Eric Zuesse: Evidence Is Now Conclusive: 2 Ukrainian Government Fighter-Jets Did Shoot Down that Malaysian Airliner. No ‘Buk’ Missile Ground-Shot

07 Other Atrocities, Corruption, Government, Military
Eric Zuesse
Eric Zuesse

We'll go considerably farther than has yet been revealed by the professional intelligence community, to provide the actual evidence that conclusively shows that (and how) the Ukrainian Government shot down the Malaysian airliner, MH-17, on July 17th.

The latest report from the intelligence community was headlined on August 3rd by Robert Parry, “Flight 17 Shoot-Down Scenario Shifts,” and he revealed there that, “Contrary to the Obama administration’s public claims blaming eastern Ukrainian rebels and Russia for the shoot-down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, some U.S. intelligence analysts have concluded that the rebels and Russia were likely not at fault and that it appears Ukrainian government forces were to blame, according to a source briefed on these findings. This judgment — at odds with what President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry have expressed publicly — is based largely on the absence of U.S. government evidence that Russia supplied the rebels with a Buk anti-aircraft missile system that would be needed to hit a civilian jetliner flying at 33,000 feet, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.”

It's actually based on lots more than that; it's based not on an absence of evidence, but on positive proof that the Ukrainian Government shot the plane down, and even proving how it was done. You will see this proof, right here, laid out in detail, for the first time.

Continue reading “Eric Zuesse: Evidence Is Now Conclusive: 2 Ukrainian Government Fighter-Jets Did Shoot Down that Malaysian Airliner. No ‘Buk’ Missile Ground-Shot”

Berto Jongman: US Intelligence Veterans Slam Obama for Lies Against Russia in Relation to MH17 and the Ukraine

04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 07 Other Atrocities, Corruption, Government, Officers Call
Berto Jongman
Berto Jongman

The MH17 Crash: US Veteran Intelligence Officers Slam the Flimsy “Intelligence” Against Russia

Senior U.S. Intelligence Officers: Obama Should Release Ukraine Evidence

Preface: With the shoot-down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine turning a local civil war into a U.S. confrontation with Russia, former high-level U.S. intelligence veterans released a statement today urging President Obama to release what evidence he has about the tragedy and silence the exaggeration and rush to judgment. (The whole post is a must-read; but we at Washington’s Blog have added bolding for emphasis.)

Entire memorandum below the fold.

Continue reading “Berto Jongman: US Intelligence Veterans Slam Obama for Lies Against Russia in Relation to MH17 and the Ukraine”

Berto Jongman: THREAT is Too Many Humanitarian Crises — Along with Corrupt Governments and Totally Inept International Aid System

01 Poverty, 02 Infectious Disease, 03 Environmental Degradation, 05 Civil War, 06 Genocide, 07 Other Atrocities, Civil Society, Corruption, Government, Ineptitude, Non-Governmental, Peace Intelligence
Berto Jongman
Berto Jongman

Too many humanitarian crises, not enough global resources

Commentary: An overwhelming number of crises means the international community cannot respond well.

WASHINGTON — Humanitarian crises in the world today — Syria, Iraq, Central African Republic, South Sudan and now Gaza — all demand immediate and massive humanitarian response.

The crises are not only large-scale, affecting millions, but the conflicts also are complex, each with unique political realities and on-the-ground difficulties.

They are not alone among crises competing for our attention. They are simply the biggest, pushing off the front pages other crises where human needs remain urgent: Darfur, Central America, Pakistan, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia.

Continue reading “Berto Jongman: THREAT is Too Many Humanitarian Crises — Along with Corrupt Governments and Totally Inept International Aid System”

SchwartzReport: Top Agribusiness Companies Poisoning Clean Water with Unlimited Garbage and Pesticide Dumping

01 Agriculture, 03 Environmental Degradation, 12 Water, Commerce, Corruption, Earth Intelligence, True Cost
Stephan A. Schwartz
Stephan A. Schwartz

This is one of the central failures of American corporate vampire capitalism. Because it only considers profit as a priority, polluting the water of a nation and putting the full spectrum of life at risk is no big deal, and they want to be allowed to continue it.

