Showing posts with label Terrorism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Terrorism. Show all posts

Monday, December 18, 2023

Tuesday, December 18, 1973. Fate unknown.

The Palestinian terrorists in Rome ordered a Lufthansa plane to fly to Kuwait, where the remaining hostages were freed.  A year later, Kuwait turned them over to the PLO, which promised to put them on trial. Their fate is unknown.

Sunday, December 17, 2023

Monday, December 17, 1973. Terrorism at the Leonardo da Vinci Airport.

Palestinian terrorists killed 32 people at the Leonardo da Vinci Airport near Rome by seizing a terminal and then throwing grenades in the open doors of a Boeing 707.

Because killing innocent people is a mature and rational way to get what you want . . . 

Canada and Denmark signed a treating delineating their territorial waters.

Friday, December 1, 2023

Wars and Rumors of War, 2023, Part XI. Our Sins coming back to haunt us edition.

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.



Well, Part X wasn't up for long before the next edition was necessary.

Ugh.

If any question why we died, 

Tell them, because our fathers lied.

Kipling.

And so, the byproducts of the Great War continue to visit us, specter like.  A war in Ukraine between a Slavic chauvinist empire, and one in the Middle East, sorting out the rubble of the Mandate.

So let us begin.

October 15, 2023

Hamas v. Israel.

Hamas infiltration attempts are continuing, but have dropped off on the West Bank.

Iran is warning the war could go regional, which it will not.

An Israeli ground offensive is imminent.

The US asked American citizens in Gaza (why on earth would anyone with American citizenship stay in Gaza?) to move closer to the Egyptian Rafah border crossing, which would likely suggest the U.S. has worked out some sort of deal with Egypt regarding Americans being displaced in the Gaza Strip (why on earth would anyone with American citizenship stay in Gaza?).

A bomb threat was levied against the Louvre yesterday, which is suspected to be related to this conflict in some fashion.

Russo Ukrainian War

Russian attacks on Avdiivka are continuing, but Ukrainian lines are holding.  Apparently the offensive was anticipated.

October 16, 2023

Hamas v. Israel

From Twitter, and linked directly to what was put up there.  Weapons displayed by the IDF that were used in the recent Hamas raid.


The really surprising one here is the ancient submachine gun.  Apparently it is a Lanchester, which I've never even heard of.  It looks like a German MP28 as it is in fact a version of it.  They were actually produced, to my surprise, in large numbers during World War Two.

The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Cardinal Pizzaballa stated in an interview that he was willing to exchange himself as a hostage for the kidnapped children.

October 17, 2023

Hamas v Israel

Four Iranian nationals have been detained at the Del Rio crossing between the US and Mexico since October 1, with two Iranian nationals regarded as terrorist threats.

The Church of Saint Porphyrius, built in 1150 through 1160, a Greek Orthodox Church, is now housing Palestinian refugees of all religions.

2,000 U.S. troops are being readied to deploy to the region in support roles to Israel.

Churches of the West: A Day of Fasting and Prayer: Bishop Bigler of the Diocese of Cheyenne has declared this a voluntary fast day for Peace in the Middle East.

Prayer for Peace in the Holy Land

The Diocese of Cheyenne is asking Catholics in the Diocese to pray for Peace in the Holy Land, and has issued this prayer.

Pray for Peace in the Holy Land

Lord God, merciful and strong,

     who crush wars and cast down the proud,

     who extend mercy and tenderness to all,

we pray to you for the Holy Land, for the people of Israel and Palestine

     who are under the grip of unprecedented violence,

     for the victims, especially the children and their families.

Be pleased to grant healing for the wounded, the release of hostages,

     protection for the innocent, and eternal peace to the dead.

To all those affected by war, grant healing, consolation, and the grace to forgive.

Almighty God,

     guide the minds of world leaders to act with wisdom, prudence, and justice,

     and to promote the common good.

Lord of Justice, help us to commit ourselves to building a fraternal world

     so that these peoples and all those suffering similar conditions of

     conflict, instability, and violence may walk together as sisters and brothers.

Help us to be peacemakers by practicing justice, dialogue, and reconciliation.

O God of Peace, who are peace itself,

     grant that those in conflict may forget evil and so be healed.

