On Friday (26/6/15) several terror attacks took place in France, Kuwait and Tunisia. Despite it being the least successful of the attacks in terms of loss of life I initially gave a lot of coverage to the attack that occurred in Grenoble, France. The main reason for this is that at the time of writing the attacks in Kuwait and Tunisia hadn't happened. However even if I'd known then what I know now I still think that I would have treated the Grenoble attack differently because it is markedly different from the other two attacks.
The attacks in Kuwait and Tunisia are what I would term closely held plots by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). That is to say that someone high up in the ISIL leadership contacted supporters/recruiters in both Kuwait and Tunisia instructing them to identify a target, recruit someone to carry out an attack and provide them with the logistical support - weapons, transport etc - to carry out that attack on a specific day. By contrast the attack in France was more of a franchise attack with a lone-wolf being radicalised over the Internet and then themselves identifying a target to attack. So rather then providing a breakdown of ISIL's wider networks and strategic objectives analysing the Grenoble attack is more a case of drawing up a sort of psychological profile of the attacker.
The alleged attacker in this case is Yassin Sali a 35 year old Muslim man who was born in France but is of North African extraction. He was investigated in 2006 for having radical views but now further action was taken. This is because despite what ISIL might claim western nations such as France do not prosecute people simply for being Muslim. In fact if you look at websites like "Stormfront" and books such as "The Paedophiles Guide to Love and Pleasure" we not only allow people to hold but also express a whole range of views and opinions that most of us find utterly vile and offensive. We normally only intervene to stop them either when they have harmed or are about to harm other people.
At the risk of getting into semantic word games I would say that Sali's interest in Islam's more extreme fringe made him an ISIL sympathiser rather then an ISIL supporter. However his interest was enough to follow what the group was up to through some of it's 90,000 weekly Internet postings. This would have made him aware of ISIL's official spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani's Ramadan message of June 23rd (23/6/15) which spoke of Muslims being 10 times closer to God during this holy month and urged them to carry out Jihadist attacks in that time because they would be rewarded 10 times as greatly.
It would also have allowed him to become Internet friends with ISIL fighters in Iraq and Syria in much the same way that I am Internet friends with people like Rihanna and Kim Kardashian. Although none of these loose associations may have directly helped Sali plot his alleged attack the peer pressure would certainly have caused him to question why he wasn't doing more to live up to their example.
At around the same time Sali appears to have been going through some sort of personal crisis. For example a week before it is claimed that he had some big argument with his boss who ended up being killed in the attack. Sali is also have said to have had a massive argument with his wife in the days prior to the attack. These are the sort of personal stresses that cause many other people to commit acts of domestic violence, attempt suicide or engage in other sorts of self-destructive behaviour such as drinking too much and getting into fights.
Added to this there was the mass shooting at the Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, US on June 19th (19/6/15). This prompted a widespread discussion about what is and what isn't considered an act of terrorism because many in the US Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement demanded that it should be considered a terrorist attack while others argued that it could be legally justified because BLM have themselves engaged in what could be considered terrorist activity.
The UK's main contribution to this discussion was an arson attack against a house in Langley Mill, Derbyshire on June 21st (21/6/15) in which three people were killed. Although I've not followed up on the story the initial claim was that a car had been set on fire outside of the building which in turn set fire to the building. This was a reference to an incident that occurred in South Oxfordshire, UK on January 15th (15/6/15) in which a man set fire to several buildings before driving a car loaded with gas cylinders into the HQ of the local council causing millions of dollars of damage. As the man appears to have been motivated by a dispute over local planning policy it is arguable that this could be classed as an act of terrorism.
I think it is likely that all this talk of how easy it is to do so much damage with just a vehicle and a few compressed gas cylinders would have reminded Sali of that factory making compressed gas cylinders that he regularly delivered to as part of his job as a delivery driver. In that he could well have seen an opportunity to both let out some of his anger at the world and keep up with his Internet peers. Fortunately he rapidly discovered that actually it's not that easy to do a lot of damage with just a vehicle and some compressed gas cylinders.
In terms of whether or not the incident can be classed as a terrorist attack Sali is alleged to have beheaded his boss and scrawled Jihadist slogans on the severed head before displaying it publicly on a fence outside the factory beside an Islamic flag which is probably the closet thing to an ISIL flag he could find at short notice. As such I think it is fair to classify the incident as a possible Islamist terrorist attack.
Further evidence of that it provided by the fact that although he has admitted to the murder Sali is denying that it was a terrorist attack instead claiming that it was a work place dispute that got a bit out of hand. It seems to me that his intention here is to turn himself into a martyr for the cause by using his trial - in contrast to the South Oxfordshire fires - to show how the west is prejudiced against Muslims in the hope of rallying more people to his cause.
Obviously the French authorities do have the option of not trying Sali as a terrorist and the UK has the option of trying Andrew Main - the alleged South Oxfordshire - attacker as a terrorist. After all - as I well know - if Main is convicted of arson with intent to endanger life or criminal damage with a reckless disregard for life he is going to receive a life sentence either way.
What I found ironic about the situation is that the previous night European Union (EU) leaders were meeting to discuss a plan to distribute irregular migrants entering the EU from North Africa across members states in order for them to be processed. Essentially what is happening is that nations such as Italy and Greece can't cope with a mass migration of 250,000 people per year. As a result these migrants are not being properly processed instead running free across the EU including in Calais, France where they are causing great disruption trying to enter the UK. The idea of a quota system would allow for these migrants to be held in detention centres across the EU until we can firstly make sure that they're not ISIL fighters and then if they're economic migrants rather then legitimate refugees deport them.
The UK is very opposed to this idea and is refusing to participate in a voluntarily quota system. However at exactly the same time the UK ended up inadvertently providing a prime example of why a coordinated EU response to the migrant crisis is a national security priority.
I just wonder if we all promise UK Prime Minister David Cameron that we won't count the EU quota as part of his much vaunted migration targets he'll stop behaving like such an utter child.
17:10 on 30/6/15 (UK date).
Tuesday, 30 June 2015
Monday, 29 June 2015
What Are the FCO Playing At.
As you may have heard a terrorist attack took place in Sousse, Tunisia on Friday (26/6/15). We know that 38 people were killed in this attack. We also know that 15 of those people were British citizens. However the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) is still unable to announce publicly whether any of the other 23 dead were British citizens. What is worse is that I get the impression they're not even able to tell the families whether or not their loved one have been killed.
Obviously in a situation like this it can be difficult identifying the dead. After all if you've got a body in a morgue with no driving license, bank card or crying relative near-by to tell you who they are it's almost impossible to know where to start to look. However three days later the hotels and tour operators must be well aware of who has failed to return to their hotel rooms even to collect their belongings.
If you were to search those empty hotel rooms you would quite quickly find passports including the persons details including a photograph. If the passport was issued after 2006 - as is likely with passports only being valid for 10 years - it will also include a microchip containing biometric information about the passport holder including their fingerprints. With even Nigeria using wireless fingerprint scanners in their recent election and FCO staff with access to the database on the ground it really shouldn't be that difficult to identify even disfigured bodies.
As such I'm beginning to worry that maybe Britain is deliberately delaying the process in order to keep the story running until the upcoming 10th anniversary of the 7/7/05 terror attacks. The idea being to spread fear as widely as possible to justify support for the Extremism Bill and the Investigatory Powers Bill which were introduced in the recent Queen's speech.
These bills are controversial because it is quite clear that the UK government isn't using the powers already at it's disposal to tackle Islamic terrorism. For example they could already shut down organisations like Cage UK and individuals who facilitate people travelling to join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). They could also strip those who do join ISIL of their citizenship.
Mind you if the FCO were even halfway competent then they wouldn't have spent the last 5 years recruiting tens of thousands of young Muslims first to overthrow the Libyan government and then to try and overthrow the Syrian government.
16:10 on 29/6/15 (UK date).
Obviously in a situation like this it can be difficult identifying the dead. After all if you've got a body in a morgue with no driving license, bank card or crying relative near-by to tell you who they are it's almost impossible to know where to start to look. However three days later the hotels and tour operators must be well aware of who has failed to return to their hotel rooms even to collect their belongings.
If you were to search those empty hotel rooms you would quite quickly find passports including the persons details including a photograph. If the passport was issued after 2006 - as is likely with passports only being valid for 10 years - it will also include a microchip containing biometric information about the passport holder including their fingerprints. With even Nigeria using wireless fingerprint scanners in their recent election and FCO staff with access to the database on the ground it really shouldn't be that difficult to identify even disfigured bodies.
As such I'm beginning to worry that maybe Britain is deliberately delaying the process in order to keep the story running until the upcoming 10th anniversary of the 7/7/05 terror attacks. The idea being to spread fear as widely as possible to justify support for the Extremism Bill and the Investigatory Powers Bill which were introduced in the recent Queen's speech.
These bills are controversial because it is quite clear that the UK government isn't using the powers already at it's disposal to tackle Islamic terrorism. For example they could already shut down organisations like Cage UK and individuals who facilitate people travelling to join the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). They could also strip those who do join ISIL of their citizenship.
Mind you if the FCO were even halfway competent then they wouldn't have spent the last 5 years recruiting tens of thousands of young Muslims first to overthrow the Libyan government and then to try and overthrow the Syrian government.
16:10 on 29/6/15 (UK date).
Sunday, 28 June 2015
Operation Featherweight: Month 12, Week 1, Day 1.
Even before I woke up on Thursday (25/6/15) I was having an extremely bad day. Being tired I over slept by two hours and in the little time remaining I had urgent errands to run and chores to do. As a result I didn't really get up to speed with the attack on Kobane city until night had fallen in the area.
At that time the reports I was getting were that the fighting had ended. This was entirely true but I made a mistake in thinking that meant the attack was over. What had happened is that small sections or squads of fighters belonging to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) had become active in the city. After charging around the city killing civilians at random they holed up in key buildings that they used as sniper positions.
This is a very common terrorist tactic but the example that sprung to my mind occurred in Kabul, Afghanistan in April 2012. Here a group of Taliban fighters attacked a construction site and holed up in one of the under-construction tower blocks using it as a firing position. It took several teams of extremely elite British (SBS) and New Zealander (NZSAS) special forces the best part of two days to remove them.
What happened in Kobane is that as soon as night fell neither the ISIL fighters nor the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) were able to see to shoot so the fighting stopped. However it started again as soon as dawn broke and more civilians were killed. I gather that the last of the ISIL fighters were removed on Friday (26/6/15) afternoon and by Saturday (27/6/15) the situation had been entirely brought to an end. To me this highlights just how little support the YPG have received because the US-led coalition certainly seems to have no problem handing out night vision equipment and what are termed "Hard Target Interdiction" high calibre rifles to Al Qaeda affiliated Islamist groups within Syria.
As the dust has settled it has become clearer how ISIL were able to mount this attack. Following the liberation of Kobane city in late January 2015 the YPG have been encouraging civilian refugees from all of Syria's ethnic groups to flock there as a safe haven from ISIL attack. In this effort they have received absolutely no help from any of the international aid agencies such as the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). This has created a bureaucratic nightmare which ISIL were able to exploit by slipping sleeper cells into Kobane from disguised as returning refugees. Those sleeper cells were activated when ISIL drove Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Devices (VBIED's) into Kobane across the Mursitpinar border crossing.
No doubt Turkey's accusations that the YPG were engaged in ethnic cleansing put pressure on them to reduce the security checks being carried out in order to show that as many people as possible were being allowed to return as quickly as possible.
Demonstrating a significant level of co-ordination the attack on Kobane city co-incided with an attack on the village of Barkh Butan which sits around 30km (18 miles) south of Kobane city just 20km (12 miles) inside the southern border of Kobane Canton. Here ISIL fighters did break through the front-line and carried out a massacre in the village. They then drove to Kobane city and by Thursday evening had begun to attack the hills that overlook the city. This led to a day of fighting on Friday but by Saturday they had been defeated.
Turkey initially claimed that the attack on Kobane city had originated in the town of Jarablus which sits just outside of the western border of the Kobane Canton on the other side of the Euphrates River some 30km (18 miles) from Kobane city. On Friday (26/6/15) ISIL definitely launched an attack from Jarablus. It succeeded in penetrating a full 1km (0.6 miles) into the Canton before being stopped by the YPG around the village of (upper) Shiukh.
With several rapidly developing attacks occurring at various locations it has been difficult to accurately assess the death toll. For example if a sniper in a building shoots someone in the street that person's body will have to lay in the street until the sniper is removed. Only then will you begin to find out how many other people the sniper has killed in taking over the building. However as of Saturday the death toll from all three attacks across the Kobane Canton stands at 206.
Despite this significant loss of life my initial assessment that the attacks lacked any real military value and there is no indication that Kobane Canton let alone Kobane city could fall back into ISIL's hands remains unchanged. However it does serve to highlight that now they look likely to face further attacks from ISIL in Hasakah city the YPG have probably gone as far as they can without assistance from the US-led coalition.
