Provocation II.

This is coolbert:

Conclusion!

Read of the Algerian Civil War. A conflict I was only in the most vaguest terms familiar with.

A very bloody dirty war the ruling junta [military men] apparently waging a counter-insurgency using the most devious means possible.  One of the main insurgent groups [two of them waged war against the central government] apparently a false flag creation of the counter-insurgency.

"junta - - noun 1. a small group ruling a country, especially immediately after a coup d'état and before a legally constituted government has been instituted."

1. "The Ugly Truth about Algeria".

"State terrorism. Human-rights abuses. Mass repression. How much do we really understand about what happened when Algeria plunged into civil war?"

2. "The Furrows of Algeria".

"From the terrible Algerian slaughter, and its terrible silence, comes this small tale, told by an officer of the special forces who broke with 'Le Pouvoir' of his own country and sought asylum in France."

3. "Algeria’s ‘Years of Blood’: Not Quite What They Seem".
   
"In December 1991, the Algerian government—the military regime in power since the French were expelled—gave in to public pressure, which had already turned sanguinary, and allowed an election. It was quite clear that the Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), a fundamentalist party, would emerge victorious . . . in January 1992, the military launched a coup and shut down the final rounds of the election."

Let me repeat as is alleged GIA that insurgent group apparently created by and controlled by the ruling junta. The insurgents part and parcel of the counter-insurgency!!

The false flag in this particular instance not just an incidental action of the war but rather a predominant element?

 "La sale guerre." Called that for good reason. "The dirty war".

coolbert.

Provocation I.

This is coolbert:

Curious?

 "There is a possibility that such aircraft could be used in a deception operation designed to confuse enemy planes in the air, to launch a surprise attack against enemy installations or in a provocation operation in which Soviet aircraft would appear to attack US or friendly installations in order to provide an excuse for US intervention"

TOP SECRET [at least as of 1962] .

From the Russia media outlet Sputnik and the article by Yu. Kravchuck an interesting item as gleaned from the recent release of archived and hitherto unreleased documents pertinent to the Kennedy assassination.

"JFK Files Reveal US Planned to Buy Soviet Planes to Carry Out False Flag Attacks"

BUY, STEAL OR MANUFACTURE! BUT NO GOOD OPTION.

"The recently released batch of files related to the Kennedy assassination includes a curious document revealing secret plans by the US government to purchase or build Soviet aircraft for the purpose of staging false flag attacks on the US or its allies, thus giving Washington the pretext it needed to go to war with Moscow or its allies."

Go read the entire pdf document for yourself. Robert Kennedy it seems having broached the subject with the military and the various intelligence [?] agencies and not the other way around. Robert was the move and shaker in this instance? This was connected in some manner to the overthrow of Fidel Castro and the communist regime in Cuba??

coolbert.

Finale.

This is coolbert:

From the tip at Freeper it is more clear now the Argentine submarine ARA San Juan had a catastrophic failure of some sort that caused it to sink.

WAS NOT THE RESULT OF THE SUBMARINE STRIKING A NAVAL SEA MINE!

"Crew in missing Argentina submarine reported a fire, leak in final message"

". . . a spokesman for the Argentine Navy, told reporters that in it the ARA San Juan's last message, the vessel’s captain said water had entered through the snorkel when the sub was charging batteries. He said the water entered through the ventilation system to a battery connection tray in the prow and 'caused a short-circuit and the beginning of a fire, or smoke without flame.' Balbi said the captain later communicated via satellite phone that the problem had been contained. 'They had to electrically isolate the battery and continue sailing underwater to Mar del Plata using another battery circuit,'”..

Water entering the vessel from a snorkel failure cause electrical failure, the crew being unable to satisfactorily contain the damage, resulting in a chain-reaction-avalanche of difficulties? This seems to be the case.

coolbert.

Mines Falklands.

This is coolbert:

Disinformation? Sputnik at work. A "false news" agenda at work here.

"disinformation - - noun - - false information that is intended to mislead, especially propaganda issued by a government organization to a rival power or the media."

"You never let a serious crisis go to waste." - -  R. Emanuel

"Russian government owned news agency claims a British mine caused the sinking of the ARA San Juan"

As seen at Freeper and thanks to same extracted from the UK Defense Journal that article by George Allison.

"Sputnik has claimed that the sinking of Argentine submarine ARA San Juan was caused by a British deep-sea mine deployed during the Falklands War. The problem? Britain didn’t lay any mines. Sputnik News is a successor to Russian state-owned RIA Novosti’s international branch which became defunct in 2013. The agency is wholly owned and operated by the Russian Government. The article . . . suggests that the explosive event registered in the area of operations of the Argentine submarine ARA San Juan was caused by a deep-sea mine installed at the time of the Falklands War in 1982."

AND IF THERE IS NO CRISIS, CREATE A CRISIS!

There is a degree of plausibility to this story. How plausible and what extent so I cannot say. Who is to say too that even if it was a naval sea mine that sank the San Juan how are we to know this not a weapon as placed in the water from as far back as the Great War?

coolbert.

Brunet.

This is coolbert:

Courtesy the tip from the Mad Monarchist Internet web site yet one more post the topic of which is the White Messiah.

    "A revolution is forcing the Military Mission to return to France. Alone I stay, alone I wish to continue, under new conditions: the results obtained by the Mission, together with the Party of the North, which is the party favorable to France in Japan. Soon a reaction will take place, and the Daimyos of the North have offered me to be its soul. I have accepted, because with the help of one thousand Japanese officers and non-commissioned officers, our students, I can direct the 50,000 men of the Confederation." — Jules Brunet.

The White Messiah. That charismatic and very talented American or European, a man quite often with a military background A foreigner who intrudes into the civil war of a far-off nation. The White Messiah able to unify, organize, train, plan, lead into battle and ultimate victory the rebel faction as opposed to the brutal and oppressive despot.

The White Messiah a popular genre with the Hollywood cinematic domain. The White Messiah also in some instances a real person comporting more or less exactly to historical events. A T. E. Lawrence, an Orde Wingate, a Brooke Raja of Sarawak, a Homer Lea, a Frederick Townsend Ward, a Chinese Gordon.

Add to the list of those names the character of the Frenchman Jules Brunet!

"Jules Brunet . . . was a French Army officer who played a famous role in the Japanese Boshin War. He was sent to Japan with the French military mission of 1867, and after the defeat of the Shogun had an important role in the Republic of Ezo. He later became a General and Chief of Staff of the French Minister of War in 1898."

See this entire You Tube video explaining the exploits of Brunet [and other French military officers] during that rebellious period in Japanese history. Brunet his Japanese efforts for naught however, the rebels vanquished, Jules successfully fleeing Japan to continue his French military career quite successfully.

