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U.S. Launches Another Attempt To Regime Change Cuba
Yesterday saw minor protests in Cuba driven by U.S. regime change dollars and by economic problem caused by U.S. sanctions. They were accompanied by a number of newly created accounts on various social media which posted the same slogans over and over again under the #SOSCuba hashtag.
But soon pro-government protesters turned out in larger numbers than the anti-government protesters. Apart from a few scuffles nothing happened and today everything seems to be back to normal.
I consider the whole thing to have been a trial run for some bigger plans. But the operators behind this must feel disappointed. The turnout on the anti-government side was lousy.
The Guardian headlines:
Thousands march in Cuba in rare mass protests amid economic crisis
I doubt that 'thousands' number as pictures and videos, aside from the usual fakes, only showed small demonstrations of dozens to maybe a hundred.
The Guardian piece includes this picture which seems to show quite a number of people.
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The caption says:
Anti-government protesters gather at the Maximo Gomez monument in Havana on Sunday. Photograph: Eliana Aponte/AP
Hmm:
Inaugurated in the mid-1930s, this magnificent monument pays homage to Dominican-born General Máximo Gómez, who became Commander in Chief of Cuba’s Liberation Army during the Wars of Independence.
'Anti-government' protesters at a national independence monument?
Cont. reading: U.S. Launches Another Attempt To Regime Change Cuba
The MoA Week In Review – OT 2021-053
Last week's posts at Moon of Alabama:
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Other issues:
Cont. reading: The MoA Week In Review – OT 2021-053
Ransomware: Stop Blaming Russia And Tackle The Real Villains – Cryptocurrencies
Ransomware attacks continue to disrupt many businesses. Earlier this month an attack through Kaseya VSA, a remote managing software, disabled several managed service provider and some 1,500 of their customers. Their data was encrypted and will only be restored if they pay the demanded ransom.
Such attacks are increasing because they are easy to do and carry little risk. The basic platforms for specific attacks can simply be rented from underground providers:
"I think what most people think about when they think of a stereotypical hacker is somebody that's in-depth into coding," the officer said. "It has changed now in that it used to be that you had to be very technically adept to be a hacker, but the way the cyber market or cyber underground has evolved is a lot of those things have become services now."
The industry has diversified, he said.
"Those network attackers, instead of profiting themselves, are now renting out their services and their expertise to others and that's where we see this amplification," the officer said. "It's others renting out the services now. It unlocks another class of folks that can be opportunistic and take advantage of bad cyber hygiene."
Some of the rentable ransomware services, like REvil, are run by Russian speaking groups. But that does not mean that the people who use it are from Russia or that the attacks take place from Russian grounds. The last big bust that hit the command and control severs of the alleged 'Russian' Emotet cyber crime service took place in the Ukrainian capital Kiev. While those criminals spoke Russian they neither were Russians nor was Russia involved at all.
Despite that U.S. media blame all recent attacks on Russia and use them to incite the Biden administration to respond by attacking the Russian nation.
Setting the tone in this is the New York Times and its warmongering White House and national security correspondent David Sanger. On Wednesday he wrote Biden Weighs a Response to Ransomware Attacks which he topped by Friday with Biden Warns Putin to Act Against Ransomware Groups, or U.S. Will Strike Back.
Those headlines and pieces are misleading in that they set expectations which the Biden administration is for good reasons unwilling or unable to deliver on.
The first piece, for example, says:
Mr. Biden is under growing pressure to take some kind of visible action — perhaps a strike on the Russian servers or banks that keep them running — after delivering several stark warnings to Moscow that he would respond to cyberattacks on the United States with what he has called “in-kind” action against Russia.
The 'growing pressure' are Sanger's writeups all by themselves. The piece then quotes a number of anti-Russian hawks who suggest some very unreasonable 'retaliation options':
Cont. reading: Ransomware: Stop Blaming Russia And Tackle The Real Villains – Cryptocurrencies
The Space Race: Technical Facts vs Popular Narrative – by Gordog
by Gordog
lifted from a comment
A little while ago, commenter Karlof1 asked me about the space race, the Apollo Program, and the role of Nazi scientists recruited under Operation Paperclip.
This is a fascinating subject that has also been severely distorted by the American narrative.
What prompted Karlof's query was my earlier, and somewhat lengthy technical discussion of today's state of space technology, where the media narrative is that the US is greatly advanced, due mostly the 'exploits' of Space X—when in fact the situation is quite the opposite.
The US is far behind important core technologies like advanced rocket engines and space station tech, both of which it acquired from Russia. China has similarly acquired nearly all of its core space technology from Russia, but has built impressively on that technology transfer—including developing its very own space station tech, and its own advanced rocket engines.
