| We will either find a way, or make one– Hannibal
http://sputniknews.com/photo/20150630/1024026540.html
yes the US is over invested in short range munitions, why I have been saying we cannot fight a multi front war and Russia, China, Iran know this
http://time.com/3934583/world-war-3/
viewpoint is still a few years off – hopefully so
U.S. and Chinese warships battle at sea, firing everything from cannons to cruise missiles to lasers. Stealthy Russian and American fighter jets dogfight in the air, with robotic drones flying as their wingmen. Hackers in Shanghai and Silicon Valley duel in digital playgrounds. And fights in outer space decide who wins below on Earth. Are theses scenes from a novel or what could actually take place in the real world the day after tomorrow? The answer is both. A U.S.-China war is inevitable” recently warned the Communist Party’s official People’s Daily newspaper after recent military face-offs over rights of passage and artificial islands built in disputed territory. This may be a bit of posturing both for U.S. policymakers and a highly nationalist domestic audience: A 2014 poll by the Perth U.S.-Asia center found that 74% of Chinese think their military would win in a war with the U.S. But it points to how the global context is changing. Many Chinese officers have begun to lament out loud what they call “peace disease,” their term for never having served in combat.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/06/23/beyond-propaganda-legatum-transitions-forum-russia-china-venezuela-syria/
How authoritarian regimes are learning to engineer human souls in the age of Facebook. Today’s autocrats, “illiberal democrats,” and their propagandists have learned how to use phenomena previously associated with democracy — elections, the Internet, the press, the market — to undermine freedoms. They have learned how to disrupt the soft power of liberal democracy with a liquid treatment of ideology. And they do so by using Western technology and Western money. While the EU and the U.S. government decry the disinformation, aggression, and war-mongering on Kremlin TV channels, it is worth keeping in mind that these networks are kept afloat by revenue made from Western advertising.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/uk-weather-britain-facing-mini-5933890#ICID=sharebar_twitter
Britain faces a new ‘mini Ice Age’ like mid 1600s. Climate experts are warning the amount of light and warmth released by the sun is nose-diving to levels “not seen for centuries”. solar activity has already started to decline over the past few years
http://www.ibtimes.com/pakistan-heat-wave-2015-extreme-temperatures-show-countries-unprepared-deal-effects-1982100#.VYxdqGR52WI.twitter
Pakistan Heat Wave 2015: Extreme Temperatures Show Countries Unprepared To Deal With Effects of Global Warming
( its not global warming but a historical weather pattern)
AFGHANISTAN
http://www.rferl.org/content/afghanistan-suicide-bomb-nato-convoy-kabul/27101994.html?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=*AfPak%20Daily%20Brief&utm_campaign=New%20Campaign
Suicide attacks targeted a foreign military convoy and a police headquarters in Afghanistan on June 30, killing at least three and wounding nearly 60 people. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack that targeted the NATO convoy on the Kabul airport road, near the U.S. Embassy.
http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/content/isis-thriving-afghanistan-foreign-intelligence-help-mps
yes they are -Monday while expressing serious concerns over deteriorating security situation in the country said that the self-styled Islamic State (IS) or Daesh group was spreading in the country with the help of foreign intelligence agencies.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/29/us-afghanistan-islamic-state-idUSKCN0P91EN20150629
Fighters loyal to Islamic State have seized substantial territory in Afghanistan for the first time, witnesses and officials said, wresting areas in the east from rival Taliban insurgents in a new threat to stability.
Witnesses who fled fighting in Nangarhar province told Reuters that hundreds of insurgents pledging allegiance to Islamic State pushed out the Taliban, scorching opium poppy fields that help to fund the Taliban’s campaign to overthrow the Afghan government. Lets be real –isis appeals to the younger wannabe fighter.
CHINA
http://www.businessinsider.com/insanity-drug-flakka-is-shockingly-easy-to-obtain-2015-6?utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_source=alerts&nr_email_referer=1
more than 150 Chinese companies sell alpha-PVP, the main ingredient in flakka, on the website guidechem.com, according to the New York Times. There, potential buyers can browse manufacturers of alpha-PVP, send messages, and sometimes even communicate through Skype. synthetic cathinone, similar to “bath salts.” These drugs cause a surge in two chemicals: dopamine, which can cause euphoria, and norepinephrine, which increases heart rate and blood pressure, making us more alert. Excessive use has been linked with feelings of extreme anxiety, paranoia, and hallucinations.
