The Oscars 2017. Pt.2.

This should be read as a continuation of Part 1; http://watchitdie.blogspot.co.uk/2017/02/the-oscars-2017.html

The other huge movie of this year was;

Hacksaw Ridge: Following 14 years of delays this finally entered production in 2015. It is the biography of Desmond Doss.

Despite being a committed pacifist Doss fought a lengthy legal battle to serve in the US Army during the Second World War. He ended up serving as a medic during the brutal 1945 Battle of Okinawa, Japan.

On a patch of the island codenamed "Hacksaw Ridge" he single handedly saved the lives of 75 wounded soldiers. For that feat Doss was awarded the Bronze Star medal for bravery despite never firing a shot nor taking a life.

What makes Hacksaw Ridge such a big movie is that it is directed by Mel Gibson.

In 2006 Mel Gibson was arrested for driving whilst drunk in Los Angeles. He then proceeded to go on a foul mouthed, anti-semitic rant in which he accused the Jews of being responsible for all of history's wars and accusing the arresting officer - who was Jewish - of being part of a Jewish conspiracy to destroy his career.

I think the stories of the Jews running entertainment industry are overstated. However you don't need to be Jewish to be deeply offended by Mel Gibson's actions. Mind you launching into a racist and anti-semitic attack on a police officer would probably make Mel Gibson something of a hero to the "Oscars So White/Black Lives Matter" campaigners. If only he wasn't a white devil.

Despite an incident that should have ended his career and certainly significantly delayed the making of Hacksaw Ridge Mel Gibson has slowly made his way back into the Hollywood society.

In part this is because Mel Gibson has gone through a long period of admitting to and conquering his problems with alcohol while apologising profusely to the Jewish community.

However from the way this movie takes every opportunity to praise Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour sent to rescue the Jews from their sinful ways I have my doubts about the sincerity of those apologies. I'm sure you all have your own opinions. This has been your opportunity to share them.

Another significant part of Mel Gibson's return is that he is actually very talented both as an actor and a director. Back in 2011 he gave an extremely strong acting performance in "The Beaver."

Although I've not seen Hacksaw Ridge I have seen a similar war movie that Mel Gibson starred in and directed in 2002 called; "We Were Soldiers." This suffered the misfortune of being released just after the September 11th 2001 (11/9/01) terror attacks when absolutely nobody was in the mood for a war movie.

Frankly I think it could have done without the bits where Mel Gibson was on screen but the battle scenes in We Were Soldiers are vivid, visceral and gripping.

It was one of those movies I caught late at night on TV just as I was going to bed. When the credits rolled some two hours later I suddenly realised it was 3AM and I really needed to go to bed. Being able to completely captivate their audience is exactly the effect that movie makers are trying to achieve.

Those who have seen it say that the battle scenes in Hacksaw Ridge are even better than those in We Were Soldiers and although few people saw it We We Soldiers is better than the famous; "Saving Private Ryan."

This issue of forgiving any indiscretion if the person is talented enough is known in Hollywood as; "The Polanski Problem."

Roman Polanski was a hugely successful director in the 1970's. However in 1977 was arrested for raping a 13 year old girl. Polanski proceeded to skip bail and has been living in Switzerland ever since fighting to avoid extradition back to the US to stand trial for his crimes.

Despite his appalling behaviour due to his talent some in the movie business *coughs* Ewan McGregor *coughs* who have been prepared to overlook Polanski's paedophilia and continue to work with him.

There has been something of a similar controversy surrounding Casey Affleck who won the Best Actor Oscar this year.

However my understanding is that the accusation against him is that he had consensual sex with an adult woman in the hotel room of a female colleague without her permission while she was elsewhere. That's not really in the same league as raping a child.

Casey Affleck is of course the younger brother of Ben Affleck. In 1997 Ben Affleck starred in a movie called; "Chasing Amy" in which he fell in love with a lesbian named Amy. Shortly after that I got involved with my lesbian wife Amy. It looked like I had just copied the plot of the movie. We've sort of been stuck with each other ever since.

For example back in 2007 I studied for a basic vocational qualification in book-keeping. This is the first stage in qualifying as an accountant. After all I'm sure a big accountancy firm like Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) would keep me around just for the water cooler gossip.

I am still waiting for the envelope containing the results of my final exam to arrive. Much like I'm still waiting for my driving license and my passport.

In 2016 Ben Affleck made a movie called; "The Accountant" about an autistic accountant who is also a mafia hitman.

Shortly afterwards my younger brother was suddenly offered a job doing public relations for the Associated of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). A posting that takes him all across the globe. After last night's disaster he's got to be worried his holiday in Brazil is going to be cut short.

So representing me at this year's Oscars we have Manchester-by-the-Sea. This about a handyman/jack or all trades who is forced to give up his life to return to his depressing home town to look after his family. Thoroughly miserable apparently.

Representing the UK this year is; Lion. This is the story of a child orphan who is adopted from India and taken to Australia. As an adult he uses Google Maps to return to India and trace his relatives. Google Maps is just one of the multitude of maps I use on a daily basis.

Today the Queen and Great Britain and the Commonwealth has launched the UK-India Year of Culture with a lavish reception at Buckingham Palace. The British star of Lion Dev Patel won't be attending on account of his parents being from Kenya.

Also today Britain has finally launched its much hyped inquiry into child sexual abuse. The first part of the inquiry focuses on the practice of effectively deporting British orphans to Commonwealth nations such as Australia, Canada, India and that African country just north of South Africa the name of which is never mentioned in my family.

If nothing else this British power play demonstrates that legendary Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein can get any old tat nominated with his infamous lobbying campaigns.

Hacksaw Ridge is also important because it mocks American liberals attitude to war.

Apart from his strong Christian beliefs Desmond Doss was a committed pacifist because he nearly killed his younger brother in a childhood firearms accident. That would make him the poster boy for the gun control campaigns that American liberals are so keen on. You also suspect that many Hollywood liberals find it easier to celebrate Doss as a hero than American Sniper Chris Kyle because Doss saved lives while Kyle took them.

You can clearly see this attitude in the current war against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and associated groups. Particularly the way former President Obama conducted it.

Obama and his band of liberals are happy to accept all the refugees from the conflict and boast about all the humanitarian aid they're sending. However when you get onto the matter of killing the people who are causing all this suffering they suddenly get very squeamish.

There is an element of this in White Helmets winning Best Documentary Short.

The White Helmets are not a humanitarian organisation. They are a illegal combatant organisation engaged in all sorts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. However liberals are clearly prepared to overlook all that because to do otherwise would take away that warm fuzzy feeling they get from talking about how caring they are.

This is a particular problem when it comes to the refugee issue. What groups like ISIL are trying to do is ethnically cleanse entire groups of people from the middle-east. By America throwing open its doors and declaring that refugees are welcome it is not helping ISIL's victims. If anything it is helping ISIL making all these supposedly caring people collaborators in a genocide.

As anyone familiar with war knows if Doss hadn't been surrounded by hundreds of men who were prepared to kill his behalf he would not have saved 75 lives. He would have been killed almost instantly.

I think it is fair to assume that Mel Gibson is now never going to win an Oscar. However Hacksaw Ridge did receive a lot of love this year being nominated in six categories and winning in two. Best Film Editing and Best Sound Mixing in respect of its battle scenes.