Imagine what they could achieve with proper support.
Focusing on another of the big attacks of the last few days authorities in Kuwait have identified the suicide bomber who attacked the Shia, Iman Sadiq Mosque in Kuwait City on Friday (26/6/15) killing 26 and wounding 227. They have also arrested his suspected accomplice. Both Fahd Suleiman Abdulmohsen al-Qaba'a and Abdul-Rahman Sabah Aden have been identified as Saudi nationals. However the driver's name "Sabah Aden" roughly translates as the "Dawn of Aden" suggesting that he has some connection to the Yemeni port city of Aden.
As such the attack seems to have been planned to provoke Shia's in Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) nations - Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia etc - to carry out revenge attacks. Since March the GCC have been attacking Yemen on the grounds that Yemen's Shia's will carry out terrorist attacks against GCC nations. Legally this excuse is completely invalid however what weakens it further is that there haven't actually been any Shia terror attacks. Saudi Arabia explains this away by claiming that the international sanctions on Iran have left it unable to fund and plan these terror attacks. Presumably then if those sanctions are lifted on Tuesday (30/6/15) the Shia attacks will immediately begin. Or at least that's what the Saudis seem to be preparing for.
In what has been a bruising couple of days in the world of terrorism more details have begun to emerge of Friday's attack in Sousse, Tunisia. Essentially a lone gunman - 23-year-old Tunisian engineering graduate Seifeddine Rezgui - walked along a beach shooting all the white people or other people he could immediately identify as non-Muslim before being shot and killed by the police. The entire attack lasted 8 minutes. However it has left 38 people dead.
With many of those killed not carrying identity documents and with entire families being killed not all of the dead have yet been identified. However the majority of them were from Germany, Belgium, Ireland and the UK. With 15 Britons confirmed killed in terms of British loss of life this has been the worst terrorist attack since the 7/7/05 attacks on the London Underground rail network. Coincidentally the 10th anniversary of those attacks take place in just 9 days time. I for one will be getting all nostalgic for the good old days when Al Qaeda were in charge of Islamic terrorism. After all in this brave new world we've created even the US are classing them as the "moderates."
In response to such a significant loss of life many people here in the UK - particularly on TV news - are questioning how Islamic terrorism came to strike in Tunisia. Sadly the answers are all to easily understood and well rehearsed;
On December 17th 2010 a 26 year old Tunisian man by the name of Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in protest in the city of Sidi Bouzid - around 150km (90 miles) south-west of Sousse. This triggered protests that eventually brought down the Tunisian government of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali marking the start of what became known as "The Arab Spring." Despite what the US has frequently claimed Bouazizi did not do this because Rihanna, Jay Z and Kanye West had released as song called "Run This Town." Instead it was the result of years of frustration brought about by Tunisia's failing economy which was churning out ever increasing numbers of highly educated young people without jobs for them to go into.
In Arab society if you can't get a job then you can't buy a house. If you can't buy a house then you can't get married. If you can't get married then you can't have sex. As a result Tunisia and it's near neighbour Egypt were producing lots and lots of extremely angry young men. And a fair few frustrated young women. Many of these people channelled their anger into trying something positive such as organising peaceful protests to force their oppressive Presidents to step down to clear the way for more equitable, democratic societies. Others though turned their anger inwards and fell into depression and the nihilism of suicide and drug abuse. That second group are prime recruits for ISIL.
When it was decided that the President of Tunisia's neighbour Libya - Muammar Qaddafi - was to be overthrown this recruitment was massively increased to provide soldiers for the fight. Led by members of the British SAS it was Tunisian recruits fighting under the banner of the Zintan Brigade militia that finally swept into Tripoli in August 2011. Eventually they proceeded to oust Libya's democratically elected government who are currently forced to reside in the eastern city Tobruk. Once Qaddafi had gone Pegasus again clomped his hooves and these fighters were thrown like thunderbolts into Syria. With ISIL coming under pressure in Syria and looking to establish themselves in Libya these fighters are returning to Tunisia in ever increasing numbers. If anything they only seem to have become angrier.
I will attempt to address Friday's (26/6/15) terror attack in France separately tomorrow. This is not because I think the incident is in any way more or less important. It's just that I see the attacks in Kobane, Kuwait and Tunisia as closely held parts of a conspiracy. I see the French attack as more of a franchise carried out by a guy who has largely been inspired by things he's seen on TV and on the Internet who has almost unilaterally decided to attack a target he is familar with. Explaining that is more complicated.
We are of course still waiting for the titular head of the anti-ISIL coalition - US President Barack Obama - to address these recent attacks. However yesterday his campaign team did decide to Tweet out a picture of a beach joyously urging supporters to; "Organise for Paradise on the Beach.!"
18:15 on 28/6/15 (UK date).
At that time the reports I was getting were that the fighting had ended. This was entirely true but I made a mistake in thinking that meant the attack was over. What had happened is that small sections or squads of fighters belonging to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) had become active in the city. After charging around the city killing civilians at random they holed up in key buildings that they used as sniper positions.
This is a very common terrorist tactic but the example that sprung to my mind occurred in Kabul, Afghanistan in April 2012. Here a group of Taliban fighters attacked a construction site and holed up in one of the under-construction tower blocks using it as a firing position. It took several teams of extremely elite British (SBS) and New Zealander (NZSAS) special forces the best part of two days to remove them.
What happened in Kobane is that as soon as night fell neither the ISIL fighters nor the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) were able to see to shoot so the fighting stopped. However it started again as soon as dawn broke and more civilians were killed. I gather that the last of the ISIL fighters were removed on Friday (26/6/15) afternoon and by Saturday (27/6/15) the situation had been entirely brought to an end. To me this highlights just how little support the YPG have received because the US-led coalition certainly seems to have no problem handing out night vision equipment and what are termed "Hard Target Interdiction" high calibre rifles to Al Qaeda affiliated Islamist groups within Syria.
As the dust has settled it has become clearer how ISIL were able to mount this attack. Following the liberation of Kobane city in late January 2015 the YPG have been encouraging civilian refugees from all of Syria's ethnic groups to flock there as a safe haven from ISIL attack. In this effort they have received absolutely no help from any of the international aid agencies such as the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). This has created a bureaucratic nightmare which ISIL were able to exploit by slipping sleeper cells into Kobane from disguised as returning refugees. Those sleeper cells were activated when ISIL drove Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Devices (VBIED's) into Kobane across the Mursitpinar border crossing.
No doubt Turkey's accusations that the YPG were engaged in ethnic cleansing put pressure on them to reduce the security checks being carried out in order to show that as many people as possible were being allowed to return as quickly as possible.
Demonstrating a significant level of co-ordination the attack on Kobane city co-incided with an attack on the village of Barkh Butan which sits around 30km (18 miles) south of Kobane city just 20km (12 miles) inside the southern border of Kobane Canton. Here ISIL fighters did break through the front-line and carried out a massacre in the village. They then drove to Kobane city and by Thursday evening had begun to attack the hills that overlook the city. This led to a day of fighting on Friday but by Saturday they had been defeated.
Turkey initially claimed that the attack on Kobane city had originated in the town of Jarablus which sits just outside of the western border of the Kobane Canton on the other side of the Euphrates River some 30km (18 miles) from Kobane city. On Friday (26/6/15) ISIL definitely launched an attack from Jarablus. It succeeded in penetrating a full 1km (0.6 miles) into the Canton before being stopped by the YPG around the village of (upper) Shiukh.
With several rapidly developing attacks occurring at various locations it has been difficult to accurately assess the death toll. For example if a sniper in a building shoots someone in the street that person's body will have to lay in the street until the sniper is removed. Only then will you begin to find out how many other people the sniper has killed in taking over the building. However as of Saturday the death toll from all three attacks across the Kobane Canton stands at 206.
Despite this significant loss of life my initial assessment that the attacks lacked any real military value and there is no indication that Kobane Canton let alone Kobane city could fall back into ISIL's hands remains unchanged. However it does serve to highlight that now they look likely to face further attacks from ISIL in Hasakah city the YPG have probably gone as far as they can without assistance from the US-led coalition.
Imagine what they could achieve with proper support.
Focusing on another of the big attacks of the last few days authorities in Kuwait have identified the suicide bomber who attacked the Shia, Iman Sadiq Mosque in Kuwait City on Friday (26/6/15) killing 26 and wounding 227. They have also arrested his suspected accomplice. Both Fahd Suleiman Abdulmohsen al-Qaba'a and Abdul-Rahman Sabah Aden have been identified as Saudi nationals. However the driver's name "Sabah Aden" roughly translates as the "Dawn of Aden" suggesting that he has some connection to the Yemeni port city of Aden.
As such the attack seems to have been planned to provoke Shia's in Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) nations - Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia etc - to carry out revenge attacks. Since March the GCC have been attacking Yemen on the grounds that Yemen's Shia's will carry out terrorist attacks against GCC nations. Legally this excuse is completely invalid however what weakens it further is that there haven't actually been any Shia terror attacks. Saudi Arabia explains this away by claiming that the international sanctions on Iran have left it unable to fund and plan these terror attacks. Presumably then if those sanctions are lifted on Tuesday (30/6/15) the Shia attacks will immediately begin. Or at least that's what the Saudis seem to be preparing for.
In what has been a bruising couple of days in the world of terrorism more details have begun to emerge of Friday's attack in Sousse, Tunisia. Essentially a lone gunman - 23-year-old Tunisian engineering graduate Seifeddine Rezgui - walked along a beach shooting all the white people or other people he could immediately identify as non-Muslim before being shot and killed by the police. The entire attack lasted 8 minutes. However it has left 38 people dead.
With many of those killed not carrying identity documents and with entire families being killed not all of the dead have yet been identified. However the majority of them were from Germany, Belgium, Ireland and the UK. With 15 Britons confirmed killed in terms of British loss of life this has been the worst terrorist attack since the 7/7/05 attacks on the London Underground rail network. Coincidentally the 10th anniversary of those attacks take place in just 9 days time. I for one will be getting all nostalgic for the good old days when Al Qaeda were in charge of Islamic terrorism. After all in this brave new world we've created even the US are classing them as the "moderates."
In response to such a significant loss of life many people here in the UK - particularly on TV news - are questioning how Islamic terrorism came to strike in Tunisia. Sadly the answers are all to easily understood and well rehearsed;
On December 17th 2010 a 26 year old Tunisian man by the name of Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in protest in the city of Sidi Bouzid - around 150km (90 miles) south-west of Sousse. This triggered protests that eventually brought down the Tunisian government of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali marking the start of what became known as "The Arab Spring." Despite what the US has frequently claimed Bouazizi did not do this because Rihanna, Jay Z and Kanye West had released as song called "Run This Town." Instead it was the result of years of frustration brought about by Tunisia's failing economy which was churning out ever increasing numbers of highly educated young people without jobs for them to go into.
In Arab society if you can't get a job then you can't buy a house. If you can't buy a house then you can't get married. If you can't get married then you can't have sex. As a result Tunisia and it's near neighbour Egypt were producing lots and lots of extremely angry young men. And a fair few frustrated young women. Many of these people channelled their anger into trying something positive such as organising peaceful protests to force their oppressive Presidents to step down to clear the way for more equitable, democratic societies. Others though turned their anger inwards and fell into depression and the nihilism of suicide and drug abuse. That second group are prime recruits for ISIL.
When it was decided that the President of Tunisia's neighbour Libya - Muammar Qaddafi - was to be overthrown this recruitment was massively increased to provide soldiers for the fight. Led by members of the British SAS it was Tunisian recruits fighting under the banner of the Zintan Brigade militia that finally swept into Tripoli in August 2011. Eventually they proceeded to oust Libya's democratically elected government who are currently forced to reside in the eastern city Tobruk. Once Qaddafi had gone Pegasus again clomped his hooves and these fighters were thrown like thunderbolts into Syria. With ISIL coming under pressure in Syria and looking to establish themselves in Libya these fighters are returning to Tunisia in ever increasing numbers. If anything they only seem to have become angrier.
I will attempt to address Friday's (26/6/15) terror attack in France separately tomorrow. This is not because I think the incident is in any way more or less important. It's just that I see the attacks in Kobane, Kuwait and Tunisia as closely held parts of a conspiracy. I see the French attack as more of a franchise carried out by a guy who has largely been inspired by things he's seen on TV and on the Internet who has almost unilaterally decided to attack a target he is familar with. Explaining that is more complicated.
We are of course still waiting for the titular head of the anti-ISIL coalition - US President Barack Obama - to address these recent attacks. However yesterday his campaign team did decide to Tweet out a picture of a beach joyously urging supporters to; "Organise for Paradise on the Beach.!"
18:15 on 28/6/15 (UK date).
Saturday, 27 June 2015
Obama's Eulogy.
Yesterday US President Barack Obama did indeed travel to Charleston, South Carolina to deliver the eulogy for his colleague and subordinate the Reverend Clementa Pinckney.