http://blog.yardeni.com/
china has highest saving rate in world – 40 to 50% of take home- record $21 trillion during May. It is up $2 trillion y/y and $12 trillion over the past five years. investors have poured money into the stock market seeking better returns, thus inflating a speculative bubble – just like 1929 with the kennedy pump and dump. However china govt spending around the world is not abating and Xi has broken the promise to the china citizens they would never lose their investment
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/china-plans-launch-yuan-gold-095318339.html?soc_src=mediacontentstory&soc_trk=tw
China plans to launch a yuan-denominated gold fix by the end of 2015 via the Shanghai Gold Exchange (SGE), in a move aimed at giving the world’s biggest bullion producer and consumer more influence over pricing.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/24/us-china-security-idUSKBN0P419S2015062
China to widen draft security law to cover space, sea, polar interests – forgot other dimensions. China would therefore “peacefully explore and exploit” space, international sea bed areas and polar regions, and strengthen the security of “activities, assets and other interests” there. “The principle of Internet sovereignty is a major doctrine for safeguarding national sovereignty and interests,
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2015/06/24/Despite-Its-Roar-China-s-Military-Paper-Tiger
China, however, still could not meet and match the U.S. military on a global battlefront. Beijing lacks the expertise, military doctrine and equipment to do so. The Chinese military has no recent combat experience and, as a consequence, its training regimens are unrealistic.
Beijing’s army, navy and air force may be flush with new equipment, but much of it is based on designs that Chinese government hackers and agents stole from the United States and other countries. Most of it has never been exposed to the rigors of actual combat, so it’s unclear how well it would actually work.
http://sputniknews.com/africa/20150625/1023858381.html
China is looking to install its military base in Djibouti’s northern Obock region, which means it will overlook the US military installations there.
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/1407686-chinese-military-officially-shifts-focus-to-cyberwarfare-and-space-warfare/
In the Chinese regime’s first official military guidelines under its current leader, Xi Jinping, it shifted its focus to “winning informationized local wars.”
In the new strategy, “Space and cyber domains are described as becoming the ‘commanding heights of strategic competition.
http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20150628000072&cid=1101&MainCatID=0
we are dealing with the paranoid. Unconfirmed reports on various websites in China claim the People’s Liberation Army possesses a neutron bomb and would use it as a last resort against a potential US invasion, Duowei News, a news outlet run by overseas Chinese reported on June 26.
http://sofrep.com/41869/chinas-unrestricted-warfare-pt-1/#.VZGpZxxhj1Y.twitter
recent OPM hack has highlighted (again) Chinese strategic opposition to the United States. While the Chinese use of cyber and economic warfare is no surprise to anyone who has been paying attention, it may well be worthwhile to look into some of the literature the Chinese People’s Liberation Army has produced on the subject. As our own Coriolanus has pointed out, the Chinese have announced everything they’ve done; it’s just been overlooked in the mass of documentation and communication (with too few Mandarin speakers to sift through it), or it hasn’t fallen into our set categories.
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-grand-design-of-chinas-new-trade-routes-2015-6
strategy behind the Belt and Road Initiative is to diversify transit lines, thereby mitigating China’s vulnerability to external economic disruption and reinvigorating China’s slowing economy. China’s ideal would be to link its inland cities to global markets with a diversified network of transit routes and energy pipelines, many of which would take inland routes and serve as alternatives to existing sea-lanes. strategic value of these corridors will be realized in the long term as the routes become fully linked. Belt and Road infrastructure would greatly complicate potential U.S. plans to impose a distant blockade. Inland transit routes would naturally be insulated against naval interdiction, and the proliferation of short maritime transit legs would force the U.S. Navy to spread its assets over a large expanse rather than concentrate on a small number of chokepoints. In peacetime, these options would enhance China’s political leverage by preventing any individual country from threatening to disrupt China’s economic lifelines
SOUTH CHINA
http://thediplomat.com/2015/06/chinas-hd-981-oil-rig-returns-to-disputed-south-china-sea-waters/
China’s Haiyang Shiyou 981 (HD-981) oil rig—the centerpiece of last summer’s clashes between Vietnam and China—was being redeployed off the coast of China’s Hainan Island, in waters where the disputed exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of Vietnam and China overlap and west of the disputed Paracel Islands
http://thediplomat.com/2015/06/how-china-practices-the-invasion-of-taiwan/
Recent Chinese military maneuvers in the Bashi Channel had only one purpose – practice for invasion of Taiwan. PLA also announced that it will double the number of its Amphibious Mechanized Infantry Divisions (AMID) from two to four (see: “China Just Doubled the Size of Its Amphibious Mechanized Infantry Divisions”). Total manpower in the AMIDs will soon be around 52,000 – 60,000, up from 30,000. These new amphibious forces are meant to complement the roughly 20,000 strong elite PLA Marine Corps in future conflicts with Taiwan. PLA is capable of accomplishing various amphibious operations short of a full-scale invasion of Taiwan. With few overt military preparations beyond routine training, China could launch an invasion of small Taiwan-held islands in the South China Sea such as Pratas or Itu Aba. A PLA invasion of a medium-sized, better defended offshore island such as Matsu or Jinmen is within China’s capabilities.