Help those who have experienced violence to forgive their enemies,

     as Christ taught us and after his example on the cross.

We pray that the whole of humanity may be reconciled as one family,

     without violence, without absurd wars, and with a fraternal spirit,

      and live united in peace and concord.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ Your Son, who lives and reigns with you

in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.

cont:

Russo Ukrainian War

Ukraine struck Russian airbases deep within Russian occupied Ukraine with ATACMS missiles acquired from the United States

October 18, 2023

Hamas v Israel.

President Biden is in Israel.

Democrat Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib's accused Israel of bombing a Christian's hospital in the Gaza stating "Israel just bombed the Baptist Hospital killing 500 Palestinians (doctors, children, patients) just like that," in a tweet.

Israel replied within an hour that Islamic Jihad was responsible for the strike with an errant missile.

China v Taiwan and everyone else

The U.S. has accused China of increasingly dangerous actions with its fighter aircraft.

Russo Ukrainian War

Ukraine made small gains around Bakhmut and Russians tiny gains around Avdiivka.

The US completed deliveries of M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine.

October 29, 2023

Russo Ukrainian War

Ukraine raided across the Dnipro near Kherson.

Iran v. United States

October 20, 2023

Hamas v. Israel, Iran v. The West

DOD assets in the Red Sea, Iraq and Syria responded to missile and drone attacks over the past two days, as U.S. service members look to deter groups from using the Israel-Hamas war as an opportunity to launch conflict that could engulf the region, Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said today.

Department of Defense.

Effectively, Iran, often acting through its militias, is in a low grade war with the United States right now.

October 23, 2023

Hamas v. Israel, Iran v. The West

The weekend news shows were absolutely frighting on this topic, this weekend.  A bill is being introduced in Congress to authorize the use of force under the War Powers Act, for instance.

October 24, 2023

Russo Ukrainian War.

The Chinese ship Newnew Polar Bear has entered the Port of Arkhangelsk with a missing anchor. Finnish investigators suspect it lost the anchor by dragging it into the Balticconnector gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia.  It will take six months to repair.

cont:

Congo

The Allied Democratic Forces killed people in the city of Oicha in North Kivu province on Monday. The group has ties to the Islamic State.

October 26, 2023

Hamas v. Israel

Iran and its so-called “Axis of Resistance” are pursuing a coordinated strategy to (1) deter Israel from trying to destroy Hamas in the Gaza Strip, (2) prevent Israel from destroying Hamas if deterrence fails, and (3) deter the United States from providing military support to Israel’s ground operation in the Gaza Strip.

ISW.

cont:

Russo Ukrainian War

The Administration reports that Russia has executed its own soldiers for refusing to carry out orders.

Hamas v. Israel

Israel killed the deputy head of Hamas’s intelligence directorate, Shadi Barud, in a strike in the Gaza today.

Iranian backed forces have targeted US sites in Israel and Iraq.

October 27, 2023

Iran v US

The US struck two Iranian backed militia sites in Syria in an air raid earlier today.

Hamas v. Israel

Israel has raided into Gaza.

October 28, 2023

Russo Ukrainian War

Slovakia's right wing populist government is ceasing aid to Ukraine.

Ireland has called for increased European support for Ukraine.

October 29, 2023

Hamas v. Israel

The IDF has entered Gaza.

November 1, 2023

North Korea

North Korea is closing a large number of embassies, apparently due to financial concerns.

Hamas v. Israel

From Yemen's Houthi militia:

Our armed forces launched a large batch of ballistic missiles and a large number of drones at various targets of the Israeli enemy 

The Yemeni Armed Forces confirm that this operation is the third operation in support of our oppressed brothers in Palestine and confirm that we will continue to carry out more qualitative strikes with missiles and drones until the Israeli aggression stops.

Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly stated, in response to reports that millions of Palestinians could cross into Egypt, that Egypt was  “prepared to sacrifice millions of lives to ensure that no one encroaches upon our territory”.

November 2, 2023

Hamas v. Israel

President Biden has called for a pause in the war to aid in removing refugees.  It's unlikely to occur.

Nigeria

Thirty-seven have been killed in a Boko Haram terrorist attack.

