[OZY] Hedgehog. Seemingly innocent, this word takes on extraordinary significance in a tiny Northern European country, reminding their population of barely 1 million of the constant threat of invasion by their former conquerers. You see, Hedgehog is the code name of Estonia's largest-ever military exercise, which took place in early May, where tanks and aircraft from around the world joined with some 13,000 Estonians to practice avoiding the same fate that has befallen Ukraine. Government video shows everyday volunteers, who make up about half of the Estonian Defense Forces, firing automatic weapons from wooded hideouts and tossing smoke grenades before calling out, "The battle is over, all are friends!" But the message to Russia is clear and backed by unprecedented force: We are not friends.
But it's not just Estonia that's hiding behind an armor of troops and tanks. At the same time, Operation Lightning Strike brought out 3,000 troops in Lithuania, while Operation Dynamic Mongoose included another 5,000 in the North Sea off Norway. It's Europe's latest show-and-tell of military capability, which, in a reversal of a trend that has lasted many years, is increasing dramatically. From Germany to Scandinavia to the Balkans, there arguably hasn't been this much activity in European barracks since the end of the Cold War, some experts say. Military budget spending from European nations with the biggest increases will total some $51 billion over the next seven years, according to a report by the Royal United Services Institute, a think tank. That's almost a 50 percent increase from their total defense spending in 2013, according to European Defense Agency data.
#1
The increases are largely confined to those who border the Bear. For everyone else, it's pretty much Bread and Games(tm) still, cause they believe the US is firmly ensconced to commit nuclear suicide for the partiers. After the wall came down, we should have only had a MAG time in Brussels.
#3
Still think central Europe should hug the bear. Create a mutual defense pact, bring Russia in as an adviser and agree to buy a certain amount of Russian weapons (BMPs and such) to make sure Russia is happy.
Russia is paranoid but such a move (without Germany, France, or other big players) creates a buffer state Russia might appreciate. It also might convince Russia that the group is more trouble than it is worth to gobble up.
#4
No, Poland in particular, supported by its NATO allies should be organized, trained, and have annual wargames to invade and over run Belarus and Russia all the way to Moscow. Poland has done it before and could again. Forcing Russia to be prepared to counter a serious conventional threat would quickly focus their mind.
[Daily Mail] A conservative news anchor has been catapulted to internet celebrity status after a video of her blasting President Barack Obama's efforts in the fight against terrorism went viral.
Tomi Lahren, host of One America News Network's On Point with Tomi Lahren, called out Obama's administration for their 'half-way, half-baked, tip-toe, be-friendly-to-Jihadis mentality' in a passionate speech that has been viewed more than 755,000 times on YouTube.
The conservative 22-year-old's comments, said on Friday's episode on the fringe broadcast network, were in reference to the fatal shooting of four U.S. Marines and one active-duty Navy reservist, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on Thursday.
The 24-year-old shooter, who was also killed, was identified as a devout Muslim named Mohammad Abdulazeez.
Lahren, who comes from a family of Marines, said that 'radical Islam is becoming the rule, not the exception. Yesterday's moderate is today's terrorist'.
'I care that this SOB killed four of our United States Marines, and I care that our Commander in Chief is more concerned with Muslim sensitivity than the honor and sacrifice made by these Marines,' she added.
Lahren, who is originally from Rapid City, South Dakota, said outright that Abudlazeez's acts were an act of terrorist.
'Do I care that he seemed like an all-American young man? Do I care that he was good at mixed martial arts or a smart quiet guy? Do I care that his high school friends would not classify him as 'overly religious'? No, I don't give a flying you-know-what about any of that,' she said.
Clips of servicemen and women, as well as waving American flags filled the back drop of Lahren's set as she urged the United States to fight back against acts of terrorism such as this.
[FreeRepublic] So, regardless of pass or fail, Obama loses.
