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Today: 53 articles and 152 comments as of 23:37.
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Area: WoT Operations    WoT Background    Non-WoT        Politix   
Ballistic missile intercepted over Saudi Arabia capital Riyadh just seconds before it slammed into royal palace
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 4: Opinion
19 22:04 trailing wife [8] 
4 13:57 newc [5] 
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3 12:01 Gleatch Ulese7439 [4] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
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3 10:57 Bright Pebbles [5]
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2 18:00 Glenmore [15]
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3 10:14 Bright Pebbles [5]
4 20:18 Frank G [7]
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Page 2: WoT Background
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6 20:07 Rivrdog [11]
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4 22:55 Grunter [5]
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Page 3: Non-WoT
1 13:46 Vast Right Wing Conspiracy [5]
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4 10:09 Abu Uluque [7]
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5 13:44 Anguper Hupomosing9418 [5]
1 13:25 Skidmark [6]
4 13:48 Anguper Hupomosing9418 [5]
Page 6: Politix
11 18:26 Injun Bucket8891 [10]
2 09:41 gorb [4]
7 14:57 OregonGuy [5]
3 11:37 Iblis [4]
4 08:34 g(r)omgoru [5]
-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Podcast: Jack Devine on his three decade career in the CIA | SOFREP Radio
[SOFREPNews] I just have got to say it, this may be one of the most interesting guests to ever come on the podcast. When it comes to taking part in CIA operations that have truly influenced the course of modern-day American history, and world history at large, few have the experience of Mr. Jack Devine. Starting his career with the Agency from the late 60’s and into the 90’s, Jack was there for major global events like Iran-Contra, the fall of Chile’s President, and the fight to push the Soviets out of Afghanistan. Jack was also a close personal friend of Charlie Wilson who he describes as a patriot, and labels the film “Charlie Wilson’s War” to be much more a work of fiction than most would have you believe.

We get Devine’s take on current events and figures like Edward Snowden, the investigation of former FBI director Robert Mueller, as well as the Iran nuclear deal and the dangers of a nuclear capable North Korea. Devine is currently the President of The Arkin Group, and his latest book is “Good Hunting: An American Spymaster’s Story.” You’ll hear the shift Jack has seen of former CIA veterans going public, as well as the scary trend of guys with phony credentials claiming CIA experience and being given major platforms in the media. Strap in, because you’re about to learn a whole lot from this man.
Set aside 1:26:19. The gentleman has a great deal to say.
Posted by: newc || 12/19/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Some of the SOFREP episodes are very informative.
Some only confirm what you already knew.

As for a news organization, they have come a long way. This particular one was exceptional. If you have time to listen, it clears up lots of things that have been spoken of on the Burg.
Posted by: newc || 12/19/2017 0:31 Comments || Top||

#2  I would be remiss if I did not add EP299 -

Derek Gannon breaks down the history of US military involvement in Africa

The best breakdown of Africa SPECOPS I have heard aside of the John Bachelor show.
Posted by: newc || 12/19/2017 0:35 Comments || Top||

#3  Excellent interview. A key takeaway may have been Devine's lament over the politicization at the Director levels of CIA/FBI, senior political appointments as it were.

With regard to his denial of agency involvement in the illicit duel-use of agency cargo aircraft in Central America and elsewhere, some seasoning may be required.

Scotto article dated 15 Dec 2017. Actual Devine interview not dated, but it's always important to note what is not discussed. Christopher Steele... not discussed. Bruce and Nellie Ohr would have been rich topical entries, but news on them probably broke post-interview.

Thanks for posting newc. I'll give it 3 Klingons.

Posted by: Besoeker || 12/19/2017 6:35 Comments || Top||

#4  LOL @ 3 Klingons!
Posted by: newc || 12/19/2017 13:57 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
Chinese experts: War on Korean Peninsula may come sooner than later
[UPI] Chinese regional experts have warned that an outbreak of war on the Korean Peninsula looks likelier than ever, despite Seoul and Beijing's agreement last week that such a conflict cannot be tolerated.

