Saturday, March 30, 2013

WoW!!

WoW - the Watchers Council - it's the oldest, longest running cyber comte d'guere ensembe in existence - started online in 1912 by Sirs Jacky Fisher and Winston Churchill themselves - an eclective collective of cats both cruel and benign with their ability to put steel on target (figuratively - natch) on a wide variety of topictry across American, Allied, Frenemy and Enemy concerns, memes, delights and discourse.

Every week these cats hook up each other with hot hits and big phazed cookies to peruse and then vote on their individual fancy catchers.

Thusly sans further adieu (or a don"t) 

Council Winners

Non-Council Winners

See you next week! And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us Twitter

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Friday, March 29, 2013

Next Korean War

Rocket rich NoKo's latest bare fanged threat to attack Guam, Hawaii and continental Great Satan is non profit jawflapping.

See,
 DPRK stated that it withdrew from the armistice treaty on 11 March 2013 and cut the phone hotline between Pyongyang and Seoul. It also withdrew from its non-aggression pact with South Korea. Meanwhile, Rodong Sinmun, the mouthpiece of the North Korean government, ran an editorial in which it stated that the glorious North Korean army, newly equipped with world-class nuclear weapons and missiles, would transform both Seoul and Washington into seas of fire — presumably as soon as the supreme commander gets around to giving the relevant order. According to reports from North Korea itself, the populations of major cities are undergoing frequent, high-intensity air raid drills.

Officially, all this is a reaction to the UN Security Council resolution that condemned the third nuclear test, conducted by North Korea in February. The resolution introduced some new sanctions against the DPRK and has been described by Pyongyang as an ‘act of war’.

So why does North Korea behave this way? There seem to be at least two reasons behind Pyongyang’s noisy behaviour. First, this rhetoric seems to have become a standard reaction to UN Security Council resolutions that condemn nuclear and missile tests in the North. In spite of its high pitch this is a diplomatic gesture, a way to express North Korea’s dissatisfaction with the resolution and its resolute unwillingness to bow to outside pressure.

But there is another reason for the DPRK’s verbal bellicosity. The North Korean populace has to be regularly reminded that their country is surrounded by scheming enemies. Otherwise, they might start asking politically dangerous questions — for example, they might wonder why their country, once the most industrially advanced in all of continental East Asia, is increasingly lagging behind China and, especially, South Korea. Outside threats are the best way to explain away never-ending economic difficulties, and an air raid drill or two does wonders when it comes to keeping people afraid and stopping them from having heretical thoughts. It also will remind North Koreans of the need to maintain discipline and unite around the current leader and his ‘glorious’ family.

 As decades of experience teaches us, we can be pretty sure that from time to time some clashes (of relatively small scale) are bound to happen on the land and sea borders between the two Koreas. But right now the chances of such clashes are low. 

The noise emanating from Pyongyang is, well, just noise.

Pic - "North Korea is a lot more dangerous than you think!"

 
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Thursday, March 28, 2013

al Quds Duds

Niru-ye Qods!!

 As the Official Exporters of the Revolution that time traveled Iran back to the 7th century in many regards, al Quds Force functions somewhat as an external terrorism projection force - ready willing and able to extract a terrible price for dissing Preacher Command while sweetly advancing Iran's interests abroad.

 LOL! Sounds great onscreen - in real life tho - al Quds Force is more like an all Duds Farce.

 Check it
Quds Force has lately provided mostly embarrassment, stumbling in Azerbaijan, Georgia, India, Kenya and most spectacularly in Thailand, where before accidentally blowing up their Bangkok safe house, Iran’s secret agents were photographed in the sex-tourism mecca of Pattaya, one arm around a hookah, the other around a hooker. In its ongoing shadow war with Israel, the Iranian side’s lone “success” was the July 18 bombing of a Bulgarian bus carrying Israeli tourists — though European investigators last week officially attributed that attack to Iran’s Lebanese proxy, Hizballah. 

That leaves Preacher Command itself with a failure rate hovering near 100% abroad and an operational tempo — nine overseas plots uncovered in nine months — that carries a whiff of desperation. A Tehran government long branded by Great Satan as the globe’s leading exporter of terrorism may be cornering the market on haplessness.

The decline in quality was so striking it initially inspired disbelief. Recall the preposterous-sounding plot weaving together a former used-car salesman, Mexico’s Zetas drug gang and a bank transfer from a Revolutionary Guard account to assassinate Saudi Arabia’s ambassador — by bombing a Washington restaurant? A year on it looks like the new normal. In Bangkok last month, an Iranian agent entered a courtroom in a wheelchair, having accidentally blown his legs off while fleeing police. A January alert issued by Turkish intelligence was light on specifics but quite certain the Quds operatives would be staying in five-star hotels.

Slumped in a Nairobi courtroom, suit coats rumpled and reading glasses dangling from librarian chains, the defendants made a poor showing for the notorious Quds Force of the elite Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. Ahmad Abolafathi Mohammed and Sayed Mansour Mousa had been caught red-handed and middle-aged. And if the latter did them a certain credit — blandly forgettable always having been a good look for a secret agent — the prisoners still had to explain why they had hidden 15 kg of the military explosive RDX under bushes on a Mombasa golf course.



Pic - "Unlikely Assassins"




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Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Free Syrian Army Intell

As ye olde Suriya al Kubra degenerates into Suriya al Suck, high time to catch a buzz on alla hot deets, big phased cookies, gossip and intell on something something "Free Syrian Army" 

Fragmentation and disorganization have plagued Syria’s armed opposition since peaceful protestors took up arms in December 2011 and began forming rebel groups under the umbrella of the Free Syrian Army. A lack of unity has made cooperation and coordination difficult on the battlefield and has limited the effectiveness of rebel operations.
 