Here's how he wins. Just as the deal is coming to vote, Obama announces live on TV that "he heard our pain" and he has quietly but vigorously pressured Tehran to release hostages, and they have!
You can hear the speech now; "America spoke and I listened." "These three brave American patriots are on an airplane clear of Iranian airspace as I speak!"
Next; big welcome home ceremony in Rose Garden; Obama is the master diplomat; we can work with Iran; they are reasonable people; we can trust Iran to do the right thing; Beau Bergdahl is yesterday's news, etc.
The spin is simple; Obama is the hero, and deal sails through, and Obama wins big. (Of course, America loses.)
According to long time trusted sources, who are in a position to know, the deal with Tehran is already in place. It wasn't released earlier to Obama can use it when he needs it, and can be the hero!
Now you know why they didn't publicly push for hostage deal. It was there, under the table all the time, and of course, Iran can always grab more hostages the next time they need them.... And Obama wins big in the court of stupid public opinion.
#2
The Dems finally get their "October Surprise" payback. That little untruth has stalked every presidential campaign since the '80 election. It's become such a fabric of the event that many Dems have convinced themselves it was real. And now, they get to have their own. Of course, it's as fake as the original story but no matter. We live in an era where the unreal is the truth
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
07/21/2015 11:24 Comments ||
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#3
Would the world have been better off if the US bombed and invaded Iran instead of Iraq back in 2003?
It certainly would have had Arab support and prevented assistance to Taliban rebels from the West. Saddam was in a box even if he was working on nuclear weapons he couldn't have been making the kind of progress the Iranians are likely to have made.
#4
rjschwartz -- No. The mistake was in not totally crushing Iraq, and occupying it. Give them local self-government after a few years, then gradually give them more and more as they develop the resources and education to assume them. In the meantime, the US has a large, unsinkable aircraft carrier in the middle of the Muddled East, where we could attack in any of four directions. After about 30 years of occupation, Iraq would be a stable, strong ally, just as Germany has become. During that time, we can build an honest judicial system, infrastructure, agriculture, industry, and political unity. Both Bush and Obama threw that away, and we're reaping the rewards now. However, it's not too late. . .
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/21/2015 16:59 Comments ||
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#5
I understand the mistake in pissing away victory in Iraq, my question is would it have been better to have gone after Iran instead.
On the heels of a terrorist attack on two military recruiting offices in Tennessee by a Muslim immigrant, the Obama administration announced a policy change to help prevent future attacks. Was it to finally arm our soldiers? Nope. It was to have them take off their uniforms. No really!
According to the Military Times, Obama's weak-kneed Defense Secretary Ash Cater approved the decree that recruiters should take off their uniforms while performing their recruitment duties from now on.
#3
A tactic of the Bolsheviks was to sow distrust within society. Distrust between the people of the public vs the people of the state and the people of the state distrust of the people of the public. For now a few thousand militant Islamists within the US is a start.
This initial phase of distrust is useful and understood by a very smart US leftist regime consolidating its power. This regime hopes to manage this new crisis in America to their benefit.
#5
How about outsourcing the Marine detachment and aviation at the WH, since you really don't like uniforms. I'm sure the diversity office can find some people to replace them with.
#7
...but to make up for over two hundred years of disparate impact, should it be the females first this time? They removed the law covering prohibition on combat roles.
[DAWN] THE use of 'encounters' by our law enforcers to neutralise suspects is an unfortunate, widespread reality in Pakistain. Due process is bypassed in order to get rid of 'troublesome' suspects or to settle scores.
Figures recently released by the HRCP show that in the first six months of the current year, 255 suspects were killed in police encounters in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... , which marks a 64pc increase over the corresponding period in 2014.
Interestingly, a drop in the number of overall killings in the metropolis has also been witnessed between January and June.
From this, it can be inferred that while violent crime may indeed be down, police are increasingly using extrajudicial methods to bring down the crime rate.