Russo Ukrainian War

Ukrainian Commander-in-Chief General Valerii Zaluzhnyi stated in an essay in The Economist yesterday that the has taken on a positional nature.  His article is entitled. "Modern Positional Warfare and How to Win It".

It's odd for a commander to write such an op ed during a time of war, but that the war has become static is pretty obvious. This needs to be overcome if Ukraine is to achieve victory.  If it does not, Western nations will ultimately lose interest in funding the Ukrainian effort.

November 4, 2023

China v. Everyone

Japan and the Philippines are moving towards a troop cooperation agreement.

November 5, 2023

Russo Ukrainian War

According to the ISW:

Zaluzhny’s long essay, “Modern Positional Warfare and How to Win It,” outlines Zaluzhnyi’s consideration of the changes Ukraine must make to overcome the current “positional” stage of the war more clearly than the shorter op-ed and the Economist article it accompanied. Zaluzhnyi wrote that the war “is gradually moving to a positional form” and noted that Ukraine needs to gain air superiority; breach mine barriers in depth; increase the effectiveness of counter-battery; create and train the necessary reserves; and build up electronic warfare (EW) capabilities to overcome positional warfare.[2] Positional warfare refers to military operations that do not result in rapid or dramatic changes to the frontline despite both sides‘ continuing efforts to improve their positions. Zaluzhnyi notably did not say that the war was stalemated in his essay or suggest that Ukraine could not succeed. His essay focused, rather, on explaining that the current positional character of the war was a result of technological-tactical parity on the battlefield and the widespread use of mine barriers by Russian and Ukrainian troops. Zaluzhnyi considered the opportunities presented to Ukraine by Russia’s challenges, including the significant losses suffered by Russian aviation; Ukrainian use of Western missile and artillery weapons; and Russia’s failure to take advantage of its human mobilization resources due to political, organizational, and motivational issues. Zaluzhnyi argued that to avoid World War I-style “trench war” and move to maneuver warfare, Ukraine must develop new approaches including technological and other changes, some of which depend on Western support and others require adaptations within the Ukrainian military, state, and society. Zaluzhnyi concluded that positional warfare benefits Russia as it prolongs the war and could allow Russia to achieve superiority in certain areas. Zaluzhnyi argued that Ukraine or Russia could return to rapid maneuver warfare under the right circumstances, which for Ukraine must include Western-provided military resources. Zaluzhnyi’s essay was all about how to restore maneuver to a positional war, not an argument that the war has reached a stalemate.

November 6, 2023

Hamas v. Israel War 

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken engaged in a round of regional shuttle diplomacy yesterday.

The IDF has split the Gaza Strip in two.

November 7, 2023

Sudan

Jihadi militias have murdered over 800 Massalit tribe members in Darfur, Sudan over the past few days.  Like their oppressors, the Massalit are Muslims, but they are generally somewhat relaxed in their observance and retain some pre conversion practices in spite of having long been Muslims.  Over recent decades they have become more orthodox in their observance.

I frankly don't know what this conflict is about.

November 8, 2023

Hamas v. Israel War

U.S. Rep Rashida Tlaib was censured for her "river to the sea" comment.  Tlaib is of Palestinian extraction and has a vocal critic of Israel.

U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman claimed n a television interview that Palestinian protests in the US were due to Palestinian infiltration of the U.S. government.

Russo Ukrainian War

Ukrainian's seem to have crossed the Dnipro in some force and to have ferried armored vehicles across the river.

November 9, 2023

Myanmar

Myanmar has lost control of much of its border with China due to attacks by three ethnic rebel armies in Shan State.

Iran v the West

The U.S. has attacked an Iranian backed militia's weapon storage facility in Syria via the air.

November 10, 2023

Hamas v. Israel

Israel agreed to pause its offensive actions periodically for humanitarian reasons but not to provide for a ceasefire or ceasefires.

Headline in the British newspaper The Telegraph:

‘Queers for Palestine’ must have a death wish

Truly.

The Palestinian Authority, the West Bank and Gaza, have one of the world's worst records for intolerance of this topic in the world.  Homosexual Palestinians fairly frequently flee to Israel.

Russo Ukrainian War

Russian forces have nearly encircled Avdiivka.

November 12, 2023

Hamas v. Israel

Israel has rejected calls for a cease fire and has indicated that it will retain security control of Gaza fater the war.

