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This also seems similar to that one time that the Iranians captured a US boat and the usual suspects were crowing about them not lighting up their captors because Obama is weak or some poo poo. In retrospect that was probably the last major push for war from the Right and that didn't really take off
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May 8, 2019 18:07
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https://www.reuters.com/article/us-..._source=twitterquote:“We talked to them about the importance of Iraq ensuring that it’s able to adequately protect Americans in their country,” Pompeo told reporters after meeting Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi You might have heard Pompeo cancelled his trip to Germany rather suddenly. He went to instead Iraq and discuss particular subject.
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May 8, 2019 18:11
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I just binged through the TV series Last Resort which featured "President Bolton" (never actually shown on camera) cooking up a false flag reason to preemptively nuke Pakistan in the first episode. (he and his administration were the villains by the way, and the main characters on a nuclear sub refused the order) I appreciated that they named the president Bolton but I was kind of hoping that we wouldn't get non-president Bolton causing a nuclear war in real life with a different country
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May 8, 2019 18:25
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Brown Moses posted:We've just launched a new Yemen project at Bellingcat: This video seems to really soft sell the extent of the atrocities. You lead in with an equivocation between both sides, you only vaguely allude to the intentional starvation campaign and seem to skip past the most disturbing detail of all, which is the active support the American military is providing to the Saudi air force. Someone getting all their information on the conflict from this video would probably walk away with the impression that the role of the American government was much more incidental than it actually is and would be left with the impression that the biggest problem is private companies ignoring international law.
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May 8, 2019 18:49
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V. Illych L. posted:so, about ur foreign policy players atm I don't think you understand what we're talking about.
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May 8, 2019 18:53
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There's a good chance that the Gulf of Tonkin incident didn't even happen. e: Looks like its more accurate to say that the US fired on the Vietnamese first in the first attack (at which point the Vietnamese retaliated), and it was the second attack that was just completely fabricated. My mistake. Pembroke Fuse fucked around with this message at 19:05 on May 8, 2019 |
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May 8, 2019 18:54
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Brown Moses posted:Our aim is once we've got the processes for archiving and investigation running smoothly we'll package them up so they can be deployed internally to other situations, and shared with other organisations who want to do the same sort of investigation. We've already got a lot of interest from various NGOs work on Yemen and advocacy work for using the information, hopefully in the long term we'll be able to show them how to do it themselves. The idea is we start doing this from day one of a conflict, not year 5. I hope this can be extended outside of Europe, to the US and Canada.
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May 8, 2019 18:58
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Helsing posted:This video seems to really soft sell the extent of the atrocities. You lead in with an equivocation between both sides, you only vaguely allude to the intentional starvation campaign and seem to skip past the most disturbing detail of all, which is the active support the American military is providing to the Saudi air force. Someone getting all their information on the conflict from this video would probably walk away with the impression that the role of the American government was much more incidental than it actually is and would be left with the impression that the biggest problem is private companies ignoring international law. It's because the initial phase is focused on arms export agreements, and proving they've been violated, which then can lead to direct action in UK and US courts. The aim of the video is not to give an overview of the entire conflict, but what the project is initially focused on. We have to prioritise the limited resources we have on investigations that are going to have the most impact, and currently they're most effectively used in documenting the approximately 100 airstrikes that will form the basis of the legal actions that will be taken. Fortunately we've already had a lot of interest from funders, so we should be able to grow the project fairly rapidly, and that will allow us to cover more incidents and different aspects of the conflict. Keep in mind we're not just only fundraising around the investigations, but we also need to cover legal costs for bringing the cases, plus the physical infrastructure needed to archive the material we collect. We also have to consider a lot of security issues, because we doubt the Saudi coalition are going to take things lying down, and that also needs to be funded from somewhere. Fortunately we just received half a million Euros from the Dutch Postcode Lottery, and that, along with the money we've raised from workshops, is currently covering costs while we get other funders lined up. Pembroke Fuse posted:I hope this can be extended outside of Europe, to the US and Canada. We're hoping that will be the case, we've already got really good relationships with a lot of US based NGOs, so it's mainly a matter of getting to a point where it's deployable and we have the resources available to deploy it to other organisations. Based on the current response I think we'll have organisations lining up to use the data or deploy the process at their own organisation. Here's GLAN's Twitter thread on the project that gives more context: https://twitter.com/GLAN_LAW/status/1126067947196309504 https://twitter.com/GLAN_LAW/status/1126067951390679040 https://twitter.com/GLAN_LAW/status/1126067956088279040 https://twitter.com/GLAN_LAW/status/1126067961217867777 Brown Moses fucked around with this message at 19:05 on May 8, 2019 |
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May 8, 2019 18:59
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OhFunny posted:https://www.reuters.com/article/us-..._source=twitter Iraq should tell him to gently caress off immediately and take our troops with him after Trump's pardon of a service member who murdered an Iraqi prisoner. I guess maybe we'd slap them with sanctions if they did that, but how many oil exporting countries can we sanction before the world tells us to gently caress off? Dr Kool-AIDS fucked around with this message at 21:12 on May 8, 2019 |
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May 8, 2019 20:33
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https://twitter.com/joshrogin/statu...ingawful.com%2F Trump's turning the screws even tighter.