The Best Sound Mixing Oscar was shared by Robert MacKensie. The movie We Were Soldiers features the song; "Sgt MacKensie."

Also in the Best Sound Editing category prior to the ceremony one of the operators on the movie "13 hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi" about Hillary Clinton's failure to protect the US Ambassador to Libya was excluded over a lobbying controversy. It was something to do with phones and emails apparently. This brought the movie a lot more attention than it otherwise would have received.

During the ceremony itself there was a sequence in which little packages containing candy were dropped by parachute for the audience to eat. This was a very specific reference to a tactic currently being employed by ISIL. Particularly in the battle for Mosul.

What ISIL do is use commercial drones to drop Improvised Explosive Devices (IED's) sometimes on parachute, sometimes guided by shuttlecock from above. This has even experienced soldiers going; "Well that's new."

ISIL very noticeably used this tactic against the civilian Rashidiya neighbourhood of eastern Mosul on February 5th (5/2/17). That was the same day that Lady Gaga used hundreds of civilian drones in her Super Bowl halftime show thus highlighting ISIL's obsession with America and their very real desire to attack it.

To this day I swear that Obama still thinks ISIL are using those drones to drop sunshine and lollypops.

Obviously I will need to look at the more political categories such as Best Foreign Feature. But not as much as I need to get back to the war.  

21:15 on 27/2/17 (UK date).

The Oscars 2017.

Last night saw the 89th awards of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences - the Oscars - held in Los Angeles, California.

If the February 5th (5/2/17) Super Bowl marked the start of America's social/political season than the Oscars really marks its end.

As with the Super Bowl this year's Oscars have been somewhat subdued by the fact they come just 38 days after the inauguration of a new President. This presents even more of a problem for the Oscars than it does for the world of American Football.

In the film industry it is often five to six years between a movie going into production and it being released and nominated for awards. Any production that's completed within two years is considered rushed. 

The 2016 US Presidential Election has widely been recognised as one of the most unpredictable ever. So being able to correctly predict the outcome just after the 2012 election had taken place represents an almost super human task.

Despite this two of this year's movies did manage to tackle the 2016 election directly;

La La Land: Going into production in 2011 this lavish 1950's-style musical centres around Mia a waitress and aspiring actress played by Emma Stone. She meets and has an on-again, off-again relationship with Sebastian - played by Ryan Gosling - a struggling musician who also dreams of stardom. Eventually the two fall in love and their Hollywood dreams are realised.

As such La La Land serves as a mockery of liberal Hollywood's support for Hillary Clinton and the post-truth, hope, dreams and feelings are better than facts style of politics she represents.

For example we all know that in real life people don't spontaneously break into song and carefully choreographed dance routines. However we're all happy to suspend our disbelief because it makes us feel better about ourselves.

Likewise by any traditional measure presiding over several genocidal wars that have killed hundreds of thousands, driven tens of millions from their homes and left tens of millions more on the brink of manmade famine does not make you a nice person. Let alone a vaguely competent Secretary of State.

However millions of Hillary Clinton supporters seem perfectly happy to overlook all that and instead clap their hands and sing in the streets; "Refugees Welcome Here" because it makes them feel better about themselves.

The movie's much talked about opening sequence takes place amid the traffic congestion and road rage of an LA highway. However the frustration is broken by everybody breaking into song; "Another Day of Sun."

This serves as a particular piece of self-mockery of last year's Oscars at which Leonardo DiCaprio won his first Oscar for single handily saving the world from Climate Change.

Last year's Oscars were dominated by the main political theme of the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). 

Within meetings such as that lots of focus is given to designing cities in such a way that people live close to where they work and do leisure activities such as shopping. The idea being to reduce Greenhouse Gas (ghg) by reducing the distances people have to travel in their daily lives.

The city of Los Angeles has gone in completely the opposite direction. It's founding principle was to build massive highways and allow the city to spring up around them. As a result nobody in LA walks and you have to drive huge distances from your home to work and then from work to the shops before driving another huge distance home again.

So while the image often projected in the movies is of some highly attractive person driving their beautiful sportscar along an open and winding road the reality of life in LA is constant traffic congestion and constant road rage.

So the start of La La Land seems to be going;

"Who cares about global warming. Obama said he's fixed it and Leo won his Oscar!"

La La Land's main advantage is that it is all about Hollywood. This makes it extremely useful at the parties packed with small talk and gossip that surround the Oscars. After all everybody knows a 'Mia' and everybody knows a 'Sebastian.'

Jackie: Originally entering production in 2010 this is a biography of the early part of Jackie Kennedy's life with her husband John F. Kennedy (JFK) - the 35th President of the United States who was assassinated in 1963.

The Kennedy dynasty hold an almost cult-like status within American politics - particularly amongst supporters of his Democrat Party. Apart from his death at a glamorously young age this popularity is fuelled by stories of his apparently happy marriage to Jackie Kennedy and their supposedly happy children. This is often dubbed; "Camelot" after the 1961 musical from the era which seems to have so inspired La La Land. 

The truth though is that the Kennedy's marriage was deeply unhappy and deeply dysfunctional. JFK was an alcoholic and drug addict who was physically abusive his wife Jackie and had frequent affairs including with some women he's rumoured to have had murdered. In order to punish him Jackie Kennedy herself would have frequent affairs which she would tell him about including with Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis whom she went onto marry.

Primarily taking the form of a one-on-one interview with a journalist the movie Jackie is really about the collusion between the Democrats and the liberal media that helped to create this false myth of Camelot.

For example Jackie Kennedy - played here by Natalie Portman - frequently tells the journalist about the dark and salacious details of their marriage but then tells him that he can't publish them. Massively compromising his journalistic integrity the journalist agrees.

Throughout the interview Jackie Kennedy smokes almost constantly but every time she lights a new cigarette or stubs one out she tells the journalist to report that she does not smoke. He does and the myth of Jackie Kennedy as a non-smoker is born.

As such the movie serves as a strong rebuke of the collusion between the liberal media and that other Democrat dynasty - the Clintons - the run-up to the election.

For example it's well established that Hillary Clinton committed 110 offences of espionage against the US as Secretary of State. However the coverage was not about how she was able to avoid prosecution by apparently bribing a deputy director of the FBI but why the FBI were daring to attempt to uphold US law to begin with.

Just on Thursday (23/2/17) the news broke that on February 14th (14/2/17) the New York Times published an entirely false story linking President Trump's election campaign to the Russia intelligence services. However the call from the liberal media has not been for the New York Times to retract their false story but for special prosecutors to be appointed to impeach Trump so Hillary Clinton can be anointed President.

During this Oscars broadcast the New York Times who have very much emerged as the "Pravda" of the Hillary Clinton campaign actually ran a commercial highlighting the importance of truth within journalism. As so often happens they seem to have rather missed the point.

Jackie also provides me with an opportunity to remind you all that Natalie Portman named her first child; "Aleph". In Hebrew this is how you say the letter; "A."

So this Israeli born actress and comic book nerd has literally named her first child; "A Portman." Which is both the height of lazy parenting and absolutely hilarious.

Natalie Portman is currently pregnant with her second child and the naming pool is now open. If she gets to a third we'll know her career really is in trouble.

In what is something of a thin year the floor has been thrown wide open to that issue that has dogged the Oscars since 2014. The absence of black talent and the; "Oscars So  White" campaign.

