San Diego, California -Nothing says Happy MAGA 4th of July like showing an image of Russian jet fighters in a formation displaying Russian flag colors, white, blue and red, on their Twitter account.
Russian collusion not immediately suspected.
Category: Military
NSA destroying call records.
US – The National Security Agency recently announced it was deleting call records after a three year long collection that started in the beginning of 2015.
In this collection, the NSA apparently – and of course due to “technical irregularities” – produced some call records they were not authorized to receive.
Source: the full, original article at Washington Examiner.
Are sonic weapons targeting US and Canadian diplomats?
Havana, Cuba, August 24 — Are sonic attack weapons responsible for injuring US and Canadian consulate diplomats in Cuba?
Hearing loss, brain and central nervous system damage, balance problems, nausea, headaches among other symptoms show medical reports from many victims.
CNN reported that in an internal communications the US removed two Cuban diplomats as a result of this attack.
Cuban government strongly denies the accusation it is behind the attacks.
CNN reports that investigation is ongoing and looking at the possibility another nation is involved.
Sources: CNN, Huffington Post
Remains of some missing USS John S. McCain sailors found
Changi Naval Base, Republic of Singapore, August 22 — Pacific Fleet commander Adm. Scott Swift reported today that recovery divers have discovered remains of some of the sailors missing after the earlier guided-destroyer collision.
Royal Malaysian Navy has reported the discovery of another missing sailor as well.
The search efforts are on-going.
Source: Commander, US 7th Fleet, US Navy
USS John S. McCain collides with merchant ship
South China Sea, August 21 — US Defense News is reporting 10 sailors missing and 5 injured after a merchant ship Alnic MC collided with the US guided missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG-56).
The incident occurred near Straits of Malacca and Singapore. The US ship is part of the US 7th Fleet.
The 7th Fleet reports hull damage to the destroyer with flooding into troop berthing, communications and machinery rooms. Crew on board took required actions to stop the flooding.
CNO orders global operation pause for US Naval fleets to review operational safety guidelines and procedures.
Source: US Defense News, US 7th Fleet, Military.com
P|M Weighs In:
This incident will be investigated thoroughly. This comes on heels of the previous ship strike incident involving USS Fitzgerald. Just days ago the US Navy has concluded its investigation into that incident and has relieve of command the ship commander Cmdr. Bryce Benson and the executive officer Cmdr. Sean Babbitt for “[loss of] trust and confidence in their ability to lead”.
In another, lesser known incident that occurred in January of this year when guided-missile cruiser USS Antietam ran aground near Japan dumping a large amount of oil into the water – its commander Capt. Joseph Carrigan was also relieved after investigation cited “judgement and decision making [errors]” – as per NavyTimes and Military.com.
This is a monumentally serious issue – these ships are guided-missile destroyers. With all the crew, advanced weaponry and technology on-board these ships one would think a collision of this nature should be impossible.
The question to be asked is who is in charge and in control of these vessels?
Over 200 ISIS/ISIL militants killed in Russian Air Strikes
Deir ez-Zor (near), Syria, August 21 — Russian Defense Ministry reporting over 200 ISIL/ISIS militants killed and substantial amount of equipment destroyed in a column headed to the city of Deir ez-Zor where the last of the ISIL forces are preparing for the last defensive position in the area.
Simultaneously, the US-led coalition forces conducted multiple missions in the on going Operation Inherent Resolve. For the detailed list of destroyed ISIL targets in Iraq and Syria see the source links below.
Source: RT, Defense.gov
ISIL fighters continue to sustain casualties
Ankara, Turkey, November 3 — Hurriyet Daily News reports 36 Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) fighters have been killed in heavy fighting on November 2 in northern Syria.
US Department of Defense news branch reported some of the strikes near Abu Kamal attacked ISIL supply route. Near Raqqah two strikes (drones) targeted ISIL tactical unit and an oil truck….. list continues.
Read the full article at Hurriyet Daily News,
Read the full article of listed engagement by the DoD defense.gov.
Iraqi army with Kurdish Peshmerga pressing ISIL in Mosul
Mosul, Iraq, October 19 — Major offensive operation to retake Mosul is in full swing with Iraqi army leading the offensive. Meanwhile Kurdish Peshmerga force annihilated Islamic State (ISIL/Daesh) assault on city of Sinjar. Xinhua reports 47 militants neutralized.
Read the full article at Xinhua.
Our possible interpretation
Although Mosul is considered to be one of the last ISIL/Daesh strongholds in the region, retaking the city does not necessarily mean ISIL defeat. The media announcements ( essentially operational non-secrecy ) could possibly allow for strategic retreat of ISIL forces to coordinate future counter-attacks.
S-300 and S-400 SAM-PVO now deployed in Syria
Syria, October 6 — Syrian ambassador to Russia Riyad Haddad confirmed the deployment of the S-300 surface-to-air system in Syria, citing required [air defense] protection for Russian troops.
In addition Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov reaffirmed “let me repeat: both the S-300 and the S-400 are purely defensive armaments, which do not threaten anyone”.
Our possible interpretation:
— The Russian S-300 and the S-400 SAMs (surface-to-air) armaments (built by the Russian defense contractor Almaz-Antey) are considered to be the most advanced mobile “air-defense curtains” currently deployed in the world.
In terms of a game of chess, imagine two rooks staggered near each other in such a manner that no enemy pieces can “pass” the kill zones illuminated by the rooks. In a somewhat similar fashion any number of S-300/S-400 systems can be linked to create essentially “air kill zones”, even to high altitude stealth aircraft.
The system according to Russian foreign minister is for “defensive” purposes. Yes but last we were able to check, the ISIS/ISIL forces are not operating high altitude stealth bombers or reconnaissance, or for the matter of fact operating any combat aviation assets in the area.
This leaves the US and the Coalition forces, including Turkey with combat aviation assets in the area. Perhaps this has nothing at all to do with the US-led coalition destruction of a Syrian army unit in middle of last month. Perhaps otherwise.
Although mobile SAMs are “defensive armaments” do keep in mind that it is always a good idea to move SAMs forward into the enemy territory just before opening a new incursion front. (As an example see the October 6, 1973 Yom Kippur War).
Read both, full article at TASS Riyad Haddad, Sergey Lavrov comments, DW (Syrian army bombed by US).
Syrian ceasefire has begun
Syria, September 12 — Official ceasefire is now in effect in Syria. The ceasefire agreement was brokered by US and Russia. According to SOHR (a Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights) “calm is prevailing”, reports Deutsche Welle.
Read full article at DW.