Nakbah Redux And Greater Little Satan

 Yawm an-Nakbah!

It had been a rough ride since being granted statehood in late 2011. Crises had been brewing for months after the new improved hook up betwixt Fatah and HAMAS collapsed when West Bank voted in toto to oust the ancient PLOld school Fatah cats in favor of HAMAS' reps in the recent Parliament Elections.

The recent Mutual Military Assistance Pact signed with Egypt certainly emboldened HAMAS  - perhaps too bold

On or about 17:33 hours local time May 15th 2013, tragedy strikes the new baby nation state of Palestine.  

Little Satan's Iron Dome System managed to destroy nearly a dozen rockets  - yet seven errant Fajr 5 missiles launched from Khan Younis struck the Dome of the Rock thingy in J'Lem and totally obliterated it. Hilarity did not ensue. 

Despite releasing satellite and ground tracking vids of the missiles, their launch points, attempted interceptions and direct hits - Little Satan was considered the culprit.

"We know this illegitimate regime of the zionists has visited this deathly insult on all believers" thundered Hiz'B'Allah's Body Part Collector General from his safe as milk command bunker in Lebanon.

HAMAS' leadership (all safe in Damascus) pledged to unleash "total war on the criminal usurpers" and denied the wrecked remnants of Iranian made rocketry streaming endlessly on Little Satan TV were launched from the Strip. The Strip also called on Aegypt to honor commitments "made in good faith." The new government in Cairo obliged - announcing a reinforced infantry division would be sent within a week.

Not to be out done, Fatah's West Bank announced militarization of their turf - inviting any Arab League Armies and Air Forces bases to protect them from further "madness" by Little Satan. 

King Hussein of Jordan tried to defuse the situation to no avail. Saudi Arabia announced two squadrons of F16's would be based near Ramallah - with an contingent of air defense systems. Syria formally requested Jordanian permission to transit two panzer divisions numbering over 35 thousand conscripts along with batteries of Russian made S 300 Anti Aircraft missiles. Persia pledged support and Libyan Radio called for volunteers to "storm the beaches" of Little Satan

Emergency sessions at the UN produced nothing but non profit jawflapping. Turkey and Sudan penned several really mean sounding declarations and the Turkish Air Force went on full alert, conducting 'protection flights' for several sortees of ships carrying 'volunteers' to help with the 'disaster.'    

UN Ambassador Tzipi Livni warned Little Satan could not tolerate her near abroad 'compassed with armies" to anyone that would listen. Great Britain warned Sudan that increased traffic to Sinai
"...looks highly dubious..and could be misconstrued..." Great Satan asked for a summit with heads of states.

The night of May 19th at Little Satan's shiny looking MoD complex was tense. The Egyptians were crossing the canal and would be past Rafah by breakfast. Syrian panzers were enroute across the Yarmuk river and in Jordan proper. Intermittent rocketry from Sinai based terrorist groups were increasing. Intell that Iraq had granted Persia overflights into Amman and two Iranian submarines had just left Suez sailing into the Med were the last straw.

Little Satan struck.


Pic - "Believe - just tonight"

What If...

Joyeuex Nakbah!

As best understood, all the rowdy folks chucking rocks, cuss words and waving Jordanian flags (sans the stars - what's that about?) from Little Satan's Near Abroad in West Bank along with the Lebanon and Syrian borders certainly raises some issues. 

Of the hundreds of borders redrawn, moved or erased since Nazi time Deutschland and Imperial Nippon screamed and gave up their ghosts -  only Little Satan's remarkable demarcations seem to always be a source of violent intolerance, grief and heart ache.

Does it have to be that way?

GsGf's Foreign Navies (East) advisor - Royal Saudi Navy Commodore (ret'd) Abdulateef Al-Mulhim says nope. It could actually been avoided.

I have been exposed to Palestinians since I was in first grade in Al-Hassa, Saudi Arabia They were my favorite teachers. They were the most dedicated and the most intelligent among all my instructors, from elementary to high school.

When I was attending New York-based SUNY Maritime college (1975-1979), I read a lot of books about Palestinians, Arabs and the Israelis. I have read every article about the many chances the Palestinians had and missed to solve their problem, especially the Camp David agreement between Egypt and Israel.

I have seen and read about the lives of the Palestinians in the US and other places. They are very successful in every field. And at the same time I saw the Arab countries at the bottom of the list in education and development. And I always ask the question: What if the Palestinians and the Arabs accepted the presence of Israel on May 14, 1948 and recognized its right to exist? Would the Arab world have been more stable, more democratic and more advanced?

