04 Inter-State Conflict – Page 65 – Public Intelligence Blog

2014/03/262014/03/26

Mother Jones: Laos Bombing – $17M a Day, 2.5 Million Tons of Bombs, True Cost Just Now Becoming Known…

04 Inter-State Conflict, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, Government, Military

Watch the US Drop 2.5 Million Tons of Bombs on Laos

Picturing the deadly legacy of America's secret war in the world's most bombed-out country

Between 1964 and 1973, the United States dropped around 2.5 million tons of bombs on Laos. While the American public was focused on the war in neighboring Vietnam, the US military was waging a devastating covert campaign to cut off North Vietnamese supply lines through the small Southeast Asian country.

The nearly 600,000 bombing runs delivered a staggering amount of explosives: The equivalent of a planeload of bombs every eight minutes for nine years, or a ton of bombs for every person in the country—more than what American planes unloaded on Germany and Japan combined during World War II. Laos remains, per capita, the most heavily bombed country on earth.

The map above, created by photographer Jerry Redfern, provides another view of the massive scale of the bombing. Each point on the map corresponds to one US bombing mission starting in October 1965; multiple planes often flew on missions.

The unfinished aftermath of the air campaign is the subject of Redfern and Karen Coates' new book, Eternal Harvest: The Legacy of American Bombs in Laos. This stunning book, seven years in the making, documents how the secret air war is still claiming lives more than four decades after it ended.

More than 100 Laotians fall victim to unexploded cluster bombs annually, delayed casualties of Operation Barrel Roll and Operation Steel Tiger, which dropped 270 million cluster bomblets. Packed by the dozens or hundreds in canisters, cluster bombs are designed to open in midair, scattering small explosives across a wide radius. Yet not all of them detonated, and today, 80 million live bomblets lurk under Laos' soil.

Cleaning up the unexploded ordnance (UXO) has been agonizingly slow. In January, Congress approved $12 million for UXO clearance and related aid in Laos. In comparison, the bombing cost the United States spent $17 million a day in inflation-adjusted dollars.

Below, a selection of Redfern's photographs from Eternal Harvest. Learn more about his and Coates' work at their website.

See More Photographs.

2014/03/232014/03/23

Berto Jongman: Greenwald on NSA & US Hypocrisy

04 Inter-State Conflict, 07 Other Atrocities, Corruption, Cultural Intelligence, Government, Military

Reader comments are also useful.

Some Facts About How NSA Stories Are Reported

Several members of the august “US Journalists Against Transparency” club are outraged by revelations in yesterday’s New York Times (jointly published by der Spiegel) that the NSA has been hacking the products of the Chinese tech company Huawei as well as Huawei itself at exactly the same time (and in exactly the same way) as the US Government has been claiming the Chinese government hacks. Echoing the script of national security state officials, these journalists argue that these revelations are unjustified, even treasonous, because this is the type of spying the NSA should be doing, and disclosure serves no public interest while harming American national security, etc. etc.

True to form, however, these beacons of courage refuse to malign the parties that actually made the choice to publish these revelations – namely, the reporters and editors of the New York Times – and instead use it to advance their relentless attack on Edward Snowden. To these journalists, there are few worse sins than “stealing” the secrets of the US government and leaking them to the press (just as was true in the WikiLeaks case, one must congratulate the US Government on its outstanding propaganda feat of getting its journalists to lead the war on those who bring transparency to the nation’s most powerful factions). But beyond the abject spectacle of anti-transparency journalists, these claims are often based on factually false assumptions about how these stories are reported, making it worthwhile once again to underscore some of the key facts governing this process:

Read full article.

2014/03/222014/03/22

Andy Piascik: Sanctions? How About Sanctions Against the United States?

04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, 10 Transnational Crime, Corruption, Government, IO Deeds of War, Officers Call

Sanctions? How About Sanctions Against the United States?

By Andy Piascik

ZNet, March 21, 2014

As the United States imposes sanctions on Russia and moves to do likewise to Venezuela, it’s essential to keep in mind which country it is that’s the most destructive and dangerous in the world today. When such questions have been posed in international polls in recent decades, the answer overwhelmingly is the United States. Not Iran, North Korea, Syria, Cuba, Venezuela, Russia or any of the many other nations the ruling class and corporate media here regularly demonize, but the United States.

Continue reading “Andy Piascik: Sanctions? How About Sanctions Against the United States?”

2014/03/182014/03/18

Owl: Malaysian Airlines a Practice Run or Real Asian 9/11 Aborted for Reasons Unknown?

04 Inter-State Conflict, 07 Other Atrocities, 09 Terrorism, Civil Society, Corruption, Government, Idiocy, Ineptitude, IO Deeds of War, Military

Flight 370: Zio-Al Queda-NeoCon Sequel to 9-11 Aborted, a Practice Run or on Horizon (Literally)?