http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/06/23/south_china_sea_beijing_retreat_new_strategy/
China has far greater ambitions for the region than just reclaiming some tiny islands. South China Sea reclamation project has ceased to be a core interest of Chinese foreign policy – China, according to Carter, has reclaimed more than 2,000 acres over the last 18 months — a claim that Beijing has not publicly disputed. And the facilities Beijing will continue to build on the new land — including airstrips, ports, and lighthouses — will be sufficient for a wide range of civil and military purposes. Can you say forward projection points.
http://www.businessinsider.com/japan-may-join-us-in-south-china-sea-2015-6
Japan has signalled its potential willingness to join US forces in patrols throughout the region. Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines all have military bases within the South China Sea on islands that those countries control
http://thediplomat.com/2015/06/japan-the-philippines-new-best-friend/
Philippines has come to rely on an external partner other than the United States.”- Japan. Phillipines has chosen to forget ww2 history for its mutual benefit.
http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?cid=1101&MainCatID=11&id=20150625000114
J-11 (su27 clone) fighters likely to be deployed in South China Sea. Can go up against f-16 but not f-22
CYBER-WARFARE
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/china-crosses-obamas-cyber-red-line/2015/06/29/5717f7da-1e55-11e5-84d5-eb37ee8eaa61_story.html
April 1, Obama drew a cyber “red line” in the sand when he signed an executive order authorizing sanctions against individuals or entities who carry out cyberattacks or cyberespionage against the United States. OPM hack most devastating cyberattack in the history of our country. One retired four-star general and cybersecurity expert described the OPM hack as a “Cyber 9/11.” Stolen OPM data reportedly has been found for sale on the “dark net ” — the online network used by criminals and terrorists across the globe.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/federal-eye/wp/2015/06/23/usis-cyberattack-may-have-been-more-widespread-than-previously-known/?postshare=4291435163352058
why is info on the severity of the attack dribbling out? massive cyberattack last year on the federal contractor that conducted background investigations for security clearances may have been even more widespread than previously known, affecting the police force that protects Congress and an intelligence agency that helped track down Osama bin Laden.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/06/24/hackers-stole-secrets-of-u-s-government-workers-sex-lives.html?via=desktop&source=twitter
senior U.S. official has confirmed that foreign hackers compromised the intimate personal details of an untold number of government workers. Likely included in the hackers’ haul: information about workers’ sexual partners, drug and alcohol abuse, debts, gambling compulsions, marital troubles, and any criminal activity. Foreign spies would have unprecedented advantage against their U.S. adversaries. And the news is especially bad for people who hold the highest levels of clearance, which require more rigorous background checks, noted Adams, the computer security expert. “The higher up you go in your sensitivity levels, the more data that’s in your adjudication file,” he said.
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/u-s-power-grid-being-hit-with-increasing-hacking-attacks-government-warns
Major attacks on the U.S. power grid system are “increasing,” with hackers stepping up efforts to penetrate critical systems and to implant malicious software that could compromise the power grid and result in a nationwide crisis, according to a government report. Everyone needs to be prepared to be without power
ECONOMICS
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-30/the-world-s-richest-people-lost-70-billion-yesterday
world’s 400 richest people lost a combined $70 billion on Monday as equity markets around the globe were hammered on fears about Greece and declines in China fueled by leveraged investors exiting the market – average decline of $175 million, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest person and the world’s 59th-richest, was one of only 12 billionaires among the 400 to increase their fortunes on the day, rising $180 million to $15.3 billion. Dangote Cement rose 2.35 percent..
http://www.businessinsider.com/charts-eu-economy-is-bigger-than-the-us-2015-6?nr_email_referer=1&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Markets Chart Of The Day&utm_campaign=Post Blast (moneygame)%3A Europe is
why Greece and EU matter, – eu as a whole is a bigger economy than us or china- while Greece has little direct impact on the US, stabilizing the massive EU economy should still be a huge concern for Americans and the rest of the world.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/for-bis-greeces-omission-is-a-graphic-error-1435352329?cb=logged0.1439965506429095
Is Greece already out of EU? Greek director and Greece itself not noted for BIS (bank of international settlements)
The eurozone has already lost Greece. At least, that’s what a map included in the Bank for International Settlements’ annual report appeared to show when it was first published.