If Israel was recognized in 1948, then the Palestinians would have been able to free themselves from the hollow promises of some Arab dictators who kept telling them that the refugees would be back in their homes and all Arab lands will be liberated and Israel will be sent to the bottom of the sea. Some Arab leaders used the Palestinians for their own agenda to suppress their own people and to stay in power.

Since 1948, if an Arab politician wanted to be the hero and the leader of the Arab world, then he has a very easy way to do it. He just shouts as loud as he can about the intention to destroy Israel, without mobilizing one soldier (Talk is cheap).

If Israel was recognized in 1948, then there would have been no need for a coup in Egypt against King Farouq in 1952 and there would have been no attack on Egypt in 1956 by The UK, France and Israel. Also there will be no war in June 1967 and the size of Israel will not be increased and we, the Arabs would not have the need for a UN resolution to beg Israel to go back to the pre-1967 borders. And no war of attrition between Egypt and Israel that caused more casualties on the Egyptian side than the Israeli side.

After the 1967 war, Israel became a strategic ally of the US because before this war, the US was not as close to Israel as people in the Arab world think. The Israelis fought in that war using mainly French and British weapons. At that time, the US administrations refused to supply Israel with more modern aircraft and weapon systems such as the F-4 Phantom.

The Palestinian misery was also used to topple another stable monarchy, this time in Iraq and replacing it with a bloody dictatorship in one of the richest countries of the world. Iraq is rich in minerals, water reserves, fertile land and archaeological sites. The military led by Abdul Karim Qassim killed King Faisal II and his family. Bloodshed in Iraq continued and this Arab country has seen more violent revolutions and one of them was carried out in the 1960s by a brigade that was sent to help liberate Palestine. Instead it made a turn and went back and took over Baghdad. Even years later, Saddam Hussien said that he will liberate Jerusalem via Kuwait. He used Palestinians misery as an excuse to invade Kuwait.

If Israel were recognized in 1948, then the 1968 coup would not have taken place in another stable and rich monarchy (Kingdom of Libya). King Idris was toppled and Muammar Qaddafi took over.

There were other military coups in the Arab world such as Syria, Yemen and the Sudan. And each one of them used Palestine as their reason for such acts. The Egyptian regime of Jamal Abdul Nasser used to call the Arab Gulf states backward states and he tried to topple the governments of these Gulf states by using his media and his military forces. He even attacked southern borders of Saudi Arabia using his air force bases in Yemen.

Even a non-Arab country (Iran) used Palestine to divert the minds of their people from internal unrest. I remember Ayatollah Khomeini declaring that he would liberate Jerusalem via Baghdad and President Ahmadinejad making bellicose statements about Israel, though not even a single fire cracker was fired from Iran toward Israel.

Now, the Palestinians are on their own. Each Arab country is busy with its own crisis. From Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Sudan, Yemen, Syria, Jordan, Somalia, Algeria, Lebanon and the Gulf states. For now, the Arab countries have put the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on hold.

Pic - "Miss nothing - miss everything"

Doctrine Man!!

"...Faster than a fleeting bullet point in an Army briefing slide. Able to leap Pentagon jargon in a single bound. While he’s not a classic superhero like the Man of Steel, he’s certainly a man of irony. 

"...Meet Doctrine Man, an Army officer’s cartoon creation, a caped crusader whose escapades battling military bureaucracy have attracted an Internet cult following, small but devoted and expanding among troops around the globe. 

"...It is penned anonymously and posted to a Facebook page, but the comic strip can be seen taped to cubicles at the Pentagon and at military headquarters by those who identify with Doctrine Man’s campaign against large institutions flying on autopilot over a rapidly changing and dangerous world.

  Pic - "Court -- Now you can become an official part of Doctrine Man!!'s lore, along with Exum's scratchy beard, Small Wars Journal, and Carl Prine's fascination with women's fashion!"

