unit within the Israel Defense Forces . . . Duvdevan are particularly noted for conducting undercover operations against militants in urban areas. During these operations, Duvdevan soldiers typically drive modified civilian vehicles and wear Arab civilian clothes as a disguise."

"Duvdevan is one of the most prestigious units of the IDF, and thus recruitment to it is highly desirable among recruitment-aged youths in Israel."

At one time the Israeli  had a large cadre of personnel to draw upon for their pseudo units. Personnel, Sephardic Jews, who not were only able to impersonate an Arab, they themselves were best described as Arabs. Had been born and raised in the various Islamic nations surrounding Israel, spoke Arabic as their primary language, had lived, been educated, grown up with Arab peoples and actually thought and behaved as would an Arab. MORE of an Arab than a Jew.

That situation in Israeli no longer exists. NOW the pseudo unit personnel has to be trained to a high degree of proficiency, the role of the impostor not left to chance and upbringing. Language skills, the mannerisms, dress, body movements, gestures, cultural aspects of being an Arab having to be TAUGHT!

Again, the use of pseudo units in the Israeli security apparatus a means, method and technique  INSTITUTIONALIZED and recognized as an effective method during time of war, peace, and those interludes of a status somewhere in between existing as they do!

coolbert.

Pseudo I.

This is coolbert:

Pseudo units/operations.

The British.

It should well be understood that the use of pseudo units such as Phoenix operatives or "Roadrunners" from the era of the Vietnam conflict were not confined to that time or place.

Troops able to impersonate the enemy, impostors able to perform a variety of "behind-the-lines" missions and do so quite successfully. Wear the uniform, carry the weapons, act in the manner of the enemy, and doing so in furtherance of a counter-insurgency mission.

Such was the experience of the British during that period of de-colonization in the aftermath of World War Two [WW2] that pseudo-units became an institutionalized method and means as used by English military and security forces the world over! Pseudo-units and their operations as described in this on-line Atlantic magazine article and interview with the author:

"The Wrong Lesson"

"Our [American] counterinsurgency efforts abroad are starting to resemble the British Empire's. This could mean gains now—and trouble later"

In each and every locale, part and parcel of the British Empire as it existed at the time, pseudo-units with a counter-insurgency mission referred to with a different designation, to include:

Kenya - - "Pseudo-gangs".

Cyprus - - "Q patrols".

 Oman - - "Firqats".

During all of those various colonial conflicts the British army and security apparatus able to employ what are called "draconian methods". Harsh and unremitting actions to combat insurgency/terrorism. NOT mentioned - - but generally as was the case, methods to include the use of INSTITUTIONALIZED TORTURE!!

"Through measures including collective punishment, fines and curfews, detention without trial, expanded capital punishment, censorship, and restrictions on movement"

It should be noted that under international law and covenants regulating the conduct of armed forces during a time of war, pseudo-units are generally illegal, wearing the uniform of the enemy or flying a false flag considered a grave violation - CRIMINAL!

coolbert.

Pause?

This is coolbert:

From my previous blog entry:

That list of things that "worked during the Vietnam War [including] * ACAV [armored cavalry]. * Riverine task force. * AC gunships [AC-47/AC-119/AC-130]. * Phoenix.". After reading this particular entry from the wiki concerning what was called "Speedy Express" and reconsider the list.

"The U.S. military claimed 10,889 enemy [VC] dead, with only 40 soldiers [American] killed in this operation from the period of December 1968 to 31 May 1969 (a kill ratio of 272.2:1), but only 748 weapons were recovered (a ratio of enemy killed to weapons seized of 14.6:1). The U.S. Army after-action report attributed this to the fact the high percentage of kills made during night hours (estimated at 40%), and by air cavalry and other aerial units, as well as admitting that 'many of the guerrilla units were not armed with weapons'."

This all a result of Speedy Express. The American Ninth Infantry Division [9th ID] operating in the Mekong Delta, a Viet Cong stronghold, causing a "big time hurt" to the enemy during the Vietnam War, the 9th ID part and parcel of the riverine task force, that brown-water navy, the absolutely correct combination of task-tailored infantry and naval assets able to cruise the waters of the Mekong River, seeking out and attempting to destroy the armed combatants of the VC insurgents.

