Sunday, February 04, 2018
Turkey Deputy PM designates US troops 'wearing YPG uniform' a target
via Kurdistan24
Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister, Bekir Bozdag, on Sunday said US troops advising and training Kurdish forces in northern Syria could become a target for his country's army which is already waging an undeclared war on the Afrin enclave where Kurds are there on their own.Story here.
"If we happen to [face] even American soldiers in YPG uniforms, they are a target. Let them not confront us," Bozdag told the private news channel, CNN Turk, voicing the possibility of a conflict between the two NATO allies.
The YPG or the People's Protection Units is the bulk of the local Syrian partners of the US-led Coalition fighting the Islamic State (IS) group.
No US troop is known to have donned Kurdish military outfit while on duty in Syria, though some wearing the YPG insignia in 2016 made headlines and created a heated diplomatic crisis with Washington.
Is wearing a patch enough? Does the statement by that Army Colonel about protecting our forces still stand?
Face it people.
Unless we're missing some serious behind the scene discussions...or we've pulled our people out of the area...we're gonna see US and Turkish forces eventually cross swords.
People in the Middle East are predicting a Kurdish massacre and blaming us. This article makes a strong case for them being right....
via Yahoo.com
The Trump administration is doubling down on a lie the U.S. government has promoted since it first began cooperating with the Syrian Kurds against the Islamic State group in 2014: that the Kurds it is working with in Syria differ from those that are anathema to NATO ally Turkey.Story here.
American officials designed that fiction to enable the anti-ISIS strategy adopted under President Barack Obama and continued under President Donald Trump. Now it’s taking its most serious toll yet: Turkey is bombarding Afrin, a Kurdish enclave in northwest Syria, with airstrikes and artillery fire and the U.S. is refusing responsibility. Extending the Obama-era logic, team Trump maintains that Afrin is totally distinct from the Kurdish regions in Syria’s northeast that are home to American bases and thousands of U.S. troops.
Dozens of civilians have died in the campaign’s initial assault on smaller villages around the main city. Over a million more are at risk, as are Turkish civilians facing rockets in response. And Trump’s choice has boosted bitterness toward the U.S. among Washington’s most effective partners in Syria. In the weeks ahead, it could torpedo U.S.-brokered cooperation between Kurds and the country’s majority Arab community, tempting more Arabs to join radical groups like the powerful local al Qaeda affiliate or what’s left of ISIS; escalate an already dire humanitarian crisis; and cede more space in Syria to actors Trump is ostensibly committed to challenging ― Russia, Iran and the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. There’s little clear benefit to the U.S. in return.
The writer of this article is as left wing as they come. I get more than a little whiff of anti-Trumpism too. I get more than a little whiff of a STRONG anti-US bias as well.
But I don't know if this dude is wrong.
The bastards that pushed the conflict in Syria. The idiots that talked about a generational war to defeat ISIS...the people that decided to wreck a country because they wanted Assad out of power have the blood of many on their hands.
Now they might have to add the blood of the Kurds as well.
Don't get me wrong. The Kurds are spunky. They'll fight hard. They'll stand their ground and they'll die in place.
But die they will.
The Turks aren't impressing me. This campaign shows that what we would consider basic military tasks are beyond them. But they have numbers, they have the gear and they have a leader that won't allow them to quit.
They might get chewed up but they will carry the day.
And for that I blame Tillerson, the Pentagon and Trump. This plan was idiotic. They should have dumped it when they took the reigns but they didn't. Now they're gonna have to deal with the blowback...or they're gonna have to try and extend the fighting so that they can get a negotiated cessation of fighting that might let them accomplish the goals that have eluded them on the battlefield.
It really doesn't matter. The neo-cons, globalists and masters of the universe just lost another war.
The reality?
The Russians, Syrians and Iranians pulled it off. Why? Because they were able to exert maximum effort while we had to do it halfway because our leadership lied to the people about their real goals.
About that Turk Leopard 2 taking a catastrophic hit and getting ammo racked...
Thanks to Drinas for the link!
This one has been interesting. I saw it being discussed on the blog yesterday and I wanted to see what some of the pure armor forums were saying about the incident before I commented.
First. Some are saying that it might be the result of a "sympathetic" explosion due to other vehicles being seen in close proximity to the tank before the explosion.
I seriously doubt that to be the case. Unless they hit a truck that was carrying 155mm artillery shells then I would think that the Leopard would have fared better. Maybe destroyed but to be totally eviscerated like it was? Just not plausible.