One of the main problems with having black actors and black stories told at the Oscars is really the type of movies that the Oscars like to reward. They're very fond of big movies about important historical figures such as 2012's "Lincoln." Alternatively they're fond of movies about ordinary people who've done extraordinary things. Such as 2016's "Spotlight."

Up until the mid-1960's black people were pretty much excluded from mainstream American society. Either through slavery or segregation. As a result there aren't really the black stories to make into Oscar worthy movies. After all there are only so many horrifically historically inaccurate movies you can make about Martin Luther King or about slavery before the source material is exhausted and everybody gets very bored.

This year's Oscars contenders feature two films that tell some of the lesser known stories of black America.

Hidden Figures: Entering production in 2015 this tells the story of three black female mathematicians who were drafted into NASA's space program in 1961.

Portraying a Virginia which is still racially segregated the three woman have to battle to the twin challenges of being both black and women in the workplace. Although the women were essential in helping the US level the space race with John Glenn's 1962 launch into orbit they have until now been omitted from the official version of events. Thus making them the hidden figures of history.

The problem is that the story is in no way historically accurate. The Octavia Spencer character Dorothy Vaughan was appointed a supervisor in the NACA - the predecessor of NASA - all the way back in 1948. When NACA became NASA in 1958 segregation was abolished. So the sequences in the movie featuring Taraji P. Henson having to use a coloureds only bathroom in another building exist only in the writer's imagination.

In any other year that gross rewriting of history is the sort of thing that would have seen Hidden Figures entirely ruled out from Oscars contention.

Loving: Entering production in 2015 this tells the story of George and Mildred Loving. In 1967 they brought a case before the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) to have their interracial marriage recognised by the State of Virginia and across the United States.

As with Brown v Board of Education (1954) and Roe v Wade (1973) Loving v Virginia (1967) is one of the Supreme Court cases that defined America in the second half of the 20th century. As such the Loving's story certainly fits the criteria of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

From a filmmakers perspective though the story is a difficult one to tell. When the Loving's return to Virginia following their marriage they are faced with all sorts of bigotry and hatred. However they then move back to Washington D.C where interracial marriage is legal. As a result the bulk of the movie is just a normal married couple living their lives while waiting for a letter from their lawyer.

This is the type of challenge that Oscar voters very much like. Keeping the viewer interested whilst not very much is happening requires a huge amount of skill from the actors and the director.

At around 11:50 on 27/2/17 (UK date) this is obviously going to grow and change throughout the day.

Edited at around 14:25 on 27/2/17 (UK date) to add;
 

Moonlight: Entering production in 2013 - the year before the "Oscars So White" campaign began - this tells the story of contemporary black America through a fictional child's - Chiron - journey into adulthood.

In telling the story the director - Barry Jenkins - uses three actors to play Chiron at different stages of his life. This is actually a very difficult thing to do because even in a TV series let alone within the confines of a movie when a character's physical appearance changes dramatically it can easily break your concentration reminding you that you are simply watching a piece of fiction. The fact that Jenkins has largely avoided this trap is testament to his skill as a director.

Moonlight also focuses on the type of characters who are often overlooked in movies. Take for example Mahershala Ali's much talked about portrayal of the drug dealer "Juan." Normally in movies Juan would be a one dimensional character who simply sells drugs and behaves like a bit of a thug. In moonlight Juan has that side to him but also has a relatively normal home life with his girlfriend Teresa (Janelle Monae). Teresa and Juan sensitively almost adopt Chiron raising him while his drug addict mother Paula (Naomie Harries) can't.

The other significant element is that as he grows up Chiron realises that he is gay. Gay black men are certainly under represented onscreen in movies and they are often hidden away within the black community itself. The homophobia of the black community raises the question of whether the "Oscars So White" campaigners are fighting for equality or supremacy. After all while they're demanding that their perceived rights are respected they don't seem particularly good at respecting other people's rights.
 

Due to the physical similarity between the actors it is tempting to say that Jenkins has simply looked at the black, gay, drug dealer character "Omar" from the 2005 TV series; "The Wire" and copied it for the Juan character. However Moonlight has taken the idea and then done much more with it.

The contrast between Hidden Figures, Loving and Moonlight poses a tough question about black America in the post Civil Rights era of the 1960's.

Although they're hampered by segregation and prejudice the women in Hidden Figures are all highly educated professionals. Likewise the Lovings are a stable nuclear family. In Moonlight it's all broken homes, high school dropouts, crime and violence.

Therefore the question is really what went wrong with black America following the civil rights era. This is a question that Bill Cosby has posed many times and found himself vilified by the "Oscars So White/Black Lives Matter" campaigners.

In part the problem is that the 1960's were a period of immense social change. Often for the better. Across all sections of American society traditional marriage and careers were replaced with more unconventional lifestyles. 

This has had a particularly negative impact on black America and some have suggested that it's a way to continue to oppress black Americans now that the traditional tools of slavery and segregation can no longer be used. 

It has also been suggested that the entertainment industry - particularly the music industry - has played a key role in this new form or oppression by promoting trashy and thuggish rappers. In short these days everybody wants to be Beyonce and nobody wants to be Dorothy Vaughan.

Towering over all three of these movies we have Fences.

Fences: Entering production in 2016 this movie based on a stage play of the same name tells the fictional story of Troy Maxson (Denzel Washington). He lives with his wife and son in racially segregated 1950's Pittsburgh.

Although at the time of the movie Maxson is a working man in his younger days he was a thug and a robber who spent time in prison. As such the movie explores the contrast between black men as hard workers and as thugs.

While Maxson is married to Rose (Viola Davis) and raising their son together he is also having an affair which leads to an illegitimate child. Maxson also has another illegitimate son from a previous relationship. As such the movie demonstrates the contrast between stable black families and broken homes.
 

Maxon's eldest son Lyons (Russell Hornsby) is constantly visiting to borrow money as he tries to live out his dream of being a musician. Maxson constantly chastises him telling him to get a job instead. As such the movie examines the impact of the music industry on post civil rights era black America.
 

In his younger days Maxson was a somewhat talented baseball player playing in the Negro league. However he never made it into the big time of Major League Baseball. Those around him think this is because he was never really talented enough and was too old when he started playing. However Maxson remains convinced it was racism that stopped him living out his dream.
 

This really does to the heart of the "Oscars So White" campaign. Is it racism that's keeping black faces out of the Oscars or is it simply that the movies being made by those black faces simply not good enough to win Oscar nominations?
 

Maxson's grudge against his imagined racism ruins his relationship with his middle son Cory (Jovan Adepo). Cory is offered a college scholarship to play American Football. Fearing that he too will become subject to the racism he imagined Maxson instead forces Cory to get a job causing him to miss his big chance destroying the relationship between father and son.
 

This really touches on the issues raised in the 2015 Oscar nominated movie "Concussion" starring Will Smith.
 

That really dealt with the way that young black men are exploited by the US College sports system where the Colleges make huge amounts of money while the players have to risk their health for free.
 

When you get into the professional NFL black players like Michael Vick (to name but one) seem almost encouraged to behave as badly as possible setting extremely bad role models for the young black men who look up to them.
 

So there is an element of Fences looking at Hidden Figures, Loving and Moonlight and going;
 

"Oh yeah. We've done your movies in our movie. Then we did a few others too."
 