WoW Winners

Here are this week’s full results:

Council Winners

• *First place with 2 1/3 votes!The Razor –-The Abandoned
• Second place *t* with 2 votes – Right Truth-Leon Panetta worked around the president’s “persistent hesitation to act.”
• Second place *t* with 2 votes – Snapped Shot-Demolition Derby
• Third place *t* with 1  1/3 votes – Bookworm Room-Obama’s 60 Minutes Interview With Steve Kroft
• Third place *t* with 1 1/3 votes – The Political Commentator – We got bin Laden all right Mr. President! Now what?
• Third place *t* with 1  1/3 votes – New Zeal-“Lula” And Barack’s Common Marxist Ties
• Fourth place with 2/3 vote – Simply Jews – Bibi: Not anyone’s Darling Anymore
• Fifth place *t* with 1/3 vote – The Colossus of Rhodey – File under: “You have GOT to be kidding me”
• Fifth place with 1/3 vote – The Noisy Room – Senate Seeks to Create Caeser
• Fifth place *t* with 1/3 vote – Joshuapundit – Yom Hazikaron -The Living Bones

Non-Council Winners

• First place with 2 1/3 votes! – American Digest- September 10, 2001: “Make no mistake, it’s not revenge he’s after. It’s a reckonin’.” submitted byThe Noisy Room
• Second place *t* with 1 2/3 votes – Melanie Phillips – The Hamas/al-Qaeda/Fatah Axis submitted by New Zeal
• Second place *t* with 1 2/3 votes – The Last Refuge – A different Angle on the “muslim funeral rite” submitted by Right Truth
• Second place *t* with 1 2/3 votes – Pajamas media/Walid Shoebat – The Mosab Yousef Saga: Did Hamas ‘Defector’ Dupe All of Us? submitted by Snapped Shot
• Third place with 1 vote -Pajamas Media – Video: Texas Burns, Obama Fundraises submitted by VA Right!
• Fourth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Victor Davis Hanson – Thoughts On A Surreal Depression submitted by JoshuaPundit
• Fourth place *t* with 2/3 vote -The Contentious Centrist – The Chomsky And The Tomahawk submitted by Simply Jews
• Fourth place *t* with 2/3 vote -TIME/Battle Blog – A provocative vision of a post supercarrier US Navy submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD
• Fourth place *t* with 2/3 vote -The American Interest – Top Green Admits: “We Are Lost” submitted by Bookworm Room
• Fourth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Philip Christofanelli/BigGovernment – ‘Introduction to Labor Studies’ – My First-Hand Account submitted by The Glittering Eye
• Fifth place *t* with 1/3 vote -Christopher Hitchens – Unspoken Truths submitted by The Watcher

See you next week!

Joyeuex Anniversaire Little Satan!

It's Nakbah Day! Shout out to Little Satan celebrating her 63nd this year! Incredible - and soooo true. Despite the unhinged fact that nearly 300 million members of Arab League have tried and failed to put paid to a tiny tiny piece of real estate (with no oil) sweetly attended to by less than 7 million people.

Just lucky! 

Any wrought, this issue of FFP features hot deets and smoking gossip about Great Satan's rowdy asseted spiritual little sister from some of the top cats in the realm of diplopolititary designs.

On sale Sunday!

Bashar Smasher!

Ah - the old tricks are the best tricks, nicht wahr?

As best understood, unarmed civilians are no match for a well motivated M60 machine gun crew - or a squad of ppl smushing panzers. 

The illegit regime in Syria may have disinvited their "insane candidacy" off UN's thug hugging Council on Human Rights yet that's not the only ironic twist of irony:

"...Since Syria's uprising began two months ago, the best estimate is that the Assad regime has slaughtered close to a thousand of its own citizens -- though the actual toll may well be much higher. Entire towns have been subjected to full-blown siege by Assad's crack military units. 

"...Mass arrests and torture of innocents, including children, is in full swing. The savagery on display certainly exceeds anything witnessed in Egypt during the 18-day revolt that brought down Hosni Mubarak. Not even Muammar al-Qaddafi was able to inflict this level of human suffering before NATO warplanes felt compelled to stay his bloody hand. 

Suriya al- Kubra! 

So is it time to get mean and scary?

"...Sanctions will have little effect and the UN's Human Rights Council (boasting such members as North Korea, Iran, Cuba and Pakistan, as well as Russia and China) has already rejected a request by the High Commissioner of Human Rights for a full-scale international investigation. Instead, it is sending a ''fact-finding'' mission, because realpolitik dictates that tyranny in Syria is safer for the West than unpredictable developments which may follow its overthrow. 

"...It is unlikely that the ''fact-finders'' (who will not include professional investigators or prosecutors) will find many people who dare to tell them the true facts, for fear of joining the 800 dead and 7000 already in prison. This is a weak-willed response that betrays the UN's ''responsibility to protect'' doctrine.

An Attorney Brigade will doubtless have the same effect as 44's Bystander in Chief maneuver back when Preacher Command enjoyed killing their own people on the streets of Tehran. 