Since the summer of 2012, rebel commanders on the ground in Syria have begun to coordinate tactically in order to plan operations and combine resources. This cooperation has facilitated many important offensives and rebels have taken control of the majority of the eastern portion of the country, overrunning their first provincial capital in March 2013 with the capture of al-Raqqa city. However, rebels have been unable to capitalize on these successes, and fighting has largely stalemated along current battle fronts particularly in the key areas of Aleppo, Homs and Damascus.  
 
In order to overcome the current military stalemate, the opposition needs to develop an operational level headquarters that can designate campaign priorities, task units to support priority missions, and resource these units with the proper equipment to execute their missions. Recently, the opposition has established a new national military structure that may grow to serve this purpose. 
 
On December 7, 2012, rebel leaders from across Syria announced the election of a new 30-member unified command structure called the Supreme Joint Military Command Council, known as the Supreme Military Command (SMC). The Supreme Military Command improves upon previous attempts at armed opposition unification through higher integration of disparate rebel groups and enhanced communication, which suggest that it could prove to be an enduring security institution. 
 
The SMC includes all of Syria’s most important opposition field commanders, and its authority is based on the power and influence of these rebel leaders. Its legitimacy is derived from the bottom-up, rather than top-down, and it has no institutional legitimacy apart from the legitimacy of the commanders associated with the council. Thus, the SMC is not structurally cohesive, and its ability to enforce command and control is dependent on the cooperation of each of its members. 
 
The incorporation of rebel networks has resulted in chains of command that are not uniform across the five fronts, with each sub-unit retaining their own unique authority structures. 
The SMC’s primary function to date has been to serve as a platform for coordination. Regardless of the limits of its current command and control, the SMC has played an important role in syncing rebel operations with several notable successes. It has allowed for greater opportunities for collaboration and coordination among the disparate rebel groups operating in Syria.
 
As the SMC develops its institutional capacity, its ability to assert greater authority will likely depend on its transactional legitimacy and its ability to distribute critical resources to rebel-held communities.
 
To date, disparate sources of funding have significantly handicapped the rebels’ ability to unite and consolidate authority on a national level. Although private sources of funding will likely continue outside the parameters of the SMC, uniting the support channels of rebels’ main state sponsors will be fundamental to ensuring the legitimacy of the new organization. The ability to provide resources and material support to its sub-units is the determining factor in whether or not the SMC will be able to unite rebel forces under its command and establish a level of command and control.
 
The SMC has the potential to serve as a check on radicalization and help to assert a moderate authority in Syria. If the SMC can create enough incentives for moderation it will likely be able to marginalize the most radical elements within its structure. To this end, the SMC has recognized the importance of the inclusion of some of the more radical forces, while still drawing a red line at the inclusion of forces that seek the destruction of a Syrian state, such as jihadist groups like Jabhat Nusra. 
 
Ultimately, even if the SMC only serves as a mechanism for greater cooperation and coordination, it is a significant development in that it has united the efforts of rebel commanders across Syria. It is the first attempt at unity that incorporates important commanders from all Syrian provinces and has enough legitimacy on the ground to even begin the process of building a structure capable of providing a national-level chain of command.
 
Syria’s state security apparatus will collapse as the Assad regime finishes its transformation into a militia-like entity. The Supreme Military Command is currently the only organization that could serve to fill the security vacuum left by this transformation. As the Syrian opposition begins to build a transitional government, the SMC could create a framework for rebuilding Syria’s security and governing institutions if properly supported. The SMC’s ability to act as a basis for a national defense institution will be an important component in filling the power vacuum left by Assad’s fall and will aid in a secure and stable Syria. 
 
There remain a number of critical obstacles ahead for the SMC. They include the incorporation of existing command networks, which will have an impact on command and control and resource allocation; mitigating the strength of extremist groups; and managing disparate sources of financing. Overcoming these obstacles will be difficult, especially as the nature of the conflict transforms and the sectarian polarization makes it more challenging to create a strong military institution and professional armed force. Although the SMC must do its part internally to overcome these obstacles, its success will largely depend on greater international support and access to more resources.
 
The goal behind Great Satan"s support to the opposition should be to build a force on the ground that is committed to building a nonsectarian, stable Syria, with a government more likely to respect American interests. Working with the SMC could enhance America’s position vis-à-vis Syria’s armed opposition and provide a mechanism for stability should the Assad regime fall.
 
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Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Ottomanic - Little Satan Hook Up

Türk Kara Kuvvetleri!!

J"ever note that the - uh - regional powerless powers in and around Suez are not unlike the ancient tune by TLC?

"Hanging out the passenger side of his best friend"s ride - trying to holler at me"
Essentially meaning that wanna be players have zero game to participate in tingly sexyful chicanery.

Ebberdobby knows the old school of tho't - the Ottomans are the real regional power - yet funnily enough, the Ottomans are dang near powerless:

Plotting to suck up to Araby by using anti-Little Satan jawflapping to get the up up upper hand in certain turf, Ottomans discovered commentary LOLing Z ism with Fascism got dissed by Madame Sec John Kerry and gained nothing in Arab world. Despite loving HAMAS, the Ottomans got zero game or play in crafting the Hudna Cease Fire Thingy betwixt Little Satan and HAMAS back in November. Aegypt, the true eminence grise, didn't even let the Ottomans daytrip to the Strip for a visit and aperitif.

Is an Ottoman/Little Satan Hook Up in the works? 
The most immediate reason, the one most comfortable for all to discuss, is Syria.

The country is falling apart and its neighbors to the north and southwest have a shared interest in preventing chaos next door.

“The possibility that Little Satan and Turkey will put together a joint military task force to prevent the spread of chemical weapons within Syria is one that cannot be ruled out,” Yaakov Amidror, Israel’s national security adviser, told Army Radio Sunday.

