Feb 5 – Some People Are Fun …
Iran's Rouhani wins the papal sympathy race against Turkey's Erdogan.
Feb 6 – Syria – Is The Turkish Attack On Afrin Intended To Split The U.S.-Kurdish Alliance?
NSA McMaster is supposed to visit Turkey this weekend, SecState Tillerson next week. Will Turkey finally opt for the Russian or the U.S. side? I likely depends on what Washington can and will offer.
Feb 8 – Syria – U.S. May Have Arranged "Self Defense" Attack On Syrian Government Forces
The U.S. attack on pro-Syrian forces killed some 20 Syrian fighters, not the 100 plus the U.S. announced. Several of those killed were Christians from west-Syria who belonged to a group called "ISIS-hunters". These were trained by the Russian private military company Wagner. This supports my suggestion that some oil-well transfer between local Syrian groups was the real reason for this incident.
Feb 10 – WaPo's Ignatius: "ISIS Is There – When The U.S. Needs It"
Whenever the U.S. needs a reason to put its military somewhere it pulls the al-Qaeda/ISIS rabbit out of its hat. Others are not allowed to copy that trick.
Feb 11 – A Book On Hizbullah That Deserves Your Attention
If you can please help Elijah so he can write and publish his book.
Feb 11 – Syria – Is War With Israel Imminent (Updated)?
Israel's jet was hit within Israeli airspace after having bombed a target in Syria. Netanyahoo had for some time tried to get a Russian green light for a more bellicose posture towards Hizbullah and Syria. The answer was "nyet". When he tried to simply go forward by bombing the T-4 base near Palmyra, Russian officers helped the Syrian air defense with the proper response. The rules of engagement have thus changed. After yesterdays imbroglio Putin told Netanyahoo to "avoid any steps that could lead to a new round of confrontation." That was an advice to keep his planes on the ground or lose more of them to a well equipped and unrestricted Syrian air defense.
A piece missing last week should have been about the opening of the Winter Olympics in Korea. The North and the South started with a united team and emphasized the peacefulness of the games. U.S. Vive President Pence made an ass out of himself when he tried, and failed, to party-poop the opening festivities with the South Korean president Moon and the well represented North Korean delegation. Kim Yo Jong, the polite sister of the North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, made an excellent impression.
Before Pence came to South Korea he was in Japan to visit the militaristic Prime Minister Abe, a figure widely despised in South Korea. Abe promptly suggested to immediately restart U.S.-South Korean maneuvers which would lead to a restart of nuclear and missile testing in the North.
But the South under President Moon wants -like the North- peace and not a war that would again devastate the country. By now Kim Yo Jong and the North Korean cheerleader squad have gained more sympathy points in South Korea than Pence and Abe combined. How long will it take for the U.S. to decide to "regime change" Moon for some more compliant and belligerent person?
I am no longer fond of Olympic games. There are too many sport disciplines, too much cheating, too much money and too many politics involved in the Olympics. The Norwegian team was rumored to have brought some 6,000 doses of asthma medicine for its athletes. That rumor is likely false, but it makes a good point. Such drugs are exempted by the anti-doping agency if some doctor simply certifies that an athlete needs them. That such drugs are performance enhancing is then just a 'side effect'. At least 15 U.S. athletes in the Rio Olympics took such 'medicine'. Russian athletes though, who never used these exemptions, were banned or restricted for alleged doping on quite murky grounds.
Here is a winter sport, guaranteed doping free, that I'd enjoy to watch more – cat curling (vid).
Please use the comments as open thread …