Chinese daily Global Times quoted Shi Yinhong, Professor of Renmin University, who said, "The possibility of war breaking out on the Korean peninsula has become the highest in several decades," pointing to the "vicious cycle of threats" between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Shi said that that China can only delay an all-out clash between them as it is too late to turn the situation around. "China only delay war, hoping that the detonator of the time bomb that is North Korea can be removed," he said.
How dreadfully passive voice, to be sure. And who is to bell the cat that China hand-reared from a kitten?
Wang Hongguang, former Deputy Commander of the Nanjing Military Region suggested war could occur much earlier than expected, Chosun Ilbo reported.

"It could break out tonight. It may come before March next year when South Korea and the United States begin their annual military exercise," he said.

Wang cited a local newspaper article that provided a guideline for Chinese citizens in case of a nuclear explosion, saying this was "a signal conveyed to the North telling it to prepare for the coming war."

Putting aside the timing, Professor of Nanjing University Zhu Feng believes Beijing must brace itself for war.

As tensions continue to escalate in the region, a "soft-landing" solution is impossible, he said, adding that "China must prepare psychologically and practically for a nuclear conflict, a radioactive fallout and an atomic explosion."

Last week, the Chinese navy began conducting a four-day live-fire exercise off North Korean waters while the air force held simulated anti-missile drills with Russia, South China Morning Post reported.

The joint exercise was aimed at repelling ballistic and cruise missile threats in the region, according to Beijing's defense ministry.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/19/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Actually some low level propaganda for the proletariat laying the groundwork for Chinese action against NORK.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom || 12/19/2017 9:08 Comments || Top||

#2  It's their little dog. They should be the ones to do something about it.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 12/19/2017 9:44 Comments || Top||

#3 
Posted by: Gleatch Ulese7439 || 12/19/2017 12:01 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Rush: Source Sez POTUS Telling People Mueller to Issue Letter Exonerating President of Wrongdoing
[Breitbart] Monday on his nationally syndicated radio show, conservative talker Rush Limbaugh told his listeners he received an email with a "rumor" saying President Donald Trump was forecasting a letter from special counsel Robert Mueller exonerating him of wrongdoing.

Mueller has been investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

"I’ll tell you ‐ I just heard a rumor," Limbaugh said. "I just got an email with a rumor in it. The rumor is that Trump is telling people that Mueller is preparing a letter that exonerates Trump of any wrongdoing in all of this. It’s a rumor. I do not know if it’s true. I don’t know if Trump knows this. I don’t know if somebody told Trump this. I don’t know if it’s bogus. But the email that I got suggests Trump is telling people that he thinks ‐ he’s pretty sure Mueller is going to write a letter pretty soon to assure the American people that their president is not guilty of anything that he’s looking into ‐ that the country needs to know their president isn’t guilty.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/19/2017 04:42 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  DOJ/FBI casualties mounting, no end in sight. Mueller to soon stop digging and move on. Victory letter and Wolf Blitzer interview to follow. Making plans to resume retirement, adopt rescue dog, go Walleye fishing in the Spring. Possibly write fly tying book.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/19/2017 4:53 Comments || Top||

#2  Sarcasm or optimism, Besoeker? Because, to be candid, that much optimism coming from you is scary.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/19/2017 5:00 Comments || Top||

#3  Who send that email? I can type up an email with all kind of BS and send it in, doesn't mean any of it is true.