Alone! And I alone!

coolbert.

Blue.

This is coolbert:

Nothing new here folks, just move along!

The Guardian needs a history lesson.

The British Secret Intelligence Service [MI6] during the Second World War bribed certain Spanish officials to keep Spain neutral?

At least neutral but only with regard to the western allies!

From the four year old Guardian article by Richard Norton-Taylor.

"MI6 spent $200m bribing Spaniards in second world war"

"Newly released documents reveal secret services paid out fortune in bid to stop Franco joining war on Hitler's side"

"MI6 spent the present-day equivalent of more than $200m bribing senior Spanish military officers, ship owners and other agents to keep Spain out of the second world war, files released today disclose."

The Guardian does need a history lesson!

Franco did send troops [about 50,000] to fight on the Eastern Front during the Second World War [WW2]. Fought with, aided and abetted the German effort to defeat GODLESS communism. Payback evidently for Soviet intrusion in the Spanish Civil War. THOSE TROOPS THE SPANISH CONTINGENT REFERRED TO AS THE BLUE DIVISION!

Regarding the performance of the Blue Division on the Eastern Front we have an authoritative comment:

"To troops, the Spaniards are a crew of ragamuffins. They regard a rifle as an instrument that should not be cleaned under any pretext. Their sentries exist only in principle. They don't take up their posts, or, if they do take them up, they do so in their sleep. When the Russians arrive, the natives have to wake them up. But the Spaniards have never yielded an inch of ground. One can't imagine more fearless fellows. They scarcely take cover. They flout death. I know, in any case, that our men are always glad to have Spaniards as neighbors in their sector." - - A. Hitler.

And there you are Guardian .

"Sin relevo posible, hasta la extinción."

coolbert.

2C4.

This is coolbert:

"Russia’s Army Has Upgraded Its Giant 240-Millimeter Mortars"

Tulip! Read the entire article!

"The 2C4 Tulip once launched two-kiloton nuclear shells"

Thanks in this case to the outstanding Internet web site War is Boring.

 Soviet era 240mm mortar now refurbished/upgraded and brought back into service with the Russian army. Almost a weapon of mass destruction able to level a single city-block with one round fired. Even a weapon of mass destruction when firing a nuclear weapon.

Those comments of the Soviet era defector Suvorov concerning the 240mm mortar most pronounced:

"The outstanding simplicity, reliability and ease of maintenance of the 240mm mortar are vital qualities, and they played a decisive role when the moment came to decide which should be the first artillery weapon to fire nuclear projectiles. it was the obvious choice and it is now many years since it was selected for this role. It was a good choice, being comparatively small, maneuverable and easier to conceal than a gun. At the same time, it has a huge caliber, which solves several technical problems than that of a gun or a howitzer. There is therefor no danger that the bomb will explode as it is fired or that it will detonate accidentally"

"In 1970, a self-propelled version of the 240mm mortar was introduced. it was installed on a tracked GMZ chassis. This greatly increased its mobility, its ability to move across rough country and the protection provided for the crew"

"I have actually seen 12 240mm mortars in action together. These fire not 16 kilo-gramme [Soviet 120mm mortar round] but 100 kilo-gramme [220 pound] bombs. Within twenty minutes, each mortar fired 15 bombs. This represented, as I later calculated, a total of 18 tons of explosives and cast-iron splinters. I found the noise absolutely staggering. It was amazing that men could retain their sanity in the midst of it. While the firing was in progress, one had the impressing that thousand s of tons of explosive were going off each second and the whole process seemed to last an age. The astonishing destructive power of these mortars make sup for inaccuracy in aiming or in dispersion. I believe that this is the correct approach."

Go and see this outstanding video of the Soviet/Russian 240mm mortar in action.  LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THAT MORTAR ROUND!! [Americans call that projectile as fired from a mortar a round. Everyone else call it a bomb]

coolbert.

Ru-106.

This is coolbert:

More radioactive releases having an unknown source.

From the Russian media outlet Sputnik and the article by Vladimir Smirnov:

"Rosatom: No Incidents on Russian Nuclear Sites Which Could Lead to Ru-106 Spike"

[Rosatom the Russian nuclear oversight agency]

"Rosatom has spoken out after the Russian Meteorology Agency report confirmed that a high level of ruthenium in [the] atmosphere had been detected; it was reported earlier in October by the European monitoring agencies."

"The Rosatom representative has stated that there were 'no incidents or accidents at nuclear facilities in Russia'. The statement appeared just hours after the  Russia's meteorological service (Rosgidromet) reported that it has detected the record levels of radiation in Russia's Ural regions and a radioactive cloud that drifted over Europe in early October."

See previous blog entries the topic of which was recent atmospheric and man-made radiation of unknown origin:

http://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2017/10/radioactive.html

http://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2017/02/cobra-55.html

http://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2017/02/iodine-131.html

http://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2017/03/sniffer.html 

coolbert.

Qods Force.

This is coolbert:

Attack! Counter-attack! Counter-counter-attack!

From the latest edition of the DEBKAfile news letter.

That border crossing between Iraq and Syria contested territory. It now appears that combination of Syrian/Hezbollah/Iranian/Russian military force has emerged triumphant.

1. "Iran’s Gen. Soleimani takes personal command of Abu Kamal battle. His deputy killed"

20 November.

"The Revolutionary Guards Al Qods chief Gen Qassem Soleimani, supreme commander of Iranian war fronts in Syria and Iraq, was seen on Sunday morning, Nov. 19, at the scene of the Abu Kamal battle, the key southeastern town near the border with Iraq (in Deir ez-Zour province). He set up a forward command there after Syrian and Hizballah forces had failed to recapture the town from an Islamic State counteroffensive . . .  Soleimani's deputy Khairallah Samadi was killed in battle. Our sources learn that the Iranian general [Soleimani] brought in four battalions of the Iraqi Shiite militia . . . They were supported by six Tu-22M3 long-range bombers which on Nov. 16 flew in from their Russian bases through Iran and Iraq to bomb ISIS targets."

2. "Iran's president congratulates Revolutionary Guards for 'victory over ISIS'"

23 November.

"Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday declared 'victory' over the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria. He congratulated Iran's Revolutionary Guards and its foreign arm the Qods Force for a 'great victory'"

"Iranian media on Sunday and Monday showed footage of Qods Force commander Qassem Soleimani in the Syrian border town of Albu Kamal, reporting he personally directed operations that recaptured the jihadists' final urban bastion over the weekend."

LAND-BRIDGE BETWEEN IRAN AND SYRIA NOW SECURE FOR GOOD?

coolbert.

Endgame II.

This is coolbert:

"It ain't over till it's over." - - Y. Berra.