The concept of the riverine task force and the purported success of same is largely based upon INFLATED AND SPECIOUS CLAIMS OF DAMAGE DONE TO THE ENEMY THAT COULD NOT BE VERIFIED? After reading that wiki entry I too have doubts. Such figures of enormous numbers of enemy dead but so very few weapons captured in comparison leads even the most casual observer even if with just a single glance to conclude that something is not right here?

That "concept" and implementation of the brown water navy during the Vietnam War was valid and worthy! Battalion sized floating base camps, fire bases and "heliports" able to move freely up and down the Mekong River and various delta tributaries allowed allied units during the war to penetrate and achieve access to enemy strongholds in a manner hitherto impossible. That Mekong river during the monsoon season and during flood stage is an international waterway, such is the deluge that the width and depth of the Mekong allows for warship navigation normally deemed out of the question

coolbert.

Phoenix.

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Once more on the topic of "what worked" in Vietnam.

And my memory has been stimulated, and a recall made of the Phoenix Program.

Counter-insurgency program of the Vietnam War. As proposed and designed by the American Central Intelligence Agency [CIA] and implemented primarily by pseudo-forces of the South Vietnamese central government in Saigon.

Pseudo-forces, those Vietnamese loyal to the central government of the South Vietnamese in Saigon, wearing the uniform [black pajamas and rubber tire sandals] of the mobile Viet Cong guerrilla military units, impostors able to successfully infiltrate areas, strongholds, and villages under RED control.

Identify and target for detention and assassination those persons part and parcel of what was called the Viet Cong infrastructure [VCI].

VCI NOT military combatants but rather what is sometimes called "support" forces. Red commissars, and that civilian apparatus and personnel providing a wide range of "services" to the armed communist insurgents.

"The VCI, unlike the armed component of the Viet Cong, was tasked with support activities including recruiting, political indoctrination, psychological operations, intelligence collection, and logistical support"

Phoenix and the use of pseudo-forces controversial and SUCCESSFUL! It is alleged that large number of persons as belonging to the VCI were "unmasked" and either detained for killed! Losses that the communists post-war [1975] admit were crippling and a severe cause for concern.

"By 1972, Phoenix operatives had neutralized 81,740 suspected NLF supporters, of whom 26,369 were killed"

Those Phoenix pseudo-force "impostors" fighting a dirty war with dirty methods, fire being used to fight fire, etc.  Methods, means, tactics and techniques as used by the communists being used against them - - and the insurgents NOT liking it.

And it can be reasonably be inferred that Phoenix is a program that did "work"? If it was not so successful, the forces of the world-wide "internationale" would not have been mustered so strongly and vociferously to condemn the program and seek the cessation of what was causing a "big hurt" to the communist cause?

That list of things that "worked during the Vietnam War now to include:

* ACAV [armored cavalry].
* Riverine task force.
* AC gunships [AC-47/AC-119/AC-130].
* Phoenix.

coolbert.

Roadrunner.

This is coolbert:

From the Vietnam War era had not heard of this before.

Roadrunners. Pseudo-force unit operating under the auspices of the American Special Forces [SF].

Vietnamese nationals loyal to the South Vietnamese central government in Saigon conducting intelligence gathering missions in enemy controlled territory, posing as North Vietnamese soldiers.

Wearing North Vietnamese army uniform, carrying an AK, "impostors" called in the business pseudo-forces.

Roadrunner having a task-tailored TO&E, small units charged with performing duty of the most hazardous and dangerous type.

"composed of 8 'Roadrunner' teams with four indigenous personnel each, and 8 reconnaissance teams with two USASF and four indigenous members each. The 'Roadrunner' teams conduct long distance reconnaissance over enemy trail networks

"The Roadrunner teams were made up of from four six Vietnamese recruited from the Northern Provinces of South Vietnam."

"The Roadrunners were the spooks of the outfit. When they were riding out to their insertion slick they wore poncho’s covering them from head to toe. It was their job to infiltrate an NVA unit and then get away from them after they had gathered intelligence. They wore NVA uniforms and carried AK 47’s. As I recall they sometimes went in without radios. For communication, they used strips of yellow cloth that were displayed in a pattern across the body of one of the team members. Each team had a unique code. For example, a diagonal pattern from left to right might mean they were in contact and the enemy was in two o’clock direction. Another pattern might mean not in contact. There was even a pattern that meant, 'We are impostors, shoot us.' Meaning that the team had been captured and replaced by real NVA waiting in ambush."