Additionally I don't see a crater. Just a tank that's been ripped apart. That kills a second theory that's floating that it was possibly a combination of a left over very large IED combined with the anti-tank missile that did the deed (note in the case of this theory its assumed that it wasn't a coordinated IED/missile attack, just bad luck for the crew).
Which leaves the obvious. A heavyweight Anti-Tank missile was used to blast this tank into oblivion.
How many of you remember the US Army going batshit crazy because suddenly the M1A1 was found to be vulnerable to RPG-29's IF THEY HIT A SPECIFIC SPOT on the hull?
I do.
They fixed that vulnerability and they're taking steps to improve on the tank even further due to emerging threats.
I can't nail it down because I just don't have the time to dig thru German Tank Forums but from what little I've read they're suspecting that the same type issue is facing the Leopard 2A4's that Turkey uses.
I tend to agree.
Watch the video again. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to imagine the impact point (especially considering the explosion) after looking at the image below.
The problem is obvious.
The Leopard 2A4 IS A GOOD TANK!
It's just not built for Counter Insurgency Combat!
Many are gonna jump all over the idea that they have 15 shells stowed in the hull. But check out the following pics.
I know the pics are hard to make out but they showed that when the Leopard 2 was first introduced it was designed to be resistant to Russian guns of the time into the future.
It was also built to be resistant to anti-tank missiles of the era. The caveat? It was hull down facing the threat.
The tank wasn't designed to be involved in 360 degree warfare. It was made to stare the enemy in the eye, to take hits, give them back better than it got and then to get to the next defensive position to do it all over again.
Everyone is so in love with the German Army of WW2 that they don't realize that the Leopard 2 was built as a defensive tank first. Not offensive.
My belief is that we're seeing an unknown heavy anti-tank missile get a lucky hit MAYBE in an unplanned top attack on the front hull of the Turk Leopard. I think it penetrated the compartment, set off those rounds and it was all over but the tears.
Side note. I find it interesting and noteworthy that for the VAST majority of my audience, I'm hearing sympathy, respect and all around "rest in peace" for the pilot of the Russian attack plane but nothing for this Turk tank crew. I think that says it all for where most of my audience is when it comes to the conflict in Syria.
This one has been interesting. I saw it being discussed on the blog yesterday and I wanted to see what some of the pure armor forums were saying about the incident before I commented.
First. Some are saying that it might be the result of a "sympathetic" explosion due to other vehicles being seen in close proximity to the tank before the explosion.
I seriously doubt that to be the case. Unless they hit a truck that was carrying 155mm artillery shells then I would think that the Leopard would have fared better. Maybe destroyed but to be totally eviscerated like it was? Just not plausible.
Additionally I don't see a crater. Just a tank that's been ripped apart. That kills a second theory that's floating that it was possibly a combination of a left over very large IED combined with the anti-tank missile that did the deed (note in the case of this theory its assumed that it wasn't a coordinated IED/missile attack, just bad luck for the crew).
Which leaves the obvious. A heavyweight Anti-Tank missile was used to blast this tank into oblivion.
How many of you remember the US Army going batshit crazy because suddenly the M1A1 was found to be vulnerable to RPG-29's IF THEY HIT A SPECIFIC SPOT on the hull?
I do.
They fixed that vulnerability and they're taking steps to improve on the tank even further due to emerging threats.
I can't nail it down because I just don't have the time to dig thru German Tank Forums but from what little I've read they're suspecting that the same type issue is facing the Leopard 2A4's that Turkey uses.
I tend to agree.
Watch the video again. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to imagine the impact point (especially considering the explosion) after looking at the image below.
The problem is obvious.
The Leopard 2A4 IS A GOOD TANK!
It's just not built for Counter Insurgency Combat!
Many are gonna jump all over the idea that they have 15 shells stowed in the hull. But check out the following pics.
I know the pics are hard to make out but they showed that when the Leopard 2 was first introduced it was designed to be resistant to Russian guns of the time into the future.
It was also built to be resistant to anti-tank missiles of the era. The caveat? It was hull down facing the threat.
The tank wasn't designed to be involved in 360 degree warfare. It was made to stare the enemy in the eye, to take hits, give them back better than it got and then to get to the next defensive position to do it all over again.
Everyone is so in love with the German Army of WW2 that they don't realize that the Leopard 2 was built as a defensive tank first. Not offensive.
My belief is that we're seeing an unknown heavy anti-tank missile get a lucky hit MAYBE in an unplanned top attack on the front hull of the Turk Leopard. I think it penetrated the compartment, set off those rounds and it was all over but the tears.