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May 9, 2019 00:14
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The US is starting a war of aggression. Contact your congresspeople, I don't know what else there is to do.
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May 9, 2019 00:35
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TBH this could just be more posturing and horseshit. This administration talks a lot about global intervention but the execution up to now has been mostly halfassed and noncommittal where it hasn't been outright inept.
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May 9, 2019 00:40
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guidoanselmi posted:The US is starting a war of aggression. Contact your congresspeople, I don't know what else there is to do. are things really that bad? I can't even imagine what the point of a war would be. Then again, I have a hard time understanding the point of sanctions right now too. I've heard that the sanctions have hit Iran's economy pretty bad. Besides make Trump look tough they seem to accomplish no higher strategic goal. Although maybe the immiseration of Iranians is itself enough for the Republican foreign policy establishment. also, I read this article recently and thought it was interesting to see how the SDF and Syrian govenment are cooperating economically. Also I'm not surprised about the discontent among Arabs, though I wonder how far it could go. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/05/arab-residents-rally-kurdish-rule-syria-deir-az-zor-190508061316059.html quote:Arab inhabitants of Syria's Deir Az Zor have begun the third week of protests against Kurdish rule, according to residents and tribal figures. Squalid fucked around with this message at 00:49 on May 9, 2019 |
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May 9, 2019 00:46
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Squalid posted:are things really that bad? I can't even imagine what the point of a war would be. Then again, I have a hard time understanding the point of sanctions right now too. John Bolton has an even dumber ear to whisper into now, so I'd say things aren't going to go well.
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May 9, 2019 00:49
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Squalid posted:are things really that bad? I can't even imagine what the point of a war would be. I suppose given Trump admires dictators so much, he could be like: "If we're in a war, I'll totally up my chances of getting re-elected with all the fist-pumping headlines of US military killing evil Iranians abroad." The first year or 2 of a war everyone's all hyped and poo poo, then the hangovers kick in a few years down the line when Trump's already been re-elected. Or I dunno, I imagine that's how a dumbfuck like Bolton could've sold it to him. That and 'Do more favors for Saudis, cuz you love em!'
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May 9, 2019 01:10
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Willie Tomg posted:TBH this could just be more posturing and horseshit. This administration talks a lot about global intervention but the execution up to now has been mostly halfassed and noncommittal where it hasn't been outright inept. Saudi Arabia has been almost single-mindedly gearing up for a war with Iran and they are immensely influential with the Trump regime rn. Moreover a bunch of traditional Iran hawks are in power in the US and they are aware that the window to attack Iran closes more every day. All the investigations into Trump have escalated into headlines about constitutional crisis and the RWM spin-machine is in overdrive right now so any diversion whatsoever would be welcomed. There're more reasons to think that they'll start something now than really at any point in the past that I can remember.
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May 9, 2019 01:24
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I'd still be pretty surprised if we attack Iran out of the blue, but we're doing everything we can to goad them into giving us a casus belli. I don't think the current administration is above a Gulf of Tonkin incident, but I do think they'd have to provide some pretty convincing evidence since they'd face a more skeptical press than Bush faced (even if the media are generally still far too credulous about taking cues from the administration when it comes to foreign policy), at a time when the public wants nothing to do with yet another war in the Middle East (which is part of why Trump beat Bush), and there's not a lot of evidence that they could pull off something on that scale without it leaking immediately. I don't think Trump particularly wants war either--when he personally talks about Iran, it's often to brag about how sanctions have already had a huge impact in weakening them, seemingly reducing the need for other action. I just think he's surrounded himself with subordinates and Saudi and Israeli allies who are considerably more hawkish on the issue, and he's too checked out to realize how that's dangerous. Edit: See here: https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/1126286257120788480 This kind of push/pull between Bolton pushing for conflict and Trump pulling him back has also obviously been evident in North Korea. You don't get points for reining in the insanely bloodthirsty adviser you put in a position to do harm yourself, but there are reasons to think he'll back off from a full scale war. Dr Kool-AIDS fucked around with this message at 01:59 on May 9, 2019 |
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May 9, 2019 01:49
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The biggest danger with Trump has always been that he's an unprincipled idiot with zero ability to see how brash action can spiral out of control into something deadly. So yea, let's say I'm less than optimistic that pissbaby won't buckle under sustained Israeli + Saudi + Bolton pressure. I hope I'm wrong tho.
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May 9, 2019 03:06
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Conspiratiorist posted:Bolton is totally trying to pull off his own Gulf of Tonkin, baiting Iran into responding to provocations by inflicting American casualties. Think you might be misconceiving the Gulf of Tonkin incident. The Vietnamese never fired. The US made it up. e: Should have kept reading the thread.
