"Lafayette, nous voici!" pl
RSS- “It’s 7 a.m. in Tel Aviv after a night of protests. Here’s what you need to know about Israel’s political crisis” – TTG
- Russia to base nuclear warheads in Belarus… so what? – TTG
- “Drone strike kills US contractor in Syria; US retaliates” – TTG
- “Ukrainian troops impress US trainers as they rapidly get up to speed on Patriot missile system” – TTG
- “Russia hauls 1950s-era tanks out of storage to join battlefield” – TTG
- “Terran 1 | Good Luck, Have Fun” – TTG
- ISW take on the Xi – Putin meeting – TTG
- Russian defensive lines: screwing the pooch once again – TTG
- “ICC issues arrest warrant for Putin over Ukraine war crimes” – TTG
- How the JDAM-ER will be employed – TTG
If you missed your first chance to change your Facebook avatar to the French flag, Islam is gonna give you plenty of opportunities.
I cannot WAIT to see the rationalization for this from the Fifth Columnist dhimmis on here.
The July 3rd attack on the Baghdad Market place has killed 300 people.
I never saw any picture anywhere altered with Iraqi Tri-color.
I understand that: tribalism at its best – across religions.
All
We mourn with France .
All
Just listened to Berman and Balduan on CCN talk to the Fariid about a statement made by the French Prosecutor General in which he said that the French must accept that these terrorists will not go away and that one must learn to live with that. B & B whined that this was too cruel when people are hurt, “the children, etc.) That was too much even for FZ and he gently tried to tell them that sometimes reality must be confronted. He was unsuccessful in this appeal to the adults who might lurk within. pl
Tyler
Knowing your background but not always agreeing with your politics ( though I must admit lately I find you are making more sense ) – I would respectfully ask what would a Donald Trump administration do differently in our war against Daesh ?
Col Lang .,
We trust Monsieur Patrick Bahzad is doing well and doing good. We wish him God Speed & Every Success in his current endeavors , and await his next available erudite & thoughtful post here at SST .
Meanwhile would it be worthwhile considering what the SST committee members might recommend where we in charge , perhaps in another war gaming exercise ?
AE
I will think about it. Now that we know who the candidates will be this is a possibility. pl
alba etie
Poor grammar needs fixing.
“Meanwhile would it be worthwhile to consider what the SST committee members might recommend to defeat Daesh – were we in charge ? Perhaps this might be the topic of another war gaming exercise here ? ”
PS
Col Lang the typepad login thingy does not let me use my most current email address ajetransportation@gmail.com , but instead now only accepts my ‘dead” albaetie@hughes.net — does that make any difference ?
Col Lang
This is how we learn . Thanks.
If anyone is playing tribalism, it is those from the tribes in the ME. The West may be looked back on as fools for assuming tribalism was a relic of the past.
If all of the multiculturalists can’t find a way to get everyone satisfied with our current situation, then tribes may be what we return to.
And forgive us for not getting too worked up over ME violence. If it weren’t such a frequent occurrence, we may be a bit more shocked.
AE,
I think this type of attack is quite easy to duplicate in the US.
Col.,
“. B & B whined …. one must learn to live with that” I assume none of their relatives or neighbors had their children run over by the ISIS express.
Babak,
Baghdad, the multicultural metropolis.
Babak,
The ME doesn’t care, why should I?
Thank you for vindicating my point for me.
Baghdad – “Bagh” + “dad” – Justice Garden in Persian had been a truly cosmopolitan and multicultural city for millennia – both under Sassanids and later under the Omavids, Abassids, and finally the Ottomans.
Until the Arab Nationalists destroyed it.
Ah! But the Baghdad Market bombing is a “private affair” between muslims longing for The Caliphate you so wisely promote.
BTW, I am not even sure that Islam is the primary motivation of the individuals doing the attacks in France, it may be more of a convenient and “classy” justification for an intergroup hostility which can only be depicted as racism.
Because, yes, notwithstanding the squealings of the cretinous lefties, races DO EXIST and racism is widely shared among ALL races, so racism cannot be denied nor suppressed but only “managed” such as not to disrupt the fabric of societies.
Especially so for multi-racial societies.
Are you “paying attention” Herr Babak?
AE,
Supporting the Russians.