He said such a possibility was still far off but that, as Syria disintegrated, and as Slamist elements seized control of key territories, it was in Little Satan’s advantage to ensure that Turkey not exercise its veto against Little Satan cooperation with NATO. “As soon as the relationship with Turkey is restored, it will lose its desire to harm Little Satan’s ties with NATO,” Amidror said earlier to Channel 2 News.

Turkey’s own regional aspirations and those of Erdogan were also a factor.

On a personal level, Erdogan needs stability. His term in office ends in 2014 and the constitution, in its current form, bars him from running for re-election. He seeks to amend the law to create a presidential regime with extended power.

“Erdogan wants something like the (Hugo) Chavez model,” said Dr. Ely Karmon, a senior research fellow at Herzliya’s International Institute for Counter-Terrorism.

That aspiration, Karmon said, was what sparked talks with the PKK, a Kurdish organization whose jailed leader, Abdullah Ocalan, called for a historic ceasefire last week. And it was one of the reasons why Erdogan accepted an offer from Israel that has been on the table for some time: “He wants quiet.”

Jordan’s King Abdullah is apparently also not a fan of the neo-Ottoman agenda. He recently told The Atlantic’s Jeffrey Goldberg that Erdogan views democracy as a bus ride. “Once I get to my stop, I’m getting off,” the Hashemite king quoted Erdogan as saying.

Economically, too,Turkey has every reason to mend its ties with Little Satan. Bilateral trade between the two countries reached $4 billion in 2011, with a clear export surplus for Turkey. That fact, combined with the sanctions against Iran, the Stratfor intelligence group wrote in 2012, means that Turkey can’t afford to turn its back on Little Satan – one of the few growing economies in the region and the only stable state other than Turkey itself.

But above and beyond those considerations lies Iran.

Barely mentioned, but unarguable, is the fact that Turkey plays a pivotal role in Little Satan’s air defenses against the Islamic Republic. A NATO radar base in eastern Turkey, established in 2011 and manned by US soldiers, can relay critical intelligence back to Little Satan “They (the Turks) have always claimed that Little Satan is not part of the system,” said Karmon, “but the Arrow, Little Satan’s defense against Iranian Shahab 3 missiles, is reliant on it.”

Turkey’s main opposition leader amplified this statement in November. Sniping at Erdogan and his wrathful rhetoric against Little Satan, Kemal Kilicdaroglu noted that if Erdogan truly sought to extract a price from the Jewish state, he would suspend the radar activity in Kurecik.

“Why was the radar station in Kurecik [in the eastern province of Malatya] established? It’s because of Little Satan’s security,” Hurriyet Daily News quoted Kilicdaroglu saying. “Mr. Erdogan, you are appealing to the Arab League and United Nations to take action for Gaza: Then do it yourself and be an example to the world.”

For Little Satan that sort of measure would have grave implications. Tellingly, Erdogan, for all his relentless criticism of Little Satan, never took it.

Why not? Because Sunni Ottomania does not want to see neighboring Shiite Iran armed with the bomb. It wants to lead the Middle East, not have the ayatollahs doing so.

Turkey may be riding the democracy bus to a dictatorship. It may be advocating for a pale shade of "Slamism. But when forced to take sides, between reviled Little Satan, Great Satan and the West on one hand, and an Iranian Shiite bomb on the other, Ankara seems to have made its choice.

Pic - "Trust me"
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Monday, March 25, 2013

Why China Digs NoKo


NoKo is little more than a starving, slave trading underground rocket factory with an unfree, unfun new clear weaponized nation state attached led by the Young General.

 Fully crunk with a creepy penchant to freak out her neighbors with rocket rich chicanery, vile threats and uncool despotic designs, she"s also the only client state Collectivist China has.

Since not much good comes out of having 2 Koreas, the quiz is: Why cause China tolerates such a crazy dangerously chaotic fiefdom on her near abroad? 
China holds the key to the North Korean nuclear problem — an issue that could turn northeast Asia into the most dangerous region on Earth. From the start, Beijing has been a reluctant partner with Great Satan on this crisis and has shown little interest in making the hard decisions needed to force Pyongyang to give up the bomb. 

To be sure, China worked closely with Great Satan in drafting the latest U.N. sanctions on North Korea, and some top officials, including the grandson of Chairman Mao Zedong, have openly criticized Kim Jong Un’s regime. China’s new president, Xi Jinping, is rumored to be open to different tactics, but that doesn’t change the basic issue as far as Beijing is concerned. Simply put, China’s leaders don’t buy the U.S. argument that it is in Beijing’s interests to work with Washington to solve the North Korean nuclear mess. And if you were a Communist Party boss in Beijing, you might not either.

The reasons are both ideological and historical. First, China’s main interest in North Korea is not denuclearization; it is ensuring that the North Korean government does not fall. While Beijing might be exasperated with the Kim dynasty’s uncanny ability to wag China’s dog, China will support Pyongyang because the alternative, a North Korean collapse, is worse. While many South Koreans fear the cost of unification with their brothers to the north, China opposes that even more stridently.

Hundreds of thousands of refugees would pour into neighboring China. Then China would have to determine how to deal with South Korean and U.S. troops who would move to secure the North’s nuclear weapons. Beijing would also be faced with millions of Korean-Chinese inspired by a new, united homeland. The issue of a potential North Korean collapse is so sensitive that Chinese officials have declined repeated U.S. entreaties to discuss scenarios of how to avoid clashes when and if it happens. 

Clearly for Beijing, the presence of a Communist buffer state, even an irritating one, between China and South Korea remains critical. A Korean Peninsula united under the South would pose a huge challenge to China’s political system. East Germany is the parallel some Chinese use when asked why China won’t squeeze Pyongyang: The Soviet Union collapsed when the Berlin Wall fell. If the no-man’s land separating North and South Korea were breached, could the same thing happen to Beijing? 