Therefore the slip-ups about the movie; "Hidden Fences" might not be slip ups after all.
 

The prevalence of what I suppose you have to term black movies has caused a particular controversy in the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress categories. Across the two categories there are three black nominees - the most ever.
 

Of those actresses the one I'm going to pick on here is Irish actress Ruth Negga.
 

I am sadly familiar with Ruth Negga's 2004 debut in the British TV soap; "Doctors." I am also familiar with her 2010 performance in the Irish TV series; "Love/Hate." I am even familiar with her roles in the 2011 British TV movie; "Shirley" and in the 2013-2015 US TV series; "Marvel's Agents of Shield." Let's just say that clearly something spectacular has happened between then and her being nominated for a Best Actress Oscar.
 

Then of course you have Amy Adams. An extremely talented actress Amy Adams has been Oscar nominated numerous times for movies such as 2010's "The Fighter" and 2013's "American Hustle." However she has never actually won an Oscar. This year Amy Adams appeared in "Arrival" in which she is said to give the performance of her career.
 

As such it was a shock to many that Amy Adams wasn't even nominated in year where less talented black actresses have been.
 

This suggestion of Affirmative Action goes to the Oscars controversial response to the "Oscars So White" campaign. 

Essentially they're kicking out white members of the organisation in order to make way for black people who haven't gone through the traditional recruitment process of doing work worthy of Oscar recognition. That is certainly a touchy subject amongst the white members who are getting kicked out or anyone worried about maintaining standards.
 

In the Best Actress category the nominations issue was really moot. Even if Amy Adams had been nominated it was still widely accepted that the Oscar would go to Natalie Portman for her role in Jackie. After all she has completely inhabited the character of an extremely well known and famous person. A huge challenge for any actor.
 

However in a shock move the Oscar actually went to Emma Stone. Like Amy Adams Emma Stone is gingerhaired. As is US Ambassador to the UN under former President Obama Samantha Power.
 

Emma Stone's Oscar victory comes alongside Mahershala Ali winning Best Supporting actor. Ali is being hailed as the first Muslim winner of an acting Oscar. This is simply not true.
 

As with Muhammad Ali the boxer Mahershalalhashbaz Ali to give him his full name is not a Muslim but a member of the Nation of Islam (NOI).
 

Members of the Nation of Islam believe that black people are an alien race - the Shabazz - who shaped the Earth with their motherplane spaceships and are slowly being wiped out by the evil Jews. Muslims do not believe this.
 

Particularly in America there has been some confusion because like Muslims members of the Nation of Islam proclaim that there is no god but Allah. However when they say it members of the Nation of Islam believe that "Allah" is the group's founder Elijah Muhammad.
 

That was the whole thing with the famous Malcolm X. He was a member of the Nation of Islam who converted to Sunni-Islam. So the Nation of Islam murdered him for converting to Islam.

It also comes alongside "White Helmets" winning Best Documentary Short.
 

So the spectacle of an Israeli Jew being snubbed in favour of that ginger bint from La La Land does pose further questions about the intolerance of black supremacist groups and the Democrats inability to distinguish between Muslims and violent hate groups.
 

After all the type of morons who will clap their hands and chant; "Refugees Welcome Here" or "Hands Up; Don't Shoot" are exactly the same sort of morons who'll believe that the White Helmets' motto; "To save one life is to save all of humanity" comes from the Qur’an rather than the Torah.
 

Of course if you were to mention to them that the Torah is essentially a prequel to the Qur’an their heads might explode.         
 

At 16:40 on 27/2/17 (UK date) clearly I have some formatting issues to resolve.

Repaired and replaced at 17:40 on 27/2/17 (UK date).

Operation Featherweight: Month 32, Week 1, Day 7.

Last Sunday (19/2/17) the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) began an operation to liberate the western side of the city of Mosul from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

This is the latest phase in an operation that began on October 17th 2016 (17/10/16) that succeeded in liberating the eastern side of the city on January 25th 2017 (15/1/17). It is supported by the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) militia, the Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga and the US-led coalition - Combined Joint Task Force: Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTFOIR).

On Friday (24/2/17) the ISF completed a complex manoeuvre to simultaneously liberate both the Ghazlani military base and Mosul international airport which sit side-by-side at the southern tip of western Mosul. The ISF then immediately proceeded to move to liberate the Hay al-Tayaran neighbourhood which sits directly north of the airport. This marked the start of the grinding process of liberating the city room-by-room, floor-by-floor, house-by-house, street-by-street, neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood.

Although things are progressing more quickly than I'd expected the start of this slow process means that there are unlikely to be enough developments for me to provide daily updates. Instead I'm expecting to give an update every two to three days. However things will be dictated entirely by events on the ground.

I do though have to take a moment to write about the death on Saturday (25/2/17) of Shifa Gardi. A journalist for the Iraqi Kurdish broadcaster Rudaw Ms Gardi was killed by an ISIL Improvised Explosive Device (IED) while investigating reports of a mass grave close to the village of Al Athba. 20km (12 miles) south of Mosul.

On Friday (24/2/17) 63 people - mostly civilians - were killed in an ISIL suicide bombing close to the Syrian town of al-Bab. Later that day 16 Jordanian border guards were killed in an ISIL attack on their post. Earlier on Saturday (25/2/17) 42 people were killed in multiple Al Qaeda suicide bombings in the Syrian city of Homs.

Amid all this slaughter it seems almost strange for me to talk at length about the death of just one person. However it is hard to overstate just how crucial Rudaw have been to this war.

Wherever you are in the World or whatever news channel you're watching the chances are you've seen footage of the war that has a little; "R" superimposed in the top left corner of the screen. That is the logo of Rudaw and it is often they who are the only ones brave enough to go and shoot the footage. Although I like to think I add at least some value the majority of what I do here is really just reading out loud what Rudaw have written.

Amongst people who work in the news business the 1991 Gulf War is widely regarded as the first television war. Advances in technology meant that for the first time journalists embedded with soldiers on the frontlines could edit together their reports and beam them back to the studio by satellite to be included on the evening news. They could even set up a satellite link to be interviewed live from the studio whilst standing on the frontlines.

In this war Rudaw have taken things a step further. They have been livestreaming the operation to liberate Mosul both on the Internet and on their satellite channel. Amid the chaos I don't really know how to process this. However amongst journalists and broadcasters it is clearly something that is going to be talked about for years to come.

On one level it is a remarkable resource for me. I can simply log on to the livestream and see with my own eyes how the battle is going. However I find it worrying that ISIL can also log on to the livestream and see exactly what the ISF are up to.

Plus it represents an absolutely huge ethical quandary for broadcasters and those who regulate them. Watching live uncensored footage of battle makes it quite clear how extremely violent and frankly shit war really is. Part of Rudaw's coverage of Ms Gardi's death was a very poignant photograph of her producer leaning over a bodybag containing her corpse that had been hastily slung across the back seats of a 4x4.

Throughout the battle for Mosul Shifa Gardi had been reporting from the field during the day before returning to the studio in Erbil to anchor a nightly show - Focus Mosul - updating the country on the days developments. Within Arab and Kurdish society a woman anchoring a primetime news program is still a major thing. Let alone one that saw her broadcasting live from battle alongside male soldiers.