Obviously in the original script was intended as an opportunity for Obama to rail against the racism of his Republican opponents and rally support for the Black Lives Matter movement (BLM). After all their support has been draining away in light of the Rachel Dolezel fraud revelations. In fact I'm pretty sure the only reason the HQ of ABC News haven't been firebombed in revenge for breaking the story is that the subtly was lost on most people.
Failing that I half-expected Obama to engage in what I term "Projection Bingo." Essentially this is when he makes statements that sound like they're supportive of the movement but actually reveal guilt at the way that the movement has conducted itself. Prime examples being; "This happens too much," "We cannot carry on like this" and "We need a change in attitude." After all if Lynch, Mosby, Pierson et al don't pull their necks in soon heads are going to have to roll.
Obama actually crumpled completely and seemed to be worrying if America but black America in particular were finally ready to reject him for plotting such an atrocity. So for example he talked about the gunman being guided by a higher power which in the context of a Church service could be interpreted as a reference to God or a higher political power like a President. On the issue of the Democrat's (Confederate) battle flag Obama was keen to make clear that the flag had not caused what had happened. Obama then paid lip-service to all the demands of the movement such as concerns over housing and employment. In a desperate attempt to fit in at one point Obama even burst into song.
Sadly Obama couldn't resist exploiting the occasion to call for more gun control. By that he of course means removing guns that are held legally in predominately white, low crime areas. One of the main objectives of the BLM movement has of course been to do away with the stop and frisk policy that helps remove illegally held guns from predominately black, high crime areas.
The main theme of Obama's speech though was the hymn "Amazing Grace" written by white, English slave trader John Newton in 1779 in celebration of God saving his slave ship from wreck. Despite this it has long been appropriated by America's black community as part of their culture. Normally this wouldn't be an issue but with many black Americans responding to the Charleston shooting demanding to know what white culture has ever done for them before singing that hymn it takes on a certain irony.
By referencing the hymn so heavily Obama somewhat unintentionally touched on the main ideological difference between Catholic and Protestant Christians. Essentially Catholics believe that God sent Moses and Jesus to Earth to lay out a set of rules to live by. If you fail to follow those rules you will be punished by being denied God's grace when you die. You can though make up for mis-deeds by admitting to them and making restitution (penance). Protestants don't bother with any of that believing that they can behave as badly as they like on Earth and won't be punished because God has anointed them with his grace simply for believing in him. This is probably why Newton, as a slave trader, decided to convert from Catholicism to Protestantism.
This ideological difference also seems to be the fundamental problem with the BLM movement. The US Justice system lays down a set of rules that we all have to follow. If we choose to break those rules we be punished although not as harshly if we own up and try to make restitution. You kind of get the impression that supporters of Trayvon Martin, Micheal Brown, Eric Garner, Walter Scott etc feel that they can behave as babdly as they like without being punished because they have been anointed with this slightly darker coloured skin.
Perhaps getting muddled up by his Protestant hymns Obama also touched on "Jerusalem." With lyrics about not letting your sword rest in you hand until you have imposed your will on the entire nation I've always felt that this bordered on a call to jihad.
The hymn traditionally sung at this type of colour funeral though is "Abide With Me" although Obama clearly didn't want to push his luck.
17:40 on 27/6/15 (UK date).
Obviously in the original script was intended as an opportunity for Obama to rail against the racism of his Republican opponents and rally support for the Black Lives Matter movement (BLM). After all their support has been draining away in light of the Rachel Dolezel fraud revelations. In fact I'm pretty sure the only reason the HQ of ABC News haven't been firebombed in revenge for breaking the story is that the subtly was lost on most people.
Failing that I half-expected Obama to engage in what I term "Projection Bingo." Essentially this is when he makes statements that sound like they're supportive of the movement but actually reveal guilt at the way that the movement has conducted itself. Prime examples being; "This happens too much," "We cannot carry on like this" and "We need a change in attitude." After all if Lynch, Mosby, Pierson et al don't pull their necks in soon heads are going to have to roll.
Obama actually crumpled completely and seemed to be worrying if America but black America in particular were finally ready to reject him for plotting such an atrocity. So for example he talked about the gunman being guided by a higher power which in the context of a Church service could be interpreted as a reference to God or a higher political power like a President. On the issue of the Democrat's (Confederate) battle flag Obama was keen to make clear that the flag had not caused what had happened. Obama then paid lip-service to all the demands of the movement such as concerns over housing and employment. In a desperate attempt to fit in at one point Obama even burst into song.
Sadly Obama couldn't resist exploiting the occasion to call for more gun control. By that he of course means removing guns that are held legally in predominately white, low crime areas. One of the main objectives of the BLM movement has of course been to do away with the stop and frisk policy that helps remove illegally held guns from predominately black, high crime areas.
The main theme of Obama's speech though was the hymn "Amazing Grace" written by white, English slave trader John Newton in 1779 in celebration of God saving his slave ship from wreck. Despite this it has long been appropriated by America's black community as part of their culture. Normally this wouldn't be an issue but with many black Americans responding to the Charleston shooting demanding to know what white culture has ever done for them before singing that hymn it takes on a certain irony.
By referencing the hymn so heavily Obama somewhat unintentionally touched on the main ideological difference between Catholic and Protestant Christians. Essentially Catholics believe that God sent Moses and Jesus to Earth to lay out a set of rules to live by. If you fail to follow those rules you will be punished by being denied God's grace when you die. You can though make up for mis-deeds by admitting to them and making restitution (penance). Protestants don't bother with any of that believing that they can behave as badly as they like on Earth and won't be punished because God has anointed them with his grace simply for believing in him. This is probably why Newton, as a slave trader, decided to convert from Catholicism to Protestantism.
This ideological difference also seems to be the fundamental problem with the BLM movement. The US Justice system lays down a set of rules that we all have to follow. If we choose to break those rules we be punished although not as harshly if we own up and try to make restitution. You kind of get the impression that supporters of Trayvon Martin, Micheal Brown, Eric Garner, Walter Scott etc feel that they can behave as babdly as they like without being punished because they have been anointed with this slightly darker coloured skin.
Perhaps getting muddled up by his Protestant hymns Obama also touched on "Jerusalem." With lyrics about not letting your sword rest in you hand until you have imposed your will on the entire nation I've always felt that this bordered on a call to jihad.
The hymn traditionally sung at this type of colour funeral though is "Abide With Me" although Obama clearly didn't want to push his luck.
17:40 on 27/6/15 (UK date).
Friday, 26 June 2015
Operation Featherweight: Month 11, Week 5, Day 1.
In today's earlier post I covered the terror attack in Grenoble, France. Sadly that was just the start of it.
The attack in France was rapidly followed up by a suicide bombing at the Shia, Iman Sadiq Mosque in Kuwait City, Kuwait. The situation there is still rather one of blood, rubble and screaming but it appears that a young man entered the Mosque during Friday prayers and detonated a suicide bomb. The death toll currently stands at at least 25 with a further 202 wounded. The attack has been claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
Just as news of the attack in Kuwait was breaking another attack began against two hotels frequented by western tourists in town of Sousse, Tunisia. Apparently a number of gunmen opened fire on tourists as they sunbathed on the beach and then followed them into the hotels as they fled. One of the gunmen was quite rapidly killed and security forces now seem to be going through the laborious task of sweeping through the hotels room-by-room, floor-by-floor before they can confirm that the incident is at an end. The current death toll stands at 28. There has so far been no claim of responsibility but given their strength in neighbouring Libya and their previous attacks against tourists in both Tunisia and Egypt it seems extremely likely that ISIL were involved.
As I said in my post on the Grenoble attack for almost the last year a US-led coalition has certainly been trying to give the impression that it is fighting a group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
The "Levant" in the group's name refers to an area that stretches from parts of Turkey down through the entire middle-east including the Arabian peninsula (Saudi Arabia, Yemen etc) and across north-Africa. As such I find it extremely unhelpful for western politicians and news agencies to refer to the group as "ISIS" or "IS" because it gives the entirely false impression to non-Arabic speakers that they are only interested in Iraq and Syria.
The closer that ISIL attacks occur to ISIL's heartlands really the less there is for me to offer in terms of analysis. Although they like to disguise themselves as Sunni Muslims ideologically ISIL are in fact a nihilistic organisation. This means that for them violence is an objective in itself and there is a very fine line between that ideology and full blown mental illness.
As such the purpose of the attack in Kuwait was simply to kill as many of what ISIL view as "Shia infidels" as possible. There may also have been a hope that it would provoke Shias to retaliate against Sunnis in the hope of bringing forward the apocalyptic war between Sunnis and Shias that ISIL crave. The purpose of the attack in Tunisia was simply to kill as many of what ISIL view as "Christian infidels" as possible. There may also be an element of trying to deter tourists in order to bring about the economic collapse of Tunisia's secular, democratic government.
Beyond that we are into the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. It was during last year's Ramadan that ISIL declared themselves to be an Islamic Caliphate and their leader to be the Caliph or leader of all Muslims. It is likely that ISIL are trying to boost their profile during this anniversary.
Also in the past week the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) dealt a huge blow to ISIL by liberating the Syrian town of Tel Abyad cutting ISIL's main supply route from Turkey and putting the YPG within 50km (30 miles) of ISIL's de facto capital of Raqqa. I think it's fair to assume that this defeat has made ISIL more then a bit angry and much like a spoilt toddler they are now throwing a violent tantrum in protest.
Therefore I think the question is not; "How can we defeat ISIL?" but; "Why have we still not defeated ISIL?"
To answer that question you need to look at US President Barack Obama who is - nominally at least - the Commander in Chief of the anti-ISIL coalition. Once Obama has finished taking credit for the US Justice system's upholding of gay marriage he will fly to Charleston, South Carolina to speak at the funeral of Democrat State Senator the Reverend Clementa Pinckney who was killed in last Thursday's (18/6/15) shooting.
Although I suspect they will avoid draping the coffin in the battle flag of the Democrat Party Obama will no doubt use this as an opportunity to celebrate Pinckney as a martyr and use his death to rally supporters behind fresh terrorist attacks against the US justice system.
So some eight years later I'm inclined to say that America is still waiting for it's first black President.
16:10 on 26/6/15 (UK date).
The attack in France was rapidly followed up by a suicide bombing at the Shia, Iman Sadiq Mosque in Kuwait City, Kuwait. The situation there is still rather one of blood, rubble and screaming but it appears that a young man entered the Mosque during Friday prayers and detonated a suicide bomb. The death toll currently stands at at least 25 with a further 202 wounded. The attack has been claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
Just as news of the attack in Kuwait was breaking another attack began against two hotels frequented by western tourists in town of Sousse, Tunisia. Apparently a number of gunmen opened fire on tourists as they sunbathed on the beach and then followed them into the hotels as they fled. One of the gunmen was quite rapidly killed and security forces now seem to be going through the laborious task of sweeping through the hotels room-by-room, floor-by-floor before they can confirm that the incident is at an end. The current death toll stands at 28. There has so far been no claim of responsibility but given their strength in neighbouring Libya and their previous attacks against tourists in both Tunisia and Egypt it seems extremely likely that ISIL were involved.
As I said in my post on the Grenoble attack for almost the last year a US-led coalition has certainly been trying to give the impression that it is fighting a group known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
The "Levant" in the group's name refers to an area that stretches from parts of Turkey down through the entire middle-east including the Arabian peninsula (Saudi Arabia, Yemen etc) and across north-Africa. As such I find it extremely unhelpful for western politicians and news agencies to refer to the group as "ISIS" or "IS" because it gives the entirely false impression to non-Arabic speakers that they are only interested in Iraq and Syria.
The closer that ISIL attacks occur to ISIL's heartlands really the less there is for me to offer in terms of analysis. Although they like to disguise themselves as Sunni Muslims ideologically ISIL are in fact a nihilistic organisation. This means that for them violence is an objective in itself and there is a very fine line between that ideology and full blown mental illness.
As such the purpose of the attack in Kuwait was simply to kill as many of what ISIL view as "Shia infidels" as possible. There may also have been a hope that it would provoke Shias to retaliate against Sunnis in the hope of bringing forward the apocalyptic war between Sunnis and Shias that ISIL crave. The purpose of the attack in Tunisia was simply to kill as many of what ISIL view as "Christian infidels" as possible. There may also be an element of trying to deter tourists in order to bring about the economic collapse of Tunisia's secular, democratic government.
Beyond that we are into the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. It was during last year's Ramadan that ISIL declared themselves to be an Islamic Caliphate and their leader to be the Caliph or leader of all Muslims. It is likely that ISIL are trying to boost their profile during this anniversary.
Also in the past week the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) dealt a huge blow to ISIL by liberating the Syrian town of Tel Abyad cutting ISIL's main supply route from Turkey and putting the YPG within 50km (30 miles) of ISIL's de facto capital of Raqqa. I think it's fair to assume that this defeat has made ISIL more then a bit angry and much like a spoilt toddler they are now throwing a violent tantrum in protest.