That man on the far left is an American chopper pilot, those two men on the far right might be Australians, and the other four are "Roadrunners" "extracted"?

Special markings required to designate friendly from hostile. Wearing a North Vietnamese uniform and carrying an AK could mean death from an over-zealous,  trigger-happy and unknowing American chopper pilot or sniper/hunter-killer team.

Phoenix I had heard of before but not Roadrunner. Phoenix was run by the CIA? And concentrated on civilian targets and NOT military. Phoenix also employed pseudo-force operative to infiltrate Viet Cong controlled villages, identify the communist cadres, targeting same for assassination. Phoenix WAS effective? So I understand.

And so was Roadrunner? Perhaps a devoted reader to the blog with SF experience can elaborate further?

coolbert.

Propaganda?

This is coolbert:

From the wiki entry for Jutland we have this graphic: "1916 German propaganda postcard, comparing the adversaries' losses" [click on the graphic to see the greatest resolution!]

This can be classified as propaganda? For INTERNAL German consumption ONLY and not meant for a foreign audience.

As to the types of propaganda, peace and war time both:

* "White propaganda generally comes from an openly identified source, and is characterized by gentler methods of persuasion, such as standard public relations techniques and one-sided presentation of an argument."

* "Black propaganda is identified as being from one source, but is in fact from another. This is most commonly to disguise the true origins of the propaganda, be it from an enemy country or from an organization with a negative public image."

* "Grey propaganda is propaganda without any identifiable source or author. A major application of grey propaganda is making enemies believe falsehoods using straw arguments"

The consensus opinion of the history experts is that Jutland was A DRAW? An inconclusive naval battle that had the potential to decide the war but did not!

The English suffering worse casualties than the German, more men dead, more ships sunk, etc.

[The English according to the postcard firing a greater tonnage of shells, but having more ships of greater size sunk with about two and one half times the numbers of sailors and officers killed. Notice that the English sailor is shown as being about two and one half times the size of his German counterpart!!]

The German having to beat a retreat from the "battlefield" in good order when faced with the preponderance of British naval might!

Neither side able to prevail, plans as conceived prior to the battle, the execution of which for both sides going awry.

The hope of the British that one climactic naval battle such as Jutland - - a victory on the scale of a Trafalgar would bring a quick and speedy end to the war becoming just that - - a hope and no more!

From the appearance of the German postcard this is "white propaganda" and is actually done in a very fair manner, NOT exaggerated but containing a good measure of truth, factual. Results of the battle shown in  a graphical manner so that even an illiterate could readily understand what occurred at Jutland.

"Propaganda" has a negative connotation? ALWAYS seen as bad? In this case, the facts are clear and the intention is to boost internal German morale, without a whole lot if any embellishment, exaggeration or "lies"?

coolbert.

Flynn.

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I had thought there had been resolution here but that is not the case.

Remains thought to be that of Sean Flynn, son of the famous actor Errol Flynn, had been found in Cambodia and positively identified. As was originally reported over a year ago now! But this is most unfortunately NOT so! Sean is still body not recovered [BNR].

"Searchers: Remains of Errol Flynn's son found"

"Photographer Sean Flynn disappeared during Cambodian War"

"PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Forensic tests will be conducted on what two searchers believe are the remains of photographer Sean Flynn, son of Hollywood star Errol Flynn, who disappeared during the Cambodian War 40 years ago, the U.S. Embassy said Monday."

Sean and his colleague last seen on motorbikes in Cambodia seeking out the fighting between the government forces and the Khmer Rouge! Captured by the "Vietnamese Communist forces" and later dealt with summarily - - executed - - BNR!

 "Although it is known that they were captured by Vietnamese Communist forces, it has been suggested that they died in the hands of 'hostile' forces. Citing various government sources, the current consensus is that he (or they) were held captive for over a year before they were killed by Khmer Rouge in June 1971."

"Tests results on the human remains found at the grave site in eastern Kampong Cham province, Cambodia were released on June 30, 2010 and they were found not to be the remains of Sean Flynn."