Here with a collection of extracts from a recent DEBKAfile news letter; those combatants of the Islamic State [ISIL] not necessarily as reported on their last legs. Still retaining and using a formidable combat capability and in some cases able to counter-attack with success when having thought to be down and out for the count.

1. "Two ISIS counteroffensives at Mayadin and Abu Kamal"

10 November.

"Twenty-four hours after celebrating victory over ISIS at its last Syrian stronghold of Abu Kamal, Hizballah and the Syrian army were hit back by Islamic State forces Friday. Islamic State fighters mounted on vehicles fired rocket launchers at Hizballah and Syrian bases outside Mayadin in the eastern Der ez-Zour region. At Abu Kemal, the jihadists recovered parts of the town taken by Hizballah Wednesday and Thursday."

2. "Iraq launches assault on Rawa, last ISIS stronghold in the country"

11 November.

    "Two Iraqi infantry divisions and Sunni tribal forces launched an offensive Saturday to recapture the small town of Rawa and its surrounding areas along the border with Syria in Anbar province . . . But, according to the Iraqi commander, Shiite Popular Mobilization Units (PMUs) are fighting alongside the army. Al-Qaim nearby was captured last week except for some pockets which remain in ISIS hands. Across the border, Hizballah-led forces seized the strategic Syrian town of Abu Kamal from ISIS. However, in a surprise attack on Friday, the jihadist group recaptured half of the town."

3. "ISIS turns the Abu Kamal tables on Hizballah, Russian air power"

13 November.

"After a long row of devastating defeats in Syria and Iraq, the Islamic State Monday, Nov. 13, achieved a turnaround strategic success with the recapture of the eastern Syrian town of Abu Kamal, forcing Hizballah forces to retreat to 1-2 km from the town with heavy casualties. Only last week, the Hizballah-led victory in Abu Kamal, which lies 10km from the Iraqi border, was acclaimed as the fall of the last ISIS bastion in Syria."

4. "ISIS turns the Abu Kamal tables on Hizballah, Russian air power"

13 November.

"ISIS has regained control of parts of the Syrian-Iraqi border and, even more importantly, control of access to the Euphrates Valley which straddles that border. The Islamists maintain large concentrations in the valley and have made the river itself a defense barrier, by planting floating mines on its water and posting a fleet of speedboats packed with explosives."

The Islamic State resilient, resourceful, adaptive, ruthless, fanatical and all the time very dangerous. Never under-estimate them!!

coolbert.

Restricted.

This is coolbert:

The American military man behaving badly? Okinawa again!

Thanks to Freeper, Ronin and USFJ/USFM for the report.

"Restrictions placed on U.S. service members in Japan"

"Effective immediately, U.S. service members on Okinawa are restricted to base and to their residences. Until further notice, alcohol consumption is prohibited. This includes in residences and public locations such as bars and clubs, and hotels. Additionally, U.S. service members on mainland Japan are prohibited from purchasing or consuming alcohol, on or off base. The new restrictions follow an accident Sunday morning in Naha in which a Okinawan man was killed when his vehicle was struck by a truck being driven by a U.S. service member. Alcohol may have been a factor"

"They are young. They are aggressive. They drink a lot!" THEY.

American military men on Okinawa almost on a clockwork basis perpetrating some atrocious criminal act and exacerbating tensions between U.S. personnel and the local Japanese nationals.

This sort of tragic incident does NO ONE any good. Measures taken belatedly also NOT doing any good!!

And at that exact wrong event at the exact wrong time in a part of the world where discord between allies not needed!

coolbert.

HMS Ocean.

This is coolbert:

Brazil si, Turkey no? Or is it Turkey si and Brazil no? In any case England no!

One a-building, one more on the way?

1. "ROYAL NAVY FOR SALE"

More items of interest from Harry at Sharkhunters as reported by WIZARD.

Britannia does not now and has not for some time ruled the waves.

"The Turkish government is interested in buying the soon-to-be-decommissioned UK helicopter carrier HMS OCEAN if it is not sold to Brazil."

". . . Commissioned in October 1995, the 202-meter [ 660 foot] long HMS OCEAN replaced HMS BULWARK as fleet flagship in June 2015. In her role as a helicopter carrier and amphibious assault ship, Ocean is designed to deliver troops by helicopter or by landing craft"

Continuing further with the same topic:

2. "SECOND HELICOPTER CARRIER FOR TURKEY"

"Turkey is already building a landing helicopter dock which is based on the Spanish Navy’s (LHD) JUAN CARLOS I and designed by Navantia. The Turkish version of the ship will be named TCG ANADOLU and have the pennant number L-408.First steel on the ship, which will be registered as a light aircraft carrier by the TurkishLloyd, was cut in May 2016 while delivery is scheduled for 2021."

Erdogan has intentions that Turkey should be THE regional military powerhouse. Restore the glory of the Ottoman Empire and use in measure naval power to do so.

coolbert.

San Juan III.

This is coolbert:

Sub missing! No longer missing? P-3 Orion to the rescue?

As seen at Freeper courtesy of same. Latest on the effort to locate the missing Argentine submarine.

"Missing Argentine submarine 'is located by US Navy and a new sonar signal heard' as rescuers race"

From the (UK) Daily Mail thanks to the article by Sara Malm.

"Missing Argentine submarine [ARA San Juan] 'is located by US Navy and a new sonar signal heard' as rescuers race to the spot with oxygen due to run out imminently Search for missing Argentine submarine intensifies as the crew said to run out of oxygen today US Navy aircraft reportedly detected a 'heat stain from a metallic object' at a depth of about 230ft [70 meters]. Separately, a rescue vessel allegedly reported hearing an infra-sound sonar signal late Tuesday night"

ALL OXYGEN GONE BY THIS MORNING [WEDNESDAY]!

We hope for the best but fear the worst.

coolbert.

UC-69.

This is coolbert:

Submarine missing! Submarine found!

More Sharkhunters extracts hot mail courtesy of Harry. Thanks also to WIZARD.

"WW I GERMAN U-BOAT FOUND"

Search for a missing submarine successful but only partially. NOT the boat as was being looked for!

"A Royal Netherlands Navy mine hunter has discovered the wreck of the German Imperial Navy mine-laying submarine UC-69, 8.5 miles off the coast of Barfleur, northern France.Tripartite-class mine hunter HNLMS MAKKUM made the discovery in late October but the wreck was identified in November."

"UC-69 sank in 1917 after colliding with another German submarine, the U-96. U-96 accidentally rammed UC-69 which was mining waterways to and from the French port city of Cherbourg. UC-69 sank within 10 minutes of the collision, taking 11 of its crew to the depths."

"While the discovery is incidental, the Dutch remain on the lookout for their own submarine HNLMS O-13 which has been missing since World War II. The submarine disappeared in the North Sea in June 1940."