Shifa Gardi is so well known amongst Iraqis and others for her Mosul coverage hearing that she'd been killed is like hearing that Anderson Cooper, Wolf Blitzer, Huw Edwards, Kay Burley or any other nationally known news anchor had suddenly been killed.

Just on Monday (20/2/17) Shifa Gardi provided us all with one of those marvellously surreal moments that only happen in war.

Embedded with the Iraqi Federal Police as they liberated Albu Saif Shifa Gardi noticed someones pet bunny rabbit that had become separated from its owners amid the fighting. Taking pity on this starving and injured animal she scooped it up and took it back to her office to give it to an animal shelter.

War correspondents are considered a strange and unique breed. However even amongst them strolling back into your office with a bunny rabbit tucked into your flak jacket is considered hilariously bizarre. 

12:50 on 26/2/17 (UK date).

CNN's War on Democracy.

On Friday (24/2/17) the Geneva Process talks on Syria resumed in, well, Geneva, Switzerland. Frustratingly I can't really talk about these talks whilst they're taking place.

However very early on Friday morning (European time) - there was an extremely alarming contribution to those talks from the US broadcaster CNN.

CNN ran an exclusive story about the White House asking the FBI to publicly dismiss an earlier story about links between US President Trump and Russia. The implication being that President Trump was trying to use the FBI as some sort of party political secret police.

I don't think I need to tell anyone that the relationship between the US and Russia is at its lowest point since the Cold War. This is despite former President Obama beginning his term with a promise to improve relations with Russia - the 2009 "Re-Set."

The reason for the current division between the US and Russia is quite simple. It's the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Under Obama the US supported ISIL while Russia opposed them. So the two nations have parted ways.

When broadcasters like CNN - who incidentally testified on ISIL's behalf at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) - talk about Trump's links to Russia they're not upset about Russia. What they're upset about is Trump's opposition to ISIL - the Russian position. If CNN just came out and openly said that they supported ISIL and urged others to support the group they would simply be arrested.

So in the timing of Friday's story CNN were trying to send a message to pro-ISIL delegates at the Geneva talks. That message was simply that they could ignore whatever the US delegation was saying because they, CNN would make sure that despite the election the US continued Obama's policy of supporting ISIL.

If you actually look at the facts of Friday's story they are very different from the "alternative facts" that CNN are trying to spin.

On February 14th (14/2/17) CNN and the New York Times ran another exclusive story. This one claimed that they had anonymous sources within the FBI claiming the bureau could prove that Trump's Presidential campaign had close links to Russia's intelligence services.

Obviously once the story broke the White House asked the FBI if this were true. The FBI immediately informed the White House that the story was completely false. CNN and the New York Times' anonymous source had either lied to them or they had simply made up this source. After all with it being anonymous there's no way for anyone to check that the source actually exists.

The White House then asked the FBI if they would mind saying publicly that CNN and the New York Times' story was completely false and made up. The FBI responded that it is against their policy to comment publicly on counter-intelligence matters. After all talking about those matters risks exposing methods reducing the US' ability to conduct future counter-intelligence operations.

However on February 17th (17/2/17) the FBI did brief Congress on the matter. You will notice that all the members of Congress who were vocally decrying Trump's claimed links with Russia on February 16th (16/2/17) have suddenly gone very quiet.

The February 14th (14/2/17) CNN and New York Times story led to the ousting of Michael Flynn - the President's National Security Adviser.

Micheal Flynn has long been a target for the likes of CNN and the New York Times because he has previously described radical Islamism like that practiced by ISIL as a cancer on Islam. You will notice that he did not say that Islam is a cancer.

Instead Flynn said that the groups like ISIL who use violence and Islam as weapons to further their political aims are a cancer on Islam. This is a pretty common opinion within Islam - particularly amongst the millions fighting ISIL. However radical Islamism is apparently the only form of Islam that US Democrats will permit.

So Friday's (24/2/17) scandal is actually that CNN and the New York Times falsified a story to oust a member of the elected President's national security team because they did not like his opposition to ISIL. They doubled down on the story to promote their political agenda at the Geneva talks at the expense of the agenda of America''s democratically elected government.

That a small, unelected cabal of journalists and government employees think they can subvert the policy of an elected government is extremely serious stuff that borders on treason.

If I was talking about this in somewhere like Egypt or Turkey I would have to refer to them as a; "Parallel State."  However in those nations parallel states have long existed to prevent radical Islamists from staging coups against democracy. The US' parallel state seems dedicated to staging a coup against democracy on behalf of radical Islamists.

In response on Friday (24/2/17) the White House declined to invite CNN and the New York Times to a press briefing. Not only was this a completely reasonable response I actually thought is was too moderate.

Press access to the White House is not an automatic right. There are plenty of news organisations that want White House access but don't make the cut.

If CNN and the New York Times are going to continue to wage war against not just the current President but the US' entire system of government surely they can't expect to be granted the special privilege of access to the White House.

12:10 on 25/2/17 (UK date).

Operation Featherweight: Month 32, Week 1, Day 5.

Last Sunday (19/2/17) the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) and the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) militias launched an operation to liberate the western half of the northern Iraqi city of Mosul from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

This operation is being supported by the US-led coalition - Combined Joint Task Force: Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTFOIR) and the Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga who continue to provide perimeter security to the eastern half of the city which was liberated on January 25th (25/2/17).

Yesterday (23/2/17) the ISF launched the most complex manoeuvre of possibly the entire operation. This involved them simultaneously liberating Mosul airport and the Ghazlani military base which sit side-by-side at the southern most tip of Mosul.

By the day's end the ISF had succeeded in liberating 85% of the Ghazlani base and 50% of the airport. This led to some concern that ISF forces would sustain a high number of casualties both from ISIL fighters remaining in the base and the airport and from a possible ISIL counter-offensive on both locations.

Today I am happy to report that no such counter-offensive occurred. In fact at around 09:00 (GMT) this morning the ISF were able to declare Mosul airport to be completely, 100% liberated from ISIL. At around 10:00 (GMT) the ISF were able to declare that the Ghazlani base is also now completely, 100% liberated from ISIL.

Since then the ISF have begun to advance into the Hay al-Tayaran neighbourhood. This sits directly directly to the north of Mosul airport. They also continue to hold the Tal al-Rayyan neighbourhood to the north-west of Ghazlani base which was liberated yesterday and have advanced into the Hay al-Mamun neighbourhood which sits north-east of Tal al-Rayyan and directly north of the Ghazlani base.

To the west of the city the PMF have continued their advance around the town of Tal Afar. Today they have announced the liberation of the villages of Tal Zalat, Um Musaid and al-Zaytun. Assuming the liberation of al-Zaytun has come from the north-west this almost completely cuts ISIL positions in western Mosul off from ISIL positions in Tal Afar. It also places the PMF around 25km (15 miles) west of Mosul itself.

Also today Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced that he has given the Iraqi Air Force permission to conduct airstrikes against ISIL positions within Syria. This announcement was immediately followed by Iraqi airstrikes against ISIL positions in and around Deir-ez-Zour in Syria. These strikes were carried out in response to the three ISIL bomb attacks conducted against the Bayaa and Sadr City districts of Baghdad last week.

This expansion of Iraqi operations into Syria serves to underline that the ISIL threat to Iraq will not end with the liberation of Mosul. Nor will it end with the liberation of Hawija. Instead it will only end when ISIL have been completely defeated in both Iraq and Syria.