Sean Flynn had an interesting career going for himself when he met his untimely death. Was NOTED for images, photojournalism of the most sensational type, Sean actively seeking out dangerous situations that quite often make for the most dramatic photographs. "Exceptional" what they are referred to as!

" In a search for exceptional images, he attached himself to Special Forces units and even irregulars operating in remote areas."

Sean did in real life what his father only did in the movies? NOT ONLY doing what he did, but doing it well!

coolbert.

"Nightstalkers" II.

This is coolbert:

Nightstalkers II.

Dysfunctional?

Conclusion.

Here from the original story as covered by USA Today in 2006, the return of the 1/184  from Iraq. A California National Guard [NG] COMBAT ARMS unit. That battalion, light infantry, in the thick of the fray in Iraq, and from what I read, a competent and able unit, performing up to task for the most part, some incidents raising eyebrows but not that unusual or unique I would think.

A NG unit that among the active-duty component developed a reputation as the proverbial "black sheep".

"How a black-sheep Guard unit came home heroes"

"these citizen-soldiers didn't expect a series of scandals and criminal charges on top of heavy casualties that nearly crushed their fighting spirit. They were investigated for abusing Iraqi detainees and lost two leaders in back-to-back roadside bombings — one being the highest-ranking U.S. officer killed in Iraq. From late 2004 through October 2005, the 1st Battalion of the 184th Infantry Regiment — nicknamed 'The Night Stalkers' — was saddled with a reputation as the Bad News Bears of the U.S. military"

Again, my perception is that this NG unit DID perform in an admirable and competent manner, news reports notwithstanding. They did their job and did it well, damage as sustained by the enemy, the NG casualty lists and numbers of awards and decorations indicative of the type of light infantry combat in the COIN environment that does make for easy soldiering.

"During their year in Iraq, the 1-184 encountered more than 240 improvised explosive devices, captured 1,000 detainees and discovered 24 weapons caches. Those are the kind of statistics they hope they will be remembered for"

Casualties sustained by the 1/184 during their year of duty to include:


* "17 soldiers killed."
*  "more than 100 wounded"

[including the active duty Colonel Wood and the active duty Alpha company commander Captain MacKinnon both killed in action back-to-back]

Decorations and awards as given to 1/184 troops to include:

* "11 Army Commendations for Valor"
* "more than 80 Purple Hearts"
* "14 Bronze Stars for valor"
* "48 Bronze Stars for merit"

The U.S. Army DOES have serious reservations and misgivings about deploying COMBAT ARMS NG units into a battle zone? In large measure this is due to the severe and almost catastrophic casualties as suffered by the Texas NG 36th Infantry division during the Italian Campaign? Adverse publicity is something to be avoided. A lack of competency on the part of combat arms NG units is not foremost in the minds of the active duty commanders?

The perception of the 1/184 was not reality but then reality is quite often perception.

coolbert.

"Nightstalkers" I.

This is coolbert:

Nightstalkers I.

Dysfunctional?

The info for this blog entry from the LA Times - - the story first read in the Chicago Tribune.

 American National Guard [NG] COMBAT ARMS UNIT, light infantry, deploying to Iraq in 2004  - - performing their job in what seems to be an adequate and competent manner, a unit however, developing a reputation as a "dysfunctional" unit, and now used as a teaching tool for those commanders seeking to "turn-around" "dysfunctional units"! That unit NG commander particularly thought to be responsible for lackluster and controversial performance!

"A look inside a National Guard unit known for valor, dysfunction"

"The former leader of a battalion of the California Army National Guard, his military career in ruins, tells his side of what happened in Iraq."

"But the battalion was also singled out by the military, Frey said, as a case study in dysfunction. Frey's soldiers engaged in petty turf wars with rival units. One was caught patrolling the streets of Baghdad with a Samurai sword swinging from his belt; another kept a "death list" that included some of his own."

The commander of the NG unit as having been deployed to Iraq being relieved of command - - a unit thought to be out of control, in particular, wanting to tell his side of the story, and seven years later at that!

Patrick Frey, thirty-two years of service, a Lieutenant Colonel and an unconventional gung-ho officer by all accounts, and singled out by some as being the source an attitude among the NG troopers that was troubling to active duty soldiers of the U.S. Army  His [Patrick] military career to include:

* An infantryman.
* A U.S. Army Ranger.
* A Marine.
* A trooper with Grey's Scouts [dragoons][ during the Rhodesian Bush War.