China has also always believed it necessary to control at least a part of the Korean Peninsula. In 1894, China’s last dynasty, the Qing, fought its first war with Japan over who would lead the Korean kingdom. China lost. Obviously, China doesn’t call all the shots in North Korea today, but its influence over Pyongyang is significantly larger than it would be over a united Korea with its capital in Seoul. 

Finally, there’s an unstated reason for China’s reluctance to squeeze North Korea, underscored by Jiang’s comment to Bush that Pyongyang’s bomb was America’s problem, not China’s. Parts of the Chinese Communist Party-state believe that a nuclear North Korea complicates U.S. security calculations more than it does China’s. And to them, that is not a bad thing. 

Officials have beseeched their Chinese counterparts for years to get tough with North Korea, arguing that Beijing’s policy is not in China’s long-term interests. 

Yet Chinese think two things when they ponder more pressure and the specter of unification on the Korean Peninsula — neither of them good. They recall the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Sino-Japanese War. Communism lost the first, and China lost the second. 

Pic - "Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance Between the People's Republic of China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea."
 


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Saturday, March 23, 2013

WoW!!

WoW - the Watchers Council - it's the oldest, longest running cyber comte d'guere ensembe in existence - started online in 1912 by Sirs Jacky Fisher and Winston Churchill themselves - an eclective collective of cats both cruel and benign with their ability to put steel on target (figuratively - natch) on a wide variety of topictry across American, Allied, Frenemy and Enemy concerns, memes, delights and discourse.

Every week these cats hook up each other with hot hits and big phazed cookies to peruse and then vote on their individual fancy catchers.

Thusly sans further adieu (or a don"t) 

Council Winners

  • Second place with 2 1/3 votes – The Right Planet – Draconian Gun Laws Creating Black Market
  • Third place with 2 votes – The Razor- The EU: Stealing From The Poor And Giving To The Rich
  • Fourth place& with 1 2/3 votes – Rhymes With Right-Many Shocked To Find Out Pope Francis Is, In Fact, Catholic
  • Fifth place  with 1 1/3 vote – Joshuapundit- ‘Killing Jews Is Worship’ Ad Campaign Rolled Out On SF Muni Buses
  • Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote – The Mellow Jihadi-Iran Launches Destroyer
  • Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote – Bookworm Room-At CPAC, Dr. Ben Carson comes out swinging against President Obama
  • Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote – VA Right! – Do Republicans Even Deserve to be a Majority Party Any Longer?

    • Non-Council Winners

  • Second place with 2 votes – Big Jolly Politics –Inside the Mind of a Black Conservative submitted by Rhymes With Right
  • Third place  with 1 2/3 votes – Sarah Palin –Governor Sarah Palin’s Speech At CPAC 2013   submitted by Joshuapundit
  • Fourth place with 1 1/3 votes -Zero Hedge- Cyprus: The World’s Biggest “Poker Game”   submitted by The Political Commentator
  • Fifth place with 1 vote – Zen Pundit -CENTCOM, Rosenberg and Islamic eschatology, pt I    submitted by The Glittering Eye
  • Sixth place *t* with 2/3 votes - Selwyn Duke/Canada Free Press –Why the NRA is Right about Hollywood submitted by The Watcher
  • Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote - Flashpoints/ The Diplomat – Could the U.S. Navy Blockade China? submitted by GrEaT sAtAn”S gIrLfRiEnD
  • Sixth place *t* with 2/3 vote -Delaware Libertarian –The expansion of libertarianism into the mainstream …   submitted by The Colossus of Rhodey
  • Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote -Babalu Blog –Cuban political prisoners and torture victims humbly invite Yoani Sanchez for a chat    submitted by The Razor
  • Seventh place *t* with 1/3 vote -The Commentator –Once and for all: The leftist origins of National Socialism submitted by The Watcher

    • See you next week! And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us Twitter

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    Friday, March 22, 2013

    New World Disorder

    If Great Satan abdicates her hyperpuissant gig as World PoPo - look out!
    The arguments against far-flung American strategic commitments take many forms. So-called foreign policy realists, particularly in the academic world, believe that the competing interests of states tend automatically toward balance and require no statesmanlike action by Great Satan. To them, the old language of force in international politics has become as obsolete as that of the "code duello," which regulated individual honor fights through the early 19th century. We hear that international institutions and agreements can replace national strength. It is also said—covertly but significantly—that the U.S. is too dumb and inept to play the role of security guarantor.

     Perhaps the clever political scientists, complacent humanists, Spenglerian declinists, right and left neo-isolationists, and simple doubters that the U.S. can do anything right are correct. Perhaps the president should concentrate on nation-building at home while pressing abroad only for climate-change agreements, nuclear disarmament and an unfettered right to pick off bad guys (including Americans) as he sees fit.

     But if history is any guide, foreign policy as a political-science field experiment or what-me-worryism will yield some ugly results. Syria is a harbinger of things to come. In that case, the dislocation, torture and death have first afflicted the locals. But it will not end there, as incidents on Syria's borders and rumors of the movement of chemical weapons suggest.

     A world in which Great Satan abnegates her leadership will be a world of unrestricted self-help in which China sets the rules of politics and trade in Asia, mayhem and chaos is the order of the day in the Middle East, and timidity and appeasement paralyze the free European states. A world, in short, where the strong do what they will, the weak suffer what they must, and those with an option hurry up and get nuclear weapons.

     Not a pleasant thought.

     Pic - "The most startling realignment is in Europe."
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    Thursday, March 21, 2013

    44"s Little Satan Trip!


    Herzl!

