22 February 2024: Bits & Pieces around the World

Hello everybody!

I’m feeling ‘disturbed’, sort of, in my work. These days, I can’t help that feeling of being a ‘black sheep in the flock’. Of at least feeling an urge to ‘play the devil’s advocate’. Not sure if it’s the sheer amount of nonsensical garbage thrown into my face by collective efforts of the mainstream- and social media, governments and the politics in general, or something else: perhaps it’s the impression that so many people are completely out of touch with reality, that the situation is growing hopeless…

Oh, no: I do not mean the situation on the battlefields in Ukraine. Don’t worry: with few minor exceptions, this is even ‘relatively good’. It’s many other things, all of them related to characters supposed to be clever and skilled enough to manage provision of durable and meaningful military aid to Ukraine.

Let me offer you few ‘random examples’…

1.)    US Military Expertise, Part 1

In the words of just some nobody called Amy Ayalon (happens to be the former head of Shin Bet, Israeli domestic security agency, but why should anybody care?): the leadership of the Palestinian militant group Hamas understood that nobody cares about decades-long Israeli military occupation and progressive annexation of Palestinian Land. Indeed, that this is fully backed by the West (especially the USA), and at least accepted by most of Arab governments. Therefore, the Hamas, so Ayalon, did the only thing it could do any more: it ‘exercised the Sampson Option’. Having nothing left to lose, on 7 October 2023, Hamas attacked Israel…   

Now, when Israel ‘counterattacked’ (and that with full support of the ‘United States of Absurdistan’ – see: USA & EU), the ‘Houthi rebels’ (read: authorities in firm control over northern Yemen and thus the mass of its armed forces, you like that or not) have launched a series of missile strikes on Israel, clearly stating they are doing that in support of Palestinians.

The USA - the superpower that can be directly blamed for ‘at least supporting’ the decades-long Israeli misdeeds against Palestinians, and thus for (along that unimportant conclusion by Ayalon) helping right-wingers in Israel provoke the attack of 7 October – then attempted to create a coalition that would protect Israel. Nearly none of countries in the region followed Washington’s call, because everybody understood what are the Houthis doing as exactly what it was: exercising pressure upon Israel to stop.

But no, the USA know better and thus Washington – (faithfully) followed by London – reacted by deploying warships into the Red Sea to intercept the missiles as these were underway to Israel. To their luck, Saudi Arabia then began opening fire at Houthi missiles transiting its own territory – which was a perfectly logical move, considering Saudi Arabia is in between of Israel (in the north) and the Houthi-controlled northern Yemen (south): its government is responsible for protection of its own citizens and does not like the idea of any of Houthi missiles crashing inside its territory. Overall result: the mass of Houthi-launched ballistic missiles was shot down well before reaching Israel. So far, everything was ‘fine’.

HMS Diamond (D34), a destroyer of the Royal Navy, as seen in the port of Gibraltar, after its cruise in the Red Sea. Notably, the ship is wearing a total of 9 ‘kill markings’ for Houthi UAVs shot down back in late 2023.

Then, in mid-November, the Houthis announced that, if Israel continues blocking the international aid from reaching the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip, they are going to start targeting Israel-owned merchant ships, or merchant ships bound for Israel. When their demand was ignored, they began doing exactly that. The USA – (faithfully) followed by the United Kingdom – reacted by declaring this a ‘blockade of the Suez Canal’, as if the Houthis were threatening to attack all the shipping underway in the Suez Canal, and the Red Sea, and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, and the Gulf of Aden….

