You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
Matthew, Chapter 24.
γλυκύ δ᾽ἀπείρῳ πόλεμος.
πεπειραμένων δέ τις ταρβεῖ προσιόντα νιν καρδία περισσῶς.
War is sweet to those who have no experience of it. But the experienced man trembles exceedingly in his heart at its approach.
Pindar
I'd hoped not to have a new edition of this, this year. This one shall surely close the year out..
When I should have started this edition:
December 1, 2023
Hamas v. Israel
Fighting has resumed.
December 3, 2023
Hamas v. Israel
Israel's offensive has expanded south.
December 5, 2023
Hamas v. Israel.
It's become increasing clear that not only was the Hamas assault on Israel the largest act of violence against civilian Jews since the Holocaust, but the largest example of militaristic armed rape since the Red Army's late stage World War Two actions in Germany (and Eastern Europe).
Like Red Army soldiers, Hamas combatants gang raped Israeli women to the point of death, or raped them and then killed them. There's no excusing it, or denying it.
There is a question about it, however. In the case of the Red Army, the organization was officially theist, which in fact gives license to such behavior. In the case of Hamas, the organization is officially Islamic, and while the Koran does sanction taking female sex slaves, it doesn't condone rape outright or rape and murder. This probably explains the official Hamas denials, but it would seem that an explanation from some other quarter is necessary, even if it will not be exculpatory.
December 6, 2023
Hamas v. Israel.
The US banned extremist Israeli settlers on the West Bank from entry into the U.S.
December 7, 2023
Venezuela v Guyana
Venezuela has dispatched troops to its border with Guyana in support of its claim to Essequibo.
This is a long-running dispute which first erupted in 1841, and it involves half of Guyana.
War is likely.
December 11, 2023
Russia v. Ukraine
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is globe-trotting seeking support for his country's cause. He was in Argentina over the weekend to witness the new Argentine President being sworn in, and is traveling to the United States today.
December 13, 2023
Russia v. Ukraine
President Zelenskyy addressed Congress yesterday. It's becoming increasingly clear that Congress will not pass a new aid package this year due to linkage of aid to Ukraine to getting something addressed on the US border, the latter of which is a genuine crisis.
Hamas v. Israel
Israel is flooding Hamas tunnels with seawater in Gaza.
The United Nations voted 153 to 10 with 23 abstentions in favor of a ceasefire in Gaza.
President Biden termed Israeli bombing in Gaza as "indiscriminate".
US National Guard units are being called up for deployment to the Horn of Africa.
December 16, 2023
US/Mexican Border Crisis
Arizona's Democratic Governor, Katie Hobbs, activated elements of the Arizona National Guard in order to deploy them to the state's border with Mexico. In doing so she stated that the Federal Government's decision to close a legal port of entry in Arizona "has led to an unmitigated humanitarian crisis."
Her activation order reads:
At this point, this is completely out of hand and is in fact a major failure by the Administration.
DOD Announces Aid Package for Ukraine
Dec. 27, 2023 | By Joseph Clark
The Defense Department today announced a security assistance package for Ukraine valued at up to $250 million.
The package includes air defense capabilities, artillery and antitank weapons and other equipment to help Ukraine in its continued fight to counter Russia’s unprovoked invasion.
The latest round of assistance marks the 54th drawdown of military equipment for Ukraine from DOD inventories since August 2021.
It comes amid negotiations on Capitol Hill over President Joe Biden’s supplemental request to Congress to continue critical funding for military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine.
Defense officials have warned that, without action from Congress, further U.S. assistance for Ukraine could be in jeopardy at a critical time as Russia’s war approaches the two-year mark.
"We would, again, continue to urge the passage of the supplemental that we've submitted," Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a briefing last week.
"As you look at the situation that Ukraine finds itself in, we will obviously continue to support them," Ryder said. "But it is imperative that we have the funds needed to ensure that they get the most urgent battlefield capabilities that they require."