During the 1990s, many important Russian industries were on the verge of collapse due to the disintegration of the USSR. Hence there was something of a firesale of Russian space tech, something that would have been considered unthinkable previously. The Chinese acquired their entire manned program, Shenzhou, lock, stock and barrel through direct technology transfer from Russia, resulting in the first Chinese man in space in 2003.
The US similarly bought its way into the Mir2 space station that was already built, but not yet launched, abandoning its own effort to build an indigenous station to rival Mir—the Freedom space station that was killed on the drawing board. Those Mir2 modules, now known as the Russian Orbital Segment, would become the functional core of the ISS.
The US also acquired advanced Russian engines and key engine technologies, mostly the RD180, which is in fact the undisputed workhorse for both high profile Nasa missions [such as the current mars rover mission], and the US Space Force, which launches nearly all of its mission-critical payloads on the Russian engines.
Other Russian engines, including the RD190 and even the 1960s era mothballed NK33s were also bought up and pressed into service by the US. That the Russians possessed this advanced engine technology was completely unknown in the west until the 1990s, which had regarded the 'closed-cycle' technology as technically 'impossible.'
So let's take a look back to the 1950s, when spaceflight was first achieved. This was an exciting era, and there is much to discuss here, so I will leave the Apollo story for another time.
By the latter stages of Word War 2, the Germans were the undisputed leaders in rocket technology. The V2 rocket, which was used to bombard London, was a hugely impressive piece of engineering for the time.
Russia, whose rocket technology in the 1930s was considered comparable to the Germans, had fallen behind. But the country did develop smaller, albeit usable rocket engines, for instance the experimental Bereznyak-Isayev BI1 interceptor aircraft. The US really had no rocket engine technology to speak of during this era.
But the US would import most of the German rocket engineers, as well as some working copies of the V2 itself. This would provide a strong base to build on, not just for the space race a decade later, but also the far more important race for strategic weapons, namely the intercontinental ballistic missile.
Cont. reading: The Space Race: Technical Facts vs Popular Narrative – by Gordog
Open Thread 2021-052
Biden’s ‘Deterrence’ Bombing In Iraq Is An Obvious Failure
As we wrote eight days ago:
On Sunday the U.S.bombed three positions of Iraqi Popular Mobilization Force at the Syrian-Iraqi border.
The U.S. had no right to do so. The legal reasoning the Biden administration provided for the attack is nonsense. As is the claimed rationale of establishing 'deterrence' against further attacks on U.S. troops by this or that Iraqi militia group. The last strike in that area in February was supposed to have fulfilled the same purpose but obviously did not deter anything. Sunday's strike was immediately responded to with missiles fired against a U.S. position in Syria. More such incidents will follow.
It did not take long until the failure of the claimed deterrence became obvious:
Iranian-backed Iraqi militias launched several rocket and drone barrages on facilities hosting American forces in Iraq and Syria on Wednesday, just nine days after deadly United States airstrikes on the armed groups that were meant to deter such attacks.
US and local media outlets reported attacks on the Ain al-Assad air base in western Iraq, another facility in the northern Iraqi city of Erbil overnight and another attack on an oil field where American forces are positioned in northeast Syria.
At least two people suffered minor injuries after 14 rockets struck the massive military base at Ain al-Assad shortly after noon local time, a US official said.
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Attacks on US facilities by Iranian-backed militia groups appear to be accelerating following the 28 June air strikes, which were in response to continuing attacks on American facilities in Iraq. At least four militiamen were killed in the US airstrikes, prompting raucous funerals and demands for revenge.
Ain al-Assad was the target of a rocket attack on Monday, with no casualties. Late Tuesday an airport housing US troops in northern Iraq was also hit in a drone attack that caused no injuries.
Syrian state media reported on Wednesday that al-Omar oil field hosting US forces in the country’s northeast province of Deir Azzour was also hit with mortars.
Over the last weeks there were also at least five mine attacks on private contractor convoys which supply the U.S. forces in Iraq.
One Iraqi militia leader promised even bigger attacks:
Cont. reading: Biden’s ‘Deterrence’ Bombing In Iraq Is An Obvious Failure
Afghanistan – U.S. Sneaks Out At Night – Taliban Take Multiple Districts Per Day
This is awkward:
The U.S. left Afghanistan’s Bagram Airfield after nearly 20 years by shutting off the electricity and slipping away in the night without notifying the base’s new Afghan commander, who discovered the Americans’ departure more than two hours after they left, Afghan military officials said.