This article states the piloting of flight 270 involved flying it at very low levels to evade radar:

“As the search for the missing flight MH370 enters its 10th day with few clues as to its whereabouts, the New Straits Times said today the Boeing 777-200ER dropped 5,000 feet (1,500m) to evade commercial radar detection. In an exclusive story, the government-backed paper said investigators analysing MH370’s flight data revealed that the 200-tonne, fully laden twinjet descended 1,500m or even lower to evade commercial (secondary) radar coverage after it turned back from its flight path en route to Beijing. The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200ER (9M-MRO) disappeared on March 8 with 239 people on board. Malaysian authorities said on Saturday the plane was deliberately diverted and its on-board transmission devices switched off to avoid detection. Its last contact was at 8:11am north of the Strait of Malacca. Investigators poring over MH370’s flight data had said the plane had flown low and used “terrain masking” as it flew over the e Bay of Bengal and headed north towards land, the NST reported.”

“Terrain masking” is an interesting term, implying a military aspect:

Continue reading “Owl: Malaysian Airlines a Practice Run or Real Asian 9/11 Aborted for Reasons Unknown?”

2014/03/162014/03/16

Paul Craig Roberts: Obama Declares Self-Determination a Threat to US National Security

04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 07 Other Atrocities, 08 Wild Cards, Corruption, Government, Idiocy, Officers Call

Obama Declares Self-Determination To Be A Threat To US National Security

In his March 6 Executive Order, “Blocking Property of Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Ukraine,” Obama declares that support for Crimean self-determination constitutes “an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States, and I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat.” http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/03/06/executive-order-blocking-property-certain-persons-contributing-situation

Obama and the lawyers who drafted his executive order did not notice that the way the order is drafted it applies to Obama, to the unelected coup government in Kiev, and to the Washington and EU regimes. The order says that any person “responsible for or complicit in, or to have engaged in, directly or indirectly . . . actions or policies that undermine democratic processes or institutions in Ukraine” is subject to having his assets frozen.

Washington and the EU are the only two governments whose personnel have undermined democratic processes and institutions in Ukraine by overthrowing the elected government and imposing an unelected one.

Continue reading “Paul Craig Roberts: Obama Declares Self-Determination a Threat to US National Security”

2014/03/142014/03/14

Owl: Crimean Tatars — Long Genocided by Russia — Threaten Jihad

04 Inter-State Conflict, 05 Civil War, 06 Genocide, 09 Terrorism, Civil Society, Cultural Intelligence, Government, Military

Tatars comprise 12% of Crimean population, and they are are real badasses with a lot of jihadis, and will be a major component in a volatile mix over there.

Jihadi Crimean Tatars Threaten Terrorism After Russian Takeover

Phi Beta Iota: Tatars have been subject to genocide by the Russians for a very long time. They are a wild card, but the Russians have probably planned for this minority as a threat.

See Also:

Ukraine @ Phi Beta Iota

2014/03/132014/03/16

Owl: Malaysian Airlines Flight Hijacked via AWACS? Chinese Engineers Renditioned? Update 4 Diego Garcia Redux, Boeing Cyber Hijack

04 Inter-State Conflict, 07 Other Atrocities, 09 Terrorism, Government, IO Deeds of War, Military

UPDATE 16 Mar 14: Was Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Redirected to Diego Garcia?

and also

Is missing Malaysian jet the world’s first CYBER HIJACK? Chilling new theory claims hackers could use a mobile phone to take over the controls

UPDATE 15 Mar 14: Malaysia Airline MH370: 9/11-style terror allegations resurface in case of lost plane

UPDATE 14 Mar 14: CONFIRMED: Flight 370 Cyberjacked to secret base in Indian ocean – American or Chinese?

The story gets weirder and weirder as one looks at it. Goes beyond what is noted below in talking extensively about an AWACs jet hijack of 370, involvement of Israel and other things. Don't have the time to untangle this all, but the picture is becoming less cloudy and coming back full-circle in its reference to Israel and Iran in this AWACs-hijack context, and Israeli involvement was what I pointed out in my very first post on this subject.

http://beforeitsnews.com/alternative/2014/03/case-closed-hijacked-by-awacs-2916516.html

From http://www.jimstonefreelance.com [allegedly shut down]

Malaysian airlines flight 377 has been provably hijacked by an AWACS plane. This is outlined in the updates below.

Continue reading “Owl: Malaysian Airlines Flight Hijacked via AWACS? Chinese Engineers Renditioned? Update 4 Diego Garcia Redux, Boeing Cyber Hijack”