I suspect he or one of his assistants might have fabricated this email and send it to himself just so he can report on it. A major clue, look at how many weasel words he used.
Posted by: Seeking cure for ignorance || 12/19/2017 5:38 Comments || Top||

#4  So, at this point it's not even smoke. It's someone talking about smoke. Meh.
Posted by: ed in texas || 12/19/2017 9:18 Comments || Top||

#5  Rush: Source Sez POTUS Telling People Mueller to Issue Letter Exonerating President of Wrongdoing

This will just encourage the left to drag it out hoping to avoid just such an embarrassment.
Posted by: gorb || 12/19/2017 9:38 Comments || Top||

#6  Such a letter might be a face saving way for Mueller to get himself and the people who put him there out of this mess with a minimum of damage.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 12/19/2017 9:57 Comments || Top||

#7  ...or a minimum of jail time.
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 12/19/2017 9:58 Comments || Top||

#8  The left has pinned their last vestiges of hope on some kind of Mueller indictment. If this is true I hope Pharmacies around the nation are well stocked in anti-depressants.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 12/19/2017 11:58 Comments || Top||

#9  How often are the breathlessly reported rumours about President Trump wrong? I’ll think about this when something actually happens — I haven't the energy for rumours..
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/19/2017 12:56 Comments || Top||

#10  I remember the show the Untouchables. Elliot Ness was FBI and a hero. What is being done by Muller and Clapper has made me start to question the honesty of all the people in Washington and particularly the justice system . COVFEFE
Posted by: CC || 12/19/2017 13:49 Comments || Top||

#11  I’ll think about this when something actually happens — I haven't the energy for rumours..

Indeed. I don't even believe the weather report any more. Still, sometimes these things can be useful from a traffic analysis standpoint - who is talking about what and why are they trying to sell this.

By the way, I hear AF is out of water.
Posted by: SteveS || 12/19/2017 14:50 Comments || Top||

#12  SteveS: I was midway through your post before I realized what you did there.....
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 12/19/2017 15:54 Comments || Top||

#13  By the way, I hear AF is out of water.

Is this a reference to breaking the Japanese code in WW II?
Posted by: gorb || 12/19/2017 16:03 Comments || Top||

#14  Contra Trump’s Expectations, Mueller’s Probe Could Last Another Year
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/19/2017 16:51 Comments || Top||

#15  Of course it will last another year - they have to damage the GOP in the congressional and senate races in 2018.
Posted by: Injun Bucket8891 || 12/19/2017 18:02 Comments || Top||

#16  Is this a reference to breaking the Japanese code in WW II?

Yeah. The attack on Midway

tl;dr: Station HYPO sent orders to Midway by cable to broadcast a radio message that the island's desalinization plant had broken down. The radio message was broadcast without encryption to ensure that Japan could read it if it was intercepted.

The radio message was duly intercepted by Japan and reported by a message encoded in JN25 stating that AF's desalinization plant was out of order. That message was intercepted by Station HYPO. AF was thus confirmed as Midway.
Posted by: SteveS || 12/19/2017 18:05 Comments || Top||

#17  I was midway through your post before I realized what you did there.....Posted by USN, Ret.


You're just lucky Pappy ain't here.
Posted by: SteveS || 12/19/2017 18:07 Comments || Top||

#18 
Posted by: Anomalous Sources || 12/19/2017 19:38 Comments || Top||

#19  You are right, SteveS. I’m just tired right now.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/19/2017 22:04 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Fact against fabrication
[DAILYTIMES.PK] In Pakistain, the effort of transforming fabrication into fact is assuming the proportions of an art form with an ever larger number of people falling gullibly onto its venomous tracks. The heinous Christmas-eve attack on the Bethel Memorial Methodist Church in Quetta killing nine people and injuring dozens more, some of them seriously, is a case in point. Instead of facing up to the fact that this is one more of a series of gruesome features dotting our daily lives which need to be combated with a strong and pragmatic narrative coupled with display of political will, layers of fabrication will be built to dull its impact, even creating erroneous and misleading impressions regarding its hows and whys.