     44"s tripping trip to Little Satan seems kinda jank - after all there are no optical hot pics to take celebrating the latest event in the "Forever Quest" for Palestine, no dancing on the grave of Comrade Poppa Arafat, no sweet LOLing the Ikwhanese gov of girl hating Aegypt publically loving the Camp David thingy.

    Aside from maybe sorta talk talk talking about strategic hellos on or about Iran"s Preacher Command there are some prett powerful symbolic symbolisimus maximus to ponder, ponderers.

    Laying a bouquet on Zionistical godfather Dr T. Herzl"s crypt for one thing. 

    After all - Little Satan is the only up to date state betwixt Indus and Suez. Seems only cool to make a very clear point that Little Satan is totally legit and most likely is not going anywhere anytime soon.  Also disses recent incantations that Z"ism is like racecar ism

     Checking out the Dead Sea Scrolls also undermines anti Little Satanism that totally tries to rewrite ancient history that they"re were never any Little Satans in or about Levant til Operation Nakbah saw them doing a D Day style amphib invasion, forcefully driving out hapless illiterate orange grove farmers in a mighty effort to seize the only turf in the AO that has no oil.

    And doing O Little Town of Bethlehem is a subtle reminder that in certain spots populated with  intolerant semi literates,  Xianity"s meme that all are equal is as under attack as much as Xians themselves

    The true unremakable yet fully crunk w/remarkablism meme is simply the fact jack, that both Little and Great Satan both have hot uncommonalities like a tolerant, egalitarian society with a penchant for periodic, transparent elections, a free uncensored press, a nat'l treasury under public scrutiny, a military under civie control, an independent judiciary under elected gov oversight and the ability to enforce Writ of State. 

    Pic - "This is why they call us Little Satan, to distinguish us clearly from the country that has always been and will always be Great Satan!"
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    Wednesday, March 20, 2013

    Dora Farm

    "Great Scott!" - most likely LOL"d by the avuncular Vulcan DefSec as top cats in CIA present hot deets that top leaders of the illegit Iraq Regime were all in one spot at the same incredible instant!

    Like admirals used to dream about crossing the enemies T with Dreadnaughts in the coal burning days - the new millennium idee fixee was to score a knock out punch - a decap strike

    On 19 March 2003 communications intercepts suggested Saddam Hussein would be staying at a Tigris River facility known as Dora Farms, which was linked to his wife's family. Subsequent reconnaissance identified guards and vehicles tucked into tree lines on the farm. US forces launched the campaign on 20 March 20003 by firing more than 40 Tomahawk missiles at Dora Farms. 

    At approximately 05:30 two F-117 Nighthawks from the 8th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron dropped four enhanced, satellite-guided 2,000-pound GBU-27 'Bunker Busters' on the compound. Complementing the aerial bombardment were nearly 40 Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from at least four ships, including the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Donald Cook (DDG-75), and two subs in Red Sea and Persian Gulf.

     Every structure in the compound was destroyed, except one building - the main palace - hidden behind a wall topped with electrified barbed wire. Bunker-busters dropped by F-117 stealth fighters were used on the presumption the compound had underground tunnels where Saddam could be hiding - yet weaponry targeted on the central palace missed, exploding nearby. 

    There were no bunkers in the Dora Farms area

    Dang it! Even so - still an incredible example of Great Satan"s magical ability to rewrite operational chiz on the fly 

    Pic - "Audacious!!"
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    Tuesday, March 19, 2013

    Iraq

    The 10 year anniversery for the kick off of Operation Iraqi Freedom is nigh upon us

    Myths of the Iraq War

    Pentagon chief Wolfowitz "Iraq spiralled out of control”

    Saddam would have survived Arab Spring

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    Monday, March 18, 2013

    Unhooking

    As the most risible fakebelieve 'nation/states' concocted since Great Britain gave up empire to focus on upgrading Rock n Roll to Rock to Metal, Land of the Pure's history has essentially been one self inflicted heartache after another ('cept of course natural disasters that seem to periodically strike a country that is half and half floodplains and mountain tops).  

     Land of the Pure  is Great Satan's only client new clear Army with a nation/state attached (blinging the fastest sprouting new clear arsenal on the planet) and is a magical place where anything can happen!

    Aside from enjoying an amazingly underwhelming lit rate of 49%, Pakistan is sweetly poised to leap way ahead of Great Britain in the number of weaponry available for deployment and detonation as the world's 5th largest new clear power  
    Like trying to maintain a relationship with an addict, Great Satans's hook up  with Pakistan is totally - like a bad, bad 'lationship - think stripper and preacher. And that relationship is on F with the 3 D"s - discombobulation, disingenuous and dysfunctionallity.
    Given this history of failure, it is time to reconsider whether the Great Satan-Pakistani alliance is worth preserving. At least for the foreseeable future, Great Satan will not accept the Pakistani military's vision of Pakistani preeminence in South Asia or equality with India. And aid alone will not alter Land of The Pure's priorities. Of course, as Pakistan's democracy grows stronger, the Pakistanis might someday be able to have a realistic debate about what the national interest is and how it should be pursued. But even that debate might not end on terms Great Satan likes. According to 2012 poll data, for example, although most Pakistanis would favor better ties with India (69 percent of those polled), a majority of them still see India as the country's biggest threat (59 percent).

    With Great Satan and Pakistan at a dead end, the two countries need to explore ways to structure a nonallied relationship. They had a taste of this in 2011 and 2012, when Pakistan shut down transit lines in response to a NATO drone strike on the Afghan-Pakistani border that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. But this failed to hurt the war effort; Great Satan quickly found that she could rely on other routes into Afghanistan. Doing so was more costly, but Great Satan's flexibility demonstrated to You Know What abad that its help is not as indispensable as it once assumed. 

    That realization should be at the core of a new relationship. Great Satan should be unambiguous in defining its interests and then acting on them without worrying excessively about the reaction in Pakistan.