The graphic is part of a chapter that looks at the failures of the international monetary and financial system—which it defines as “the arrangements governing transactions in goods, services and financial instruments among countries.” Answer – Map in Bank for International Settlements’ annual report inadvertently leaves out several countries
http://business.financialpost.com/news/economy/greeces-debt-crisis-adds-to-a-string-of-similar-global-financial-meltdowns?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+FP_TopStories+%28Financial+Post+-+Top+Stories%29
today with global eco stress is almost like the early 30s, Greece is not unique but will have a much larger impact than predecessors in the default zone . “Until a few days ago, the consensus was that Tsipras was playing a game here and that, given his reputation, he would wait until the last minute to sign something. Now, the market is not so sure.” IF DOES NOT LEAVE EU Greece — and the rest of the nervous world — can look back with a bit of hope at other countries, and entire regions in some cases, that returned from the breach and survived, if only gradually and perhaps still tentatively.
http://www.rferl.org/content/russia-greece-debt-talks/27100838.html
Lavrov has expressed hope that Brussels will avoid “negative scenarios” over Greece. Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Lavrov spoke by telephone to his Greek counterpart. “expressed his understanding of the actions by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s government” and the hope that “Greece will be able to overcome the current problems.” Both reaffirmed their countries’ interest in extending the planned Turkish Stream gas pipeline to Europe through Greek territory. And why Greece is playing the game, the have a plan b suitor AND planning to go back to the drachma
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/30/eurozone-greece-drachma-idUSL8N0ZG1WX20150630
left-wing government had a team preparing the ground for a return to the drachma, a prospect many Greeks fear would bring chaos. Tsipras angrily dismissed the claim as “fantasy”
t would take over a year to produce a new currency. It takes at least one to one and a half years to set up a currency from scratch,”
Out of about $350 billion in Greek debt outstanding, only around $14 billion is owed to U.S. banks.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/06/29/the-greek-debt-crisis-and-crashing-markets/#.VZK8WrErKRs.twitter
Eurozone financial strategists made it clear that they wanted to make an example of Syriza as a warning to Spain’s Potemos party, and anti-euro parties in Italy and France. The message was supposed to have been, “Avoid our austerity and we will cause chaos. Look at Greece.” Finance has shown itself to be the new mode of warfare. Resisting debt leverage and financial conquest is as legal as is resisting military invasion.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/30/us-eurozone-greece-idUSKBN0P40EO20150630
GREECE DEFAULTS -made last-minute overtures to its international creditors for financial aid on Tuesday, but it was not enough to save the country from becoming the first developed economy to default on a loan with the International Monetary Fund. till, in a sign that European officials have not given up on finding a solution for Greece, finance ministers said they would confer on Wednesday over Tsipras’ latest loan request, effectively coming back to the negotiating table.
Sources said the officials are expected to discuss on Wednesday Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ request for the new two-year loan to pay debts that amount to nearly 30 billion euros. Tsipras is also seeking debt restructuring, an issue on which lenders have so far been reluctant to compromise.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/30/us-usa-puertorico-idUSKCN0P91QA20150630?feedType=RSS&feedName=businessNews
pr 73BN in the hole
fiscal problems are much worse than assumed and that the island needs to restructure its debts because tax rises and spending cuts alone would not be enough of a fix.
Bondholders, even those who own government debt that is generally regarded as sacrosanct, would have to take a hit under the report’s recommendations. The report recommended a debt restructure via a voluntary exchange of existing bonds for new ones with a longer or lower debt service profile. This is not the only place bondholders will get screwed by a “SAFE” investment
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/puerto-rico-poses-bigger-threat-to-us-investors-than-greece-2015-06-30
U.S. investors would actually have much more to lose in a potential Puerto Rican default than in a Greek default. The reason is that Puerto Rico’s bonds are trading in the U.S. municipal bond market, while the vast majority of Greek debt is in the hands of the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and eurozone countries. 60% owned by investors – rest by hedge funds and other crossover investors.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/11704051/The-world-is-defenseless-against-the-next-financial-crisis-warns-BIS.html
Monetary policymakers have run out of room to fight the next crisis with interest rates unable to go lower, the BIS warns- world is defenceless against the next financial crisis,
BIS said that the current turmoil in Greece typified the kind of “toxic mix” of private and public debt being used as a solution to economic problems, rather than making the proper commitment “to badly needed” structural reforms –
policymakers must now focus on the supply side of the economy, introducing the right reforms, rather than continue to lean on debt which will inevitably undermine growth.