Therefore I think the question is not; "How can we defeat ISIL?" but; "Why have we still not defeated ISIL?"
To answer that question you need to look at US President Barack Obama who is - nominally at least - the Commander in Chief of the anti-ISIL coalition. Once Obama has finished taking credit for the US Justice system's upholding of gay marriage he will fly to Charleston, South Carolina to speak at the funeral of Democrat State Senator the Reverend Clementa Pinckney who was killed in last Thursday's (18/6/15) shooting.
Although I suspect they will avoid draping the coffin in the battle flag of the Democrat Party Obama will no doubt use this as an opportunity to celebrate Pinckney as a martyr and use his death to rally supporters behind fresh terrorist attacks against the US justice system.
So some eight years later I'm inclined to say that America is still waiting for it's first black President.
16:10 on 26/6/15 (UK date).
Grenoble Terror Attack - Skeleton Argument.
For almost the past year a US-led coalition of more then 40 nations have certainly been trying to give the impression of fighting a war against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
In response ISIL have frequently called on their supporters who live in coalition nations to fight that war by carrying out terror attacks in their local area. This call has been answered so at any given point in any given nation there are several attacks under preparation. The US which has a relatively low Muslim population is currently disrupting such plots at a rate of around one per week. In nations such as France where the proportion of Muslims is much higher that rate is also much higher.
Over the past week I would say that we have entered a period of heightened risk. Apart from the YPG the main reason behind this was last Thursday's (18/6/15) shooting at the Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, North Carolina, US. This prompted demands by members of the so-called "Black Lives Matter" (BLM) protest movement to demand that it be labelled a terrorist act. However there is a strong counter argument that the shootings can't even be considered a criminal act because those killed were members of an organisation - BLM - that has frequently engaged in terrorist activity. Thus with the US Justice system failing to take action to stop BLM's terrorism the shooting became necessary to preserve life and protect the wider population.
This argument has quickly absorbed all other examples of violent acts that could or could not have been labelled terrorism. Lead amongst these was an incident in South Oxfordshire, UK in which a man caused millions of dollars of damage by setting fire to several buildings and then driving a burning car packed with natural gas canisters into the main local council building as part of a dispute over local government planning policy. Despite fitting most legal definitions of a terror attack this was not treated as such because in terms of sentencing a designation of terrorism actually makes no difference whatsoever.
The point the UK was trying to make through this stunt was that the justice system exists to protect people by resolving disputes. If that system breaks down then people no longer feel protected and start taking matters into their own hands. This may be wrong but if the practice becomes widespread good luck trying to stop it. The UK was making specific reference to certain Muslims support for ISIL. If ISIL continue carrying out brutal acts and rather then taking responsibility where it is due their Muslim supporters keep trying to evade justice by hiding behind corrupt lawyers and MP's then eventually people are going to take matters into their own hands and often they seek vengeance rather then justice.
This was an element of the Zack Davies trial that concluded yesterday (25/6/15). If you know anything about Indian politics the fact that Davies attacked a Sikh rather then a Muslim in supposed revenge for the killing of Lee Rigby should tell you all you need to know about the problems with this type of vigilante justice.
Then there was the Nicholas Salvador case that took place in the UK on Monday (22/6/15) and Tuesday (23/6/15). Primarily I think this was just something that happened that the justice system then had to deal with. However the main element of the case was that a black man had been running around a city chopping off people's heads.
Also as part of their constant and unrelenting assault on the US justice system BLM have frequently pointed to cases of black people with severe mental health problems being shot and killed by the police as examples of racism. The Salvador case demonstrated that although only a very tiny minority of people with mental health problems are prone to violence those who are tend to be extremely violent and completely beyond reason.
I should also point out that with both the prosecution and the defence agreeing that Salvador was suffering from severe mental illness at the time this wasn't actually considered a criminal act and the matter wasn't even heard before a Judge. Salvador believed that the woman he beheaded was Adolf Hitler reincarnated by the devil and the cats he killed were demons sent from the underworld. Therefore he needed to kill them to protect himself and everybody else. As such his actions fitted the definition of defence of self/other. We're still locking him up indefinitely though.
Amid this climate it should come as no surprise that this morning one or possibly two men drove a car packed with natural gas canisters into a factory that makes natural gas canisters in Grenoble, France. They proceeded to behead one person and display the severed head next to an Islamic-style black flag for passers-by and news helicopters to see. This a clear example of violence being used to influence the wider public.
With one person arrested there will be a trial where their motives and actions will be calmly and carefully considered. However for the purposes of the investigation and for the wider emergency services response I have absolutely no problem referring to this as a terrorist attack.
I may be back with another post to add flesh to the bones of this if and when new information arises. However if you want an example of post-traumatic shock look at the way everyone is fixating on the type of flag used. It's easier for their brains to do this then attempt to process the horror of the severed head laying next to it.
11:15 on 26/6/15 (UK date).
In response ISIL have frequently called on their supporters who live in coalition nations to fight that war by carrying out terror attacks in their local area. This call has been answered so at any given point in any given nation there are several attacks under preparation. The US which has a relatively low Muslim population is currently disrupting such plots at a rate of around one per week. In nations such as France where the proportion of Muslims is much higher that rate is also much higher.
Over the past week I would say that we have entered a period of heightened risk. Apart from the YPG the main reason behind this was last Thursday's (18/6/15) shooting at the Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, North Carolina, US. This prompted demands by members of the so-called "Black Lives Matter" (BLM) protest movement to demand that it be labelled a terrorist act. However there is a strong counter argument that the shootings can't even be considered a criminal act because those killed were members of an organisation - BLM - that has frequently engaged in terrorist activity. Thus with the US Justice system failing to take action to stop BLM's terrorism the shooting became necessary to preserve life and protect the wider population.
This argument has quickly absorbed all other examples of violent acts that could or could not have been labelled terrorism. Lead amongst these was an incident in South Oxfordshire, UK in which a man caused millions of dollars of damage by setting fire to several buildings and then driving a burning car packed with natural gas canisters into the main local council building as part of a dispute over local government planning policy. Despite fitting most legal definitions of a terror attack this was not treated as such because in terms of sentencing a designation of terrorism actually makes no difference whatsoever.
The point the UK was trying to make through this stunt was that the justice system exists to protect people by resolving disputes. If that system breaks down then people no longer feel protected and start taking matters into their own hands. This may be wrong but if the practice becomes widespread good luck trying to stop it. The UK was making specific reference to certain Muslims support for ISIL. If ISIL continue carrying out brutal acts and rather then taking responsibility where it is due their Muslim supporters keep trying to evade justice by hiding behind corrupt lawyers and MP's then eventually people are going to take matters into their own hands and often they seek vengeance rather then justice.
This was an element of the Zack Davies trial that concluded yesterday (25/6/15). If you know anything about Indian politics the fact that Davies attacked a Sikh rather then a Muslim in supposed revenge for the killing of Lee Rigby should tell you all you need to know about the problems with this type of vigilante justice.
Then there was the Nicholas Salvador case that took place in the UK on Monday (22/6/15) and Tuesday (23/6/15). Primarily I think this was just something that happened that the justice system then had to deal with. However the main element of the case was that a black man had been running around a city chopping off people's heads.
Also as part of their constant and unrelenting assault on the US justice system BLM have frequently pointed to cases of black people with severe mental health problems being shot and killed by the police as examples of racism. The Salvador case demonstrated that although only a very tiny minority of people with mental health problems are prone to violence those who are tend to be extremely violent and completely beyond reason.
I should also point out that with both the prosecution and the defence agreeing that Salvador was suffering from severe mental illness at the time this wasn't actually considered a criminal act and the matter wasn't even heard before a Judge. Salvador believed that the woman he beheaded was Adolf Hitler reincarnated by the devil and the cats he killed were demons sent from the underworld. Therefore he needed to kill them to protect himself and everybody else. As such his actions fitted the definition of defence of self/other. We're still locking him up indefinitely though.
Amid this climate it should come as no surprise that this morning one or possibly two men drove a car packed with natural gas canisters into a factory that makes natural gas canisters in Grenoble, France. They proceeded to behead one person and display the severed head next to an Islamic-style black flag for passers-by and news helicopters to see. This a clear example of violence being used to influence the wider public.
With one person arrested there will be a trial where their motives and actions will be calmly and carefully considered. However for the purposes of the investigation and for the wider emergency services response I have absolutely no problem referring to this as a terrorist attack.
I may be back with another post to add flesh to the bones of this if and when new information arises. However if you want an example of post-traumatic shock look at the way everyone is fixating on the type of flag used. It's easier for their brains to do this then attempt to process the horror of the severed head laying next to it.
11:15 on 26/6/15 (UK date).
Thursday, 25 June 2015
Operation Featherweight: Month 11, Week 4, Day 7.
Over the past ten days most of my time has been concentrated in stopping US President Barack Obama - Commander in Chief of the coalition against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) - tearing his own nation apart with racist and sectarian terrorist violence. If you look at today's verdict in the Zack Davies trial in Mold, UK or the January 25th fires in South Oxfordshire, UK it's clear that I'm not the only one. After all when it comes to divisive, racist politics the UK can certainly claim to be a world leader.
However my last post on the subject was all about how the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) had succeeded in liberating the town of Tel Abyad/Gire Spi. This was a huge victory for them because it not only succeeded in linking up the central Kobane Canton and the eastern Cizire Canton but it also cut ISIL's main supply route between Turkey and their de facto capital of Raqqa some 90km (53 miles) to the south.
Since then the YPG have secured Tel Abyad and advanced some 40km (24 miles) further south securing the town of Ain Issa just 50km (30 miles) outside of Raqqa. In my experience the YPG have proved themselves to be highly skilled and disciplined fighters so I think this advance was merely an attempt to secure the territory between Tel Abyad and Raqqa to prevent ISIL mounting a counter-offensive against Tel Abyad itself. ISIL though seem to have viewed it as an attempt to liberate Raqqa itself and have begun re-deploying forces to the city and bolstering it's defences to repel such an attack.
However this does serve to underline that if US-led coalition were to recognise the YPG as the ground force against ISIL in Syria and arm them accordingly they may soon be able to force ISIL from their capital.
With that quick update on the YPG's progress out of the way I would have liked to have spent the rest of this post concentrating on the developing situation with the Druze on Syria's south-western border with Israel. The extremely short version is that local units of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) who have previously fought as part of the Al Qaeda-led "Army of Conquest" (Jaish al-Fatah/JAF) coalition but now deny it at all costs have advanced on villages in the Syrian Golan Heights which are home to the Druze religious group. During the fighting the FSA have carried out at least confirmed massacre of the Druze which has enraged Israel's own Druze population not least because in an effort to maintain the quiet Israel has been allowing wounded FSA fighters to cross the border for medical treatment.
What is making Israel's Druze so furious is that they have long maintained what is termed a "Blood Covenant" with Israel's Jews. In short the Druze have long been prepared to fight and die to protect Israel's Jews. In return Israel's Jews are supposed to be prepared to fight and die to protect the Druze. With the Druze being massacred by the FSA and Israel then treating wounded members of the FSA this is being seen as a violation of the covenant and tension is beginning to rise. On Monday (22/6/15) a group of Druze attacked ambulances carrying FSA fighters in Israel killing one.
It of course would be extremely difficult for Israel to take military action against the FSA though because in the first instance the FSA and JAF are the 'moderate' opposition that the US and other members of the anti-ISIL coalition have been supporting to fight ISIL. Also the moment Israel gets involved in the war in Syria the conflict will immediately be portrayed by both ISIL and JAF as a Zionist war against Islam. This will significantly boost support for both groups making the conflict worse. In fact an ISIL affiliated group in Gaza seems to be trying to provoke Israel into fighting them there in an effort to portray ISIL as the defenders of Muslims against the Zionists.
However whatever I wanted to talk about today has been completely overshadowed by an ISIL attack on the city of Kobane that began before dawn. As always in war the situation has been rather chaotic but it appears that the attack began with three Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Devices (VBIED's) being detonated. Amid the chaos that created small, highly mobile groups of ISIL fighters wearing FSA uniforms charged around the city attacking and killing civilians at random. The tactics used were very similar to those seen frequently in Afghanistan or during the 2011 terror attacks in Mumbai, India. Essentially small groups of terrorists enter a city and try and cause as much terror and disruption as possible before the security forces can kill or capture them.
The attack has been brought to an end with 30 ISIL fighters and 25 civilians being killed. Several ISIL fighters have also been captured alive. Separately 20 civilians were killed in a similar attack on the village of Barkh Butan which sits around 30km (18 miles) south of the city of Kobane within the Kobane Canton.