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May 9, 2019 13:34
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The CIA and Department of Defense have managed to create a new munition that both reduces collateral damage, and is somehow more horrifying: https://twitter.com/Charles_Lister/status/1126471340175831040
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May 9, 2019 14:01
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Brown Moses posted:The CIA and Department of Defense have managed to create a new munition that both reduces collateral damage, and is somehow more horrifying: While you were partying, I studied the blade.
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May 9, 2019 14:09
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The number of towns and villages the regime has captured in recent days in northern Hama seems to be growing. Last time they had a major offensive, when they captured the eastern third of Idlib, they overwhelmed the rebels by attacking on multiple fronts, so the rebels were never able to establish a solid front line (which was obviously a problem given the regime's airpower dominance anyway). It's unclear how far they're going to take this, but Turkey's relative silence so far suggests to me that there's an understanding in place that probably means it won't be an all out invasion of Idlib. I guess we'll find out pretty soon either way, since some of the territory recently captured is right on the border of Idlib province.
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May 9, 2019 14:26
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Brown Moses posted:The CIA and Department of Defense have managed to create a new munition that both reduces collateral damage, and is somehow more horrifying: 
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May 9, 2019 15:38
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Brown Moses posted:The CIA and Department of Defense have managed to create a new munition that both reduces collateral damage, and is somehow more horrifying: This is a really dumb joke. Also lol @ more horrifying.
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May 9, 2019 17:12
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How is it a joke? Not exploding everything around a target would potentially preserve intelligence to be recovered. There are probably a multitude of other benefits that not using high explosives could provide.
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May 9, 2019 18:42
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Also not a joke in that it's real and has been used to kill people already.
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May 9, 2019 18:45
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I suspect this isn't the other new Hellfire they're using, there's been a couple of airstrikes in Syria where the remains of Hellfire were recovered with a weight marking for 52kg, which from what I can find doesn't match with any of the weights of Hellfire missile currently known to the public. This appears to be one example where the new Hellfire with blades on has been used: https://twitter.com/Charles_Lister/status/835942701665304576
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May 9, 2019 19:00
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Squalid posted:also, I read this article recently and thought it was interesting to see how the SDF and Syrian govenment are cooperating economically. Also I'm not surprised about the discontent among Arabs, though I wonder how far it could go. The locals would be in the same (if not worse) situation if they were under regime control, since the regime still needs oil for the fuel crunch; any potential deal with the regime would just be the same as what's happening now but with a significantly greater chance of the locals being shot and killed while protesting.
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May 9, 2019 20:21
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Brown Moses posted:The CIA and Department of Defense have managed to create a new munition that both reduces collateral damage, and is somehow more horrifying: Someone at the CIA/DoD has been watching too many magnus bullhead youtube videos
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May 10, 2019 02:18
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It exists, and it’s because the CEP of an inert Hellfire was deemed too big to hit a person sized target reliably. Enter knife missile.
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May 11, 2019 03:21
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https://twitter.com/ABC/status/1126958919228772352?s=19 https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1126883619165831168?s=19 Further escalation.
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May 11, 2019 03:25
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quote:Yemen's Houthi rebels are preparing to withdraw from a key strategic port, in the first major step since a ceasefire agreement signed in December. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-48237445
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May 11, 2019 13:34
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Just a military commander casually dropping by a neocon think tank to talk about how bad Iran is: https://twitter.com/FDD/status/1126273623948447749
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May 11, 2019 14:58
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"Please look away while Turkey and Saudi Arabia are pumping billions of dollars into jihadist groups, and please ignore that the USA have been turning countries into devastated war zones for the last 30 years, please completely ignore Israel's expansionism against Lebanon, Syria and Egypt and their stubborn refusal to stop the festering of Palestine. It's Iran who's bad, I tell you! Iran!"
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May 11, 2019 16:57
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It looks like the Belgian Arms project Bellingcat was part of might actually have an impact:quote:Belgian foreign minister calls for halt to Saudi arms shipments We've been involved with several of these projects across the EU, revealing similar violations of arms export agreements, so hopefully more countries will follow suit.
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May 12, 2019 18:48
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UAE says four vessels subjected to 'sabotage' near Fujairah portquote:DUBAI (Reuters) - Four commercial vessels were targeted by “sabotage operations” near the territorial waters of the United Arab Emirates without causing casualties, the foreign ministry said on Sunday, without giving details of the nature of the sabotage. This is so stupid and transparent.
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May 12, 2019 22:11
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Brown Moses posted:It looks like the Belgian Arms project Bellingcat was part of might actually have an impact: accursed CIA asset Brown Moses, plotting to... weaken Saudi Arabia and their war in Yemen?
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May 12, 2019 22:21
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It's all part of my cunning plan to trick people to think we were against the war all along: https://twitter.com/MarkAmesExiled/status/1125423409519910912
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May 12, 2019 22:25
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I have one question. If the sub-national Walloon government is making decisions about international arms deals with no sign-off from the national government, is the national government really still a sovereign government anymore?
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May 13, 2019 03:38
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https://twitter.com/AP/status/1127779159365816322 Gulf of Tonkin v2.0 incoming. Rev up those sabres and get rattlin' everyone.
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May 13, 2019 05:03
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