Stopping the triple bank shot “irregular warfare” against Russia in the Ukraine
Stop bankrolling the Unicorn Army.
Stop providing cover for the neocons to start seven wars across MENA.
Reigning in the “black ops” that are going on over there.
Some ideas.
My recommendation would be –
End the Syrian Civil War.
Get the Iranians and Turks to promulgate a religious and political program to combat jihadists.
I gotta say, the passive voice headlines of TRUCK ATTACKS CROWD are pretty amazing for their purposeful obtusity.
To be honest, there really is nothing to say about Nice other than to express sympathy. At the interpretive/analytical, it doesn’t add anything new to our understanding. Obviously, there were errors in the security precautions at the site – but that is another matter.
More people can relate to France because most US/Europeans as well as Asians have visited France, & Paris (France & Paris according to statistics is the most visited country/city in the world for tourists) ..
Nice is the #2 most visited city in France for tourists according to statistics also
ie, it’s more personal for most US/Europeans because they’ve been there or have friends/family there.. but relatively fewer US/Europeans have ties or connections to & have not been to Iraq ..
but you can grieve for both or all without making it a false dichotomy
My wife was tearing up because she vacationed in Nice several years ago & on that very same street
I have a distant aunt (cousin’s aunt) who lives in Nice & another aunt/cousin who lived in Paris ..
I’m agnostic so clerics or followers from any religion that preach violence
in imposing their theocratic laws on others or encourages jihadists like IS, Nusra, AQ etc that seek to impose their theocratic laws onto others should be eliminated, silenced, assassinated, etc
Trying to find confirmation of this but a friend told me that the police held him for 6 hours before letting him go, as he was “delivering ice cream”.
Man oh man.
Stop interfering with the R+6 ( or R+7), and let them have a local indigenous govt run things locally. This would also lessen ISIS focus on the west (and redirect towards Russia, which seems to have a better track record and preventing such things (last I recall was Beslan 12 years ago). But then, perhaps Russia still believes in humint, not sigint).
Also, waiting for the POTUS to argue Nice requires gun control -reminds me of “Let them eat cake.”
All, an update?
Just listened to Eleanor Beardley (?) NPR reporter reporting from Nice. She said “we,” whoever that was, had spent time interviewing people from his neighborhood and reporting what French police had uncovered so far. Some details. Interesting. Interview interspersed with French reporter? intel interview guy? saying no intel or international terrorism interest in him. On no one’s radar, not even local police.
• Local resident, from Tunisia.
• Married, wife from good family, working class neighborhood residents called him “just bad news.”
• People who knew him thought he was concocting some fantasy in his head. “Not a terrorist.” Beardsley said jury is out on any connections.
• Grenades and guns in truck fake. (!!!)
• Only firearm/weapon that worked was his handgun.
• Killing and damage done by the vehicle, the truck, not the handgun.
Beardsley cautioned that none of this confirmed. Police still looking for a possible accomplice.
Fake grenades and guns?
You do that while they hosted the terrorists MEK last week in Paris.
If you think people in a number of countries in the Middle East do not care about what has been happening in Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, Lebanon, and Afghanistan, then, I will have to say that you have not been paying attention.
Ever heard of a place called “Pachenar” in Pakistan; were Shia Muslims are routinely murdered?
This makes too much sense. I’d doubt Donal Trump cares to listen to any of these fine ideas.
I’d really like the Tyler who is not obsessed about domestic issues and SJWs, etc 🙂
My heart bleeds and I weep for Europe but I cannot also deny a reality of Europe in general, and France in particular, doing it largely to themselves. The war is coming, sadly.
Just a personal observation on how the world has changed..
My family lived in Nice from 1961 to 1963 while my father was stationed with the 6th fleet staff – when the flagship was home ported around the point in Villefranch sur Mer.
Nice and it’s environs (Villefranche, Beaulieu, Cap Ferrat, etc.) where I hung out summers with a mix of navy brats, movie star brats (they all lived in mansions on Cap Ferrat), a few US expats and some French kids our age we met at Plage de Passable was a quiet, very safe and kind of wonderful place at that time.
Our house in Nice was well up on the western hillside with a great view of the city and bay.
It is very sad that such times like in places like Nice will never return, for many reasons but certainly including our (US/EU) clueless middle eastern adventures and “heads in the sand” approach to addressing the problems we have created.