EUROPEAN IMMIGRATION
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/travel-chaos-deepens-as-striking-french-workers-close-port-of-calais-and-invade-channel-tunnel-10339040.html
Eurotunnel and ferry services suspended as striking French workers close port of Calais and invade tunnel
http://news.yahoo.com/europe-identity-risk-migrant-tensions-rise-italy-100641705.html?soc_src=mediacontentstory&soc_trk=tw
Europe needs to find a solution to the migrant crisis or risk losing its identity, Italy’s Matteo Renzi warned Wednesday ahead of a key EU summit, as tensions rose over the asylum issue. EU end game is to eliminate nationality for a congruent eu with one leader, etc – forced immigration will help to eliminate that identity.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/how-militancy-and-desperation-collided-to-plunge-calais-into-chaos-after-migrants-took-advantage-of-port-workers-wildcat-strike-10340532.html
hundreds of desperate migrants attempted to board UK-bound lorries while taking advantage of a wildcat strike by Calais port workers-they would rather be in England than mainland Europe. Tensions mounted further as the deputy mayor of Calais blamed the British Government for the number of people trying to board lorries. Philippe Mignonet told the BBC: “We will block the port – as simple as that. We’ll arrange to block the tunnel if nothing is done.”
http://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2015/06/iraqi-army-no-longer-exists/114607/
public sources reported some fourteen divisions in the Iraqi Army in 2014. Between three and five were destroyed in Mosul, leaving nine. At most one was defending Ramadi. Where were the rest? Indeed, where are they now? How is it that Shiite militias must be called upon to liberate Ramadi
ISIS: RAMADAN
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/us-troops-face-eating-drinking-restrictions-during-ramadan_979081.html#.VY67XxsOokU.twitter
op commander in southwest Asia reminded U.S military personnel stationed in Muslim countries in the Middle East of the restrictions placed on them during Ramadan
http://washington.cbslocal.com/2015/06/22/devin-nunes-us-threat-level/#.VYn7u81BCnk.twitter
chairman of the House Intelligence Committee warns that America is dealing with “the highest threat level we have ever faced in this country.” threat is coming from the radicalization of young people and foreign fighters heading to Iraq and Syria to join terror groups. We have the reason for a threat notification so where is the notification?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3144666/The-FBI-setting-command-centers-nation-monitor-terror-threats-Fourth-July.html
yes Houston has cmd center. experts claim the countries ISIS has announced as targets are England, France, Italy, Spain, the United States, the Caucuses region of southern Russia, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Iran, Yemen, Afghanistan and Pakistan. Now the terror group will capitalize on religious tension and war to plunge as much of the world into chaos as it can by August 18, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) says.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/23/us-mideast-crisis-ramadan-idUSKBN0P31YH20150623
Islamic State urged its followers on Tuesday to escalate attacks against Christians, Shi’ites and Sunni Muslims fighting with a U.S.-led coalition against the ultra-radical group. Jihadists should turn the holy month of Ramadan, which began last week, into a time of “calamity for the infidels … Shi’ites and apostate Muslims”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3141497/Ramadan-lots-surprises-chilling-threats-ISIS-social-media-accounts-Tunisia-attack.html
I will come to Tunisia this summer. Already there.
203 dead overall in 3 continents with 3 attacks
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/06/a-massacre-on-a-beach/396929/
isis did claim Tunisia and attack on mosque in Kuwait
http://www.ibtimes.com/shiite-mosque-attack-kuwait-engulfed-regional-sectarianism-suicide-attack-against-1986143#.VY3PA8q_wyQ.twitter
While previous attacks have been leveled against the minority group in Gulf states where sectarian tensions between Sunnis and Shiites have surged, as they have in Saudi Arabia and Yemen, the attack on Kuwait City’s Imam Sadiq Mosque is remarkable for taking place in a country that has been largely shielded from such tensions.