Although former US President Barack Obama seemed to do everything in his power to block it the original plan was that the ISF would defeat ISIL in Iraq sweeping them back into Syria. The ISF would then chase ISIL into Syria and defeat them there too. The expansion of Iraqi strikes into Syria shows that Iraq is still committed to that plan.

Deir-ez-Zour is where the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF/QSD) are currently focusing their efforts to expand their de facto safe-haven and prepare for the liberation of Raqqa. I think it is fair to assume then that they enjoy Iraqi support even if Iraq's Kurdistan Region is still trying to undermine them.

Also today there has been an ISIL suicide attack on the Turkish occupied Syrian town of al-Bab. This has killed in excess of 50 people - predominately Sunni-Arab civilians. ISIL have also mounted an attack on a Jordanian border post which has killed 15 Jordanian border guards.

Both of these attacks appear to be ISIL's contribution to the Geneva process talks which formally resumed today.

However with those talks taking place I can't go into much detail beyond saying that now the pressure is mounting ISIL seem desperate for the United Turkmen Army (UTA) and the Southern Front to swoop in to their rescue.

18:10 on 24/2/17 (UK date).

Operation Featherweight: Month 32, Week 1, Day 4.

On October 17th 2016 (17/10/16) an operation was launched to liberate the northern Iraqi city of Mosul from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Mosul has functioned as ISIL's de facto capital in Iraq since the summer of 2014.

This operation is a combined one between the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), the Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga and the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) who are a loose coalition of militias that serve as part of the ISF. The operation is being backed by the US-led coalition Combined Joint Task Force: Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTFOIR).

By January 25th 2017 (25/1/17) the eastern half of Mosul - often known as; "The Left Bank" - was fully liberated from ISIL.

On Sunday - February 19th (19/2/17) - an operation was launched to liberate the western half of Mosul - often known as; "The Right Bank" - from ISIL. The first stage of this operation saw the ISF advance in two columns from positions just south of Mosul known as the Qarrayah line.

In this first stage of the advance the main challenge has been to detect and defuse the vast number of landmines and Improvised Explosive Devices (IED's) that ISIL have laid between the Qarrayah line and southern Mosul.

To aid with this the US and other CJTFOIR nations have deployed a number of highly trained bomb disposal specialists to assist the ISF. Yesterday (22/2/17) the US confirmed that a number of its deployed specialists had come under fire and being wounded. However no further details have been given.

By the end of the first day of operations the ISF had liberated 10 villages and the Lazakah power plant which provides power to all of Mosul.

By Monday (20/2/17) evening the ISF had succeeded in liberating the Albu Saif village/neighbourhood which sits at the southern most tip of Mosul's western side. By Tuesday (21/2/17) they had succeeded in liberating Yarmouk village/neighbourhood which sits between Albu Saif and Mosul.

As with Gogjali to the east of Mosul neither Albu Saif nor Yarmouk are technically part of Mosul. However they are so close that on the ground you would need that administrative distinction pointed out to you.

As you move north from either Albu Saif or Yarmouk to your east you have Mosul airport while to the west you have the Ghazlani military base. Together Mosul airport and the Ghazlani military base occupy roughly 20% of the territory on Mosul's western side.

The problem is that the airport and the military base function almost as a city within in a city. So if the ISF were to move to liberate the airport without also liberating the military base ISIL fighters in Ghazlani would cut the ISF troops at the airport to pieces. Likewise if the ISF moved against the military base without also liberating the airport ISIL fighters in the airport would cut the ISF troops in Ghazlani to pieces.

So what the ISF needed to do was take both the airport and the military base at the same time. This requires a lot of careful coordination. As a result on Wednesday (22/2/17) the operation went into a short tactical pause.

The operation resumed at dawn today with dramatic effect. Within four hours the ISF had succeeded in liberating Mosul airport. They also entered the Ghazlani military base and were reported to be in control of at least half of it. However at the time of writing that report was at least six hours old so the ISF may have liberated more of Ghazlani base by now.

Obviously I'll be a lot happier when Ghazlani base is fully liberated. However even 50% control should be enough to suppress the ISIL fighters there and help protect the airport. The test will come tomorrow it seems almost inevitable that ISIL will launch a counter-offensive.

The liberation of the airport and the military base is a huge gain for the ISF. Obviously it means that around 20% of the total territory they need to liberate has been liberated. In a day.

However it also provides the ISF with a base of operations within western Mosul. Once the area has been fully secured they can now bring reinforcements, ammunition, fuel and other supplies into Ghazlani and then quickly supply them to ISF units fighting elsewhere in western Mosul as the operation progresses.

Throughout the Mosul operation the big problem has been the failure to establish a western front to encircle the city on all sides.

This was partially solved on November 16th 2016 (16/11/16) when the PMF completed an advance from the Qarrayah line liberating Tal Afar airport from ISIL. This established a western front cutting ISIL off from Syria. However it still left the problem of what to do about Tal Afar itself.

This entire Nineveh Plains area surrounding Mosul to the town of Sinjar/Shingal around 140km (85 miles) to the west is almost exclusively Sunni-Muslim. However Tal Afar itself stands almost as a little island of ethnic Turks. These Turkmen are a mixture of both Sunni and Shia Muslims.

Although there are around 60 PMF units in total the PMF units active around the Nineveh Plains are almost exclusively Shia-Muslim. As such Turkish President/Prime Minister/Emperor Recep Tayyip Erdogan has long been afraid that if the PMF liberate Tal Afar the particularly Shia Turkmen will ally themselves with the PMF rather than Erdogan. Therefore Erdogan has long threatened to militarily invade and occupy northern Iraq if the PMF enter Tal Afar.

In response the PMF have decided to simply go around Tal Afar.

When the ISF began their advance north to Mosul on Sunday (19/2/17) the PMF also began an advance north-east from the Qarrayah line. Yesterday (22/2/17) the PMF began an advance in three columns north-east around Tal Afar. The objective seems to be that having rounded Tal Afar they will advance south-east to meet those advancing from the Qarrayah line. This will cut Mosul off from Tal Afar and tighten the noose around the west of the city.

Erdogan's threat to invade and occupy northern Iraq is clearly not an empty one. He has already done just that in northern Syria.

Since mid-to-late November 2016 Erdogan's efforts have been focused on the town of al-Bab. This represents a key supply node within northern Syria. It sits around 40km (24 miles) south of Syria's border with Turkey, 30km (18 miles) north-east of Aleppo City and 50km (30 miles) south-west of Manbij which is controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF/QSD).

For a town that is only roughly 20kmsq (12 milesq) is area Erdogan's efforts to capture al-Bab have been long and tortured.

Last Thursday (16/2/17) Erdogan declared that the town had been fully captured. This was soon downgraded to Erdogan's forces only being in control of 40% of al-Bab. On Tuesday (21/2/17) Erdogan declared that his forces controlled 60% of the town. Today it's been announced that Erdogan's forces have taken control of the centre of al-Bab and victory has once again been declared.

As with all other aspects of Erdogan's actions in northern Syria today's announcement seems to be a carefully scripted piece of theatre. It was designed to coincide with the resumption of the United Nations (UN) led Geneva Process on Syria.

In the first instance it projects an image of Erdogan's power. It sends the message that Erdogan controls this piece of Syria and will continue to hold it throughout the Geneva Process. That Geneva Process is of course still suffering from its founding flaw that foreign powers can attack and invade Syria in order to get a say in how Syria is run.