That Great War [WW1] combat record of the UC-69 most impressive. With a minimum amount [??] of effort and danger the results most satisfying from the German perspective. The naval sea mine an unappreciated weapon of war?

coolbert.

AE1.

This is coolbert:

Submarine missing! The Great War!

Continuing with extracts from Sharkhunters hot mail. AUD = Australian dollars.

"LOOKING FOR AUSTRALIA’S 1st SUB"

Continuing with extracts from Sharkhunters hot mail courtesy the tip from WIZARD.

"Australia allocates AUD$500,000 to help find Navy’s first submarine HMAS AE1. The Australian government is giving out AUD $500,000 to support an expedition aiming to find HMAS AE1, the first submarine to enter service with the Royal Australian Navy . . . the government would match a private investment which would allow Find AE1 Limited to proceed in its attempt to find the submarine and its crew."

“'HMAS AE1 is one of the world’s great maritime mysteries and this expedition will be one of the most comprehensive searches for the submarine,' minister Payne [Australian Defense Minister] said. AE1 was lost without a trace on September 14, 1914 while patrolling waters off then German New Guinea. The cause of the disappearance is not known."

OVER A HUNDRED YEARS LATER THE SEARCH FOR A MISSING SUBMARINE CONTINUES AND INTENSIFIES.

Read further that combat in the Pacific theater during the Great War. A backwater of a backwater as would be deemed but still deadly under all circumstances.

Good luck Find AE1!

coolbert.

PCS.

This is coolbert:

Here with extracts hot mail courtesy of Harry at Sharkhunters the topics all naval and submarine related.

From WIZARD.

"GRIM OUTLOOK FOR ROYAL NAVY BASES"

19 November.

"Security concerns have already been raised by the union Public and Commercial Services (PCS) surrounding the MoD [Ministry of Defense] bases at Faslane and Coulport, on the west coast of Scotland,after plans were revealed in March to privatize the guard service."

"Defense chiefs admitted looking at ways to sell off thousands of jobs in a bid to save£18 million (US$23.7 million) over five years. Union officials described the proposal as 'extremely dangerous', warning any dilution of the guard service could cause serious security lapses at the nuclear sites."

FORCE PROTECTION AS CURRENTLY IS THE CASE TO BE DONE AWAY WITH? 42 COMMANDO NO LONGER NEEDED?

Nuclear submarines even when docked or taken out of service and awaiting decommissioning greatly susceptible to sabotage or terrorist incidents. Read here of the America Red Cell missions the purpose of which was to determine the vulnerability of nuclear vessels when moored.

THESE VARIOUS "NUCLEAR SITES" LOCATED AT DEVONPORT? THIS IS NOT SPECIFIED.

Good luck English!

coolbert.

San Juan II.

This is coolbert:

ARA San Juan missing! Sub down!

ARA = Armada de la República Argentina. Argentine navy.

More on the situation with the missing Argentine submarine San Juan thanks to Harry at Sharkhunters:

"ARGENTINE SUB STILL MISSING"

19 November.

As reported by HECTOR.  [Click on image to see a larger view.]

“Seven satellite calls that would have been made from the submarine ARA SAN JUAN but did not connect with the bases of the Argentina Navy were detected Saturday (yesterday, 18 November), it was reported in a statement from the Ministry of Defense. The defense portfolio pointed out that these signals would indicate that the crew is trying to reestablish contact, so work is being done to determine its precise location."

"The calls, with a duration of between 4 and 36 seconds, were received between 1052 and 1532 hours in different bases of the Navy although they did not establish contact. With the collaboration of a US company specializing in satellite communication, work is now being done to determine the precise location of the signal sender on the presumption that it is the submarine that is carrying 44 crew members aboard."

The San Juan as of at least 18 November on the surface and able to send satellite radio communications but without two-way contact? We hope so. Otherwise at this point the outlook for the vessel appears to be grim.

coolbert.

San Juan I.

This is coolbert:

ARA San Juan missing! Sub down!

ARA = Armada de la República Argentina. Argentine navy.

As reported in various media and followed closely also by Sharkhunters the ARA submarine San Juan missing! Thanks to Harry!

"ARGENTINE SUB MISSING"

18 November.

"The Argentine navy is stepping up its search in the South Atlantic for a 44-crew submarine that has been out of radio contact for three days . . . all national and international resources were being deployed to help find the SAN JUAN as quickly as possible. A Nasa [National Aeronautic and Space Administration, American] research plane has joined the search for the vessel. Britain and countries in the region have offered help after it disappeared 430km off the coast."

"The German-built submarine was inaugurated in 1983, the newest of the three submarines in the Argentine navy's fleet."

"ARA San Juan (S-42) is a TR-1700-class diesel-electric submarine in active service with the Argentine Navy. The submarine was constructed in Germany and entered service on 19 November 1985. San Juan underwent a mid-life update from 2008 to 2013. . ."

This submarine relatively old but having recently undergone a refurbishment and "mid-life update".

We hope for the best but fear the worst. Extensive resources not being applied in the search for what is apparently a stricken naval vessel. More to follow as is available.

coolbert.

Micro AI.

This is coolbert:

Rise of the Machines! Closer than we think?

Drones, mini-drones, micro-drones. Even a B-52 bomber dropping a swarm of micro-drones a number of them beyond counting, prodigious!

Who needs an atomic bomb when you got these? If and when only hope humans will still exert some sort of control. You will become the target if you do not!

"Video: It’s confirmed. The killer robots are coming"

Thanks to the tip from Freeper.

"There was a short film scheduled to be shown today at the United Nations Convention on Conventional Weapons. It was produced and presented by a group named the Campaign to Stop Killer Robot . . . This slickly produced short was pretty much the opposite of what I was expecting, which was some sort of technical analysis of future scenarios involving artificial intelligence, drones and robots. It’s actually a docu-drama about future terrorist attack scenarios using tiny drones equipped with facial recognition, social media interfaces and… shaped explosive charges"

Most importantly go see the embedded video! This stuff is not yet, but probably not far off in the future.

coolbert.

Newkirk OK.

This is coolbert:

Oklahoma is OK. Newkirk however we are not sure about! DHS to the rescue.

Thanks to the Michael Savage Internet web site and the tip to this item:

"Biological weapons simulation test planned in Oklahoma"

Department of Homeland Security [DHS] plans to release chemicals to test the protection offered by buildings  in Newkirk, Oklahoma.

* A legal notice appeared in the local newspaper, saying the department would release “Non-hazardous, non-toxic chemicals and biological materials”
 * The tests are planned for 2018
 * The data should help the department assess the impact of biological weapons

Test prudent and reasonable. Test defenses and response to attack. Non-lethal agents! Tests of these types becoming routine? Just as they recently tested the nation-wide high-frequency radio network and tested the response to an attack on the American electrical grid. Just a test.