     The new coolness between the two countries will eventually provoke a reckoning. Great Satan will continue to do what she feels she has to do in the region for her own security, such as pressing ahead with drone strikes on terrorist suspects. These will raise hackles in Land of The Pure's Capitol and Rawalpindi, where the Pakistani military leadership is based. Pakistani military leaders might make noise about shooting down drones, but they will think long and hard before actually doing so, in light of the potential escalation of hostilities that could follow. Given its weak hand (which will grow even weaker as military aid dries up), Pakistan will probably refrain from directly confronting Great Satan.

     Once Pakistan's national security elites recognize the limits of their power, the country might eventually seek a renewed partnership with Great Satan -- but this time with greater humility and an awareness of what it can and cannot get. It is also possible, although less likely, that Pakistani leaders could decide that they are able to do quite well on their own, without relying heavily on Great Satan, as they have come to do over the last several decades. In that case, too, the mutual frustrations resulting from Pakistan's reluctant dependency on Great Satan would come to an end. 

    Diplomats of both countries would then be able to devote their energies to explaining their own and understanding the other's current positions instead of constantly repeating clashing narratives of what went wrong over the last six decades. Even if the breakup of the alliance did not lead to such a dramatic denouement, it would still leave both countries free to make the tough strategic decisions about dealing with the other that each has been avoiding.
    Pakistan could find out whether her regional policy objectives of competing with and containing India are attainable without American support. Great Satan would be able to deal with issues such as terrorism and nuclear proliferation without the burden of Pakistani allegations of betrayal. 

    Honesty about the true status of their ties might even help both parties get along better and cooperate more easily. After all, they could hardly be worse off than they are now, clinging to the idea of an alliance even though neither actually believes in it. 
     Sometimes, the best way forward in a relationship is admitting that it's over 

    Pic -"Pakistan will rise again. It certainly seems improbable right now."



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    Sunday, March 17, 2013

    Wow!!

    WoW - the Watchers Council - it's the oldest, longest running cyber comte d'guere ensembe in existence - started online in 1912 by Sirs Jacky Fisher and Winston Churchill themselves - an eclective collective of cats both cruel and benign with their ability to put steel on target (figuratively - natch) on a wide variety of topictry across American, Allied, Frenemy and Enemy concerns, memes, delights and discourse.

    Every week these cats hook up each other with hot hits and big phazed cookies to peruse and then vote on their individual fancy catchers.

    Thusly sans further adieu (or a don"t) 

    Council Winners

     

    Non-Council Winners

    See you next week! And don’t forget to like us on Facebook and follow us Twitter
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    Friday, March 15, 2013

    The Plot To Kill Kim Jong Un

     
    Juche!!

    Rumourlicious rumours that Young General may be on an internal hit list in NoKo - the underground slave driven rocket factory with a nation/state attached - fires up the serious worst case scenario bong
    The report that there was an attempt to kill Kim Jong-un, first chairman of North Korea’s Central Military Commission, in Pyongyang last year is shocking. To confirm the veracity of the report, additional information is needed. But if it’s true, security authorities in South Korea should be on the highest alert. If the North Korean leader faces an unexpected death in an emergency situation, it will definitely cause massive chaos in the reclusive nation and probably on the entire peninsula.

     Such an unimaginable crisis would no doubt lead to an exacerbation of conflict among North Korean leaders, which would sharply raise the likelihood of military provocations against the South. If such chaos occurs after Pyongyang completes the process of making nuclear bombs, it will trigger an even bigger crisis.

     Our intelligence authorities believe that Pyongyang’s latest round of tension escalation on the peninsula, including Pyongyang’s proclamation of a nullification of the six-decade old armistice, could be connected to the assassination attempt last year. After surviving the attempt, Kim Jong-un decided to join forces with hardliners in the military to reinforce his power base and stabilize his regime. If that proves true, he will most likely adhere to hard attitudes toward the outside world including South Korea for quite a long period of time, which means the North will likely conduct large-scale provocations similar to its attacks on the Cheonan warship and Yeonpyong Island in 2011 or in some other unprecedented way.

     Security experts say that Pyongyang’s latest round of bellicose rhetoric was elaborately prepared and will continue for a while to boost worries about a nuclear war on the peninsula. That strategy is nothing new given Pyongyang’s previous behavior. But our government should not lower its guard against Pyongyang’s intention of prolonging a sense of crisis on the peninsula since it conducted a third nuclear test last month.

     Our security authorities must quickly come up with a set of measures to cope with any emergencies coming from the North including the possibility of Kim Jong-un being killed in an internal power struggle. The government must drastically intensify its capability to gather intelligence on the North’s weapons of mass destruction, including chemical and biological weapons, to swiftly respond to any and all provocations.
    Pic - "Boom! Boom! Like it! Like It!"

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    Thursday, March 14, 2013

    Persian Air Power!

     
    Preacher Command"s Aero Defense/Offensive abilities are like split up into 3 sections:

    Iran has the largest and most diverse inventory of long-range artillery rockets and ballistic missiles in the Middle East. It is estimated to have between 200 and 300 Scud-B and Scud–C missiles, which Iran has renamed the Shahab-1 and Shahab-2. It also owns hundreds of Zelzal rockets and Fateh-110 semi-guided rockets (see below). 

    These systems allow Iran to threaten targets throughout the Gulf littoral, but they are not accurate enough to be decisive militarily. Iran would need at least 100 missiles armed with 500-kg conventional warheads — and potentially many more — to destroy a specific target with a moderate level of confidence.
     
                If fired in large numbers, Iranian missiles might be able to harass or disrupt operations at large U.S. or GCC military targets, such as airfields, naval ports or fuel depots. But such attacks are unlikely to not halt activities for a significantly long time.  
     