Syria - like Little Satan - punches far above her weight class in diplopolititary deals. Instead of cool stuff like Hooters, literacy rates off the charts or creating advanced avionics - Bashar Bay Bee follows poppa Assad's script utilizing asymmetrical assets creating a slave trading Syria, abusing Palestinians as a strategic minority resource, literally bombing an Arab sister's political cadre out of existence, fiddling about with new clear WMD witchcraft, hanging with the most wanted terrorists in the world while maybe or maybe not enabling official enemies like Hiz'B'Allah with wmd delivery systems and frightened of Facebook. 

 There are tons of reasons why the Lion of Syria and all his precious assets should be express laned smoldering to the same flamed out junk heap of the dead, defeated and discredited as Waffen Ss, Confederacy, 3rd Soviet Shock Army, kamikazes or Mahdi Army (v1.0 - 3.0). And to hop on the activity train right now.

And plenty of opportunities -  from arming Syria's Kurdish cats for a Libya style revolution - all the way to annihilating Dr General President For Life Bashar's regime over a long week end with the threat of a violent and fast regime change.


Pic - "In recent weeks, activists in Syria have been circulating unverified tales of Iranian snipers posted on rooftops and Iranian equipment being used to beat protesters."

Raiders Of The Lost Art?

Way back in the last millennium, in the midst of a most unCivil War, Great Satan's Total War master pioneer initiated an audacious plot in the midst of licking Georgia's peach plumb clean.

Ordering General Stoneman's Yankee Cav to raid Macon as a feint of sorts to cover the March to the Sea, they were also given carte blanche to hit the infamous Andersonville Prison 

"If you can bring back to the army any or all of these POW's, it will be an achievement that will entitle you, and your command, to the love and admiration of the whole country"

Raids!

From ancient times to Ploesti to Abottabad (Abottagood - nicht wahr?) raidin' has been a feature of organized and unorganized violence.

As 35 once psychically predicted

"This is another type of war, new in its intensity, ancient in its origin -- war by guerrillas, subversives, insurgents, assassins, war by ambush instead of by combat; by infiltration instead of aggression, seeking victory by eroding and exhausting the enemy instead of engaging him.

Rethinking Security's fully crunk Adam (it's also whispered he's a wonderful dancer) Elkus shares in Atlantic about the sexyful collaborative panty raid concept

"...The ObL raid has been hailed as the centerpiece of a new style of "collaborative" warfare that leverages intelligence fusion and networked interagency teams to focus precision force on America's enemies. Collaborative warfare, while impressive, is only the latest and greatest in a genre of military operation that dates back thousands of years: the punitive raid. From the days of the Roman Empire through Sunday's raid in Abottabad, Pakistan, governments have relied on punitive raids and manhunts to eliminate challengers to state power without resorting to costly, large-scale occupations.

"...But a look at the history and evolution of punitive raiding reveals that it is not a substitute for sound strategy -- and can be far more costly than policymakers might suspect and may have political costs that outweigh the strategic benefits. Punitive raids -- whether they consist of a large column of raiders advancing by horseback or an airmobile squad of commandos about to drop into an enemy cross-border haven -- have always been deceptively appealing as low-cost alternatives.

"...The operation to kill bin Laden is a shining example of just how far American raiding capabilities have advanced since the Iranian hostage crisis. The U.S. is, for better or worse, increasingly reliant on drones and special operations forces to eliminate terrorist operatives. Some defense intellectuals, frustrated with counterinsurgency, see punitive raiding as an alternative to prolonged occupation. If we are, in fact, in an era in which terrorists and other non-state actors pose far more of a threat than do traditional state actors, American strategy will shift to focus more on punitive raiding directed against individuals. Much of this will be achieved through standoff weaponry, but there are places where drones and planes cannot go -- such as states with drone-unfriendly air defense networks.

"...Collaborative warfare, however, is still ultimately a tactical and operational approach -- it is not a strategy, nor is it a substitute for sound policy. It faces the same difficulties as the "old" model of raiding and of some new ones. If national interests are defined too loosely, discrete military force is unlikely to have anything more than a momentary impact. Many non-governmental organizations and policy elites warn against campaigns of targeted killing. Whether they are right or wrong, this debate in domestic U.S. politics may further constrain the attritive power of raiding warfare.

"...Special operations forces are only as good as the policies and plans that guide them. Collaborative warfare is indeed a milestone in the long history of raiding warfare and deserves to be further institutionalized within the American arsenal. But it is ultimately only a tool. And a poor swordsmith can dull any blade, no matter how sharp. 


Pic - "Daring actions by small units have always excited the imagination, not least because they affirm that individual initiative and courage count for something in the impersonal forces of war. "