Spotlight: Support for Ukraine
In a recent letter to lawmakers, DOD comptroller Michael J. McCord said the department would be obligating the remaining $1 billion in funds authorized by Congress to replace U.S. inventories of weapons provided to Ukraine by the end of this month.
The security assistance package announced today is likely the last until Congress authorizes additional funds.
Earlier this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to Washington to meet with Biden, defense officials and lawmakers. During those talks, Zelenskyy extended his gratitude for the United States' support and underscored his country’s urgent need for that support to continue.
After meeting with Zelenskyy at the White House, Biden pledged that the U.S. "will not walk away from Ukraine," as he implored lawmakers to authorize additional funding.
"The brave people in Ukraine have defied Putin's will at every turn, backed by the strong and unwavering support of the United States and our allies and partners in more than 50 nations in Europe and the Indo-Pacific," Biden said. "Ukraine will emerge from this war proud, free and firmly rooted in the West unless we walk away."
He said he would continue to provide U.S. military assistance for as long as congressionally approved funds are available.
"Without supplemental funding, we are rapidly coming to an end of our ability to help Ukraine respond to the urgent operational demands that it has," he said.
"Putin is banking on the United States failing to deliver for Ukraine," he continued. "We must prove him wrong."
In introductory remarks ahead of Zelenskyy's address at National Defense University in Washington, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III also underscored the United States' "unshakable" commitment to supporting Ukraine as it defends itself against Russian aggression.
"Ukraine matters profoundly to America's security and to the trajectory of global security in the 21st century," Austin said. "That's why the United States has committed more than $44 billion in security assistance to Ukraine's brave defenders." He added that the U.S.-led coalition of allies and partners have also contributed more than $37 billion in security assistance to Ukraine.
Austin said those contributions include capabilities that "are making a crucial difference on the battlefield" and have helped Ukraine retake more than half of the territory seized by Russia since February 2022.
He said the U.S. and its allies and partners remain "determined to help Ukraine consolidate and extend its battlefield gains and to build a future force that can ward off Russian aggression in the years ahead."
Ukrainian drone footage published on December 27 showed another Russian execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) near Robotyne in western Zaporizhia Oblast.[1] The geolocated video shows Russian servicemen shooting three Ukrainian soldiers whom Russian forces captured in a tree line west of Verbove (east of Robotyne). The video later depicts one Russian soldier shooting an already dead Ukrainian serviceman again at close range.[2] The Ukrainian Prosecutor General‘s Office announced that it opened an investigation into Russian forces violating the laws and customs of war in addition to premeditated murder.[3] The Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office stated this incident occurred on an unspecified date in December 2023.[4] ISW previously reported observing drone footage of Russian servicemen using Ukrainian POWs as human shields near Robotyne on December 13.[5] The killing of POWs violates Article III of the Geneva Convention on the laws of armed conflict.[6]
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al Sudani announced that his administration will begin procedures to remove International Coalition forces from Iraq during a press conference on December 28, likely due to pressure from Iranian-backed Iraqi militias. These militias have used legal, military, and political pressure in recent weeks to expel US forces, as CTP-ISW previously assessed.
December 31, 2023
Russo Ukrainian War
The Ukrainians shelled and struck with drones the Russian city of Belgorod with artillery, killing 21 people, including three children. The raid was likely a retaliatory raid for recent, and ongoing, missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities.
US Mexico Board Crisis
From the AP:
Mexico and Venezuela announced Saturday that they restarted repatriation flights of Venezuelans migrants in Mexico, the latest move by countries in the region to take on a flood of people traveling north to the United States.
The move comes as authorities say at least 10,000 migrants a day arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border, many of them asylum seekers, and a migrant caravan of thousands of people from across the region — largely Venezuelans — trekked through southern Mexico this past week.
BEIRUT (AP) — The U.S. military said Sunday it shot down two anti-ship ballistic missiles fired toward a container ship by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in the Red Sea. Hours later, four boats tried to attack the same ship, but U.S. forces opened fire, killing several of the armed crews, the U.S. Central Command said. No one was injured on the ship.
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