What made today's attack so shocking was that it took place with the city of Kobane. Since the city was liberated back in January the YPG have continued relentlessly pushing ISIL far away from the city. On the western front of Kobane Canton the nearest ISIL held position is the town of Jarabulus which is 30km (18 miles) away across the Euphrates River. On the southern front the front-line is marked by the M4 road which is some 50km (30 miles) away. The eastern front no longer really exists with Kurdish control stretching all the way to Iraq's border with Iran some 630km (380 miles) away.
Although this has been something of an asymmetric war meaning that these front-lines aren't marked by lines of trenches full of troops there are certainly frequent observation posts and check-points. As such it is extremely unlikely that several VBIED's and convoys of vehicles full of fighters would have been able to cross the front-lines and then travel undetected into the centre of Kobane. Even in 4x4's in daylight it would take you at least an hour to drive from Jarabulus to Kobane city.
As such the only reasonable explanation is that the attack originated in Turkey and was launched through the Mursitpinar border crossing as happened at the end of November 2014.
At the beginning to the operation to liberate Tel Abyad Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeated rumours started by the Jaish al-Islam (Brigade of Islam) and the Islamic Movement of the Freemen of the Levant (FML) - both members of the JAF coalition - that the YPG intended to ethnically cleanse the town of Arabs and Turkmen. This was widely seen as an attempt by Erdogan to bring international pressure to bear to stop the YPG operation and leave Tel Abyad in ISIL hands and certainly there has been no ethnic cleansing in Tel Abyad since the YPG took control. However during the operation a large number of ISIL fighters fled into Turkey. There has been no word on what Turkey did with these fighters but just on Monday (22/6/15) Turkey warned the YPG that it would not tolerate them crossing it's "Red Lines" which apparently include the Syrian group "violating Syria's territorial integrity."
As such it seems entirely reasonable to suspect that today's attack on Kobane was Turkey's punishment of the YPG for cutting ISIL's supply line at Tel Abyad. This theory is strengthened by the fact that there is CCTV footage of one of the VBIED's crossing into Kobane from Turkey via the Mursitpinar border crossing.
As I said at the time of last November's ISIL attack on Kobane from Turkey with the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) passing a Chapter 7 resolution calling on all nations to do everything in their power to defeat ISIL Turkey cannot be allowed to support them without there being consequences.
In terms of the attack itself it was shocking and it was terrifying. However that is all that it was. It completely lacked any wider military objective and it is unlikely that ISIL will be able to repeat it. Really it was just ISIL throwing a temper tantrum in response to all the defeats the YPG have inflicted on them in recent weeks.
It does though highlight the need for the US-led coalition to bring this war to end by defeating ISIL as quickly and as decisively as possible.
20:40 on 25/6/15 (UK date).
However my last post on the subject was all about how the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) had succeeded in liberating the town of Tel Abyad/Gire Spi. This was a huge victory for them because it not only succeeded in linking up the central Kobane Canton and the eastern Cizire Canton but it also cut ISIL's main supply route between Turkey and their de facto capital of Raqqa some 90km (53 miles) to the south.
Since then the YPG have secured Tel Abyad and advanced some 40km (24 miles) further south securing the town of Ain Issa just 50km (30 miles) outside of Raqqa. In my experience the YPG have proved themselves to be highly skilled and disciplined fighters so I think this advance was merely an attempt to secure the territory between Tel Abyad and Raqqa to prevent ISIL mounting a counter-offensive against Tel Abyad itself. ISIL though seem to have viewed it as an attempt to liberate Raqqa itself and have begun re-deploying forces to the city and bolstering it's defences to repel such an attack.
However this does serve to underline that if US-led coalition were to recognise the YPG as the ground force against ISIL in Syria and arm them accordingly they may soon be able to force ISIL from their capital.
With that quick update on the YPG's progress out of the way I would have liked to have spent the rest of this post concentrating on the developing situation with the Druze on Syria's south-western border with Israel. The extremely short version is that local units of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) who have previously fought as part of the Al Qaeda-led "Army of Conquest" (Jaish al-Fatah/JAF) coalition but now deny it at all costs have advanced on villages in the Syrian Golan Heights which are home to the Druze religious group. During the fighting the FSA have carried out at least confirmed massacre of the Druze which has enraged Israel's own Druze population not least because in an effort to maintain the quiet Israel has been allowing wounded FSA fighters to cross the border for medical treatment.
What is making Israel's Druze so furious is that they have long maintained what is termed a "Blood Covenant" with Israel's Jews. In short the Druze have long been prepared to fight and die to protect Israel's Jews. In return Israel's Jews are supposed to be prepared to fight and die to protect the Druze. With the Druze being massacred by the FSA and Israel then treating wounded members of the FSA this is being seen as a violation of the covenant and tension is beginning to rise. On Monday (22/6/15) a group of Druze attacked ambulances carrying FSA fighters in Israel killing one.
It of course would be extremely difficult for Israel to take military action against the FSA though because in the first instance the FSA and JAF are the 'moderate' opposition that the US and other members of the anti-ISIL coalition have been supporting to fight ISIL. Also the moment Israel gets involved in the war in Syria the conflict will immediately be portrayed by both ISIL and JAF as a Zionist war against Islam. This will significantly boost support for both groups making the conflict worse. In fact an ISIL affiliated group in Gaza seems to be trying to provoke Israel into fighting them there in an effort to portray ISIL as the defenders of Muslims against the Zionists.
However whatever I wanted to talk about today has been completely overshadowed by an ISIL attack on the city of Kobane that began before dawn. As always in war the situation has been rather chaotic but it appears that the attack began with three Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Devices (VBIED's) being detonated. Amid the chaos that created small, highly mobile groups of ISIL fighters wearing FSA uniforms charged around the city attacking and killing civilians at random. The tactics used were very similar to those seen frequently in Afghanistan or during the 2011 terror attacks in Mumbai, India. Essentially small groups of terrorists enter a city and try and cause as much terror and disruption as possible before the security forces can kill or capture them.
The attack has been brought to an end with 30 ISIL fighters and 25 civilians being killed. Several ISIL fighters have also been captured alive. Separately 20 civilians were killed in a similar attack on the village of Barkh Butan which sits around 30km (18 miles) south of the city of Kobane within the Kobane Canton.
What made today's attack so shocking was that it took place with the city of Kobane. Since the city was liberated back in January the YPG have continued relentlessly pushing ISIL far away from the city. On the western front of Kobane Canton the nearest ISIL held position is the town of Jarabulus which is 30km (18 miles) away across the Euphrates River. On the southern front the front-line is marked by the M4 road which is some 50km (30 miles) away. The eastern front no longer really exists with Kurdish control stretching all the way to Iraq's border with Iran some 630km (380 miles) away.
Although this has been something of an asymmetric war meaning that these front-lines aren't marked by lines of trenches full of troops there are certainly frequent observation posts and check-points. As such it is extremely unlikely that several VBIED's and convoys of vehicles full of fighters would have been able to cross the front-lines and then travel undetected into the centre of Kobane. Even in 4x4's in daylight it would take you at least an hour to drive from Jarabulus to Kobane city.
As such the only reasonable explanation is that the attack originated in Turkey and was launched through the Mursitpinar border crossing as happened at the end of November 2014.
At the beginning to the operation to liberate Tel Abyad Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeated rumours started by the Jaish al-Islam (Brigade of Islam) and the Islamic Movement of the Freemen of the Levant (FML) - both members of the JAF coalition - that the YPG intended to ethnically cleanse the town of Arabs and Turkmen. This was widely seen as an attempt by Erdogan to bring international pressure to bear to stop the YPG operation and leave Tel Abyad in ISIL hands and certainly there has been no ethnic cleansing in Tel Abyad since the YPG took control. However during the operation a large number of ISIL fighters fled into Turkey. There has been no word on what Turkey did with these fighters but just on Monday (22/6/15) Turkey warned the YPG that it would not tolerate them crossing it's "Red Lines" which apparently include the Syrian group "violating Syria's territorial integrity."
As such it seems entirely reasonable to suspect that today's attack on Kobane was Turkey's punishment of the YPG for cutting ISIL's supply line at Tel Abyad. This theory is strengthened by the fact that there is CCTV footage of one of the VBIED's crossing into Kobane from Turkey via the Mursitpinar border crossing.
As I said at the time of last November's ISIL attack on Kobane from Turkey with the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) passing a Chapter 7 resolution calling on all nations to do everything in their power to defeat ISIL Turkey cannot be allowed to support them without there being consequences.
In terms of the attack itself it was shocking and it was terrifying. However that is all that it was. It completely lacked any wider military objective and it is unlikely that ISIL will be able to repeat it. Really it was just ISIL throwing a temper tantrum in response to all the defeats the YPG have inflicted on them in recent weeks.
It does though highlight the need for the US-led coalition to bring this war to end by defeating ISIL as quickly and as decisively as possible.
20:40 on 25/6/15 (UK date).
Wednesday, 24 June 2015
The Latest in the Freddie Gray Case.
The next step in the trial of six Baltimore police officers over the death of Freddie Gray was supposed to be a plea hearing scheduled for July 2nd (2/7/15).
The purpose of the this type of hearing is to give the Judge another opportunity to assess whether there is sufficient evidence to proceed to a full trial. In a case such as this where there is a Grand Jury indictment this is generally just a formality. However the defence are provided the opportunity to apply for the charges to be dismissed if for example a suspect who wasn't able to provide an alibi to the Grand Jury is suddenly able to prove that he was in police custody in a different state or even nation at the time of the alleged offence.
If no such application is made or is rejected then the defence is able to offer a plea of either "Guilty" admitting the offence or "Not Guilty" to dispute the allegation. If they plead not guilty they have to give a quick explanation of the type of defence they intend to use. This normally just one or two words such as "Insanity" or "Dispute of Fact" with the latter generally covering most things.
However on Monday (22/6/15) the presiding Judge - W. Michel Pierson - who due to the circumstances I have to report is black made an extraordinary order cancelling the hearing and instructing the defendants to enter a plea by Friday (26/6/15). All the defendants immediately entered not guilty pleas and the next part of the trial was scheduled for September 2nd (2/9/15).
Judge Pierson offered not explanation for his actions but although extremely unusual it is within his power to make such an order. As such we are not able to directly infer prejudice on the part of the Judge contrary to the 6th Amendment of the US Constitution. However this is certainly the sort of move that can harm a defence because no-one likes being told that they've suddenly got to hand in their homework 10 days before the agreed deadline.
One possible explanation for the Judge's actions could be last Thursday's (18/6/15) shooting at the Mother Emanuel AME Church in South Carolina. This has prompted US politicians of all political affiliations and levels to publicly condemn the evils of racism and once again protesters are out in force across the nation including in New York City where there have been some violent clashes. This creates an environment where nobody is in any mood to ask tough questions about racially charged issues for fear of being accused of insensitivity or become targets of protests themselves. This lack of scrutiny would certainly assist the prosecution in the Freddie Gray case.
The prosecution's - led by Baltimore States Attorney Marilyn Mosby who is also black - narrative of events has been clear from the start. The police in America are nothing more then a racist white gang who rather like the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) will harass and murder black people at every opportunity. Therefore Americans need to elect politicians such as herself and her husband Nicholas Mosby in order to protect them from the police.
As such on April 12th (12/4/15) Freddie Gray was innocently walking down the street when white police officers decided to racially harass him. Tired of this persecution Mr Gray ran and was chased down by three police officers. When they eventually caught up with Mr Gray the police officers decided to hand down an extra-judicial punishment for making them chase him. This involved inventing a false allegation of carrying an offensive/deadly weapon and using this as an excuse to transfer Mr Gray to a police station. They then conspired with the three further police officers who were in charge of transporting Mr Gray to give him what is known as a "rough ride" to make sure that he sustained physical injury during the journey. Mr Gray later died of those injuries.
When the case was finally brought before a Grand Jury on May 21st (21/5/15) two interesting things happened. The first is that the Grand Jury dismissed the allegation that Mr Gray had been unlawfully imprisoned. Amid all the injunctions that Ms Mosby has applied for in the case I have been unable to find out why the Grand Jury made that decision. However the only rational explanation I can think of is that they were shown the knife that Mr Gray had in his possession and concluded that it so closely resembled an offensive/deadly weapon that it provided legal grounds for both the knife and Mr Gray to be forcibly transported to a police station where the matter could be examined in more detail and a decision to charge or release Mr Gray could have been taken.
You would think that this would be enough for the prosecution of the three arresting officers to be terminated immediately. After all with them having no responsibility for Mr Gray's transport there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing on their part. The fact that they had behaved entirely properly up to that point removes any incentive on their part to conspire with the three transporting officers to injure Mr Gray.
The second interesting thing the Grand Jury did was to add on the charge of "Reckless Endangerment" while upholding the charges of "Second Degree Murder by Way of Depraved Heart" and "Manslaughter" that the prosecution initially sort.