I suspect that the limited group of about 90,000 Algerian Muslims (mostly Harkis, who had served as French auxiliaries) allowed to flee to France in 1962 at the end of the Algerian war seeded the Algerian Muslim population in Southern France and was perhaps the first step towards today’s terrorist challenges in France. Of note is that somewhere between 50 and 150 thousand Harkis and their families that did not/could not flee were murdered after the Algerian war ended. Many of the Harkis who did manage to get to France were aided by their French officers, against orders – a situation that will resonate with some SST readers..
It is possible that some of my French friends from that time could have been on the Promenade des Anglais yesterday watching the fireworks – which somehow makes this incident hit me harder and open my eyes more than the earlier attacks in Paris – a place I don’t know, which I guess makes the impacts there more abstract.
In a sense, I am glad that it is the French, rather than our, security officials who are handling this. At least they seem to have some good sense, an idea about the reality. Our political leaders seem so eager to cater to the politically convenient and our spineless security officials bend before political pressure like straw.
With all due respect, this is not passive voice; it is personification. The truck did not attack people; people or animals attack people.
Yes, everything is done to make it seem that humans were not involved
as that would mean facing uncomfortable truths.
AJP Taylor, English historian of acerbic wit, famously said something like, in the end, all auto accidents are caused by the desire of people to go places faster and the invention of the internal combustion engine. We sure spend a lot of time blaming people for their “abnormal and immoral” desire for going places faster and the evils of internal combustion engine. If we ban all trucks, I am sure all terrorism will go away.
Babak,
You left out the Romans.
joe100
I am inclined to think that the wave of immigrants that came after the Harkis are responsible. pl
Babak,
Let them fix the mess they made then.
What business does a Muslim have in the land of Martel and Charlemange other than as a warning?
Tony,
It is all the same battle. That you are blind to that is your failing, not mine.
Haralambos,
A friend of mine pointed that out as well. Sacre bleu! Some writer am I.
Babak,
“End the Syrian Civil War.”
That has been the Borg’s position for a number of years, they just insist that it end with a jihadist victory.
@ISL
Well look at how successful the meeting Sec of State Kerry is having with Lavrov and Putin at the Kremlin ( just being sarcastic) . The latest I checked, after 6 hours of meeting they are still butting heads as to how to prevail in Syria.
BTW: Last Saturday Hollande called for action against Syrian AQ affiliate – JAN.
In the meantime JAN is at war with ISIS and they are at war with the moderate rebels (or Syrian New Army).
It is a bataille Royale and in the meantime chihuahua Adel is threatening Turkey and pressuring Kerry.
Quelle Magouille
@ Babak
Should not forget that yesterday was also the celebration of 14th July 1958 for some !
Sad to tell my French friends: “If you lay down with the dogs …”
Hollande and other French officials before him promoted “regime change” in Libya, Syria and elsewhere by proxy Jihadis. They delivered weapons and other support to them.
They were warned, by Assad and others, that those would come back to bite. They ignored the warnings.
Well … here are the flea.
BTW: The attack follows the script of al-Qaeda as publicized in “Inspire” No. 2 Pg 54., 2010. Could be lone wolf but time and place lets me consider an orchestrated assault.
Joe100,
“Of note is that somewhere between 50 and 150 thousand Harkis and their families that did not/could not flee were murdered after the Algerian war ended.”
That is part of the historical record conveniently erased by those on the political left. Understanding that the Harkis were and are French is a point lost on the multicultural evangelists.
yeah that’s what a good Israeli TV has been spreading and all good dual nationals who are recruiting their brethren to make aliyah are spreading that news on social media.
check this article for a relevant piece – timeline @ 13h17
http://www.challenges.fr/france/20160714.CHA1879/direct-un-camion-fonce-dans-la-foule-a-nice-la-prefecture-evoque-un-attentat.html
or you may translate this section:
“Il conduisait très lentement, c’est ce qui était étonnant”, a poursuivi ce journaliste indépendant. “Et il a été suivi par un motard qui roulait derrière lui et le motard a essayé de le dépasser et a même essayé d’ouvrir la portière côté conducteur du camion”, expliqué M. Gutjahr qui a également tourné une vidéo avec son smartphone, utilisée par la chaîne publique allemande ARD. “Mais il a chuté et il est passé sous les roues du camion”, a-t-il expliqué.