ISIS
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3142555/Walmart-store-bakes-man-ISIS-cake-refusing-ice-Confederate-flag-design.html
isis ok, rebel flag with heritage without hatred a no go
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3143297/Cameron-tells-BBC-stop-using-Islamic-State-barbarous-terror-group-threatening-British-way-life.htm
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/britain-secret-agents-working-inside-5976771
so why does Brit intel suck worse than US? ISIS leadership could be surgically removed via hits and then b-52 run the leaderless fighters as they congregate fighting it out. Problem is like the hydra , a new head will appear but the numbers will be more manageable
http://understandingwar.org/backgrounder/isis-declares-governorate-russia%E2%80%99s-north-caucasus-region
ISIS indeed announced the creation of a new governorate, called Wilayat Qawqaz (Caucasus) in the region on June 23, 2015, after several senior militants in the area pledged allegiance to ISIS. The announcement pits ISIS against the Islamic Emirate of the Caucasus, an official al-Qaeda affiliate that has operated in the mountainous region of southwestern Russia since 2007. ISIS has been setting conditions to establish this governorate in support of its regional expansion campaign since at least January 2015
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/24/us-mideast-crisis-syria-idUSKBN0P40VJ20150624
Kurdish militia leading an attack on Islamic State strongholds in Syria so far has no plan to extend the assault to the group’s de facto capital of Raqqa city, and such an advance should be led by Syrian rebels, a Kurdish leader said on Wednesday.
A fractionalized force cannot be successful against a unified force like ISIS.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/23/us-mideast-crisis-iraq-refinery-idUSKBN0P31KM20150623
Iraqi army and police commanders leading an ongoing battle for control of the country’s biggest refinery say they cannot defeat Islamic State unless they change tactics to better cope with the insurgents’ guerrilla warfare techniques. Islamic State commanders can also rely on zealous insurgents who would rather die than withdraw. Only way to defeat isis is to go asymmetrical but not capable
http://www.meforum.org/5317/turkey-isis#.VZHCRXCEOqM.twitter
Turkey’s Islamist government has had rational reasons to support discreetly its own Frankenstein monster: the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) inship diverges over methodology rather than objectives. But there is also a pragmatic attachment built on a shared obsession with common enemies. The Shiites whom ISIS militants love to slaughter are privately viewed by Turkey’s Sunni supremacists as heretics (therefore, infidels). Likewise, Ankara views Syria’s Kurds as a major security threat. The Turkish government believed that investing in ISIS (and its brothers in arms such as Ahrar ash-Sham and an-Nusra Front) would facilitate the downfall of Syrian president Bashar Assad, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s friend-turned-nemesis. They miscalculated, and thus began Turkey’s own Frankenstein story. I think this is the tip of the iceberg and there is something even more sinister here.
ISRAEL & ME
http://news.yahoo.com/islamic-state-threatens-topple-hamas-gaza-203927884.html
Islamic State insurgents threatened on Tuesday to turn the Gaza Strip into another of their Middle East fiefdoms, accusing Hamas, the organization that rules the Palestinian territory, of being insufficiently stringent about religious enforcement.
The rule of sharia (Islamic law) will be implemented in Gaza, in spite of you. We swear that what is happening in the Levant today, and in particular the Yarmouk camp, will happen in Gaza,” he said, referring to Islamic State advances in Syria, including in a Damascus district founded by Palestinian refugees.
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/israeli-defense-minister-says-israel-is-helping-selected-rebel-groups-in-syria/
helping the druze and giving warnings
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/197212#.VZMaxEaqG8A
once close allies until Erdogan came one the scene. Turkey on Wednesday said it was holding talks with Israel over a deal to reconcile the two former allies following a break in relations spurred on by Turkey’s Islamist leadership.
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2015/06/29/418023/Turkey-Syria-Sanliurfa-Karkamis-Oncupinar-ISIL-Kur
Amid talk of a potential Turkish military intervention in Syria, the Turkish military is deploying tanks to the common border to create a “military buffer zone” there.
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13940407000905
iran in support of turkey – hatred since the time of darius the great
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Security-Watch/Backchannels/2015/0629/With-Cairo-assassination-Egypt-s-cycle-of-violence-turns-darker-video
Egypt’s general prosecutor and nine other people were killed by a massive car bomb Monday in one of Cairo’s wealthiest and most heavily policed districts, and judging by video of the aftermath, it’s something of a miracle that more aren’t dead
A wave of repression by the Sisi regime the past two years has been matched by a rise in Islamist attacks. Following the car bomb in Cairo Monday, both sides are likely to up the ante.
http://globalpublicpolicywatch.org/2015/06/21/kurdish-struggles/
chaos caused by ISIS in Iraq and Syria has created opportunities for Kurdish actors to increase their strength politically. As new developments take hold, the on-going saga bears implications for Turkey, Iraq, Syria and of course Iraqi Kurdistan, which hopes to emerge as a new autonomous state from those crumbling around it.