If murder is an "intentional act intended to cause death" and manslaughter is "an intentional act not intended to cause death" then depraved heart murder is "the intentional failure to take an action knowing that it could prevent death. The UK equivalent offence that I'm most familiar with is "Manslaughter by way of Gross Negligence." This is hardly ever used because it is almost impossible to prove. However an example would be if you and a co-worker with tasked with cleaning an industrial oven and you failed to make sure it was switched off prior to your co-worker climbing into it despite it being your designated responsibility to do so then you could be charged with the offence.
Obviously for any murder or manslaughter offence to have occurred a person must have been killed. However if a victim survives but is left with life changing injuries such as severe burns, the loss of limbs or paralysis confining them to a wheelchair then society has deemed that there still needs to be a punishment. This is where the Reckless Endangerment charge comes in with it essentially being the same offence only with no death occurring.
The fact that the Grand Jury decided to add on the reckless endangerment charge in this case suggests to me that they were far from convinced that Ms Mosby can prove that Mr Gray was killed in police custody. This raises serious questions of why the prosecution against the three transporting officers continues and even further questions of why the case against the arresting officers. After all if the prosecution cannot prove that the transporting officers contributed to Mr Gray's death it certainly cannot prove that the arresting officers conspired with them to do so.
It is worth noting in such a racially charged case that the three arresting officers are all white while the three transporting officers are all black.
Judge Pierson's actions on Monday were so controversial that they seem to have prompted someone in the Baltimore Medical Examiners office to defy Ms Mosby's many injunctions and yesterday release the prosecution's autopsy report to the press. This found that Mr Gray died of a high impact injury that fits all the medical and legal definitions of an accident. However the death was ruled a homicide on the instruction of Ms Mosby's office.
So as with the Eric Garner case it seems that the prosecution's expert witness is viewed as lacking credibility. With Mr Gray's body being immediately released for burial it will be interesting to see if the defence will be permitted by Judge Pierson to introduce expert witnesses of their own. Those experts will be able to draw their conclusions free from the influence of Ms Mosby
14:35 on 24/6/15 (UK date).
The purpose of the this type of hearing is to give the Judge another opportunity to assess whether there is sufficient evidence to proceed to a full trial. In a case such as this where there is a Grand Jury indictment this is generally just a formality. However the defence are provided the opportunity to apply for the charges to be dismissed if for example a suspect who wasn't able to provide an alibi to the Grand Jury is suddenly able to prove that he was in police custody in a different state or even nation at the time of the alleged offence.
If no such application is made or is rejected then the defence is able to offer a plea of either "Guilty" admitting the offence or "Not Guilty" to dispute the allegation. If they plead not guilty they have to give a quick explanation of the type of defence they intend to use. This normally just one or two words such as "Insanity" or "Dispute of Fact" with the latter generally covering most things.
However on Monday (22/6/15) the presiding Judge - W. Michel Pierson - who due to the circumstances I have to report is black made an extraordinary order cancelling the hearing and instructing the defendants to enter a plea by Friday (26/6/15). All the defendants immediately entered not guilty pleas and the next part of the trial was scheduled for September 2nd (2/9/15).
Judge Pierson offered not explanation for his actions but although extremely unusual it is within his power to make such an order. As such we are not able to directly infer prejudice on the part of the Judge contrary to the 6th Amendment of the US Constitution. However this is certainly the sort of move that can harm a defence because no-one likes being told that they've suddenly got to hand in their homework 10 days before the agreed deadline.
One possible explanation for the Judge's actions could be last Thursday's (18/6/15) shooting at the Mother Emanuel AME Church in South Carolina. This has prompted US politicians of all political affiliations and levels to publicly condemn the evils of racism and once again protesters are out in force across the nation including in New York City where there have been some violent clashes. This creates an environment where nobody is in any mood to ask tough questions about racially charged issues for fear of being accused of insensitivity or become targets of protests themselves. This lack of scrutiny would certainly assist the prosecution in the Freddie Gray case.
The prosecution's - led by Baltimore States Attorney Marilyn Mosby who is also black - narrative of events has been clear from the start. The police in America are nothing more then a racist white gang who rather like the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) will harass and murder black people at every opportunity. Therefore Americans need to elect politicians such as herself and her husband Nicholas Mosby in order to protect them from the police.
As such on April 12th (12/4/15) Freddie Gray was innocently walking down the street when white police officers decided to racially harass him. Tired of this persecution Mr Gray ran and was chased down by three police officers. When they eventually caught up with Mr Gray the police officers decided to hand down an extra-judicial punishment for making them chase him. This involved inventing a false allegation of carrying an offensive/deadly weapon and using this as an excuse to transfer Mr Gray to a police station. They then conspired with the three further police officers who were in charge of transporting Mr Gray to give him what is known as a "rough ride" to make sure that he sustained physical injury during the journey. Mr Gray later died of those injuries.
When the case was finally brought before a Grand Jury on May 21st (21/5/15) two interesting things happened. The first is that the Grand Jury dismissed the allegation that Mr Gray had been unlawfully imprisoned. Amid all the injunctions that Ms Mosby has applied for in the case I have been unable to find out why the Grand Jury made that decision. However the only rational explanation I can think of is that they were shown the knife that Mr Gray had in his possession and concluded that it so closely resembled an offensive/deadly weapon that it provided legal grounds for both the knife and Mr Gray to be forcibly transported to a police station where the matter could be examined in more detail and a decision to charge or release Mr Gray could have been taken.
You would think that this would be enough for the prosecution of the three arresting officers to be terminated immediately. After all with them having no responsibility for Mr Gray's transport there is no suggestion of any wrongdoing on their part. The fact that they had behaved entirely properly up to that point removes any incentive on their part to conspire with the three transporting officers to injure Mr Gray.
The second interesting thing the Grand Jury did was to add on the charge of "Reckless Endangerment" while upholding the charges of "Second Degree Murder by Way of Depraved Heart" and "Manslaughter" that the prosecution initially sort.
If murder is an "intentional act intended to cause death" and manslaughter is "an intentional act not intended to cause death" then depraved heart murder is "the intentional failure to take an action knowing that it could prevent death. The UK equivalent offence that I'm most familiar with is "Manslaughter by way of Gross Negligence." This is hardly ever used because it is almost impossible to prove. However an example would be if you and a co-worker with tasked with cleaning an industrial oven and you failed to make sure it was switched off prior to your co-worker climbing into it despite it being your designated responsibility to do so then you could be charged with the offence.
Obviously for any murder or manslaughter offence to have occurred a person must have been killed. However if a victim survives but is left with life changing injuries such as severe burns, the loss of limbs or paralysis confining them to a wheelchair then society has deemed that there still needs to be a punishment. This is where the Reckless Endangerment charge comes in with it essentially being the same offence only with no death occurring.
The fact that the Grand Jury decided to add on the reckless endangerment charge in this case suggests to me that they were far from convinced that Ms Mosby can prove that Mr Gray was killed in police custody. This raises serious questions of why the prosecution against the three transporting officers continues and even further questions of why the case against the arresting officers. After all if the prosecution cannot prove that the transporting officers contributed to Mr Gray's death it certainly cannot prove that the arresting officers conspired with them to do so.
It is worth noting in such a racially charged case that the three arresting officers are all white while the three transporting officers are all black.
Judge Pierson's actions on Monday were so controversial that they seem to have prompted someone in the Baltimore Medical Examiners office to defy Ms Mosby's many injunctions and yesterday release the prosecution's autopsy report to the press. This found that Mr Gray died of a high impact injury that fits all the medical and legal definitions of an accident. However the death was ruled a homicide on the instruction of Ms Mosby's office.
So as with the Eric Garner case it seems that the prosecution's expert witness is viewed as lacking credibility. With Mr Gray's body being immediately released for burial it will be interesting to see if the defence will be permitted by Judge Pierson to introduce expert witnesses of their own. Those experts will be able to draw their conclusions free from the influence of Ms Mosby
14:35 on 24/6/15 (UK date).
Tuesday, 23 June 2015
Well, That's a Family First.
As you may have detected from the Nicholas Salvador verdict or UK Justice Secretary Micheal Gove's (no really) speech today has marked my younger brother's first appearance at Britain's Central Criminal Court - The Old Bailey.
Somewhat fortunately he was there as part of the "Justice, Money and Power" strand of the "City of London Festival" sponsored by CNBC. His role this evening was to moderate a debate entitled "All rise! Do judges have too much power?" between Jon Holbrook, mere barrister, Anthony Speaight, QC, Jessica Simor, QC and Ian Dunt, Twat. The depressing bit is that he's certainly not getting any richer and they didn't even let him sit in the judge's chair.
Elsewhere today I had lunch today with my mother. This of course is not the mother who is a government attorney but the mother who - as Jay Z well knows - works as a tour guide at Salisbury Cathedral teaching tourists about Magna Carta. Seriously over Christmas there actually was a test. She's been a bit ill recently with rheumatoid arthritis. She seems to be improving but obviously I don't enjoy discussing other problems on the Internet. My father has though suddenly become very interested.
Both mothers of course live near the massive UK military training base on Salisbury Plain. The happy couple were were actually introduced to the area by a military relative who wasn't involved in last Wednesday's (17/6/15) big crash. As such I'm happy to defer to the military on that one. After all accidents do happen. Also it turns out that Micheal Gove is another relatives local MP but on the Irish side of the family that probably includes most of the UK's 650 MP's and half of the Massachusetts state senate. Not the SNP's 56 though - We've got to have some standards.
Meanwhile the UK Queen has begun a sort of Aliyah-type journey back to her native Germany. This coincided with the UK getting a small taste of the EU migrant crisis at the French port of Calais. By the look of Twitter we've already started building the gas chambers.
20:40 on 23/6/15 (UK date).
Somewhat fortunately he was there as part of the "Justice, Money and Power" strand of the "City of London Festival" sponsored by CNBC. His role this evening was to moderate a debate entitled "All rise! Do judges have too much power?" between Jon Holbrook, mere barrister, Anthony Speaight, QC, Jessica Simor, QC and Ian Dunt, Twat. The depressing bit is that he's certainly not getting any richer and they didn't even let him sit in the judge's chair.
Elsewhere today I had lunch today with my mother. This of course is not the mother who is a government attorney but the mother who - as Jay Z well knows - works as a tour guide at Salisbury Cathedral teaching tourists about Magna Carta. Seriously over Christmas there actually was a test. She's been a bit ill recently with rheumatoid arthritis. She seems to be improving but obviously I don't enjoy discussing other problems on the Internet. My father has though suddenly become very interested.
Both mothers of course live near the massive UK military training base on Salisbury Plain. The happy couple were were actually introduced to the area by a military relative who wasn't involved in last Wednesday's (17/6/15) big crash. As such I'm happy to defer to the military on that one. After all accidents do happen. Also it turns out that Micheal Gove is another relatives local MP but on the Irish side of the family that probably includes most of the UK's 650 MP's and half of the Massachusetts state senate. Not the SNP's 56 though - We've got to have some standards.
Meanwhile the UK Queen has begun a sort of Aliyah-type journey back to her native Germany. This coincided with the UK getting a small taste of the EU migrant crisis at the French port of Calais. By the look of Twitter we've already started building the gas chambers.
20:40 on 23/6/15 (UK date).
South Carolina's Confederate Flag.
Yesterday (22/6/15) South Carolina Governor Nikki Hayley joined with the throng of protesters calling for the Confederate flag to be removed from the South Carolina Capitol building in Charleston. My main problem with this is that there isn't a Confederate flag being flown over the Capitol building and there hasn't been since the year 2000.
What there is though is a memorial to those who died in the American civil war in the grounds of the Capitol building. Part of this memorial is a staff which technically isn't a flag pole because it lacks the pulley system needed to raise and lower a flag. Locked in place at the top of this staff is a banner that is similar in design to the Confederate flag but incorporates some crucial differences.
The main of these is that while the Confederate flag is rectangular the banner on the war memorial is square. Also the design is upside down which is an internationally recognised distress signal - in short the people flying the flag need help. The war memorial banner also differs from the Confederate flag because it has a white border which is sometimes referred to as a fringe. This could be interpreted as a reference to the small white minority that supported the Confederacy. It could also be interpreted as a reference to the white flag which is internationally recognised as an order to soldiers in the field that they should lay down their arms.
So while I appreciate that everyone is still very much in shock over last Thursday's (18/6/15) shooting at the Mother Emanuel AME Church I'm a bit worried that once the dust has settled the people of South Carolina may find they've done away with a very clever historical monument to the civil war. I see it as being particularly useful for getting children on school field trips thinking and talking about the history of the civil war.
It is of course vitally important that each new generation continues to learn about the civil war because second only to the war of independence it is probably the most important event in America's shot history. For starters roughly 2 in every 10 people alive in America at the time were killed during the civil war. Also at the time the United States only stretched as far west as Texas. Beyond that the south-west of the continent (New Mexico, Nevada California etc) was considered part of Mexico and the Pacific north-west was the largely uncharted home to Native American Indians.