The sequential steps of such an effort would include stories on the relative infrequency of terror attacks in Pakistain, even less so in the sectarian and religious domains, the positive outcome of the military operations which have been conducted in the recent past, the timely intervention of the security personnel in averting damage which could have been far more lethal, and trying to drown the sickness of terror in a parlance of condolence and sympathy messages overflowing with intent to help the families which have suffered. There will also be a deafening crescendo of an unflinching national resolve to ensure that the criminals and their aiders and handlers are punished. All this will be conveniently forgotten once overtaken by another similar or dissimilar event in the not so distant future.

I would not be surprised if someone were to craft an outlandish fable that the church was not the real target, but someone who was in the vicinity at that given moment, this being a case of personal enmity. In turn, such-like narrative would be parroted wildly in the evening television shows in an attempt to create further hallucinations. No one will dare ask why such-like things keep happening, and why is this malaise growing with time?

Let’s move to another avenue which illustrates this effort of merging fact with fabrication, even at the cost of clouding the integrity of a key state pillar. Ever since the abject failure of virtually all institutions to deal with accountability- and transparency-related cases falling in their domains, and with all of this landing at the doorsteps of the judiciary, it has been targeted for its alleged partisanship. Its judgments against the former prime minister have been portrayed as apt evocations of its deep-set prejudice. It has also been condemned afor having acted in conformity with a script written elsewhere. The painstaking soliloquies establishing the indispensability of individuals over the state and its institutions is an aberration of the grossest form, yet promoted forcefully in this wonder-land.

In the process, the other side of the coin is completely overlooked, the one dealing with the history of crime and corruption of the family over decades. The unabashed disdain with which such misleading projections are made in public and then stoutly defended during the hilarious comedy shows enacted in the evening television transmissions is unbelievable. But not for the ones who are propounding the falsehoods and who would want every viewer to believe them to the postscript. No shame. No embarrassment. At the end of it all, one is lost in separating fact from fiction. It is all so enmeshed.

At a different level, facts stand out from fabrications in no uncertain terms as, indeed, these should. No matter how thick we try to lay it out for the world, it can see through the load of crap which melts at the first incision of enquiry. But, in the process, alongside creating doubts about our efficacy as a nation, we also lose our credibility ‐ as would a claim that load-shedding in Pakistain is a story of the past. Looking at the person later, I did not see a shred of remorse. It is like they are tutored in the art of lying shamelessly ‐ and they do!
Posted by: Fred || 12/19/2017 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan



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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
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Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2017-12-19
  Ballistic missile intercepted over Saudi Arabia capital Riyadh just seconds before it slammed into royal palace
Mon 2017-12-18
  Senior Al-Shabaab Militants Killed In Somalia Drone Strike
Sun 2017-12-17
  Suicide bombers attack Pakistan church, killing at least 9, officials say
Sat 2017-12-16
  Judge Lori Walkley hands down death penalty to convicted Islamic murderer
Fri 2017-12-15
  Yemen Islah party sever ties with Muslim Brotherhood
Thu 2017-12-14
  Afghan forces foil deadly blast, US drone strike kill 3 IS militants in Nangarhar
Wed 2017-12-13
  Newspaper: Saudi members of Islamic State arrested in Iraq up to 50
Tue 2017-12-12
  Scores of Islamic State militants surrender to security forces in Mosul
Mon 2017-12-11
  Several injured after device explodes at New York City’s Port Authority, one arrest
Sun 2017-12-10
  Coptic pope cancels Pence meeting over Jerusalem
Sat 2017-12-09
  Ahrar al-Sham commander eliminated in Idlib
Fri 2017-12-08
  Egyptian grand mufti affirms death sentences for 13 Ajnad Misr terrorists
Thu 2017-12-07
  Houthis execute ‘thousands’ in two days: UN’s Yemen envoy
Wed 2017-12-06
  Islamist suicide plot to assassinate Prime Minister Theresa May foiled
Tue 2017-12-05
  Iranian Embassy In Sana’a Has Been Attacked


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