btw that video was shown on one TV network last night at 19:00
I think Kerry is in Moscow to, among other major points, prevent any decision on what many were calling for for some time–ground operation. Latest interview by Colonel Murahovsky who is close to top brass indicates that there are huge tactical and operational issues with SAA. Another matter that Murahovsky suggests to conduct ground operation together with the US, while others (me included) see Russia doing it alone. But, against the background of atrocity in Nice, Syria, while still important issue is one of many others, where European suicidal (multi)cultural policies and “tolerance” to Islam are now clear and present danger. But then again, Europe was warned repeatedly by many for years.
1953 – and yes, a feat of romantic daring do for its protagonists the ramifications of which have been unfolding for decades.
Tyler
All very sensible ideas.
I would add getting the hell out of places like the ME and let them sort out their tribal and religious wars themselves. I would also be in favor of ending NATO and getting out of Europe. They should be responsible for their own defense. And of course getting back to old fashioned policing here at home. Knowing the people who live in the neighborhoods to prevent half cocked folks wanting their tryst with virgins.
Can’t we cease and desist with the back-biting and ad hominem exclamations? They seem better suited to an alcohol fueled frat party than SST. Frankly, they add nothing to our understanding except to remind us that cool-headed rationality is an uncommon human trait.
Michael Brenner
They are on the edge. pl
Tyler
I agree with all of the above . Still do not think banning Moslems is a good idea though .
Fred
I would agree – I am starting to hear rumblings of second or third generation ME emigres being self radicalized here in Central Texas. Its very troubling ..
Kao,
Seen some good parody MSNBC headlines in the vein of “80 FRENCH RACISTS ATTACK MUSLIM DRIVRN TRUCK” and “NICE TRUCK ACCIDENT SHOWS NEED FOR MORE PEDESTRIAN WALKWAYS”.
David,
One does not need look far.
Kao,
On the other hand, the French buried the torture that those killed in Bataclan endured.
Smoothie X12
It is baffling to me that the EU / NATO does not view the Levant as its under threat Near Abroad too .- Clearly Russia understands that its in all of our interest to defeat Daesh full stop – Yes the war is coming .
Colonel,
First, thanks for sharing our sorrow, and the flag, I appreciate.
Emigration in France from Algeria and Marocco is along story. Accélération and a huge increase happened in the 50’s to bring extra labor force in reconstruction and industrial developpment. It was mostly males only.
Durng the algerian war for independance these emigrant weres under FLN influence and taxes. Later with the new law reuniting them with their wife and children a lot settled definitively.
Today 60 years later we have the third generation, with full French citizenship which is normal, but housed in ghettos style suburbs, many poorly educated and jobless. Most djihadists are coming from these places.
My view is: end the war, you fools! OK, it’s as much the objective of the NeoCons to destroy the EU, as it is to destroy Asad. Well, the neocons have just lost their main agent in the EU, that is the UK.
Off topic……..what is going on in Turkey?
alba etie,
We need more potential terrorists in the USA why exactly? Diversity? Why do you people worship that concept to the point of being utter fools?
I would think that we – NATO – should pound the ISIS caliphate into nothingness. With the loss of the caliphate the organization loses its luster and appeal. We should absolutely work with Russia to achieve this. And that is what Trump has been saying since day 1.
AE,
And why not? We banned communists.
AE,
Right, that’s the constitutional question involved here. Many of these with the potential to become radicalized are citizens. We could solve the illegal question and would still be vulnerable to those here legally. You’ll note that some have responded to this event with external solutions that wouldn’t account for this problem in the US.
These kinds of attacks (with vehicles) on soft targets have been predicted for years.
“They are on the edge”
If you mean French Muslims, I wouldn’t agree. There’s a large substrate of Muslims in lower jobs in the French administration who stabilise the situation. I have a lot of contact with them.
It’s only the nutters that we hear about.
Tyler,
Go, tell the Socialists, stranger passing by, there here, obedient to their gun regulations, we lie.
They never got that far.
AE,
Don’t think islamic jihadist. Think Friday Night Lights. To use a colorful metaphor imagine someone capp’n the poor smuck delivering gas to the local station and then making a special ISSIS terror delivery. I think 6,000 gallons makes a big fireball. Just say’n.