LATIN AMERICA
http://www.breitbart.com/texas/2015/06/25/exclusive-11500-us-visas-stolen-in-mexico/
truck jacked in mexico just south of Matamoros- bound for the U.S. consulates in Monterrey and Guadalajara -able to steal
http://www.ibtimes.com/pope-francis-us-visit-2015-catholic-leader-fly-direct-cuba-washington-dc-september-22-1990081
Pope going to fly direct to us from cuba in September – first stop on Francis’ tour of the U.S. will be Washington, where he expects meeting with President Barack Obama. He will then travel to New York and Philadelphia. Francis will address the U.S. Congress while in Washington, making him the first pope to do so. Embassies opening up next wekk
http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/The-Growing-Sino-Latin-Energy-Relationship.html
China leverages many of these dependencies and unbalanced relationships to reap annual discounts in the area of 10 to 15 percent, below the discounted costs expected for varying crude grades. For instance, in 2013, China’s average cost per barrel globally was $106, whereas their average cost per barrel from Venezuela was $89, a 16 percent discount from the average. economic problems in places like Venezuela work to China’s benefit – it can extend a financial lifeline to an economically embattled regime in exchange for cheap oil.
Chinese energy investments in Latin America should be expected to grow further, continuing to eclipse other sectors, except for select agricultural items. This combination of geopolitical imperatives, profitability, diversification, and the slow evaporation of a key Latin American export market, all point to increased Chinese energy investments to the region, resulting in potential outsized gains to companies positioned there. The region’s oil producers have little alternative other than to continue to shift to Asia.
SAUDI ARABIA
http://www.businessinsider.com/iran-and-saudi-arabia-heading-towards-cyber-war-2015-6?utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_source=alerts&nr_email_referer=1
Iran and sa are already in a cyber war. Cyber attacks are the new softening the target attacks along with gathering intel
http://www.timesofisrael.com/leaked-saudi-memo-claims-iran-sent-nuke-equipment-to-sudan/
Iran shipped advanced nuclear equipment to Sudan in 2012, according to a leaked document purportedly written by diplomats at the Saudi Arabian embassy in Khartoum at the time. Embassy’s sources advised that Iranian containers arrived this week at Khartoum airport containing sensitive technical equipment in the form of fast centrifuges for enriching uranium, and a second shipment is expected to arrive this week
http://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/What-Would-A-Saudi-Russian-Partnership-Mean-For-World-Energy.html
Putin met Saudi Prince Mohammad in St. Petersburg on June 18 at a meeting in which Saudi Arabia and Russia, the world’s leading two oil giants, decided to form a working group for joint energy project. Why are the two biggest producers of oil in the world now cooperating
http://www.wsj.com/articles/saudi-officials-linked-to-jihadist-group-in-wikileaks-cables-1435529198
Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. ally in the Middle East, had high-level contacts with America’s most deadly adversary in Afghanistan, the Haqqani network, according to purported Saudi diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks. Haqqani network is believed by U.S. and Afghan officials to be responsible for carrying out the most brazen attacks in the Afghan capital over the last decade, including a September 2011 attack on the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. This month, Afghan officials blamed the Haqqani network for an unsuccessful attempt to storm the parliament in Kabul.
SYRIA
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/world/Putin+calls+Middle+East+nations+unite+behind+Assad+fight/11176178/story.html
being a uniter not a divider and being in contradiction to SA’s stated intent – taking down Assad. What did Russia give SA for them to give up Assad? Syrian fm l-Moallem said he was assured that “Russia will continue to help Syria politically, economically and militarily.”
http://www.ibtimes.com/turkey-considering-sending-troops-syria-fight-syrian-kurds-isis-report-1987157#.VZLHUyOLSzQ.twitter
Turkey will send troops to Syria to protect its border where Syrian Kurds have made significant gains in the past month, several Turkish media outlets reported Sunday. The Turkish government gave its military the directive to increase support to Syrian rebels on the border, something the army has agreed to do on the condition that diplomatic issues with allies were ironed out.
