Owl: Chinese Aircraft Carrier in Syria? UPDATE 1 Debka Lies…

02 China
Who? Who?
Who? Who?

Aircraft come in November.

A Chinese aircraft carrier docks at Tartus to support Russian-Iranian military buildup

Chinese warplanes to join Russian air strikes in Syria. Russia gains Iraqi air base

UPDATE 1: Debka lies… No one can find the carrier, no photo of it anywhere near Syria.

Chinese naval expert denies PLA joining fight against ISIS

China's Main Mission: South China Sea, Not Syria

Continue reading “Owl: Chinese Aircraft Carrier in Syria? UPDATE 1 Debka Lies…”

Yoda: Afghan’s Rural Green Project

03 Environmental Degradation, 08 Wild Cards, Ethics, Government

yoda with light saberOne of the poorest regions in Afghanistan is teaching the world about sustainability

The Rural Green Environment Organization is entirely rewriting the environmental narrative for 90 villages and 40,000 people in Badakhshan, Afghanistan. The region has endured decades of conflict, insecurity and the overharvesting of natural resources. What was once a region battered by conflict and environmental degradation is now flourishing.

Neal Rauhauser: Russian Information Operations The Menace of Unreality – How the Kremlin Weaponizes Information, Culture and Money

06 Russia, Advanced Cyber/IO, IO Deeds of War
Neal Rauhauser
Neal Rauhauser

The Menace of Unreality: How the Kremlim Weaponizes Information, Culture and Money covers the Kremlin's methods and motives as they spread the influence modern Russia, rightly called a mafia state. The concept of “Operations Psychological”, as defined by Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia, plays a prominent role in these efforts. The impatient will want to skip to the Recommendations section on page 40; the simple, clear prescriptions may motivate paging back to understand more of the thinking behind them. Arab Spring has come and gone, ISIS is what it is, and the true challenge for the west in the 21st century is this next evolution of a network threat, an area in which the Russians vastly outperform the U.S.

Chuck Spinney: Col Pat Lang Provides Strategy on Syria — For Adults with Intelligence and Integrity…

04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 08 Wild Cards, 09 Terrorism, IO Deeds of War, Officers Call
Chuck Spinney
Chuck Spinney

Below at the close of this excellent opinion piece by Pat Lang is sensible prescription for shaping a schwerpunkt in so-called Global War on Terror or GWOT.  Lang cuts thru the Gordian Knot of inwardly focused contradictions that are overloading and paralyzing America’s grand strategy* in the Syrian Civil War and turning our country into a international laughing stock on steroids.

Col Pat Lang, USA (Ret)
Col Pat Lang, USA (Ret)

Pat Lang's conclusion brought forward:

What to do?-  I was asked today to state what I think should be done:

* Accept the truth that we destroyed the Iraqi state and from that act of vandalism all present chaos in that country derives.

* Don't do it again in Syria.

Continue reading “Chuck Spinney: Col Pat Lang Provides Strategy on Syria — For Adults with Intelligence and Integrity…”

Berto Jongman: Is Putin a Great Strategist?

06 Russia, Peace Intelligence

berto smallIs Putin a Great Strategist?

He's certainly a competent one, as well as tactically unpredictable, even brilliant

The first thing that needs to be stressed is that Putin has no grand strategy, no less one to ‘reestablish the Tsarist or Soviet empire.’ Such claims are delusions, paranoia, and/or well-compensated stratcomm. His goal is to ensure Russia’s status as a global power, one of several great powers in Eurasia writ large, and the indispensable country for any other pursuing a presence in central Eurasia – the former USSR.

Chuck Spinney: Saudi Arabian Collapse — Bad Rulers, No Water? A Case Study…

08 Wild Cards, 09 Justice, 12 Water, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Earth Intelligence, Government
Chuck Spinney
Chuck Spinney

I want to flag and discuss two articles.  The first, Saudi Royal calls for regime change in Riyadh, is a report in the Guardian by Hugh Miles.  He describes the four immediate factors that have stimulated the now famous letters by the anonymous 3rd generation prince calling for the replacement of King Salman and Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman: (1) the double tragedy at Mecca that killed 800 people, (2) the collapse of oil prices, (3) the war in Yemen which, according to Miles, few Saudis support, and (4) King Salman's elevation of his young son, the inexperienced and impetuous Mohammed bin Salman to the peculiar but powerful post of Deputy Crown Prince, making him second in the line of succession.

Continue reading “Chuck Spinney: Saudi Arabian Collapse — Bad Rulers, No Water? A Case Study…”

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