Top Agribusiness Food Companies Dumping Waste in Our Waters
ELIZABETH RENTER – Natural Society/Nation of Change

Companies like Tyson Foods, Cargill, Inc., and Perdue Farms Inc. dump their garbage-more than 206 million pounds of it-into our water almost every year and leave others to worry about the clean-up. Now, as the Environmental Protection Agency considers a rule to restore the Clean Water Act, these companies are pulling out all the stops to maintain their freedom to dump and pollute, regardless of the toxic outcomes.

Mini-Me: Hamas Tunnels Surprise Israel – Really?

Cultural Intelligence, Ineptitude, Military
Who?  Mini-Me?
Who? Mini-Me?

Huh?

Hamas’s Shift to Tunnel Warfare Catches Israel by Surprise

JERUSALEM — Israel entered its latest conflict with Hamas armed with a high-tech arsenal, real-time battlefield intelligence and strong domestic support for dealing a heavy blow to Hamas.

But again on Friday, Israeli forces were taken by surprise, this time with two soldiers killed and one taken prisoner when militants once again attacked from a tunnel in Gaza.

As frustration grows in Israel over the military’s limited success so far in trying to neutralize Hamas, the militant Islamic group that governs Gaza, despite hitting 4,300 targets in 24 days of intense bombing, some military experts say it is increasingly evident that the Israel Defense Forces have been operating from an old playbook and are not fully prepared for a more sophisticated, battle-ready adversary. The issue is not specifically the tunnels — which Israel knew about — but the way Hamas fighters trained to use them to create what experts in Israel are calling a “360-degree front.”

“Hamas has changed its doctrine and is using the tunnels as a main method of operation,” said Israel Ziv, a retired general who headed the military’s Gaza division and its operations directorate. “This is something we learned amid the fighting.”

Read full article.

Phi Beta Iota: Any military “professional” that does not understand tunnels as a poor man's calvary is poorly educated.

See Especially:

Review: The Tunnels of Cu Chi

Robert Steele: Stephen Draper on Intelligence in Complex Environments, with Comment

Advanced Cyber/IO, Ethics, Government, Military
Robert Steele
Robert Steele

Intelligence in Complex Environments

by Stephen Draper

Small Wars Journal, 1 August 2014

Four years into the United States military’s effort to counter the Lord’s Resistance Army in central Africa its leader, Joseph Kony, remains elusive. This certainly isn’t for lack of effort or resources. One hundred Special Forces advisors, a robust command and control structure, contracted airplanes, even the occasional short-term deployment of a CV-22 squadron have all assisted African partner forces to remove a few leaders from the battlefield and enable many more fighters, wives, and children to escape the organization. Yet the mission still faces serious obstacles. The tyranny of distance has oftentimes been crippling to the effort, hindering logistical resupply and time sensitive strikes. In addition to geography, this mission continues to pose many challenges which test the U.S. intelligence community but, if overcome, can serve as a model for U.S. intelligence support in low-intensity conflicts and other crisis areas worldwide. Removing Kony and his LRA from the battlefield is, foremost, an intelligence problem. Without accurate intelligence of Kony and his forces’ location, counter-LRA forces will continue to be reduced to “searching for a needle in twenty haystacks.” Further complicating the situation, in addition to the joint U.S. and combined foreign forces requiring coordination, many other stakeholders are active in the area of operations. Non-government organizations (NGOs), aid organizations, the United Nations, civilian village defense forces, even the Catholic church all contribute to central Africa being a complex environment.

Continue reading “Robert Steele: Stephen Draper on Intelligence in Complex Environments, with Comment”

Stephen E. Arnold: 1% of Science Gets Published — What Cost to Economics?

Academia, Earth Intelligence, Ineptitude, IO Impotency
Stephen E. Arnold
Stephen E. Arnold

No Search Or Publishing For Science

The scientific method is used to approach a problem logically and come to reasonable conclusion based off the presented evidence. Allow me to present the following question: if only a small percentage of scientists publish their work, does that not distort scientific information? Let us approach this problem in the same manner that Erik Stokstad did in his Science Magazine article “The 1% Of Scientific Publishing.”

Continue reading “Stephen E. Arnold: 1% of Science Gets Published — What Cost to Economics?”

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