PS if you find a photo I think there were close to 2 dozen rounds through the front windshield on that truck in Nice. It wasn’t armored. The video I saw looks like the driver shot a police officer on a motorcycle when he came abreast (Probably to pull him over). It is then that the driver accelerated and the slaughter of innocents began. The other two cops in the video were on foot and hand already been passed. There are a few lessons to learn or relearn from this event.
Tyler, you left out sanctions on Saudi Arabia, the terrorists biggest sponsor and removing sanctions on Iran, KSA’s declared enemy.
Laguerre
My remark had nothing to do with France. Pay attention.. pl
Well, we must wait to know exactly what happened.
This guy is far from a typical terrorist.
Make me remind of a depressive guy long time ago who opened fire in a bar and kill 23 people.
Ours politicos, Hollande , Valls and so, will use the event for political purpose. Fear is a useful tool.
If a terrorist network have planned this,14 of july,a special day in France, claim would have been written long time ago.
None so far.
Wait and see
Tyler said… “TRUCK ATTACKS CROWD”
Sure that attack was the result of white truck supremacy. If it was a black truck someone would be claiming it was a loner truck that had been badly treated by evil white trucks. Of course in that case we would only see pictures of a smiling baby truck.
Thankfully there are few muslim trucks, because their buyers complain about the five daily motor breakouts followed by front tire pressure loss and the annoying need to park them only towards Mecca, otherwise they do not turn off.
This makes too much sense. I’d doubt Donal Trump cares to listen to any of these fine ideas.
Well, TonyL, you should be listening to Stephen Cohen 10 PM EST on WABC-AM Radio every Tuesday night. One hour. John Batchelor Show. Cohen is a Russian expert, history professor emeritus Princeton and NYU, and a realist. Considered on of the top Russian analysts for 40 years. [Also available online during show and in podcasts afterward.] Cohen is also married to The Nation publisher and editor-in-chief Katrina Vanden Heuvel. Tyler would call her a lefty, if he was being charming.
Cohen is saying what Tyler is saying about Trump, AND is saying and quotes Trump saying those things, as reported in the Russian press which Cohen, a good Kentucky son, says is more diverse and freer than ours (!). Cohen has been saying since January that Trump is the only sane candidate when it comes to Russia and the Ukraine, Syria, much to the consternation of John Batchelor who clearly dislikes Trump.
Babak Makkinejad
MEK are terrorist .
tonyL contd.
And you oughta’ hear Cohen discuss the group our Colonel calls ‘The Children’s Crusade’. Derisive.
Eric Newhill
Perhaps you wish to paint 1.5 billion souls with the broad brush of terrorism – I think that is bigoted & short sighted & and a hazard to our national security .
Tyler
How did we ban communist ? There have even been communist that have run for office from time to time , just like there have been KKK members run for office. I do not support either the communist or the KKK but I want to ban neither of these groups .
ISL
All good recommendations .
Fred,
Through the internet, I salute you for this.
alek,
The first of the dhimmis.
Laguerre,
I believe he means the young bucks, here and elsewhere, ready to throw on a tabard, yell “Deus Vult!” and go to war.
Will,
Remove the sea in which the fish swim.
If necessary, Roosevelt showed us the way.
walrus,
And here I thought I had typed that. Good catch.
No, Tyler, the neocons don’t care. They’re the ones who started this with their multi-country onslaught and now everyone is emulating Edvard Munch’s The Scream at the consequences of what these petits fils de pute have wrought in America’s name. And not blaming them.
Will Reks
Yes I think the Orlando mass murderer was a second generation emigre .
The real solution to the radicalization IMO is to have the original immigrant community take the lead. I was reading about some interesting work being done in Minnesota with the Somali diaspora to de-radicalize youth that have been seduced by the salafist wahhabist.