Read about a similar such test as was done in the 1950's. 

And don't worry! Nothing can go wrong, go wrong, go wrong, go wrong!

coolbert.

Cutters.

This is coolbert:

Consider this to be a very bad idea. From a military recruiting standpoint just about the worst possible idea you could come up with.

Thanks to Freeper and a variety of sources dysfunctional persons will now be allowed to enlist in the army.

Mental illness, drug and alcohol abuse, self-mutilation [cutters] no longer be a bar to enlistment! Red flags no longer red flags.

1. "Self-Mutilators and Bi Polar Wackos – The Army’s Future Soldiers"

"I really have to stop asking myself what’s next in the military’s long, twisted, dark journey into the subterranean hell known as political correctness and general stupidity. As part of the military’s current trend of giving the unqualified a chance to serve; of allowing every freak of nature, social misfit, SJW [social justice warriors] and dud on active duty, the army has announced that they will be granting 'waivers' to certain recruits who violate criteria related to mental-health violations like having a history of bipolar disorder, or self-mutilation."

2. "Army lifts ban on cutters, mentally ill and drug abusers to meet recruiting goals"

"Facing low recruitment levels, the U.S. Army quietly lifted its ban on allowing people with a history of mental illness, self-mutilation and drug abuse to serve in the military – despite warnings from the industry about the risks involved."

3. "Army lifts waiver ban for recruits with history of depression: ‘It is a red flag’"

"The U.S. Army quietly relaxed standards over the summer to allow potential recruits to receive waivers for a host of previous mental health issues — including self-mutilation. A 2017 recruiting goal of 80,000 new soldiers through September appears to be at the root of a decision to reverse a 2009 waiver ban on mental health issues. Documents obtained over the weekend by USA Today show a willingness to consider applicants with a history of bipolar disorder, depression, and drug and alcohol abuse."

A bad idea? The worst possible idea you could just about come up with? Without question!!

From that era of the Vietnam War fifty years ago think "Project 100,000". American youth for a variety of reasons deemed as unfit for military service. Nonetheless a special program began for induction into the U.S. Army.

"Project 100,000 . . . was a 1960s program by the United States Department of Defense (DoD) to recruit soldiers that would previously have been below military mental or medical standards. Project 100,000 was initiated . . . in October 1966 to meet the escalating manpower requirements during American involvement in the Vietnam War"

Read those consensus conclusions of the project with hindsight the entire program a flawed concept from the very start.

coolbert.

Plovdiv.

This is coolbert:

Tearing down, desecrating and removing statues devoted to military war dead and famous military leaders not confined to the United States. Foremost in mind I have the unseemly and ill-conceived movement to remove all vestiges of the Confederacy, in particular those monuments honoring Southern war dead.

"Russian Foreign Ministry Condemns Desecration of Soviet Monument in Bulgaria"

All thanks to the Internet news outlet Sputnik and the article by Sergey Pyatakov

"The monument to the fallen Soviet soldiers in Bulgaria's Plovdiv was reportedly spray-painted on Friday with numerous anti-Semitic, anti-Russian and anti-communist graffiti."

"MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Russian embassy in Bulgaria has sent a note demanding Sofia to thoroughly investigate the desecration of a monument in Plovdiv commemorating Soviet soldiers who died in the World War II, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Saturday."

Read from a most recent blog entry the comments of Ralph Peters on the topic!

coolbert.

Hader.

This is coolbert:

From the latest edition of the DEBKAfile news letter a Druze village within Syrian territory under attack from an Al Qaeda affiliate.

That goal to create conditions for an Israeli cross-border retaliatory strike?  I would suspect that any sort of Israeli intervention into the Syrian Civil War would be perceived as inimical to their interests!

"inimical - - adjective - - 1. adverse in tendency or effect; unfavorable; harmful"

"A Syrian rebel massacre at a Syrian Druze Golan village presents Israel with new dilemma"

3 November.

"A suicide bomb car, which exploded Friday, Nov. 3, at the Druze village of Hader on the Syrian Golan, followed by shelling, killed 10 villagers and injured 30. It took place opposite an IDF position on Mt Hermon, 4km from Israeli Golan and so presenting Israel with an unforeseen dilemma."

"The attack was claimed by the Syrian rebel Tahrir al Sham (known formerly as Al Qaeda's Nusra Front) . . . Hundreds of enraged Druzes surged across to the Syrian side of the Golan border Friday afternoon and were chased back by Israeli soldiers. They were only calmed when Israel pledged to stand by the Druzes of the Golan and protect Hader from being overrun by the jihadists. Why the dilemma? a) Israel has gone to extreme lengths to stay out of the Syrian civil war, and b) Khader is not just hostile to Israel, it is under the Hizballah jackboot."

DRUZE BY AND LARGE ALIGNED WITH THE ISRAELI! THE ISLAMIC STATE THEIR COMBATANTS NO LONGER A SIGNIFICANT THREAT BUT TAHRIR REMAINING SO?

See previous blog entries the Israeli/Druze connection in the context of the Syrian Civil War:

http://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2016/09/golan-heights.html

http://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2016/02/jebel-druze.html

coolbert.

Turtles.

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From Russia with love! Torpedo los! Thousands of them.

"The trend that is now emerging ins switching from heavy to light torpedoes. IN terms of weight, this means moving from two ton weapons to 35-40 kg ones. That's fantastic and it is an essentially different conception."
 
"When there is only one large enemy target, neutralizing it is difficult but possible. But if there are thousands of 'combat turtles' and you don't know which are real and which are just an imitation, it is a much more difficult"

"TINY RUSSIAN TORPEDOES"

Thanks to WIZARD through Harry at Sharkhunters:

"The Russian defense industry has embraced a new trend in manufacturing torpedoes; the development of a mini-torpedo with artificial intelligence. A mini-torpedo is expected to have a weight of up to 40 kilo-grams [88 pounds] and its main combat advantages is that such weapons are silent running and wake less"

". . . A turtle-type torpedo moves at very low speeds (2-3) miles per hour, but generates almost no noise and wake."

A swarm! NO wake! NO noise! Love that image too! 

coolbert.

Valentina.

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We see nothing, we hear nothing, we know nothing?

DPRK = NORTH KOREA.

Valentina is a very sexy older looking woman too!!

From the Russian Internet web site Sputnik and the article by Vladimir Vyatkin as reported an alarming headline:

"Kremlin Unaware of Letter Saying DPRK Was Ready to Conduct Nuclear Strike on US"

"The letter that the North Korean delegation has submitted through Russian upper house speaker Valentina Matvienko to Russian President Vladimir Putin, said Pyongyang was prepared to conduct a nuclear strike against the United States, a source familiar with the talks told Sputnik."