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“We (heard) some rumor that the Americans had left Bagram … and finally by seven o’clock in the morning, we understood that it was confirmed that they had already left Bagram,” Gen. Mir Asadullah Kohistani, Bagram’s new commander said.
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Before the Afghan army could take control of the airfield about an hour’s drive from the Afghan capital Kabul, it was invaded by a small army of looters, who ransacked barrack after barrack and rummaged through giant storage tents before being evicted, according to Afghan military officials.
“At first we thought maybe they were Taliban,” said Abdul Raouf, a soldier of 10 years. He said the the U.S. called from the Kabul airport and said “we are here at the airport in Kabul.”
There is video from the empty base. Hundreds of cars were left behind. The network equipment in the headquarter was ripped out but the base hospital seems to have been left intact. There are even some useful medical supplies stocked there.
Meanwhile the Taliban continue their blitz operation to take over the country. They snatch up district after district especially in the north.
Source: Long War Journal – bigger
I had noticed that two weeks ago:
Remarkably a lot of the districts the Taliban took were not in primarily Pashtun regions but in the north where the population is often Uzbek, Tajik or from other ethnic minorities. Before the U.S. invasion those populations were often anti-Taliban.
The Taliban have probably some 3-4,000 fighters in the north-eastern Badakhshan province but they managed to take 90% of it in just 4 days, 14 of its districts fell in the last 48 hours. Some 1,500 Afghan government soldiers stationed there have fled to Tajikistan. The province capital Faizabad is now isolated and the only place that is still under government control.
Cont. reading: Afghanistan – U.S. Sneaks Out At Night – Taliban Take Multiple Districts Per Day
Growing Saudi Vs. Emirates Conflict May Open The Door For Moscow
In 2015 the Saudi cown prince Mohammad bin Salman was best friend with the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Mohammed bin Zayed. Together they decided to attack the Houthi government in Yemen which had ousted the former regime under the former President Hadi. The war on Yemen has been waged since.
But by now the interests of the Saudis and the UAE have diverged on several issues. Over the last days the between them conflict exposed itself on three important fronts.
Soon after the start of the intervention in Yemen the interests of the Saudis and United Emirates split. While Saudis forces occupy western and some southern parts of Yemen in the name of former President Hadi and his Islah party, the UAE took the side of the Southern Yemen Transition Council (STC) which wants to split from a united Yemen.
Two days ago the Saudis supported side decided to replace a police chief in the southern town of Lawdar in Abyan province in south Yemen with one of their man, an allegedly a former(?) al-Qaida member. The STC wanted a keep the old police chief. The Saudi supported forces attacked the town and caused several casualties.
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The UAE responded by sending reinforcements to the STC which threatened to escalate the issue.
Yesterday one or more missiles hit a military brigade headquarter of the Saudi supported forces in the city of Marbat, some 50 miles east of Lawdar. There were reports that planes and drones had been seen in the area and that the attack had come from UAE airplanes. At least five militia soldiers were killed in the attack.
Cont. reading: Growing Saudi Vs. Emirates Conflict May Open The Door For Moscow
The MoA Week In Review – OT 2021-051
Last week's posts at Moon of Alabama:
> China’s export value in January-May averaged $247.5 billion per month, up 29% from January-May 2019, pre-COVID, according to the country’s customs data.
As more goods are going out, supporting container-shipping demand, more raw materials and commodities are coming in, employing tankers, bulkers and gas carriers. China’s import value averaged $206.8 billion per month in January-May, up 25% from the same period in 2019. <
> KABUL (Pajhwok): Local sources say Iran, Turkey and Pakistan have suspended issuing visas to Afghans and have ceased their activities in Mazar-i-Sharif, the … <
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Other issues:
Cont. reading: The MoA Week In Review – OT 2021-051
On The U.S. Defeat In Afghanistan
Forty two years ago the U.S. launched its war on Afghanistan:
SPIES&VESPERS @SpiesVespers – 22:24 UTC · Jul 3, 2021
#OTD July 3 1979: President Jimmy Carter signs a "presidential finding" authorizing the CIA to spend just over $500,000 on non-lethal aid to support the Afghan mujahideen against growing Soviet influence in the region. #coldwarhist
The 'growing Soviet influence' was the progressive PDPA government that ruled Afghanistan but did not do as Washington asked it to do. It was the U.S. 'aid' to rebels which forced the USSR to intervene. Everything that followed goes back to Carter's signature.
On February 15 1989 the process of withdrawing Soviet military forces from Afghanistan was officially declared complete.
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Now, forty two years after Carter's signature, a defeated U.S. flees from Afghanistan.