And in civilian life a Special Education teacher. Frey NOT necessarily a persons lacking in people skills I would have to think.

Frey noted for carrying a hatchet with him at all [?] times. Probably not a hatchet but A WAR TOMAHAWK! That weapon particularly unique to the U.S. military, there existing such tomahawks in the U.S. weapons inventory, even having a NSN [national stock number].

The full and complete details are all not clear from this LA Times article, but the NG unit 1st Battalion of the 184th Infantry Regiment, seems to performed in an adequate and even at times heroic manner, NOT really lacking when compared to other regular army active duty units!

Interestingly enough - - after Frey was relieved of duty, the new battalion commander, Colonel Wood, became the highest ranking American killed in Iraq.

Using this unit as an example - - a teaching tool for commanders - - the handling of "dysfunctional units" just seems to be a very bad idea. Criticism of this sort just makes the situation worse and solves nothing, if indeed the unit was "dysfunctional" to begin with!

coolbert.

Rouget.

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Once there was Bob Denard. NOW there is Richard Rouget. Thanks to a variety of sources!

Richard Rouget - French military man, now a naturalized South African citizen, a soldier-at-large, a self-described "mentor"!

Bob Denard, "Colonel" that is, making a name for himself as a mercenary in many parts of Africa during the turbulent period of de-colonization in the 1960's, having passed away now, the torch having been given to and carried must successfully now by Richard. Richard also liking to refer to himself as "Colonel Sanders"!

At this point time the military career of Richard lasting for over two decades now, and continuing, most recently as a "contract employee" of an American firm - Richard "mentoring" the black African troops trying to maintain law and order in the embattled nation of Somalia.

That career of Richard most impressive:

* "a mercenary officer of Bob Denard's Comorian Presidential Guard."

* "led a group of mercenaries in Europe that was doing reconnaissance on the African National Congress"

* "a graduate of the French Military Academy" [St. Cyr?]

* "a commissioned officer in the French Army's air-mobile infantry"

* "active in extreme right-wing [student] movements like GUD . . . and PFN"

* "involvement in mercenary activities in Ivory Coast"

Richard having seen combat action in one way or another in locales to include:

* 1987 Comoro Islands.

* 2003 Ivory Coast.

* 2011 Somalia.

Read further of Richard and his exploits!

"Mercenaries in Ivory Coast"

"U.S. Relies on Contractors in Somalia Conflict"

"Richard Rouget (also known as ‘Colonel Sanders’), a former officer in the French Army who has recent combat experience in several African countries. Rouget’s mission is to train Kenyan and Ugandan troops in counterinsurgency techniques, as well as special operations, including sabotage and assassinations."

Richard follows in a proud tradition of mercenaries of the French persuasion. At one time, persons such as Bob Denard were unable to obtain commissions in the French Army, their pedigree not including that sufficient degree of bearing, education, even nobility, minor or otherwise. French military men of ability and skill, however, able to ply their trade far and wide, Africa quite often being the destination as is the case with Robert Rouget.

coolbert.

Block 12.

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Block 12. 

Here from several sources with the true and real reason that the Turk is sending naval units into the waters of the eastern Mediterranean, bordering Israel, Cyprus and Turkey. A confrontation is due, NOT SO MUCH because of the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza - - but rather because of Turkish concerns over Block 12.

Block 12 an undersea expanse "rich" with reservoirs of natural gas of an enormous abundance. Vital to many resource-lacking nations in the area, and NOW A POINT OF CONTENTION!!

1. "Tension Escalates Between Turkey and Israel Over Cyprus Block 12"

"Turkey has been trying hard to gain military presence on the offshore territory of Cyprus, where leviathan reserves of oil and gas are scheduled to be exploited with the cooperation of Israel by the end of the month."

The end of THIS MONTH is when the rigs are going to be put in place and drilling begun to tap the "riches"?

2. "Ankara threatens naval action over Cyprus’ Block 12 drill"

"Turkey insisted that the exploration was encroaching on its continental shelf, while Cyprus said the incidents occurred in a maritime zone that it has rights over."

"The Cyprus government signed a production-sharing contract with U.S.-based Noble Energy to launch exploration activities in a 324,000-hectare economic zone southeast of the island which borders Israeli waters and where massive gas fields were found under the seabed."