UKRAINE
http://www.businessinsider.com/russian-fighter-pilots-shot-flares-at-swedish-jets-2015
Sweden’s top military commander says Russian fighter pilots are behaving in an increasingly aggressive manner in northern Europe, flying dangerously close to Swedish Air Force jets and in some cases even releasing flares at them.
http://sputniknews.com/europe/20150622/1023676186.html
erman armed forces are 30 percent underequipped and will need years to bring their lacking arsenals up to speed, Lt. General Bruno Kasdorf, Inspector of the German Army, warned in a radio interview on Sunday.
http://www.ibtimes.com/russia-boost-military-presence-western-border-over-20-attack-helicopters-end-2015-1989617
bringing in the HIND and other tank killers
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2015/06/30/russian-military-base-reportedly-found-in-ukraine-detailed-in-this-drone-video/
yes Russia has a base in Ukraine and its expanding
top NATO commander, Air Force Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, said last week that the border between Ukraine and Russia is “wide open,” and Moscow’s military action in the region is carefully orchestrated to keep pressure on Ukraine from aligning too closely with the West. There is a “constant flow” of troops and equipment across the border, he added.
RUSSIA
http://www.businessinsider.com/russia-reviews-baltic-states-independence-2015-6?utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_source=alerts&nr_email_referer=1
Russia is going to review whether or not it was legal for the Soviet Union to recognize the Baltic states as independent nearly 25 years ago, according to a report by Interfax. Russian Prosecutor General’s office began checking the legality of the recognition of the independence of the Baltics. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania were Soviet republics until the dissolution of the USSR back in 1991. The report comes one week after the transfer of Crimea to Ukraine in 1954 — back when Nikita Khrushchev was in power — was declared unconstitutional
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-29/putin-allies-aided-russian-mafia-in-spain-prosecutors-say
Some of Vladimir Putin’s closest allies, including the chairman of OAO Gazprom, a deputy premier and two former ministers, helped one of Russia’s largest criminal groups operate out of Spain for more than a decade, prosecutors in Madrid say.
Members of St. Petersburg’s Tambov crime syndicate moved into Spain in 1996, when Putin was deputy mayor of the former czarist capital, to launder proceeds from their illicit activities, Juan Carrau and Jose Grinda wrote in a petition to the Central Court on May 29, a copy of which was obtained by Bloomberg News. Putin himself is mentioned by name three times in the document, including in a partial transcript of a call between two alleged Tambov operatives in 2007.
http://www.brookings.edu/research/reports2/2015/01/mr-putin putin as a young kgb agent in Dresden. No clear clue what he really did but at the end of the day, he was no super star. Interesting how Primakov was like his god father.
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/eastring-vs-balkan-stream-battle-greece/ri8379
Russia wasn’t bluffing when it said that Turkish Stream would be the only route for Ukrainian-diverted gas shipments after 2019 , and after dillydallying in disbelief for over six critical months, the EU has only now come to its senses and is desperately trying to market a geopolitical alternative.
Russia wants to extend the Turkish Stream through Greece, Macedonia, and Serbia, in a project that the author has previously labelled as “ Balkan Stream. EU wants to scrap the Central Balkan route and replace it with one along the Eastern Balkans via Bulgaria and Romania, the so-called “Eastring” line.
YEMEN
http://nationalinterest.org/feature/doomed-saudi-arabia-will-fail-yemen-13176
air power without courage on the ground is a stalemate. Saudi Arabia and its coalition of Arab and African countries appears to be taking the same path as the failed imperial policies of the 1960s. What emerged from the Scud missile debacle was that an American team is operating a Patriot missile defense system in the vicinity of the King Khalid Air Base, which is also the command center for the U.S. drone campaign in the region. It has been reported that several of the fired Scud missiles were intercepted by U.S. Patriot missiles, the first instance where American forces and Houthis exchanged fire, albeit indirectly. Additionally, the U.S. Air Force has been providing Saudi-coalition planes with satellite imagery and intelligence related to Houthi targets. The emergence of these details has reinforced a propaganda line reiterated on the Houthi cable channel al-Masirah that refers to the Saudi coalition as the “Saudi-American coalition.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/29/us-yemen-security-missile-idUSKCN0P92T620150629
Yemeni forces launched a Scud at the Al Sulayyil missile base in Riyadh province
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/30/us-yemen-security-prison-idUSKCN0PA2JZ20150630
More al queda for the houthi to deal with after a jail break
Al Qaeda and other hardline Sunni groups condemn the Houthis as apostates worthy of death, and the two groups are fighting each other in several areas in central Yemen. |