KIM REALLY IS UP TO NO GOOD? HIS INTENTIONS HAVE BEEN MADE CLEAR NONETHELESS ARE ALMOST BEYOND BELIEF? KIM MUST BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY AND MEASURES TAKEN  BY U.S. MILITARY PLANNERS THAT ARE PRUDENT, REASONABLE AND VITAL?

FEAR NOT DON! FEAR KIM! 

I would be terribly remiss not to mention that Russian media outlets such as Sputnik are not thought to be wholly 100 % independent and totally dispassionate/disinterested observers/reporters.

Within context consider these most recent blog entries:

http://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2017/11/grid-ex.html

http://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2017/11/skyking.html

http://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2017/11/traffic.html

coolbert.

Boukamal.

This is coolbert:

I spoke too  soon? So did everyone else. See my previous blog entry first!

ISIS = ISIL and ISIL = ISIS.

NOW from the Chicago Tribune  "NEWS BRIEFING" only today:

"Activists: ISIL regains control of Syrian border town near Iraq"

"BEIRUT - - Islam State fighters have regained control of a town near the border with Iraq near the border with Iraq that the government said it captured a few days ago. Syrian opposition activists said Saturday."

"Boukamal [Abu Kamal], the last major ISIS stronghold in Syria, was taken by government soldiers and their allies Thursday, ISIS militants withdrew from the town and launched a counteroffensive over the past two days."

". . . ISIS figthers are once again full control of the town."

In all cases the Islamic State resilient, aggressive, determined and even fanatical.

coolbert.

Abu Kamal!

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Also from the latest edition of the DEBKAfile news letter yet one more worrying development.

Abu Kamal the border crossing between Iraq and Syrian now capture by proxy forces as aligned with the despot Assad.

"Last ISIS stronghold in Syria Abu Kamal falls to Hizballah-Iraqi Shiite force"

9 November.

"Syrian Abu Kamal was captured from ISIS Thursday, Nov. 8, by a non-Syrian army - a combined Hizballah-Iraqi Shiite militia force fighting under Iranian command . . . The last push into the fallen ISIS bastion was conducted by Hizballah units, which crossed the Syrian border and first headed east into Iraq to fight jihadist targets in the Iraqi province of Anbar."

"Crossing in the opposite direction, from east to west into Syria, were the Iraqi Shiite Popular Mobilization Forces (PMU), to join Hizballah and together mop up the last remnants of ISIS resistance in the Syrian-Iraqi border area"

"Hizballah played the dominant role in this operation and makes up 80 percent of the fighting strength in the east. Since both Hizballah and the PMU were fighting under the same officers of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps, their victory presented Tehran with full control over the central segment of the Syrian-Iraqi border. Israeli leaders, who declare tirelessly that Iran and its proxies will not be permitted to deepen their military grip on Syria, made no effort to thwart this achievement and have yet to respond."

THE SYRIAN CIVIL WAR IN MEASURE CHARACTERIZED BY THE PRESENCE OF PROXY FORCES UNDER THE COMMAND OF THE IRANIAN!

LAND BRIDGE BETWEEN IRAN AND SYRIAN NOW COMPLETE!

coolbert.

Bull II.

This is coolbert:

Often have I wondered about this and now I have the answer. Devoted readers to the blog also.

Advantages and disadvantages of the bullpup type assault rife. Here in the proverbial nutshell as extracted from the Internet web site and blog "Future War Stories" everything you always wanted to know but for which there was no answer. Thanks Future War! Bloggers of the world unite!

"A Blog Devoted to Exploring and Explaining the World of Military Science Fiction."

"FWS Armory: Bullpup Assault Rifles"

1. "Advantages of the Bullpup Assault Rifle"

"Conventionally layed out assault rifles, mount their ammunition and bolt assembly in the middle of the weapon, which is traditional in the history of firearms, however, the bullpup rifle mounts the guts in the rear. While this may not seem like a big deal, the real advantage of bullpup rifles becomes clear when you examine the hard numbers of barrel and overall lengths of a conventional layout vs. the bullpup. . . .  Bullpups offer more barrel length for less space, and with more militaries exchanging their assault rifles for assault carbines, one can see that the bullpup offers a full length barrel in a carbine-sized package."

2. "Disadvantages of the Bullpup Assault Rifle"

"If you have played Airsoft or COD:MW3 with a bullpup rifle than you have seen the major drawback of a bullpup rifle...loading the damn thing. Because of the position of the magazine, being close to the body of the shooter, you cannot use gravity to drop the magazine, like a traditional rifle, instead you must rotate the rifle 90 degrees, resting the weapon on your forearm, pulling the mag out, then slapping another in. This means that you have an awkward position to be in, which can be extremely difficult in prone position, and is slower due to having to extract the empty magazine, instead of letting it drop.

"Some bullpups have a basic design flaw . . . the position of the ejection port. With normal assault rifles, the position of the ejection port is not an issue, however, with bullpups, most of the ejection ports are on the left side, if you are left-handed, like me, then that means you get hot brass in your face. Not exactly what I call a good time. This is also a problem, as one website mention, if there is a critical failure in the weapon, and it explodes, it would right next to your face. Ouch! The position of the bolt also brings up another issue, the possibility of the bolt being caught up on the tactical gear of the shooter. That could be death in battlefield conditions. Adding to the mechanical issues, is that bullpups are more complex, and the linkage is much long between the bolt and the trigger, making some bullpup trigger worse than there conventional cousins. Most of the issues, can be chalked up to one word: ergonomics."

COD: MW3 = "Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3" a video game.

Bullpup! Advantages and disadvantages. NOW I know it all and you do too!

coolbert.

Bull I.

This is coolbert:

From this article as seen at the Internet web site American Shooting Journal some extracts regarding the topic of:

"Ugliest Guns of the Past"

"Not sure if these were the result of poor design, lack of materials, or sheer necessity, some firearms and guns are just ugly. Many early automatic weapons and pistols were designed without a complete understanding of what works, leading to strange and ugly guns that barely worked."

With regard to the various firearms as listed two in particular catch my instantaneous attention and are worthy of comment.

1. Duckfoot. Referred to as a volley fire weapon. A black-powder, muzzle-loaded firearm!

DUCKFOOT FROM THE TIME OF SAIL AND WOODEN SHIPS OF YORE. THE CAPTAIN AND MASTER OF A VESSEL DURING A VOYAGE WITH A CREW HE MIGHT PERCEIVE AS POTENTIALLY MUTINOUS CARRYING TWO OR THREE DUCKFOOT' WITH HIM AT ALL TIMES! DISOBEDIENT CREW MEMBERS BEWARE.