Several points here:

* Cyprus is of course now and for some been divided between the Greek half of the island the Turkish half of the island. And NEVER will the twain meet! The Greek part, the Republic of Cyprus fairly prosperous, the Turkish part NOT so much so! That Cypriot government signing contracts with foreign drilling concerns NOT willing to share with the Turk and indeed making claims to off-shore waters that are CONTESTED!

* Much [what percentage I cannot say with certainty] of the Israeli electrical generating capacity is from natural gas powered turbine generators. About 40 % of the natural gas as used by these turbines is from Egyptians sources. Sources NOW unstable and unreliable and subject to SABOTAGE. Obviously the Israeli concerned for the future sees these undersea deposits of natural gas AS THE alternative and is most desirous to cut a deal with the Cypriot if not out and out collaboration beneficial to both side!!

* ALSO, let it be clear that depriving a nation of a vital and absolutely essential resource [natural gas] is normally considered a casus belli!

The true and basic nature of this threatened naval confrontation between Turkey and Israel is NOT so much the blockade of Gaza but rather that natural gas supposedly under the sea, in "disputed" waters?

Of such matters WAR begins!!

coolbert.

Disable.

This is coolbert:

Israel versus Turkey? SECRET!

From the DEBKAfile some items of interest.

1. "Turkish frigates to confront Israeli vessels, disable their weapons"

"12 Sept. Turkey sharply ratchets up its threat of war with Israel. Three Turkish frigates were ordered to the eastern Mediterranean and instructed to disable Israel military ships if encountered outside Israel's 12-mile territorial waters . . . The Turkish threat applies to the warships enforcing Israel's naval blockade of the Gaza Strip and the vessels protecting its deep sea gas drillings."

2. "Israeli-Greek defense pact invoked versus Turkish naval and air movements"

"15 Sept. Israel and Greece have invoked their new, secret mutual defense pact to counter heavy Turkish sea and air movements in the eastern Mediterranean . . . Israel may gain the new advantage of a military presence at Greek bases"

Israeli ships enforcing the naval blockade of Gaza and also even if beyond the twelve mile limit in open and not territorial waters subject to being fired upon by the Turk? Firing on those Israeli vessels will constitute an act of war and I am sure there will be a response.

Turkey is a member of NATO, and has the capability to invoke Article Five of the NATO charter, obligating all other NATO member nations to come to the common defense!

Cross your fingers and hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.

coolbert.

Navy Attack?

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For a period of about a decade and a half beginning in the aftermath of the Second World War [WW2], the U.S. Navy sought in a mighty and controversial way to achieve a strategic nuclear attack potentiality. Part of the nuclear deterrent, aircraft carriers able to carry heavy and large long-range warplanes with a strategic mission [SIOP].

A potentiality lasting for over ten years and only ending with the advent of the submarine launched ballistic missile [SLBM] of the Polaris/Poseidon/Trident variety.

The carrier borne strategic bomber aircraft is an idea that at the time was worthy of merit?

The intercontinental manned bomber aircraft defined previously as:

"A bomber capable of traveling from one major land mass to another to deliver a load of bombs on target."

Rather than the warplane [manned intercontinental bomber] traveling "from one major land mass to another" have the AIRFIELD [aircraft carrier] travel "from one major land mass to another"?

MUCH easier to do and not having to rely upon foreign bases and "entangling alliances" with governments of nations that are of dubious reliance. Strategic clout and global nuclear deterrent reach with nuclear-armed carrier borne LAUNCHED AND RECOVERED  [my emphasis!] aircraft! The storage of atomic bombs on foreign soil also a tricky item - - NOT even a question with the strategic navy concept!

Combat naval aviation with the strategic mission in mind, nuclear capable, aircraft to include:

1. AJ Savage.

A most interesting concept and design. Able to be "LAUNCHED AND RECOVERED" [again my emphasis] from an aircraft carrier, nuclear capable, a push-pull design [?] with two conventional propeller driven engines up-front AND a turbo-jet in the rear providing power, a hybrid airplane.

"two Pratt & Whitney R-2800 piston engines, with a large turbocharger fitted inside each engine nacelle . . . [and] An Allison J33 turbojet was fitted in the rear fuselage."