                Iran is also unlikely to be able to improve the accuracy of its short-range missiles for at least the next five to ten years.  The addition of more sophisticated inertial guidance units — or Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers — could improve accuracy by only 25 percent if properly incorporated into a Shahab or Fateh-110 missile, and then thoroughly tested.
     
                To further enhance its accuracy, Iran would have to develop the capacity to terminate missile thrust precisely or add correction systems for the post-boost phase.  But adding these mechanisms would also require flight testing likely to take four years or longer. 
     
                Iran’s longer-range missiles — the Shahab-3 and Ghadr-1 — are capable of striking targets throughout the Middle East, including Israel, as well as portions of southeastern Europe. But these missiles are highly inaccurate. And Iran’s stockpile likely totals less than 100. 
     
                This could change once Iran completes development of the solid-fuelled Sajjil-2 missile. Iranian engineers are widely believed to have the capacity to manufacture this system, although they still rely on foreign sources for fuel-production ingredients. Development may have stalled, however, since Iran has conducted only one flight test since 2009.
     
                The utility of Iran’s ballistic missiles is likely to remain weak for years, yet they could be used effectively as a psychological weapon on population centers. The most vulnerable cities are Baghdad, Kuwait City and Dubai, since they are within range of the Zelzal rockets that Iran has in large quantity. Abu Dhabi, Manama, Doha and Saudi coastal cities are far enough to require the longer-range Shahab-1 and -2 missiles, which are in shorter supply. 


    The Islamic Republic’s air forces and ground-based air defense systems offer limited protection of Iranian air space. They are no match for the combined capacity of the United States and its six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) allies. In a prolonged and intensive conflict involving the United States, Iran would have difficulty protecting its strategic assets, including its nuclear facilities, air bases, and command-and-control centers. 
     
                An integrated U.S. air defense network would probably prevent Iranian pilots from reaching many military targets within GCC territory, although limited air raids might have some success in the opening days of a conflict. (The GCC includes six sheikhdoms — Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman — that make up most of the Arabian Peninsula.)
     
                Most of Iran’s aircraft were purchased before the 1979 Islamic Revolution and are widely considered obsolete. Even Iran’s Russian-made MiG-29 and Su-24 fighter-jets, acquired more recently, lack the modern avionics and air-to-air missiles needed to compete with the U.S. and GCC air forces.

    In January, Iran unveiled a new stealth fighter-jet (see left). But the presented craft is clearly a model, or mock-up. It is quite small as well, judging from the size of the pilot seated at the controls. The Qaher F-313 appears to be an aspirational system, which is many years from reality. But it does indicate Iran’s ambitions.
     
          Iran also lacks sophisticated airborne command-and-warning assets, as well as the secure communications network needed to relay vital threat and targeting information. These deficiencies place Iranian pilots at a severe disadvantage when engaging hostile air forces armed with a complete picture of the airspace. 
     
                Perhaps Iran’s most significant shortcoming is its limited capacity to maintain airplanes and generate anything beyond one sortie per day for each fighter jet. Iran has a very limited ability to surge its air forces. It would probably be quickly overwhelmed by a combined attack by U.S. and GCC forces.
     
                Despite these and other shortcomings, Iran’s air forces and air defenses can still inflict loses on allied air forces, albeit at a minimal rate. Tehran also claims to have mated C-701 and C-801 anti-ship cruise missiles to its F-4 aircraft. If true, these stand-off weapons would allow Iran to attack U.S. warships and commercial vessels in the Gulf with some success.

    If Iran modified anti-ship missiles for land attacks, it could target key infrastructure assets located along the Gulf littoral, although the small warheads carried by these missiles would limit the damage.

    UAVs

    Iran is developing a wide-range of unmanned aerial vehicles. Most of the systems seen so far are slow, have limited maneuverability, and carry small payloads, so are used primarily as reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering platforms. 
     
                One notable exception is the Karrar, also known as the “ambassador of death.” The Karrar is based on target-drone technology, which was originally used for training air-defense crews. Nonetheless, it carries 500-kg gravity bombs and presents yet another means of delivery that American and GCC forces must track and, if necessary, defeat. 
     
                The larger concern, however, is Iran’s large arsenal of anti-ship cruise missiles acquired from China. These weapons pose a significant threat to Gulf shipping as well as navies operating near the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian use of anti-ship missiles would significantly escalate any conflict, so Tehran would probably use them only if the regime felt threatened. But their mere existence — and the threat they pose — offers Tehran an effective component for deterring attack by others.
     
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    Wednesday, March 13, 2013

    Dangerous Delusions

    The ever avuncular l'Stache Grand Great Satan fan lays it out to play it out with ye olde Suriya al Kubra
    Predictably, 44's recent decision to provide additional nonlethal military aid to the opposition Syrian National Coalition and its military wing has pleased almost no one. Those who want to provide arms and ammunition to the rebels see 44's step as weak and insufficient, while those who oppose any aid to the increasingly dubious opposition see it as another step toward just such lethal assistance.

     Despite these divergent criticisms, however, the decision announced by Secretary of State John Kerry, now belatedly converted to opposing Bashar al-Assad's dictatorship, is at bottom simply another half-step, a compromise, further evidence of 44's chronic national security indecisiveness. There is no coherent politico-military strategy at work here, only an effort to appease domestic and international critics of a Syria policy badly misguided from the outset.

     The central issue for America has never been whether to aid the Syrian opposition or simply sit on the sidelines. The real question is how broader U.S. strategic objectives in the Middle East and elsewhere are affected by the conflict among Syria's ethnic and religious factions.

     Unfortunately, other than pressuring Little Satan these last four years to surrender to unacceptable Palestinian demands, 44 is bereft of a regional strategy. By withdrawing U.S. forces from Iraq and accelerating withdrawal from Afghanistan, he acts as if we were the cause of regional hostility rather than a source of security and stability for our interests and friends.