Going off on a bit of a tangent Native Americans (Amerindians) aren't actually that native and are members of the Caucasian ethnic group having migrated from Russia roughly 15,000 years ago.
The reason why the US expanded so dramatically after the end of the civil war was many of those in the confederate states headed west to escape the newly freed slaves and the Union in the hope of setting up a separate nation. The alleged Charleston shooter actually references this migration to the north-west referring to it as; "The North-West Front." Although you notice that he actually rejects the idea. In fact most of his manifesto shows him rejecting as too extreme the ideas of what is considered the white supremacist mainstream.*
Teaching of the history of the civil war is of course a contentious subject particularly for American liberals and members of the Democrat Party. Discussing it actually reminds me of a scene from "The Simpsons" where, as part of a citizenship test the "Apu" character is asked to explain the causes of the civil war. Having studied the subject he launches into a complex and detailed explanation of all the economic and political differences between the north and the south. The examiner stops him and says; "Just blame slavery."
The main cause of tension though was that the north was heavily industrialised relying on construction and manufacturing. Although everything in the 19th century was labour intensive this sort of work required a smaller pool of highly skilled workers. By contrast the south was dependent of agriculture which required much higher numbers of non-skilled workers. So in short people in the south owned lots of slaves while people in the north didn't really own slaves at all.
This created tension when it came to allocating seats in the Federal government and allocating Federal funding which are all based on population distribution. The people in the north didn't want slaves to be counted as part of the population but the slaves owners in the south did so they could vote on their slaves behalf. This led to the odd compromise whereby a slave was considered to be 3/5ths of a man. However shortly after that compromise was reached the north went further by trying to eradicate slavery entirely and war began.
The big problem for the Democrat Party is that the north was led by the abolitionist Abraham Lincoln who was leader of the Republican Party. The south was led by Jefferson Davis who was leader of the Democrat Party and the Democrats commitment to racist policies in the south continued for almost a hundred years after the end of the war.
In fact the Confederate flag was only raised over the South Carolina Capitol building by Democrat Governor Ernest "Fritz" Hollings in protest a the end of racial segregation under Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
*Although I'm not sure I want to be recommending it for a true comparison you will also have to consider the views expressed in places like "Blood & Honour" and "Stormfront."
10:35 on (23/6/15)
What there is though is a memorial to those who died in the American civil war in the grounds of the Capitol building. Part of this memorial is a staff which technically isn't a flag pole because it lacks the pulley system needed to raise and lower a flag. Locked in place at the top of this staff is a banner that is similar in design to the Confederate flag but incorporates some crucial differences.
The main of these is that while the Confederate flag is rectangular the banner on the war memorial is square. Also the design is upside down which is an internationally recognised distress signal - in short the people flying the flag need help. The war memorial banner also differs from the Confederate flag because it has a white border which is sometimes referred to as a fringe. This could be interpreted as a reference to the small white minority that supported the Confederacy. It could also be interpreted as a reference to the white flag which is internationally recognised as an order to soldiers in the field that they should lay down their arms.
So while I appreciate that everyone is still very much in shock over last Thursday's (18/6/15) shooting at the Mother Emanuel AME Church I'm a bit worried that once the dust has settled the people of South Carolina may find they've done away with a very clever historical monument to the civil war. I see it as being particularly useful for getting children on school field trips thinking and talking about the history of the civil war.
It is of course vitally important that each new generation continues to learn about the civil war because second only to the war of independence it is probably the most important event in America's shot history. For starters roughly 2 in every 10 people alive in America at the time were killed during the civil war. Also at the time the United States only stretched as far west as Texas. Beyond that the south-west of the continent (New Mexico, Nevada California etc) was considered part of Mexico and the Pacific north-west was the largely uncharted home to Native American Indians.
Going off on a bit of a tangent Native Americans (Amerindians) aren't actually that native and are members of the Caucasian ethnic group having migrated from Russia roughly 15,000 years ago.
The reason why the US expanded so dramatically after the end of the civil war was many of those in the confederate states headed west to escape the newly freed slaves and the Union in the hope of setting up a separate nation. The alleged Charleston shooter actually references this migration to the north-west referring to it as; "The North-West Front." Although you notice that he actually rejects the idea. In fact most of his manifesto shows him rejecting as too extreme the ideas of what is considered the white supremacist mainstream.*
Teaching of the history of the civil war is of course a contentious subject particularly for American liberals and members of the Democrat Party. Discussing it actually reminds me of a scene from "The Simpsons" where, as part of a citizenship test the "Apu" character is asked to explain the causes of the civil war. Having studied the subject he launches into a complex and detailed explanation of all the economic and political differences between the north and the south. The examiner stops him and says; "Just blame slavery."
The main cause of tension though was that the north was heavily industrialised relying on construction and manufacturing. Although everything in the 19th century was labour intensive this sort of work required a smaller pool of highly skilled workers. By contrast the south was dependent of agriculture which required much higher numbers of non-skilled workers. So in short people in the south owned lots of slaves while people in the north didn't really own slaves at all.
This created tension when it came to allocating seats in the Federal government and allocating Federal funding which are all based on population distribution. The people in the north didn't want slaves to be counted as part of the population but the slaves owners in the south did so they could vote on their slaves behalf. This led to the odd compromise whereby a slave was considered to be 3/5ths of a man. However shortly after that compromise was reached the north went further by trying to eradicate slavery entirely and war began.
The big problem for the Democrat Party is that the north was led by the abolitionist Abraham Lincoln who was leader of the Republican Party. The south was led by Jefferson Davis who was leader of the Democrat Party and the Democrats commitment to racist policies in the south continued for almost a hundred years after the end of the war.
In fact the Confederate flag was only raised over the South Carolina Capitol building by Democrat Governor Ernest "Fritz" Hollings in protest a the end of racial segregation under Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
*Although I'm not sure I want to be recommending it for a true comparison you will also have to consider the views expressed in places like "Blood & Honour" and "Stormfront."
10:35 on (23/6/15)
Sunday, 21 June 2015
The Charleston Manifesto: An Analysis.
http://watchitdie.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/the-charleston-manifesto.html
Yesterday (20/6/15) a website emerged purporting to show photographs of Dylann Roof alongside a manifesto/explanation of why he carried out the Charleston shooting. This can be read at the above link. Obviously the fact that it emerged on a Russian hosted website two days after Roof had been taken into custody raises questions about it's credibility. Not least because it seems to reference events that occurred after Roof was taken into custody and - I assume - denied access to the Internet.
For example it talks about why many white people feel they don't have a unique cultural identity. It then goes onto suggest that this is because white culture has become the globally dominate culture people fail to recognise it. On Friday (19/6/15) a minor league baseball team in Utah planned to hold a "Caucasian Heritage Night" similar to "Black History Month." Following the usual accusations of racism the event had to be cancelled. Amid the torrent of abuse the event provoked on Twitter one of the most frequently asked questions was; "What can Caucasians claim as their heritage?"
As such I think I should be commended for showing remarkable restraint for not pointing out that with the Caucasian ethnic group including all white Europeans (Hispanic etc), all Arabs and all those on the Indian sub-continent Caucasian heritage is pretty much every major contribution to art, culture and science. This includes the abolition of slavery, the hymn "Amazing Grace" and the song "We Shall Overcome" that have long been appropriated by members of the Negroid ethnic group in America including at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston that very evening.
Also the manifesto expresses an almost agitated confusion at the role of Jews within American society accusing them of agitating black Americans. One of the things that came up frequently in the backlash against Caucasian Heritage Night was a quote attributed to a Rabbi saying that there would not be racial harmony until Caucasians had been subject to the horrors of slavery. The term "Slavery" has it's origins in the "Slavic" tribe who were kept as slaves by the Ancient Greeks. Also the overwhelming majority of the victims of the Nazi holocaust were Ashkenazi Jews who along with Mizrahi Jews and Sephardic Jews are all Caucasian. One of the nicest things the Nazis did to the Jews was to use them as slave labour.
Although it's something I glanced at on Twitter rather then having studied my first impression was that the Rabbi was actually mocking black Americans and their frequent claims that they are the most oppressed group on earth.
It must be said though that none of the these arguments about race are exactly new. In fact amid the "Black Lives Matter" protests Iggy Azalea has been heavily condemned for - as a white woman - daring to appropriate black hip-hop culture. I find that particularly sad because when criticising a woman as clearly as untalented as she is there seems no need to bring race into it. Also while I haven't seen the evidence myself there seems to be a growing consensus amongst people with the resources to analyse this sort of thing that the content was posted long before Roof was taken into custody. It just took a long time to find it.
In terms of it's discussion of black Americans and attempting to justify the shooting what struck me most about the statement is that it is certainly a lot milder then many racist manifestos I've read. It is certainly completely lacking in the type of blind hatred that TV shows have been assuring me motivated Roof. In fact it seems to express regret that black Americans are taught to see everything through the lens of race and this causes them to fail in a multi-ethnic society because they're only expected to be thugs and criminals rather then say doctors and lawyers. This is something US President Obama has also spoken on although he has been keen for it - and everything else - to be seen through the racial lens.
It's made clear that the main motivation is a fear of black crime. For example it talks about being unable to understand the outrage at the Trayvon Martin case because it was clear that George Zimmerman was in the right. This is an entirely valid point because from the moment Martin decided to start punching Zimmerman in the face and smashing his head into the concrete Zimmerman was perfectly entitled to kill him in self-defence. This is a point that the jury (the definition of "reasonable people" under law) unanimously agreed upon. It goes on to talk about apartheid and segregation as a way to protect law abiding white people from black criminals rather then a system to oppress minorities.
In choosing Charleston it points out that America's highly populated ghettos are far too big a target for one man to attack on their own. It also mentions that there is no-one in South Carolina prepared to stand up to the black crime wave. Crucially it makes no mention of carrying out the act in order to start a race war, provoke anyone else into action or to influence either the government or the wider population in any way.
As such I would say that the document strengthens claims that Roof acted in self-defence by demonstrating an honest, prior belief that the wider population needs to be protected from the actions of the black community. Of course to be acquitted it would need to be demonstrated that this belief was also reasonable. This can be done by asking some simple questions;
16:05 on 21/6/15 (UK date).
Yesterday (20/6/15) a website emerged purporting to show photographs of Dylann Roof alongside a manifesto/explanation of why he carried out the Charleston shooting. This can be read at the above link. Obviously the fact that it emerged on a Russian hosted website two days after Roof had been taken into custody raises questions about it's credibility. Not least because it seems to reference events that occurred after Roof was taken into custody and - I assume - denied access to the Internet.
For example it talks about why many white people feel they don't have a unique cultural identity. It then goes onto suggest that this is because white culture has become the globally dominate culture people fail to recognise it. On Friday (19/6/15) a minor league baseball team in Utah planned to hold a "Caucasian Heritage Night" similar to "Black History Month." Following the usual accusations of racism the event had to be cancelled. Amid the torrent of abuse the event provoked on Twitter one of the most frequently asked questions was; "What can Caucasians claim as their heritage?"
As such I think I should be commended for showing remarkable restraint for not pointing out that with the Caucasian ethnic group including all white Europeans (Hispanic etc), all Arabs and all those on the Indian sub-continent Caucasian heritage is pretty much every major contribution to art, culture and science. This includes the abolition of slavery, the hymn "Amazing Grace" and the song "We Shall Overcome" that have long been appropriated by members of the Negroid ethnic group in America including at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston that very evening.
Also the manifesto expresses an almost agitated confusion at the role of Jews within American society accusing them of agitating black Americans. One of the things that came up frequently in the backlash against Caucasian Heritage Night was a quote attributed to a Rabbi saying that there would not be racial harmony until Caucasians had been subject to the horrors of slavery. The term "Slavery" has it's origins in the "Slavic" tribe who were kept as slaves by the Ancient Greeks. Also the overwhelming majority of the victims of the Nazi holocaust were Ashkenazi Jews who along with Mizrahi Jews and Sephardic Jews are all Caucasian. One of the nicest things the Nazis did to the Jews was to use them as slave labour.
Although it's something I glanced at on Twitter rather then having studied my first impression was that the Rabbi was actually mocking black Americans and their frequent claims that they are the most oppressed group on earth.
It must be said though that none of the these arguments about race are exactly new. In fact amid the "Black Lives Matter" protests Iggy Azalea has been heavily condemned for - as a white woman - daring to appropriate black hip-hop culture. I find that particularly sad because when criticising a woman as clearly as untalented as she is there seems no need to bring race into it. Also while I haven't seen the evidence myself there seems to be a growing consensus amongst people with the resources to analyse this sort of thing that the content was posted long before Roof was taken into custody. It just took a long time to find it.
In terms of it's discussion of black Americans and attempting to justify the shooting what struck me most about the statement is that it is certainly a lot milder then many racist manifestos I've read. It is certainly completely lacking in the type of blind hatred that TV shows have been assuring me motivated Roof. In fact it seems to express regret that black Americans are taught to see everything through the lens of race and this causes them to fail in a multi-ethnic society because they're only expected to be thugs and criminals rather then say doctors and lawyers. This is something US President Obama has also spoken on although he has been keen for it - and everything else - to be seen through the racial lens.