The question of what Erdogan will do next once he has captured al-Bab has long been a cause for concern.

Erdogan has long stated that his next objective is to attack the SDF - and the US Special Operations Forces (SOF's) embedded with them - at Manbij. However more recently Erdogan has said that he intends to send his forces a further 500km (300 miles) deeper into Syria to capture the cities of Raqqa and Palmyra. To deter that latter option Russia has established a security line just south of al-Bab. However Erdogan has recently indicated that he would be prepared to violate that security line even if it means direct conflict with Russia.

Obviously the declaration that al-Bab has been liberated pushes all those questions to the fore right at the moment that everybody is meeting in Geneva.

18:25 on 23/2/17 (UK date).

Edited at around 19:55 on 23/2/17 (UK date) to add;

Key to today's complex manoeuvre has been speed. As a result the days events have been extremely fast moving and at times have seemed utterly baffling to outsiders.

Whilst I was writing the above the ISF came out and gave a formal assessment of their progress. They now assess 85% of the Ghazlani military base to be under their control and 50% of Mosul airport to be under their control.

Obviously the report I would have liked to have heard is that Ghazlani and the Mosul airport are both 100% under ISF control. That rapid gain has triggered a collapse in ISIL's ranks, they've all committed suicide and the battle is over.

However I think this situation is actually slightly better. My main concern was that the ISF would get stranded on the open areas of the airports and come under continuous fire from ISIL positions in the airport buildings and at Ghazlani base.

The fact that the majority of Ghazlani base has been liberated makes that less likely. Obviously though I would like to know exactly which bits of the base and the airport have been liberated and which bits remain under ISIL control.

Also today's operations haven't just focused on the Ghazlani base and the airport.

The ISF have also managed enter and liberate the Tall arRayyan neighbourhood of Mosul. This sit directly north-west of the Ghazlani base.

It is also being reported that the ISF have managed to cross the M1 Motorway as it runs beside the Tall ar Rayyan neighbourhood. This has allowed them to establish a foothold within the Hay al-Mamun neighbourhood which sits direct north of the Ghazlani base.

Operation Featherweight: Month 32, Week 1, Day 1.

On October 17th 2016 (17/10/16) an operation was launched to liberate the northern Iraqi city of Mosul from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Mosul has functioned as ISIL's de facto capital in Iraq since the summer of 2014.

This operation is a combined one between the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF), the Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga and the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) who are a loose coalition of militias that serve as part of the ISF. The operation is being backed by the US-led coalition Combined Joint Task Force: Operation Inherent Resolve (CJTFOIR).

The initial plan was to surround Mosul on the three sides; the North, the East and the South.

The eastern front was always the most advanced. By October 31st 2016 (31/10/16) the ISF had succeeded in reaching the Gogjali area which sits right on the outskirts of Mosul itself. On the northern front the Peshmerga succeeded in liberating the towns of Bashiqa & Barzani by November 16th 2016 (16/11/16). This marked the end of their advance with responsibility for advancing further into Mosul being handed to the ISF.

On the southern or Qarrayah front the ISF succeeded in liberating the town of Haman al-Alil on November 7th 2016 (7/11/16). The ISF then proceeded to liberate all the villages and areas between Haman al-Alil and the village of Bhakira some 23km (14 miles) to the west. As of November 24th 2016 (24/11/16) this meant that the ISF had established a line of control just 7km (4 miles) to the south of Mosul.

On October 29th 2016 (29/10/16) the PMF acting almost independently of the ISF opened up a western front. They did this by pushing up from the town of  Ayn Nasr on the Qarrayah front all the way to the town of Tel Afar which sits around 100km (80 miles) west of Mosul along the H47 Highway.

On November 16th 2016 (16/11/16) the PMF liberated Tel Afar airport. Although this stopped short of giving them control of the town itself it put the PMF in control of the H47 Highway cutting off ISIL's route to and from Syria.

On November 1st 2016 (1/11/16) the ISF launched their assault on Mosul proper from the east. On January 25th 2017 (25/1/17) the ISF succeeded in fully liberating the entire eastern side of Mosul up to the Tigris River which runs through the centre of the city. Since then the operation has been in pause to allow the ISF to prepare for an assault on the western side of Mosul.

That operation to liberate the west of Mosul began yesterday (19/2/17). Obviously the first phase of the operation is to advance from the forward positions on Mosul itself.

At dawn the Federal Police branch of the ISF began an advance from the Qarrayah line. At the same time the PMF began an advance from Ash Sahaji to the west long the Mosul to Ash Sahaji road.The Iraqi Army branch of the ISF also began an advance between the PMF and Federal Police advances.

So combined PMF and ISF forces now appear to be advancing on the entire south-west quarter of Mosul from the Mosul to Ash Sahaji road to the Tigris River.

Amid light resistance from ISIL by yesterday evening (19/2/17) the Federal Police branch of the ISF had succeeded in liberating 10 villages and the Lazakah Power Plant. This sits around 8km (5 miles) south of the Abu Saif village/neighbourhood and supplies power to all of Mosul.

Today the Federal Police branch are said to be within 2km (1.2 miles) of Mosul Airport and on the verge of liberating Abu Saif. The Army branch are said to be on the outskirts of the Ghazlani military base.

Obviously at the very early stages of this new phase of the operation there is not much for me to say. I suspect though that will change in the days and weeks to come.

In the meantime on January 28th (28/1/17) US President Donald Trump issued a memorandum to 12 US Government departments. This gave them 30 days to report back to help draw up a new strategy to defeat ISIL and associated groups.

Last Wednesday (15/2/17) one of those departments - the Department of Defence - made public that it was contemplating deploying conventional US ground troops to Syria. This is certainly something that has to be considered in drawing up a new strategy. However it strikes me as an extremely bad idea and one that should never be put into motion.

Unlike defeated 2016 US Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton I do not invite the fathers of ISIL terrorists to my campaign rallies. Nor do I pass sensitive information to ISIL cells in Bangladesh.

Unlike former US President Barack Obama I do not rely on Turkish President/Prime Minister/Emperor Recep Tayyip Erdogan for all my information and opinions about Iraq, Syria and the rest of the Muslim world.

As a result I know that the violence and butchery of ISIL and their associates is very far from a mainstream Muslim point of view. In fact there are many who would say that ISIL and their associates are not Muslims at all.

I know this because I have spent nearly two and a half years working with Muslim to defeat ISIL and their associates.

When I talk about the ISF I am talking about a group of people who are almost all Muslims. When I talk about the PMF I am talking about people almost all of whom are Muslims. When I talk about the Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga and the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) or the wider Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF/QSD) I am again talking about people who are almost all Muslims.

In fact when I talk about the fight against ISIL and their associates the only times I am not talking about Muslims I will tell you by referring to people as Assyrian Christians or Yezidis.

Therefore I know that there is absolutely no lack of will within the Islamic world to defeat ISIL and their associates. The problem - particularly in Syria and Iraq - is simply a lack of resources.

Prior to the US invasion in 2003 the Iraqi military had suffered for years following lost wars in 1988 and 1991 and the deserved sanctions that followed. In 2003 the US disbanded the Iraqi military entirely. Since then the Iraqi military has been to rebuild itself from scratch. This is something the US has hardly helped with delaying the delivery of F-16 fighter aircraft to the Iraqi airforce even while the battle against ISIL has been raging on.