"Desperate times during World War II led to a need for cheap, easily made firearms, and there wasn’t time to make them with clean lines and beauty. The result? Some of the ugliest guns and weapons ever made."

2. Soviet Korobov TKB-022PM assault weapon. 

Soviet TKB-022PM bullpup assault weapon as "developed by the small arms designer German A. Korobov in the 1960s". Firing [depending on version] either the Soviet conventional 7.62 X 39 mm. round or the Soviet .220 "deer rifle" round. This weapon an advanced concept just does "look" weird. So "advanced" was rejected by Soviet military planners. The Soviet understandably already having a more-than-adequate assault rifle [AK-47] at their disposal.

For scale and comparison sake a modern Israeli Tavor X95 [also called a MTAR-21] bullpup. Optical sight of the reflex type only and no front and rear sights of the Korobov designed weapon. But Korobov went with was available at the time.

Korobov was far ahead of this time that much is clear. Advantages from the Soviet perspective to replacing the AK with the bullpup TKB-022PM found to scant. But the man [Korobov] was on the right track.

Optical reflex sights the greatest weapons advancement since the Roman gladius? So says one authority. You decide.

coolbert.

Grid Ex.

This is coolbert:

Shapes of things to come??

Again the test of systems that has nationwide and military dimension. As it was on 4 November just less than a week ago now so it will be on 15 November.

"Military training exercise to test local response to sustained power outages"

"News Military training exercise to test local response to sustained power outages Updated: Nov 07, 2017 12:14 PM CST MADISON, Wis. - Wisconsin’s Department of Military Affairs is warning Columbia County residents of an increased law enforcement presence on the ground and in the air next week for a training exercise. The training in Columbia County and at Wisconsin’s Emergency Operations center in Madison starts Nov. 14, and is in conjunction with a national-level exercise, known as Grid Ex, that takes place Nov. 15-16"

THE FEAR A PROLONGED NATIONWIDE POWER OUTAGE! THE ELECTRICAL GRID FOR SOME REASON TAKEN DOWN AND NOT BEING RESTORED IN AN EXPEDITIOUS MANNER. WHAT TO DO?

A great fear of planners military and civilian in the United States that attack on the national electrical grid system.

LIFE AS UNDERSTOOD BY A MODERN PERSON NOT POSSIBLE WITHOUT AN ABUNDANT AND CONTINUOUS FLOW OF ELECTRICITY.

That threat as perceived having multiple possible culprits. Villainous behavior that must be taken into account in advance. Possible scenario to include:

* An attack by the detonation of a nuclear weapon in outer space over the continental United States. The electro-magnetic-pulse.

* A massive solar emanation of a nature similar to the Carrington Event of 1859.

* An attack physical or cyber by persons their identity unknown. [terrorists home-grown or external or agents of a foreign power hostile to the United States]

A test/exercise well warranted! Prudent measures and with foresight any such attack on the nationwide electrical grid the damage can be ameliorated. We should be grateful.

coolbert.

Skyking!!

This is coolbert:

Skyking Skyking, do not answer, do not answer!

As of today [7 November] thanks to various sources through Freeper this ominous development. Kim of DPRK beware!!

"Unusually high amount of EAM traffic today. Dedicated EAM observers say traffic volume is alarming."

Skyking and EAM message traffic evidently hot and heavy!!

"In the U.S. military's strategic nuclear weapon nuclear command and control (NC2) system, an Emergency Action Message (EAM) is a preformatted message that directs nuclear-capable forces to execute specific Major Attack Options (MAOs) or Limited Attack Options (LAOs) in a nuclear war."

Listen to such messages thanks to You Tube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SE0pXNWDq2c

See further regarding the EAM:

1. "What are Emergency Action Messages (EAM) …?"


2. "Emergency Action Message - Wikipedia"


3. "What is an EAM - Monitoring Times?"


4. "EAM Message at 11175 kHz Female Voice …"

Great signs and portents? Things to come? Omens of an ominous nature? You the devoted reader to the blog must decide this all for yourself.

coolbert.

Drydock.

This is coolbert:

NOT only the Poles and the naval forces of other nations have problems with submarines while docked and awaiting routine service and maintenance. Americans have problems too.

From Freeper:

"15 Subs Kept Out of Service: 177 Months Of Drydock Backups"

"WASHINGTON: A massive maintenance backlog has idled 15 nuclear-powered attack submarines for a total of 177 months, and the Navy’s plan to mitigate the problem is jeopardized by budget gridlock, two House Armed Services Committee staffers told Breaking Defense. That is almost 15 submarine-years, the equivalent of taking a boat from the 2018 budget and not adding it back until 2033."

"Massive!" Budget shortfall and gridlock as the cause! Normal refit, maintenance, repair, etc. all delayed. Boats off-line and not [?] seaworthy!

NONE of this is cheap and so be understood to be so. Pay me now or pay me later, but what do you do when there is no pay?

coolbert.

Faysh.

This is coolbert:

Berlin Airlift 2017?

Herewith another instance of Iranian si, Yankee no?

From the latest edition of the DEBKAfile news letter:

"Key Kurdish-held border crossing falls to Iranian control, cuts US army land supply line to Syria"

29 October.

"On Saturday, Oct. 28, Iraqi army and Shiite Hashd Shaabi Brigades militias under Iranian Revolutionary Guards command seized the strategically important northern Iraqi-Syrian border crossing of Faysh Khabur, forcing the Kurdish Peshmerga into another retreat after this month's fall of oil-rich Kirkuk."

"This operation, choreographed by Guards General Qassem Soleimani, wrapped up his scheme to round off Iran's control of the northern sector of that border, sever ties between Syrian and Iraqi Kurds, and block the only land crossing the American army used for moving supplies to US forces stationed in northern Syria."

Again the Iraqi National Army with participation of the various Iraqi Shia militia [as purportedly commanded by the Iranian] taking command and control of a border crossing between Iraq and Syria.

AND THAT LAST OVERLAND SUPPLY ROUTE BETWEEN THE KURDISH AUTONOMOUS REGION AND THE KURDISH FIGHTERS IN SYRIA AS CURRENTLY PROVIDING THE KNOCK-OUT BLOW TO THE ISLAMIC STATE NOW CUT! APPARENTLY SO!

You the devoted reader to the blog decide for yourself. Iranian si, Yankee no?

coolbert.

Holloway II.

This is coolbert:

Conclusion!

From the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential library and thanks to same as extracted a discussion of the decision to bomb North Vietnam in the aftermath of the Camp Holloway/Pleiku attack. The presence of Soviet President Kosygin in Hanoi at the time duly noted AND TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION BY AMERICAN AUTHORITIES..

"Rusk - - Interview II, Tape 1 -- 2."