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Taliban take districts in NE Afghanistan from fleeing troops – AP
The Taliban's march through northern Afghanistan gained momentum overnight with the capture of several districts from fleeing Afghan forces, several hundred of whom fled across the border into Tajikistan, officials said Sunday.
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Since mid-April, when U.S. President Joe Biden announced the end to Afghanistan's “forever war,” the Taliban have made strides throughout the country. But their most significant gains have been in the northern half of the country, a traditional stronghold of the U.S.-allied warlords who helped defeat them in 2001.
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Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed the fall of the districts and said most were without a fight. The Taliban in previous surrenders have shown video of Afghan soldiers taking transportation money and returning to their homes.
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Cont. reading: On The U.S. Defeat In Afghanistan
Why China Needs More Nukes
China is adding more intercontinental nuclear missiles (ICBM) to the meager 200+ nuclear weapons it currently deploys:
China has begun construction of what independent experts say are more than 100 new silos for intercontinental ballistic missiles in a desert near the northwestern city of Yumen, a building spree that could signal a major expansion of Beijing’s nuclear capabilities.
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The acquisition of more than 100 new missile silos, if completed, would represent a historic shift for China, a country that is believed to possess a relatively modest stockpile of 250 to 350 nuclear weapons. The actual number of new missiles intended for those silos is unknown but could be much smaller. China has deployed decoy silos in the past.
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The minimum distance between the silos in the picture is about two 2 miles.
In the 1970s the U.S. developed an idea called the ICBM shell game and made a helpful video to explain that concept. To protect missiles from a decapitating first strike a lot of the silos would be kept empty and a few missiles would be shuffled between them. To attack that new 119 holes missile field in China the U.S. would have to fire at least 119 nuclear war heads at them to be sure that no missile is left to fire back at it. If China would add some missile defense to the field the U.S. would have to fire about three times as many war heads to be sure that every silo gets destroyed. All this for probably just a handful of weapons. That number game adds up to soon become very expensive.
Cont. reading: Why China Needs More Nukes
Thoughts On Xi Jinping’s Anniversary Speech
Right in time for the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of China the World Health Organization certified China to be free of Malaria:
The World Health Organization (WHO) today is certifying China as free of malaria, after a decadeslong effort drove an estimated annual toll of 30 million cases in the 1940s, including 300,000 deaths, to zero in 2017. Along the way, China developed new surveillance techniques, medicines, and technologies to break the cycle of transmission between the Anopheles mosquitoes that spread malaria parasites and humans.
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“China’s ability to think outside the box served the country well in its own response to malaria,” Pedro Alonso, director of WHO's Global Malaria Programme, said in a statement.
After maintaining zero indigenous cases for three consecutive years, China applied for WHO’s malaria-free certification, which is being granted following a May inspection mission by the independent Malaria Elimination Certification Panel. One requirement for winning certification is having a program to prevent the reestablishment of malaria, a particular challenge because China shares borders with three countries where the disease is endemic: Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos.
After the chaos created by European style imperialism in the 19th century China has made a great comeback. Its system of governance has allowed for great achievements like the above within a relative short timeframe.
Most remarkable is that China did this without imperial aggression towards the outside. The speech party chairman Xi Jinping held on the CPC's 100th anniversary promises that China will continue on a peaceful path while it will stay vigilant against exterior aggression:
The Chinese nation has fostered a splendid civilization over more than 5,000 years of history. The Party has also acquired a wealth of experience through its endeavors over the past 100 years and during more than 70 years of governance. At the same time, we are also eager to learn what lessons we can from the achievements of other cultures, and welcome helpful suggestions and constructive criticism. We will not, however, accept sanctimonious preaching from those who feel they have the right to lecture us. The Party and the Chinese people will keep moving confidently forward in broad strides along the path that we have chosen for ourselves, and we will make sure the destiny of China's development and progress remains firmly in our own hands. … We will continue to champion cooperation over confrontation, to open up rather than closing our doors, and to focus on mutual benefits instead of zero-sum games. We will oppose hegemony and power politics, and strive to keep the wheels of history rolling toward bright horizons.
We Chinese are a people who uphold justice and are not intimidated by threats of force. As a nation, we have a strong sense of pride and confidence. We have never bullied, oppressed, or subjugated the people of any other country, and we never will. By the same token, we will never allow any foreign force to bully, oppress, or subjugate us. Anyone who would attempt to do so will find themselves on a collision course with a great wall of steel forged by over 1.4 billion Chinese people.
Cont. reading: Thoughts On Xi Jinping’s Anniversary Speech
Open Thread 2021-050
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