When it comes to militias like the YPG nobody is getting paid. In Iraq some of the Assyrian Christian militias and the Yezidi Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS) are not only not getting paid they actually have to pay for the privilege of fighting ISIL by buying their own weapons, ammunition and equipment. Added to that many of these militias have had to teach themselves how to be soldiers despite having no experience. After all how prepared would you be if one day you suddenly had to fight a war?

Deploying conventional US ground troops to Syria is also an extremely bad idea because although the overwhelming majority of their violence is directed against other Muslims ISIL and their associates like to claim that they are protecting Muslims from Christian Crusaders.

Almost all of ISIL's propaganda and murder videos refer to either; "The Nations of the Cross" or; "The Soldiers of the Cross." They are also obsessed with the Sykes-Picot Agreement which drew the border between Syria and Iraq following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.

Therefore deploying large numbers of US troops - the Soldiers of the Cross - to Syria would delegitimise the conflict as the Muslim war against ISIL that it is. Instead it would legitimise ISIL's claim that they are the true Muslims battling the crusaders while running a very high risk of the US getting bogged down in Syria just as it did in Iraq and continues to be in Afghanistan.

Instead the solution is to support the local Muslim and non-Muslim forces that want to defeat ISIL in doing just that. That does not mean supporting groups that are prepared to ally themselves with ISIL in order to fight the secular Syrian government or any of the minority religious and ethnic groups it protects.

The problem is that ISIL and its associates do have some supporters and those supporters are very opposed to the US increasing its support for those who wish to fight and defeat ISIL. Chief amongst these supporters is of course Turkish President/Prime Minister/Emperor Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Back in August 2016 Erdogan sent Turkish forces to illegally invade northern Syria specifically to prevent the SDF from liberating more territory from ISIL. Erdogan is currently lobbying the US for his forces to participate in any operation against ISIL's de facto Syrian capital Raqqa. The proposal that Erdogan is most keen on would see Turkish troops invade Syria via the border town of Tel Abyad. This would immediately split the SDF's de facto safe-zone in half significantly weakening the fight against ISIL.

Within Iraq militias like the YBS have recently been absorbed into the PMF structure. This means they've been getting paid and have access to equipment and training. However under pressure from Erdogan who has been bombing Iraq since the summer of 2015 the Iraqi government on February 13th (13/2/17) were forced to exclude the YBS from the PMF structure.

So if the US were to increase its support for local forces fighting to defeat ISIL it would likely put it on a collision course with Erdogan. Experience tells us that Erdogan will respond to not getting his own way by dispatching terrorists disguised as refugees/migrants to carry out terror attacks against, in this case, the US.

In preparation for this looming confrontation with Erdogan while he was issuing his memo on strategy President Trump also issued a series of Executive Orders temporarily restricting travel from seven nations to the US. Particularly Syrian refugees from camps in Turkey where ISIL are known to operate and Al Qaeda appear to be in charge of security vetting. After all as the June 12th 2016 (12/6/16) Orlando terror attack showed it only takes one person to slip through the net.

Unfortunately Washington State Attorney General Robert Ferguson on behalf of both his state and Minnesota State sought an obtained a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) from Judge James Robart blocking this sensible precaution.

As such this statement by the Department of Defence does seem more aimed at AG Ferguson than anybody else. It seems to be asking him that now he's siding with Erdogan and by extension ISIL against the US how many US troops he would like to see killed as an alternative?


At around 17:40 on 20/2/17 (UK date) I'll have to pick this up after dinner.

Edited around 19:35 on 20/2/17 (UK date) to add;

In bringing this legal challenge AG Ferguson et al is forcing the US government to make public some extremely sensitive intelligence on the situation in and around Iraq and Syria. In writing about this last Tuesday (14/2/17) I said that this was so sensitive I wasn't happy even acknowledging that intelligence may exist.

On Wednesday (15/2/17) ISIL proved my point. They took 13 civilians in Mosul who they accused of being spies, locked them in metal cages and then drowned them in the Tigris River. This not only highlights the brutality of ISIL but also their paranoia. If they even suspect a group of people of being spies they will often kill them all. Even talking about spies that the US may have within ISIL will likely trigger even more of these mass killings.

As I also mentioned last Tuesday (14/2/17) on Monday (13/2/17) AG Ferguson's challenge - rather than the TRO - reached the Courts for the first time. There Judge Robart denied the US government's request to have the proceedings delayed indefinitely. However he upheld Ferguson's request to have the proceedings delayed indefinitely.

The issue here is the possibility of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals holding an "En Banc" hearing on the matter. En Banc is merely French for; "In Bench." Essentially I think there are 25 Judges currently sitting on the 9th Circuit. However only three of them have supported the TRO. This seems to have prompted the other 22 Judges to call for an opportunity to take a very close look at the behaviour of the three.

Obviously getting 25 Judges who live all across the US together in the same place for an en banc hearing is an extremely time consuming process that could take weeks if not months. The problem is that we simply don't have weeks let alone months for this matter to be resolved.

Last Thursday (16/2/17) Erdogan declared that the Syrian town of al-Bab had been fully captured. Erdogan went on to declare that his forces would now attack the SDF - including embedded US Special Operations Forces (SOF) - at Manbij.

Erdogan's claim that al-Bab had been liberated has since been contradicted. However his forces continue to operate inside al-Bab controlling at least 40% of the town meaning that it could be fully captured any day now opening the way for an assault on US troops at Manbij.

With the US being bound by AG Ferguson it has fallen to Russia to control the situation. On Tuesday (14/2/17) it was announced that Russia had brokered a so-called "Security Line" between Erdogan's forces and Syria forces at al-Bab. With Syrian forces being in control of all positions south of al-Bab this should prevent Erdogan's forces from advancing further south.

However Erdogan has likened this security line to the "Green Line" that separates Turkish occupation forces and Cypriot forces in Cyprus. The European Union (EU) is currently heavily invested in reuniting Cyprus removing the Green Line. The fact Erdogan seems more interested in Cyprus suggests he's not taking the al-Bab line too seriously.

Also while I've been writing this it has been reported that a Turkish F-16 struck a Russian military convoy close to the city of Homs killing four Russian soldiers. If confirmed that would suggest Erdogan is already testing out what sort of opposition he may receive from Russia if he were to violate the al-Bab line.

So with AG Ferguson refusing to stand on the merits of his argument and time running out it has fallen to President Trump to be the bigger man.

On Thursday (16/2/17) the US government informed the 9th Circuit of its intention to issue new Executive Orders on the matter. This doesn't automatically end the case but the existing TRO will not be applicable to the new orders rendering the case rather moot.

Obviously I do not have advance copies of these new Executive Orders. However in the US all laws and Executive Orders are issued under the Constitution. Therefore you don't normally have to actually write on them that they must be carried out in accordance with the Constitution. It's implied.

Therefore I suspect that these new Executive Orders will be almost exactly the same as the original ones. However they will explicitly state things like that they can't be used to deny US citizens entry to the US.

It will then fall back to AG Ferguson to decide whether to challenge the new Executive Orders on the grounds they're covered by the existing TRO, mount a fresh challenge against them or simply learn not to put his own ego ahead of complex matters of foreign policy.  

20:20 on 20/2/17 (UK date).