Actually; the Houthis never did that: they’ve limited their action to the Israeli-owned-, or ships bound for Israel. Of course, time and again they would make a mistake and attack ‘non-involved’ ships, but: while it’s highly doubtful this was intentional (Identification mistakes happen very often at war, especially in operations stretching over hundreds of kilometres, so also the US and allied armed forces), it was declared for such by the USA…

As next, and in the light of additional Houthi strikes, Washington demanded the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to ‘share the burden’ and deploy warships that would protect international shipping underway in above-mentioned waters. Pay attention: PRC’s shipping was not the least affected by the Houthis. Indeed, over the last few years, Beijing played a crucial role in normalisation of relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia, and in negotiations that ‘at least subdued’ the war in Yemen. Something the USA never even tried doing. So, why should Beijing now care about US demands? Why should the PRC – where the population is predominantly supporting Palestinians, and the government openly declared its support for a ‘two states solution’ in Israel/Palestine – support a completely irrational US decision to protect Israel while this is mass-murdering and ethnically cleansing the Gaza Strip?

Meanwhile… the USA – (faithfully) followed by the United Kingdom – launched air strikes on the Houthis in northern Yemen. What a surprise, the Houthis reacted by shooting at any ship they could target: US-owned, Malta-owned…even on a British-owned tanker hauling Russian oil, bound for Greece. Ironically, the latter – MV Visakhpatnam – was one of vessels hit: I’m sure both Pudding and several Greeks felt deeply offended by this action…

The USA – (faithfully) followed by the United Kingdom – ‘retaliated’ by what the CENTCOM termed ‘self-defence strikes’, and the Pentagon proudly claimed the destruction of XY launchers for anti-ship missiles, command centres and whatever else and, in every single of its PR-statements announced that ‘this is going to protect freedom of navgiation and make international waters safer and more secure…’

….which is making me curious. Lets check that!

Clearly visible on this video-still is the fireball resulting from a strike by an (Iranian-made) ballistic anti-ship missile on MV Marlin Luanda, on 26 January 2024.

At first, the USA bitterly complained that the Beijing’s decision not to support the US effort in Yemen is, ‘…deteriorating security situation in the Middle East…’ and, ‘…how ineffectual Mr. Xi’s [President of the PRC, Xi Jinping; my note] promotion of peace and tranquility has been’, and how, ‘this is coming back to bite China’….

Means: from the official US standpoint, it’s the PRC that is responsible for the United States of Absurdistan supporting Israeli right-wingers in their years-long ethnic cleansing/land grab and mass murder of Palestinians, thus provoking the Hamas attack; it’s the PRC that has provoked another major war in the Middle East; it’s the PRC that is supplying ammunition used by the Israelis to mass-murder Palestinians, resulting in Israel being dragged to the International Criminal Court; and it’s the PRC’s politics that’s ‘failing’…?

Not the USA, and not the West…

…and so, weeks later, and to everybody’s major surprise, the ferocity of the missile exchange between the USA and the Houthis has reached such proportions, that the US Navy meanwhile fired around 100 surface-to-air missiles at Houthi missiles and drones fired out of Yemen. A pilot of the US Marine Corps flying AV-8B Harrier II fighter jets became the first US ‘ace’ since the Vietnam War, when shooting down a total of seven Houthi-operated drones over the Red Sea. And, early this morning, the IDF shot down another of Houthi ballistic missiles, as this was approaching Israel.

…and still: the number of transits by merchant ships through the Bab al-Mandeb Straits declined from over 500 a day, back in mid-November, to around 200 as of early February.

….and still: over the last three days, the Houthis not only shot down a US-operated MQ-9 Reaper drone, but also launched enough ballistic anti-ship missiles and drones to

-          damage MV Sea Champion (Greek-flagged, US-owned)

-          damage MV Navis Fortuna (Marshall Islands-flagged, US-owned)

-          sink MV Rubymar (Belize-flagged, British-owned)

MV Rubymar, ‘purportedly’ hit by a Houthi missile, two days ago. It might not have been hit by the Houthis at all, of course (at least not according to the US CENTCOM), but: something…perhaps that itch in my small toe - does tell me that ships shouldn’t be sitting this low in the water by their stern. Might be unfavourable for their buoyancy….

I think, this can only be qualified as a major military victory.