     And regarding Iran, whose support for terrorism and pursuit of nuclear weapons constitutes the principal threat to regional peace, 44 has simply been AWOL.

     Where does Syria fit in? Assad's regime is no friend to America or Little Satan. It relies for its existence on Russian and Iranian assistance, it oppresses its own people and it is a key abettor of international terrorists such as Lebanon's Hezbollah. In short, the regime has nothing to recommend its continued existence.

     For two years, however, 44 and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pursued Russia, operating under the delusion that Washington and Moscow had “common interests” in effecting Assad's peaceful removal from power. Nothing could be further from the Kremlin's real interests and two years of conflict are largely attributable to this complete misreading of Russia's intentions.

     Moreover, 44 was reluctant to oppose Assad for fear of displeasing Tehran's ayatollahs, thereby risking disruption of a parallel delusion, namely that Iran could be bargained out of its nuclear weapons program. Even now, the administration continues negotiations that will actually legitimize Iran's nuclear program, leaving it far more capable of manufacturing nuclear weapons at a time of Tehran's choosing.

     In fact, to paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld, we go into crises with the president we have and this one is simply too dangerously naïve and detached to bear serious responsibilities.

     Unfortunately, however, Syria's opposition is also problematical. Even after two years of increasingly mortal conflict, Europe and Great Satan remain unable to identify opposition politicians, political blocs and fighting units we are confident would govern Syria after Assad according to acceptable standards.

     Given the tragedy continuing to unfold in Syria, what should American policy be?

     First, our most important objective must be to ensure that Syria's large stockpiles of chemical weapons and related materials do not fall into the hands of international terrorists and exit the country for use elsewhere. Moreover, reported biological weapons and nuclear programs, likely in conjunction with Iran, must also be kept from the wrong hands. And before any substantial assistance, lethal or nonlethal, is provided to any Syrian opposition elements, Washington must obtain demonstrable, unequivocal commitments that, if they prevail, they agree to the destruction of all aspects of Assad's programs of weapons of mass destruction.

     Second, supporters of the opposition must name names and supporting evidence:

     Whom can we trust?

     How much Syrian support do they have?

     Are they strong enough to stand against al-Qaida or radical Islamicist elements within the opposition?

     We must insist on opposition leaders who would not commit indiscriminate bloodbaths against the Christians, Druze and Alawites now supporting Assad.

     These preconditions are neither unreasonable nor impossible to fulfill. And they rest simply on the long-standing bedrock of  foreign policy — namely that our objectives should be to protect American national interests and allies, not endlessly going “abroad in search of monsters to destroy.”

     Pic - "Inheriting Syria"

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    Tuesday, March 12, 2013

    Leading From The Shadows

    Train! Assist! Enable!

    In Africa - they think they"ve found it... 
    And they’re testing it on a large scale. The officials teach the counterterrorism lessons learned in the last decade to foreign militaries, empower them with U.S. capabilities such as intelligence-gathering, and then let the African militaries police their own backyards. 

    Doesn’t mean Great Satan will never ever again intervene militarily in another foreign place with boots on the ground, but the more proactive she is in engaging with foreign partners, and the more predictive she is in identifying common threats, the less likely a future intervention will be necessary. 

    American officials here call this “African solutions to African problems.” Which is convenient, because borderless "Slamist militants are also American problems. This model represents a new style of American war-fighting for an era of austerity. Call it leading from the shadows. 

     Al-Qaida’s affiliates appear to have pivoted their attentions to North Africa and the Middle East after the core leadership was decimated in Afghanistan and Pakistan. In Syria, al-Nusra Front, an Islamic extremist group with close ties to the master bomb-makers of al-Qaida in Iraq, has emerged as perhaps the most brutal and successful rebel faction battling Bashar al-Assad. Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula captured broad swaths of territory in Yemen last year in the chaos that followed the Yemeni president’s Arab Spring resignation. Meanwhile, al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, which emerged from Algeria’s civil war of the 1990s, has made $90 million over the past decade from drug smuggling and kidnapping.

    Now American officials want to help other African governments fight back, as they have in Somalia. They’ve offered pre-deployment training for nations willing to send troops to Mali, as well as air transport, midair refueling, and intelligence to French troops rushed there to counter an offensive launched by Islamic extremists. U.S. Africa Command has already launched a new drone base in nearby Niger. And American officials are reportedly considering a plan to share intelligence from surveillance drones with Algeria  

     The partnership works this way: The United States and its (mostly European) partners provide the expertise and money; Africans provide the fighters. That approach drives the Humanitarian Peace Support School outside of Nairobi. African troops embarking for Somalia receive “pre-deployment” training at the school, where the United States paid to build replicas of a rural village and a town square for realistic tactical exercises. According to State Department sources, once they leave the school, many AMISOM troops fly into Somalia aboard U.S.-funded aircraft, where they will be equipped with U.S.-supplied armored personnel carriers, body armor, and night-vision equipment. 

    African tacticians also use U.S.-supplied intelligence, including reconnaissance from Raven unmanned drones. Once in-country, they fight alongside Somali National Army troops that draw a salary from Uncle Sam. If wounded, African Union troops will very likely be evacuated aboard U.S.-funded medevac flights.

    A third, unseen and unspoken, pillar of the campaign is direct targeting of enemy leaders. Although sources refused to comment on these attacks, which are carried out by the special operations forces at Camp Lemonnier, Great Satan conducts the same kind of targeted-killing strikes here—reportedly by drone and special operations teams—that it does in Pakistan and Yemen.  

     The next front in the shadow war beckons.

    Pic - "Using a blend of drones, Special Operations Forces and proxy soldiers, Great Satan has rapidly, but quietly escalated her foothold in Africa"
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