 "The Heavy Attack versions were the first nuclear bomb carrying bombers able to be launched from and recovered on aircraft carriers".

"The AJ Savage was a large composite-powered carrier-borne Attack Bomber designed to deliver nuclear ordnance"

With regard to the range and capability of the AJ Savage, the combat radius of that plane somewhat in doubt in contrast to the specification sheets? From an authority with some repute we have this comment:

"I note the plane had a 12,000lb bomb carrying capability, which was necessary in those days when many of the nukes weighed in excess of 10,000lbs. But I assume if one carried the nuke bomb, the fuel load would be significantly reduced--and so would range. The carriers launching them would usually be stationed about 200 miles offshore for self protection. That means the Navy's "strategic" bomber likely would be limited to ranges of less than 200 miles inside enemy territory--meaning in turn that 90% of the Soviet Union would be out of range. That's my guess, anyway."

Special emphasis here with regard to the take-off of the AJ Savage. As is intuitively obvious, maximum take-off weight during a SIOP [single integrated operational plan] mission to include a nuclear weapon and fuel. The greater the weight of the bomb that much less fuel the warplane is able to carry, the round-trip range reduced by that much!

2. A-3 Skywarrior.

The Skywarrior. Two engine JET bomber aircraft, carrier-borne, capable of take-off and landing, nuclear capable with SIOP mission on-call.

"The Douglas A-3 Skywarrior was originally designed as a strategic bomber for the United States Navy"

The U.S. Air Force carried this plane it their inventory too and referred to it as the B-66.

3. A-5 Vigilante.

The Vigilante. Nuclear capable jet warplane that was able to achieve SUPERSONIC SPEED!

"The North American A-5 Vigilante was a carrier-based supersonic bomber designed for the United States Navy."

"In 1953, North American Aviation began a private study for a carrier-based, long-range, all-weather strike bomber, capable of delivering nuclear weapons at supersonic speeds"

At this point the obvious progression is clear. The prop driven long-range bomber giving way to the jet version followed by the supersonic model!

4. P6M SeaMaster.

The SeaMaster. A jet flying boat with long-range capability. That flying boat able take off and land from any large size body of water. An oceanic "airbase" almost anywhere on the planet. And serviced, fueled, armed and tended to by "seaplane tenders or even special submarines". That total lack of reliance on ordinary and common "logistical support" as "envisioned" by military planners A BIG PLUS?

"The Martin P6M SeaMaster . . . was a 1950s strategic bomber flying boat for the United States Navy . . . Envisioned as a way to give the Navy a strategic nuclear force,"

"a 'Seaplane Striking Force' useful for both nuclear and conventional warfare . . . Groups of these planes, supported by seaplane tenders or even special submarines, could be located closer to the enemy, and as mobile targets would be harder to neutralize"

Again, the advent and sailing of submarines carrying ballistic missiles, the SLBM becoming the U.S. Navy nuclear deterrent, the role of the strategic carrier-borne bomber becoming obsolescent, NOT needed, null and void, removed from the inventory. An idea worthy of merit for a time, but not for some time and maybe never again?

coolbert.

Photographs!

This is coolbert:

SECRET/RELEASE TO GERMANY ONLY!

One more tidbit from the book by John McPhee: "Curve of Binding Energy".

Ted Taylor making a visit to the Pentagon, being shown photographs, images of Soviet industry and other assorted infrastructure. Ted able to determine from the images the kilo-tons of explosive force from an atomic warhead as needed to bring the edifice or complex down. Information obtained from the images of great value  to those at the Pentagon involved in nuclear planning - - the SIOP! [single-integrated-operational-plan]

"In the fall of 1950 Ted made a long visit with two others to Washington as a kind of emissary to the Pentagon - - to brief and be briefed . . . for six weeks  . . . Ted looked through stereoscopic glasses at three-dimensional photographs of bits and pieces of the Soviet infrastructure - - a refinery here, an assembly plant there. Pentagon target analysts drew circles with compasses around Soviet military bases, industries, cities. The pictures had been made by the Germans during the Second World War. Taylors' role was to estimate how many kilotons would be required to remove something from a picture."

And WHERE EXACTLY DID THESE PHOTOGRAPHS COME FROM??