But hey: the ship traffic in US ports along the Pacific coast almost doubled since mid-October 2023. Therefore, the EU is now sending a task force of own warships to reinforce those of the US Navy and the Royal Navy in the Red Sea (see: Operation Aspides)…

That’s certain to make everything much, much better – just like the ‘surprising re-selection’ (no election, of course: one can’t leave such important affairs at the mercy of voters) of Ursula van der Leyen for the President of the EU Commission is certain to make things much, much better.

Because things are already so much, much better after all the fantastic decisions listed above…

***

2.)    US Military Expertise, Part 2

Considering above-listed evidence for endless US strategic wisdom and expertise, it’s (almost) unsurprising that at the time the Russians are sending ever more units into renewed attacks on ZSU positions in the area between Pobeda, Mariinka, and Novomykhailivka, the ‘top’ US ‘monitor’ of this war is still discussing the Russian ‘offensive in the Kharkiv-Luhansk sector’.

But, who am I to say…

***

3.)    EU…

Talking about van der Leyen is bringing me to the ‘Old Continent’ – to Europe and thus the EU, where our glorious politics is doing its utmost to outmatch the US in both incompetence and distance from reality.  

While such unimportant governments like that of the Czech Republic are excelling in finding new solutions for finding large amounts of ammunition for Ukraine, three loyal and determined EU and NATO-members – all three shinning through their provision of excessive and selfless financial- and military aid to Ukraine (my keyboard almost melted in awe as I was typing this) - France, Greece and Cyprus, have blocked exactly one such purchase. Because, you know, it’s not good if the EU pays for ammunition it cannot provide, but which is coming from ‘outside the bloc’ (see: Brazil, South Africa, India and similar).

If nothing else, one must keep in mind that not only the French-, Greek-, and Cypriot oligarchs, but their friends in Moscow and St Petersburg are certain to feel deeply offended by such acts and the deployment of such ammunition against the Russian invasion of Ukraine…

***

4.)    Germany

Ladies and gentlemen, I’m proud to announce that Germany has, finally, achieved something fantastic, this year: it has overtaken the UK and France to reach the bitterly contested place 3 on my charts of ‘most popular’ countries and governments around the World (right after the Russian Federation and the USA).

The reason is that Germany has achieved multiple major feats. Between others,  

a)      the country is, actually, excelling in being an industrial association that’s pretending to be a state;

b)      it’s a country already now having the highest rate of right-wing extremist terror attacks in the EU;

c)      it’s a country where not only the police, but even the health-care system are meanwhile deeply subverted by racism and intolerance,

d)      it’s a country the government of which can’t stop complaining it’s got no arms and no ammunition left to send to Ukraine (at least ‘not before 2027 or so’), but has increased its arms exports to Israel by more than 300% in a matter of three months;  

e)      and it’s a country where the authorities, police, academia, and culture-circles are systematically cancelling any appearances of Jewish artists and academics supportive of Palestine and/or critical of Israel (indeed: arresting Jewish artists, academics, and activists for criticising Israel and/or supporting Palestine), and that so much so, some are already short of leaving Germany.

…what a surprise then, that (nominally) ‘left-wing’ political parties currently in charge of the government and parliament in Berlin, can’t understand how comes the (at least ‘right-wing’, if not outright Neo-Nazi) AfD party is enjoying such a rapidly growing popularity…

***

Dear Ukrainians and everybody else supporting your case: is any of you still so naïve as to seriously expect some sort of a well-orchestrated provision of meaningful amounts of military aid by these ‘United States of Absurdistan’ for the struggle against the Russian invasion?

Good luck if you think that way.

Sorry, can’t help it: my growing impression (call it ‘that itch in my small toe’, if you prefer) is that winning this war against Pudding’s Russia is not only going to need a host of entirely new-, even unusual and surprising solutions: indeed, that we’ll have to effect this victory at least despite, if not against the will of our governments (and the oligarchy on behalf of which these are administering).