It's made clear that the main motivation is a fear of black crime. For example it talks about being unable to understand the outrage at the Trayvon Martin case because it was clear that George Zimmerman was in the right. This is an entirely valid point because from the moment Martin decided to start punching Zimmerman in the face and smashing his head into the concrete Zimmerman was perfectly entitled to kill him in self-defence. This is a point that the jury (the definition of "reasonable people" under law) unanimously agreed upon. It goes on to talk about apartheid and segregation as a way to protect law abiding white people from black criminals rather then a system to oppress minorities.
In choosing Charleston it points out that America's highly populated ghettos are far too big a target for one man to attack on their own. It also mentions that there is no-one in South Carolina prepared to stand up to the black crime wave. Crucially it makes no mention of carrying out the act in order to start a race war, provoke anyone else into action or to influence either the government or the wider population in any way.
As such I would say that the document strengthens claims that Roof acted in self-defence by demonstrating an honest, prior belief that the wider population needs to be protected from the actions of the black community. Of course to be acquitted it would need to be demonstrated that this belief was also reasonable. This can be done by asking some simple questions;
- Did Al Sharpton as head of the National Action Network (NAN) of which Emanuel AME Church is affiliated give a speech in Washington D.C on December 13th 2014 (13/9/14) praising a diversity of tactics while the crowd chanted; "What Do We Want? Dead Cops!" that was broadcast live to a solidarity rally in New York City; YES/NO?
- Seven days later on December 20th (20/12/14) were two police officers shot and killed in New York City by a black gunmen simply for being police officers; YES/NO?
- Between August 2014 and April 2015 was the city of Ferguson, St Louis subjected to multiple nights of rioting, looting and the attempted murder of police officers; YES/NO?
- Was the pattern of violence carried out by members and affiliates of NAN with a view to change local government policy; YES/NO?
- Following a change in local government policy did the crime rate in Ferguson soar including an 84% increase in the murder rate; YES/NO?
16:05 on 21/6/15 (UK date).
The Charleston Manifesto.
Yesterday (20/6/15) a website emerged purporting to show photographs of Dylann Roof alongside a manifesto/explanation of why he carried out the Charleston shooting. This website - http://lastrhodesian.com - has since been removed by it's Russian host.
However having sat through numerous gory propaganda videos by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) I prefer to see this things for myself and form my own opinions rather then relying on second hand analysis. As such I have decided to re-print the full, unedited version of the manifesto below;
14:45 on 21/6/15 (UK date).
However having sat through numerous gory propaganda videos by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) I prefer to see this things for myself and form my own opinions rather then relying on second hand analysis. As such I have decided to re-print the full, unedited version of the manifesto below;
I was not raised in a racist home or environment.
Living in the South, almost every White person has a small amount of racial
awareness, simply beause of the numbers of negroes in this part of the country.
But it is a superficial awareness. Growing up, in school, the White and black
kids would make racial jokes toward each other, but all they were were jokes.
Me and White friends would sometimes would watch things that would make us
think that “blacks were the real racists” and other elementary thoughts like
this, but there was no real understanding behind it.
The
event that truly awakened me was the Trayvon Martin case. I kept hearing and
seeing his name, and eventually I decided to look him up. I read the Wikipedia
article and right away I was unable to understand what the big deal was. It was
obvious that Zimmerman was in the right. But more importantly this prompted me
to type in the words “black on White crime” into Google, and I have never been
the same since that day. The first website I came to was the Council of
Conservative Citizens. There were pages upon pages of these brutal black on
White murders. I was in disbelief. At this moment I realized that something was
very wrong. How could the news be blowing up the Trayvon Martin case while
hundreds of these black on White murders got ignored?
From
this point I researched deeper and found out what was happening in Europe. I
saw that the same things were happening in England and France, and in all the
other Western European countries. Again I found myself in disbelief. As an
American we are taught to accept living in the melting pot, and black and other
minorities have just as much right to be here as we do, since we are all
immigrants. But Europe is the homeland of White people, and in many ways the
situation is even worse there. From here I found out about the Jewish problem
and other issues facing our race, and I can say today that I am completely
racially aware.
Blacks
I
think it is is fitting to start off with the group I have the most real life
experience with, and the group that is the biggest problem for Americans.
Niggers
are stupid and violent. At the same time they have the capacity to be very
slick. Black people view everything through a racial lense. Thats what racial
awareness is, its viewing everything that happens through a racial lense. They
are always thinking about the fact that they are black. This is part of the
reason they get offended so easily, and think that some thing are intended to
be racist towards them, even when a White person wouldnt be thinking about
race. The other reason is the Jewish agitation of the black race.
Black
people are racially aware almost from birth, but White people on average dont
think about race in their daily lives. And this is our problem. We need to and
have to.
Say
you were to witness a dog being beat by a man. You are almost surely going to
feel very sorry for that dog. But then say you were to witness a dog biting a
man. You will most likely not feel the same pity you felt for the dog for the
man. Why? Because dogs are lower than men.
This
same analogy applies to black and White relations. Even today, blacks are
subconsciously viewed by White people are lower beings. They are held to a
lower standard in general. This is why they are able to get away with things
like obnoxious behavior in public. Because it is expected of them.
Modern
history classes instill a subconscious White superiority complex in Whites and
an inferiority complex in blacks. This White superiority complex that comes
from learning of how we dominated other peoples is also part of the problem I
have just mentioned. But of course I dont deny that we are in fact superior.
I wish
with a passion that niggers were treated terribly throughout history by Whites,
that every White person had an ancestor who owned slaves, that segregation was
an evil an oppressive institution, and so on. Because if it was all it true, it
would make it so much easier for me to accept our current situation. But it
isnt true. None of it is. We are told to accept what is happening to us because
of ancestors wrong doing, but it is all based on historical lies, exaggerations
and myths. I have tried endlessly to think of reasons we deserve this, and I
have only came back more irritated because there are no reasons.
Only a
fourth to a third of people in the South owned even one slave. Yet every White
person is treated as if they had a slave owning ancestor. This applies to in
the states where slavery never existed, as well as people whose families immigrated
after slavery was abolished. I have read hundreds of slaves narratives from my
state. And almost all of them were positive. One sticks out in my mind where an
old ex-slave recounted how the day his mistress died was one of the saddest
days of his life. And in many of these narratives the slaves told of how their
masters didnt even allowing whipping on his plantation.
Segregation
was not a bad thing. It was a defensive measure. Segregation did not exist to
hold back negroes. It existed to protect us from them. And I mean that in
multiple ways. Not only did it protect us from having to interact with them,
and from being physically harmed by them, but it protected us from being
brought down to their level. Integration has done nothing but bring Whites down
to level of brute animals. The best example of this is obviously our school
system.
Now
White parents are forced to move to the suburbs to send their children to “good
schools”. But what constitutes a “good school”? The fact is that how good a school
is considered directly corresponds to how White it is. I hate with a passion
the whole idea of the suburbs. To me it represents nothing but scared White
people running. Running because they are too weak, scared, and brainwashed to
fight. Why should we have to flee the cities we created for the security of the
suburbs? Why are the suburbs secure in the first place? Because they are White.
The pathetic part is that these White people dont even admit to themselves why
they are moving. They tell themselves it is for better schools or simply to
live in a nicer neighborhood. But it is honestly just a way to escape niggers
and other minorities.
But
what about the White people that are left behind? What about the White children
who, because of school zoning laws, are forced to go to a school that is 90
percent black? Do we really think that that White kid will be able to go one
day without being picked on for being White, or called a “white boy”? And who
is fighting for him? Who is fighting for these White people forced by economic
circumstances to live among negroes? No one, but someone has to.
Here I
would also like to touch on the idea of a Norhtwest Front. I think this idea is
beyond stupid. Why should I for example, give up the beauty and history of my state
to go to the Norhthwest? To me the whole idea just parralells the concept of
White people running to the suburbs. The whole idea is pathetic and just
another way to run from the problem without facing it.
Some
people feel as though the South is beyond saving, that we have too many blacks
here. To this I say look at history. The South had a higher ratio of blacks
when we were holding them as slaves. Look at South Africa, and how such a small
minority held the black in apartheid for years and years. Speaking of South
Africa, if anyone thinks that think will eventually just change for the better,
consider how in South Africa they have affirmative action for the black
population that makes up 80 percent of the population.
It is
far from being too late for America or Europe. I believe that even if we made
up only 30 percent of the population we could take it back completely. But by
no means should we wait any longer to take drastic action.
Anyone
who thinks that White and black people look as different as we do on the
outside, but are somehow magically the same on the inside, is delusional. How
could our faces, skin, hair, and body structure all be different, but our
brains be exactly the same? This is the nonsense we are led to believe.
Negroes
have lower Iqs, lower impulse control, and higher testosterone levels in
generals. These three things alone are a recipe for violent behavior. If a
scientist publishes a paper on the differences between the races in Western
Europe or Americans, he can expect to lose his job. There are personality
traits within human families, and within different breeds of cats or dogs, so
why not within the races?
A
horse and a donkey can breed and make a mule, but they are still two completely
different animals. Just because we can breed with the other races doesnt make
us the same.
In a
modern history class it is always emphasized that, when talking about “bad” things
Whites have done in history, they were White. But when we lern about the
numerous, almost countless wonderful things Whites have done, it is never
pointed out that these people were White. Yet when we learn about anything
important done by a black person in history, it is always pointed out
repeatedly that they were black. For example when we learn about how George
Washington carver was the first nigger smart enough to open a peanut.
On
another subject I want to say this. Many White people feel as though they dont
have a unique culture. The reason for this is that White culture is world
culture. I dont mean that our culture is made up of other cultures, I mean that
our culture has been adopted by everyone in the world. This makes us feel as
though our culture isnt special or unique. Say for example that every business
man in the world wore a kimono, that every skyscraper was in the shape of a
pagoda, that every door was a sliding one, and that everyone ate every meal
with chopsticks. This would probably make a Japanese man feel as though he had
no unique traditional culture.
I have
noticed a great disdain for race mixing White women within the White
nationalists community, bordering on insanity it. These women are victims, and
they can be saved. Stop.
Jews
Unlike
many White naitonalists, I am of the opinion that the majority of American and
European jews are White. In my opinion the issues with jews is not their blood,
but their identity. I think that if we could somehow destroy the jewish
identity, then they wouldnt cause much of a problem. The problem is that Jews
look White, and in many cases are White, yet they see themselves as minorities.
Just like niggers, most jews are always thinking about the fact that they are
jewish. The other issue is that they network. If we could somehow turn every
jew blue for 24 hours, I think there would be a mass awakening, because people
would be able to see plainly what is going on.
I dont
pretend to understand why jews do what they do. They are enigma.
Hispanics
Hispanics
are obviously a huge problem for Americans. But there are good hispanics and
bad hispanics. I remember while watching hispanic television stations, the
shows and even the commercials were more White than our own. They have respect
for White beauty, and a good portion of hispanics are White. It is a well known
fact that White hispanics make up the elite of most hispanics countries. There
is good White blood worht saving in Uruguay, Argentina, Chile and even Brasil.
But they are still our enemies.
East
Asians
I have great respent for the East Asian races. Even
if we were to go extinct they could carry something on. They are by nature very
racist and could be great allies of the White race. I am not opposed at all to
allies with the Northeast Asian races.
Patriotism
I hate
the sight of the American flag. Modern American patriotism is an absolute joke.
People pretending like they have something to be proud while White people are
being murdered daily in the streets. Many veterans believe we owe them
something for “protecting our way of life” or “protecting our freedom”. But im
not sure what way of life they are talking about. How about we protect the
White race and stop fighting for the jews. I will say this though, I myself
would have rather lived in 1940's American than Nazi Germany, and no this is
not ignorance speaking, it is just my opinion. So I dont blame the veterans of
any wars up until after Vietnam, because at least they had an American to be
proud of and fight for.
An
Explanation
To
take a saying from a film, “I see all this stuff going on, and I dont see
anyone doing anything about it. And it pisses me off.”. To take a saying from
my favorite film, “Even if my life is worth less than a speck of dirt, I want
to use it for the good of society.”.
I have
no choice. I am not in the position to, alone, go into the ghetto and fight. I
chose Charleston because it is most historic city in my state, and at one time
had the highest ratio of blacks to Whites in the country. We have no skinheads,
no real KKK, no one doing anything but talking on the internet. Well someone
has to have the bravery to take it to the real world, and I guess that has to
be me.
Unfortunately at the time of writing I am in a
great hurry and some of my best thoughts, actually many of them have been to be
left out and lost forever. But I believe enough great White minds are out there
already.
Please forgive any typos, I didnt have
time to check it.
14:45 on 21/6/15 (UK date).
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