As contained in a document outlining and describing the initial contacts between German WW2 intelligence and the American military we find an interesting extract originally classified at the time: SECRET/RELEASE TO GERMANY ONLY! The Holters group Luftwaffe Eastern Front intelligence having surrendered intact at wars end with their impedimenta evidently INCLUDING a large collection or reconnaissance photographs of great interest to American intelligence.

"we had already through the Holters documents and gained a vast fund of information of the Soviet Air Forces together with Aerial Photographs covering most of the Russian Industrial complex within the range of German reconnaissance planes beyond the lines of  farthest German advance into Russia."

Holters group knowing full well that their info, their data on the Soviet Air Force and those industrial facilities in the Soviet Union for which the Americans had NO knowledge of being very valuable. The type of material that could be traded for advantage.

Originally I had thought these images would have been provided courtesy of the Gehlen Organization but rather this was the Eastern Front air intelligence alone that provided the photographs. Holters, Gehlen, von Braun and others like them saw their future with the western allies, weighed their options in a very cool  and astute manner - - their calculations proving to be quite correct!

coolbert.

Curve V.

This is coolbert:

Conclusion.

Curve - - WTC!

Excerpts and comments continue from the book: "Curve of Binding Energy" by John McPhee.

My observations and comments most germane to the tenth anniversary of WTC and 9/11?

John McPhee and Ted Taylor making a visit to the World Trade Center, NYC, just after the buildings opened for business. At the time those two structures were the two tallest buildings in the world. Impressive and to become very iconic. So much so that the twin towers became THE targets of terrorists hoping to TOPPLE the buildings!!

"Driving down from Peekskill . . . we found ourselves on Manhattan's West side Highway just at sunset and the beginning of dusk. There ahead of us several miles, and seeming to rise right out the road, were the two towers of the World Trade Center"

McPhee and Ted Taylor touring the outside of towers first, then ascending to the fortieth floor - - the entire discussion dealing with what the results would be from the field expedient atomic device exploded either outside or inside of the structures!

"A low-yield bomb exploded inside one of the World Trade Center towers could bring it down. The same bomb, if exploded outside, would behave erratically."

"'The rule of thumb for a nuclear explosion is that it can vaporize its yield in mass' . . . 'This building [World Trade Center] is about thirteen hundred feet high by  two hundred by two hundred. . . . Any explosion inside with a yield of say a kiloton would vaporize everything for a few tens of feet. Every thing would be destroyed out to and including the wall . . . It [World Trade Center] would fall, I guess in the direction in which the bomb was off-centered.'"

"Just to make a crude bomb with an unpredictable yield - - but with a better than even chance of knocking this building [World Trade Center] down - - all that is need is about a dozen kilos of plutonium-oxide power, high explosive and few things that anyone could buy in a hardware store."

"If you explode a bomb down there [the space between the two World Trade Center buildings], you could conceivably wind up with the World Trade Center's two buildings leaning against one another and still standing"

"there's no question at all that if some one were to place a half-kiloton bomb on the front steps . . . the building [World Trade Center] would fall into the river."

"the total weight of the bomb would come to down to two hundred pounds. The yield would drop from a kiloton to about half a kiloton, he guessed. A tenth of a kiloton, however, would be enough to bring down the World Trade Center."

"'you could just boil away the water, get plutonium-nitrate crystals and make a bomb out of the crystals. It would be much of a bomb - - only a tenth of a kiloton, say - - but that enough to knock down the World Trade Center.'"

"Try to see what is the simpleminded way to make something that could knock over the World Trade Center"

"Musing once over a little sliver of metallic U-235 about he size of a stick of chewing gum, Ted Taylor remarked, 'if ten percent of this were fissioned, it would be enough to knock down the World Trade Center.'"

Recall as I have said many times before, this was all in the period 1973/1974! Iconic landmarks of America, NYC, and emblematic of the American way of life so hated by the jihadists of Al Qaeda!

To what extent if any were bin Laden and his cohorts aware of "Curve" and the tempting targets that the WTC complex presented I cannot say! The analysis of Ted Taylor did inspire some jihadist associated with Al Qaeda to conceive of the overall plan as executed on 9/11? Again I cannot say!

Atomics were NOT and ARE NOT available to Al Qaeda or we would have seen a use already?

John McPhee too has had serious concerns that his book in some way, however minuscule, did influence the planners of the attacks on the WTC? I wonder!

coolbert.