In fact, a high number of suspects have been killed in encounters ever since the security operation commenced in Karachi in September 2013. As per official figures, around 925 suspects were killed extrajudicially in the city by the police and Rangers in 2014.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2015 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
In America, we are much more civilized.
Here, the current regime uses the threat of ruining your life with the tax apparatus of the state.
See how much more advanced we are?
Posted by: no mo uro ||
07/21/2015 5:18 Comments ||
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[DAWN] FOREIGN affairs is a complicated business, but there are occasionally simple truths too. One of those truths is this: every country needs a full-time, cabinet-level, officially appointed foreign minister.
Pakistain does not have one. Instead, the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... has a foreign adviser who doubles as national security adviser and a close Sharif aide who serves as the special adviser to the prime minister on foreign affairs. That is a wholly unsatisfactory state of affairs.
For one, the international diplomatic network is built around foreign ministries led by foreign ministers -- there are protocol and coordination elements that simply cannot be well executed by ad hoc appointments.
For another, the Foreign Office structure inside Pakistain is hierarchical and designed to be led by a foreign minister who coordinates with the Prime Minister's Office.
The flow of information, the interaction between the bureaucratic layers and politicianship, the drumming up of ideas and exchange of points of view -- all of that and more are interrupted when there is no full-time foreign minister. And all of that adds up to harming the country's diplomacy and interactions with the outside world.
There was a relatively straightforward solution to the problem: to use the Senate elections in March to elevate Mr Aziz or Mr Fatemi to parliament and hence be eligible to become a full cabinet member.
For reasons best known to Mr Sharif, that opportunity was declined. Worse yet, the prime minister has done nothing to try and resolve the pie fight in the foreign ministry that has hamstrung its functioning.
While kept largely out of the public domain, there is nevertheless a sense that the bureaucracy is being pulled in different directions and the political appointees are unable to present a unified opinion to the prime minister.
None of that is good for the government. Yet, the ministerial problems go well beyond the foreign ministry.
Consider that the information minister is still moonlighting as the law minister, while the supervision of the law ministry has effectively been outsourced to a prime ministerial aide. Then, rather extraordinarily, the water and power minister is also serving as the defence minister.
Both those ministries have heavy workloads -- but what sense is there in having a water and power minister during an epic and continuing electricity crisis who also serves as the defence minister at a time of massive internal military operations and significant military-related activity with major regional and international powers?
Ultimately, it appears that Mr Sharif's instinct to not trust anyone beyond the smallest circle of aides and then to have ministries staffed with multiple principals who are loyal to the prime minister but at odds with their intra-ministerial counterparts is undoing many of the government's policy initiatives.
A prime minister with a dysfunctional and incomplete cabinet is a prime minister with his policy hands tied.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/21/2015 00:00 ||
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[2 views]
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[Breitbart] Rev. Clenard Childress, the black pastor of the New Calvary Baptist Church in Montclair, N.J, is campaigning to have the NAACP reverse its 2004 decision to endorse abortion, asking pointedly whether the black lives of aborted children matter to the NAACP.
No stranger to provocation, Childress has stated that "the most dangerous place for an African American is in the womb."
Calling abortion in America "racist genocide," Childress said that since 1973, after the Supreme Court legalized abortion on demand, 13 million African-American babies have been put to death through abortion. He finds it especially "hypocritical" that the nation's first black president provides funding for abortion giant Planned Parenthood.
Childress, sporting a black-and-white t-shirt with the words, "Stop Funding Racism," said he is "appalled by NAACP silence" over what he calls a "pernicious attack" on African-Americans. Set it right please. Yes, 'genocide' alright, but I've yet to see anyone marched to a Planned Parenthood Center at the point of a bayonet.
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.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[DAWN] FOREIGN affairs is a complicated business, but there are occasionally simple truths too. One of those truths is this: every country needs a full-time, cabinet-level, officially appointed foreign minister.