Side note. I find it interesting and noteworthy that for the VAST majority of my audience, I'm hearing sympathy, respect and all around "rest in peace" for the pilot of the Russian attack plane but nothing for this Turk tank crew. I think that says it all for where most of my audience is when it comes to the conflict in Syria.
Blast from the past. USMC Portable Helicopters
Thanks to Solsys Instagram for the pic!
Story here.
 |
| Above—1950s-era magazine illustration of hypothetical combat use of Rotorcycles. Illustration via David Zondy. At top—Hiller YROE-1 undergoing flight tests, NASA Ames Research Center, 1963. NASA photo |
Story here.
Outrage at Mutilation of Kurdish Female Fighter’s Body by Turkish-Backed Forces
via Sputnik.
Global condemnation has erupted after videos posted online revealed the mutilation of a body belonging to a female member of the Kurdish Women’s Protection Units at the hands of Turkish-backed militants in Syria.Story here.
Turkish-backed Syrian militants are accused of recording the horrific abuse of the corpse of a female member of the Kurdish Women's Protection Units, according to reports, although some have claimed that she blew herself up to avoid capture.
Turkey and militant groups in Syria hired by Ankara to invade the northern-Syrian Kurdish town of Afrin staged an invasion beginning January 20, drawing global approbation.
A staunch ally of the US-backed coalition fighting Daesh in Syria, Kurdish forces are considered terrorists by the increasingly autocratic and nationalist regime of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who authorized the Syrian invasion.
An official with the Kurdish fighters in Afrin identified the woman killed and mutilated as Barin Kobani, a highly-trained soldier who fought with the US in driving Daesh from the northern Syrian village of Qurna, according to The Guardian.
I am amazed. The Western public has this whitewashed view of warfare and think FOOLISHLY that its clean, with established rules and that the enemy fights within the framework of the Geneva Convention.
It's with that idiocy which we see the meme of women in combat being pushed.
Even worse?
Youtube, Twitter (to a much lesser degree) and the other members of the main stream media prevent the truth from getting out.
I can't tell you how many times either haters (and I have a number of them...fuck you all) or mothers of America have flagged blog items because they showed a truth that no one wanted to see.
Remember that academic that was captured by ISIS? I posted the story on this blog. Those animals crucified the guy and at some point cut off his had and placed it at his feet.
The pic, the story and the reality of ISIS was quickly flagged by some idiot that stopped by my blog.
So what do we have today?
We have morons like our former President pushing for women in combat. We have idiots like the bastards at USNI Blog doing the same, giving feminists that don't give a fuck about military matters a platform to transform the military.
The reality?
We're gonna see an American Service Woman raped by about more than 20 men live on YouTube. We're gonna get a chance to see her vaginally mutilated with objects. We're gonna see all this and pray for God to let her die rather than let the agony continue.
And those that pushed for this?
Their daughters will be far from the frontlines.
Their daughters will be living in luxury and it will be some little girl from a poor or middle class family that will suffer the arrogance of those THAT SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER!
Outrage at this mutilation?
I have none. My eyes are wide open to who we're dealing with, their ideology, their belief systems and their behavior.
The Kurds are in a total war situation so they don't have a choice. Understanding that, I hope she died before they could grab her and I hope this was done to a corpse (but we'll never know).
But we. The people of the West? We're not in a total war situation but we're still subjecting the mothers of our children (and our children) to this madness.
If that makes me a male chauvinist then so be it.
I'm still fucking right.
If you're one of those people with an "open mind" and if you fool yourself into believing that rights are for everyone and everyone deserves a chance to serve on the frontlines then I say awesome. Just do me a favor. Make sure you put some skin in the game. Make sure you get your daughter to the front.
Rant over.
Saturday, February 03, 2018
Why hasn't Russia (and others) developed proper TRAP Teams?
I don't know cause I'm not there. Full stop. This is just an observation from a million miles away that might be totally off and bat shit stupid.
I admit that at the very beginning.
But have you noticed that we're seeing pilots attacking enemy forces, getting into trouble and then being left out to dry?
That might not be the actual situation but it sure seems like it.
With Russian airplanes flying so close to enemy forces, employing the tactics that they are it would make sense to have someone flying orbits ready to fly in and protect the pilot from attack while their rescue forces fly in by helicopter.
What has me spinning is that we've seen this happen to a number of Russian pilots and once to a Jordanian flier.
Minutes count and if rescue forces have to be spun up to gear up and get to the aircraft and then add more time to fly to the scene then we're doing it wrong.
If the Russians (and others) don't have forces dedicated to the Rescue/TRAP mission then they're doing it doubly wrong.
What is going on with Russia and its recovery/rescue of its pilots?
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