CONQUEST: An Islamic State fighter celebrates in Mosul on June 23, 2014. The Sunni group won a series of military victories last year, helped by former military and intelligence officers from the era of Saddam Hussein, the former Iraqi autocrat. But the movement has since split, with some members continuing to help the Sunni extremist group, and others fleeing. REUTERS/Stringer
Hassan Hassan, The Guardian: Isis is expanding its international reach. That is hardly a sign of weakness
It is dangerous to believe that it wants to use Libya as a fallback position
The United Nations’ sanctions monitoring team warned last Tuesday that Libya was emerging as a key stronghold for Islamic State close to the shorelines of Europe.
The warning aligns with assessments by US intelligence officials that the organisation’s franchise is entrenching itself in the midst of chaos in the north African country.
Isis’s expansion outside its heartlands in Iraq and Syria has raised questions about how more than a year of a relentless air campaign has affected it. The group has faced military defeats in north-eastern Iraq and Syria in recent months, but it also carried out large-scale international terror attacks.
Commentaries, Analysis, And Editorials -- December 11, 2015
How Saddam’s men help Islamic State rule -- Isabel Coles and Ned Parker, Reuters
Iraq's war of flags -- Mustafa al-Kadhimi, Al-Monitor
What no one wants to admit about fighting ISIS: the US has only bad choices -- Max Fisher, VOX
Moscow's clients from Kabul to Damascus: Strength and strategy in international politics -- Ryan Evans, War On The Rocks
Putin's Quagmire in Syria Proves Obama Prescient -- Ilya Arkhipov & Henry Meyer, Bloomberg
Why North Korea’s Claim That It Has a Hydrogen Bomb Is Worrisome -- Bruce Klingner, Daily Signal
Underestimating US in Asia a ‘Severe Miscalculation’: Senior Defense Official -- Prashanth Parameswaran, The Diplomat
Twelve years after conflict erupted, Darfur's 12 year-olds have big ambitions -- Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah, Reuters
Coalition of the Unwilling: Merkel's Plan B Could Mean End of Schengen -- Peter Müller, Ralf Neukirch and Andreas Ulrich, Spiegel Online
What would happen in a region ruled by France's far-right? -- Ingrid Melander, Reuters
Putin's Days Are Numbered -- James Carafano, Forbes
Russian Oligarch or FBI Rat? -- Micahel Weiss, Daily Beast
Cleaning Up the Mess in Latin America -- Danilo Arbilla, World Crunch
Why America isn't winning its wars -- Anna Mulrine, CSM
Oil Is Tanking, and That’s Great: The financial press says the plummet is a sign of peril. Wrong. -- Daniel Gross, Slate
6 comments:
Here's a report of President Putin "bein' real" with the Turkish Ambassador.
http://awdnews.com/top-news/russian-president-to-turkish-ambassador-tell-your-dictator-president-he-can-go-to-hell-along-with-his-isis-terrorists,-i-will-make-syria-a-big-stalingrad-for-him
Forbes crows "Putins days are numbered."
Al Jazeera's bell tolls for others:
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2015/12/racism-melting-pot-boiling-151210051654391.html
RRH. I read the Forbes post earlier today ... I had to laugh.
Thank you for the link from AWDnews. I heard about that meeting via through social media, but this is the first time reading it about what happened in English. I will be posting it later tonight.
http://russia-insider.com/en/politics/crimea-blackout-ukraine-was-just-inches-away-new-chernobyl/ri11798
Crimea Blackout: Ukraine Was Just Inches Away From a New Chernobyl
Cuttting power to 'occupied' Crimea might not be such a good idea when you simultaneously cut power to your own nuclear power stations
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The author is a popular Russian blogger. This article originally appeared at his LJ blog . Translated by Svetlana Kyrzhaly and Rhod Mackenzie
Few people attached any significance to the fact that when Crimea’s power lines were cut, this could have provoked a Chernobyl type accident at the South-Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Nikolaev. We were lucky that the workers of the station were able to turn on the emergency electricity supply system for a few hours.
The lack of gas and coal in the Ukraine could lead to accidents at other power plants, leaving metropolitan areas without heat and light. This is obvious even to amateurs, but unfortunately, the amateurs in Kiev could cause a catastrophe not only for Ukrainians, but also for the residents of neighboring countries, including Russians, and involving nuclear power plants.
There are four of these in the Ukraine, totaling 16 units, or 16 potential atomic bombs. Experts say it’s a miracle that another Chernobyl type catastrophe hasn’t already happened.
Vasily Volga, a Ukrainian politician who is also a nuclear energy specialist said:
“When these so called “activists” brought down power lines, the South-Ukrainian nuclear power plant was unable to produce a normal amount of electricity. I will be receiving details on what exactly happened, but from what shift supervisors said, only the professionalism and dedication of the staff prevented a catastrophe“.
As Vasily Volga explains, nuclear power plants require regular preventive maintenance to prevent accidents on a Chernobyl scale.
“We can’t tell the core of the reactor and its ancillary systems “We don’t have money, so continue working and we’ll do preventive maintenance later”. When operating instructions say the gasket in the main centrifugal pump has to be changed every year, it should be changed every year”.
The systems used in the Ukrainian nuclear reactors are produced in the Ukraine or in Russia. Currently, due to poor relations, scheduled preventive maintenance at nuclear power plants is not being done. Kiev knows this, but doesn’t talk about it because to fix it would require a call to Moscow. Or maybe they just don’t understand how dangerous it is to run the nuclear power industry with whatever funds they can scrape together.
Our opponents wonder why we are so keenly interested in Ukrainian affairs, instead of discussing our own problems. The answer is simple: it’s because we’re close. Because your refugees are in our country; because the Maidan disrupted our trade and economic relations, which made both our countries stronger. Not to mention the friendship and kinship going back centuries.
You are welcome Editor.
Reading Forbes only strengthened my opinion on just how divorced from reality a good many people "over here" are.
As for President Putin, I have no trouble at all believing he tore into the Turks as described. Obviously, I don't know the man (would jump at the opportunity to meet him in person) but I can sense his growing frustration with people such as Erdogan, the crazies in Ukraine and their buddies/handlers. A lot of folks have been telling me there is no way a major war can come of all these games being played. I, however, can not ignore what's in front of my face. Every day more forces are engaged, more rhetoric is spewed, and more threats and provocationsare made.
Wars don't start out of thin air I am of the opinion we are right on the precipice of a world changing conflict. If any of us over here survive it, we'll only have ourselves to blame for the hell we'll be living in.
Judging by what's continuing to pass for government and policy in Canada, I have given up on expecting a voice of reason from that quarter. We're in deep doo doo with these knuckleheads in charge. Personally, I am less and less comfortable with calling a nuclear warhead aiming point home.
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