Page 25 Date September 26, 1969. Dean Rusk [R] and Paige E. Mulhollan [M].

M:  "Was there important opposition within the government at high level to the bombing at the time it was undertaken?"

 R:  "No. As a matter of fact, George Ball recommended it as Acting Secretary. You see, I was away at the time, and he would have been one who later might have been expected to oppose it, but he made the recommendation."

M:  "And the fact that Mr. Kosygin was in Hanoi and not considered important enough to delay it when the Pleiku attack occurred?"

R:  "At that time the bombing had nothing to do with Hanoi. It was on the southern part of North Viet Nam. It was on the infiltration routes and just across the DMZ. Initially it started out as simply pinpoint attacks on a limited number of targets and did not start out as a systematic bombing of North Viet Nam. I think there were those who - - there were some - - who felt that it might be better to wait until Mr. Kosygin got out of town, but the Pleiku attack [Camp Holloway] was delivered while Kosygin was in town. So you've got to have sort of sort of sense of balance and reciprocity on these things. If the North Vietnamese laid on a a particular attack in Mr. Kosygin's presence, we didn't see any reason why we couldn't lay on a responsive attack while he was still there. But there was never any question about his personal safety because the bombing didn't go up there at all." [bombing confined to that area of the Demilitarized Zone [DMZ] that boundary between South and North Vietnam and far from Hanoi!]

SOME THOUGHT "IT MIGHT BE BETTER TO WAIT UNTIL KOSYGIN GOT OUT OF TOWN", BUT THAT WAS EVIDENTLY A MINOR CONSIDERATION.

Absolutely amazing with a few strokes of the keyboard and a little Internet savvy what sort of material you can come up and how fast. In this instance straight from the horses mouth too.

coolbert.

Holloway I.

This is coolbert:

HERE WITH A DISCUSSION OF AN EVENT FROM THE SECOND INDO-CHINA WAR AT LEAST MY FROM PERSPECTIVE UNDER-APPRECIATED OR EVEN CONSIDERED BY THE VARIOUS HISTORIANS.

The attack on Camp Holloway!

"Camp Holloway was established in 1962. It was located along Route 19 approximately 3km east of Pleiku in the Central Highlands of Vietnam."

"A Viet Cong attack in the early morning hours of February 7, 1965 killed eight, wounded 108 friendly, and destroyed 18 aircraft. This prompted U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson to begin actually a resumption] bombing North Vietnam."


"The Soviet Union, on the other hand, were experiencing political changes of their own as Nikita Khrushchev was removed from power. As leader of the Soviet Union, Khrushchev had begun the process of disengagement from Vietnam by reducing economic and military aid to North Vietnam. However, in the aftermath of Khrushchev's downfall, the Soviet government had to redefine their role in Southeast Asia, particularly in Vietnam, to compete with the growing influence of the People's Republic of China."

"In February 1965 Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin traveled to Hanoi to rebuild Soviet ties with North Vietnam, and the formation of a military alliance was on the agenda . . . In the shadow of those events, the Viet Cong 409th Battalion staged an attack on Camp Holloway on 7 February 1965. This time, with his victory in the 1964 presidential election secured, Johnson decided to launch Operation Flaming Dart [in response to the Camp Holloway attack] which entailed strikes on North Vietnamese military targets. However, with Kosygin still in Hanoi during the U.S bombing, the Soviet government decided to step up their military aid to North Vietnam, thereby signalling a major reversal of Khrushchev's policy in Vietnam."

The Soviets perceived this bombing of North Vietnam while Kosygin making a visit to Hanoi as within the realm of point-of-honor? An insult personally directed at the utmost hierarchy of the Soviet government, an affront for which a response was mandated?? Even if unintentional!

Soviet military hardware as supplied to the North Vietnamese in the aftermath of events as associated with the Camp Holloway massive and prodigious!!

And what would the Soviet/Russian archives have to say about this?

coolbert.

ORP ORZEL.

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The wings of the eagle have been clipped!

"ORP ORZEL ON FIRE". ORZEL = eagle.

From WIZARD through Harry at Sharkhunters:

"A fire broke out aboard the Polish Navy's only Kilo-class submarine, ORP ORZEL recently, as it was docked at the Polish navy shipyard in Gdynia for repairs. The incident was initially not reported by the defense ministry and was confirmed by Armed Forces General Command spokesman Cichy following an inquiry."

"According to Polish media, four sailors were aboard the submarine when the incident occurred on 27 September but no one was hurt. The extent of damage the fire caused is yet to be revealed."

"ORP ORZEL has spent the past three years docked for maintenance and repairs. It is now unclear whether the 31-year old submarine will return to service as the cost of repairs could turn out to be too high for the investment to pay off."

"This is not the first incident ORP ORZEL has been involved in since starting her repairs in February 2014. In 2016, the submarine was damaged while being undocked, prompting further delays in returning to sea."

As been noted in many previous blog entries, it seems the danger to a submarine is greater when the vessel is at dock and not sailing as compared to a boat at sea, submerged. This sounds obviously counter-intuitive but the record seems to suggest so.

I would have to think too that the cost of repairs for a thirty-one year old submarine, not counting the refit and refurbishment and time spent would be greater than BUYING A BRAND NEW BOAT!

See previous blog entries the topic of which was damage to submarines while docked:

http://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2013/09/k-150-tomsk.html

http://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2013/08/ins-sindhurakshak.html

http://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2013/08/uss-miami.html

http://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2015/04/oscar-ii.html

http://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2013/02/jinxed.html

http://militaryanalysis.blogspot.com/2013/01/vasa-guitarro.html

coolbert.

Rapists!

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Rape as a weapon of war!

Male on male rape in this instance!

At least to my knowledge nothing like this has occurred in one hundred years!!

Thanks to the English Guardian the article by Cecile Allegra that tip from Freeper.

"Revealed: male rape used systematically in Libya as instrument of war"

"Male rape is being used systematically in Libya as an instrument of war and political domination by rival factions, according to multiple testimonies gathered by investigators. ..In several instances, witnesses say a victim was thrown into a room with other prisoners, who were ordered to rape him or be killed. The atrocity is being perpetrated to humiliate and neutralize opponents in the lawless, militia-dominated country. Male rape is such a taboo in Arab societies that the abused generally feel too damaged to rejoin political, military or civic life."

"Too damaged". "Humiliate and neutralize". Exactly. Rape not so much an expression of sexual lust but rather a power trip for the perpetrator. "I dominate you and you submit to my will!"

English army officer as prisoners-of-war of the Turk during the Great War subjected to male on male rape. Degradation, abasement and humiliation the goal. The enlisted men will no longer respect you or submit to your orders!! You the victim too your very psyche and confidence in yourself probably ruined more or less forever.

coolbert.