Its also good to remember that Moslems also fought in our War of Independence.
walrus and Tyler,
That’s a wise list of proposed actions. I would like to see most of those actions rolled into a formal Congressional declaration of war on the Islamic State and its allies. As part of that declaration, Congress should emphatically state that the US will take whatever actions it deems fitting against any state, group or individual who provides aid or comfort to our declared enemies. As part of those actions, I would shut down every vestige of Saudi intelligence in the US and direct the IC and DOD to drain the Saudis of all resources that could be used to support our enemies. Leave the Royals just enough money to keep their own people from stringing their fat royal asses from the nearest lamp post by their own royal entrails. I’d then inform Turkey and Israel that they can look forward to the same treatment if they so much as blow a kiss to the jihadis. This should keep us so busy that we won’t have time to play silly games in Ukraine.
The Financial Times has an article “Shadow of jihadi recruiter hangs over glamorous Nice”
It’s behind a paywall but you can access it using google:
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Jihadi+recruiter+holds+Nice+youth+in+thrall&gws_rd=cr,ssl&ei=-6uJV4mpBcTb6QSJmZa4Dg
click the link to ft.com which at the time I type this is the second link down.
Du
alba etie, It is you who paint with a broad brush. You think 1.5 billion souls are all just like you and would be a good fit for a US style constitutional republic because….well, I’m still waiting for the answer, but you people never have one.
Furthermore, if you think I’m a bigot, I don’t care. I’m not a member of your social group where that word wounds.
It is clear from the European experience of the last few years that Muslims are not integrating well. The lack of integration is positively correlated with the number of immigrants. The more there are the more bold about asserting their own culture they become and their culture is at odds with the one you are for.
I guess rape isn’t terrorism. Neither is self-segregating into isolated communities. The former is a crime and the latter corrosive to the identity structure of the nation.
Then there is real terrorism that is further damaging to the national psyche.
And what is gained by an unlimited and unqualified acceptance of these people? IMO you can bend over and take it and even tell them how much you like it, but they aren’t going to respect you in the morning. You think they will, but they won’t.
And why not? We banned communists.
They didn’t ban Trotskyites like Irving Kristol and David Horowitz, but of course the Trotskyites renamed themselves neocons to cover it up.
The 1954 Communist Control Act didn’t ban communists. It banned overthrowing the government of the USA. Membership in the Communist party wasn’t banned.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/congress-passes-communist-control-act
As the article says in the tagline, “Today, the Communist Party of the United States continues to exist and regularly runs candidates for local, state, and national elections.”
Thanks, you made my day.
I like these ” ideoligical ” points of view.
You should have been a good political commissar.
“Even Cazeneuve ,Home Secretary,refused to confirm the membership of Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, the author of the attack of Nice, in the Jihadist sphere of influence.”
Facts, guys, only facts.
Eric Newhill
This is a straw man argument – opposing banning Moslems does not mean I am not for strong reulations of immigration . Nowhere have I said accept unlimited and unqualified people in These United States . I would recommend a good book to you Christopher Dickey’s “Securing the City ‘ , wherein its described how to best protect We Americans from the terrorist .
TTG
Yes make the Congress Critters have skin in the game by voting on the War Declaration –
AE,
You running to false equivocacy because you can’t explain why we need Muslims in the United States.
We banned them by saying they were unable to immigrate here. You think the world has a “right” to come to America. I do not.
Aleksandr,
The progressive dhimmi calling me a commissar. My sides are dying.
Yes yes, the French are engaging in progressive denial of reality. What else is new?
alba etie, this discussion between us highlights why I could never be a lefty like you. I am a practical man. I have to be.
I spent a lot of time in my childhood around people from the middle east, including half of my own family. Admittedly I am talking about Christians (Armenians from what is now Turkey and from Lebanon and some non-Armenian Christian Lebanese, but also some loose contact with Muslims in the stores and markets. This was 40- 50 years ago. I can’t recall meeting anyone who, looking back on it, should not have been allowed into America. Everyone seemed to be doing well. So, theoretically, in small numbers with proper selection criteria, some Muslim immigration can, theoretically work.
Of course that was in the days before the rise of Jihadi aspirations across the Muslim world.
Anyhow, alba, we’re talking government here. You really want to tell me that the government is going to get the quotas and screening right? How is this going to practically be implemented properly? Clearly, under Obama and possibly soon Hillary the plan is to open the door to 10s of thousands of people who we have no idea who they are and who have little or no means of self support.
So wtf are you even talking about? Just debating theory for the hell of it?
Apparently other trucks with explosives have been found in Nice.
https://www.rt.com/news/351235-nice-truck-bomb-squad/