Russo Ukrainian War

Russian offensive activities in recent days have been resulting in huge casualties to their army.

November 16, 2023

Iran v. the West

The U.S. navy shot down a drone launched from Yemen aimed at a ship yesterday.

November 18, 2023

Russo Ukrainian War

Ukrainian forces have established bridgeheads on the east bank of the Dnipro and are pushing Russian forces back beyond artillery range of the west bank.

November 20, 2023

Hamas v. Israel

Houthi rebels have taken a cargo ship in a helicopter raid on the same.  They have asserted this is legitimate as the ship had Israeli connections.

November 22, 2023

Hamas v. Israel

Israel has agreed to a four-day cease fire for humanitarian reasons.  Hostages are to be released during that time period.

Iranian backed militias launched missiles at a US base in Iraq, causing the US to retaliate with an airstrike.

November 23, 2023

India v. Sikh separatists.

The US has announced that it foiled a plot on the life of a Sikh seperatist living in the US.  A successful attempt on the life of a Sikh figure in Canada has lead to tension between those two countries.  India denies being involved.

November 25, 2023

Hamas v. Israel

A prisoner exchange (Palestinian prisoners for Israeli and multinational hostages) took place yesterday as scheduled.  Twenty four hostages were releaed, including 13 Israelis, 10 Thai citizens, and one Filipino citizen.

December 1, 2023

Hamas v. Israel

Fighting has resumed.

Last Prior Edition:

Wars and Rumors of War, 2023, Part X, Declarations

Related threads:

The Palestinian Problem and its Wilsonian Solution.

Hamas v. Israel. Some observations, and How did we get here?







Sunday, May 4, 2014

Monday, May 4, 1914. Gov. Ammon on the ropes.

 The Boomerang was pondering Colorado Governor Ammon's fate. . . and war with Mexico.


In Mexico, Revolutionary and future president of the country Álvaro Obregón began a blockade around Mazatlán.

Ammons would survive the impeachment attempt, but he's seen the handwriting on the wall politically and made his current term, which expired in 1915, his last.

Suffragette Mary Ann Aldham slashed John Singer Sargent's portrait of Henry James as part of the ongoing suffragette campaign of terrorism that had been going on in recent weeks in the UK. The painting was on display at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.

The victimized painting.

The attack is proof of a certain danger.  Even really good causes attracts acts out of outright goofballedness.

Last prior edition:

Saturday, May 2, 1914. National Suffrage Day

Monday, April 28, 2014

Tuesday, April 28, 1914. President Wilson orders Federal troops into the Colorado Coalfield War.

On this day in 1914, President Wilson ordered Federal troops to Colorado at the request of Gov. Eliam M. Ammons following days of fighting (the Ten Day War) between miners, Colorado National Guardsmen and mine owners that had broken out with the April 20 Ludlow Massacre, which we should have covered but managed to omit, occured.


Tensions had been high since the summer of 1913 between miners of the United Mine Workers of America (UMW) and the Rockefeller-owned Colorado Fuel and Iron (CF&I) due to low pay and dangerous working conditions.  Colorado's mine accident rate was much higher than elsewhere in the US at the time.  The UMW had started making demands to address the situation without success and adopted demands on September 16, 1913, calling for a seven-step plan of improvements and recognition of the UMW.

On September 23, they went on strike during a rainstorm.  Soon, 20,000 miners were evicted from their company housing. The union supplied tents, and tent cities resulted.  80.5% of the miners went on strike, far higher than the company's had expected. Mary J. Harris, "Mother Jones", spoke on September 23 in Trinidad, stating:
Rise up and strike! If you are too cowardly, there are enough women in this country to come in here and beat the hell out of you.

The companies brought in strike-breaking forces, and law enforcement was generally aligned with the companies.  They also had influence in the Colorado National Guard, which would soon be deployed, which was extremely unfortunate as the Guard had been working since the early 20th Century to escape this role specifically, and had made progress in that regard with the passage of the Dick Act, which made them the official reserve of the Army.  In classic Western form, gunmen were recruited from Texas and New Mexico, some of whom became National Guard "recruits".  Colorado's National Guard CO, Gen. John Chase, had, additionally, played a role in suppressing strikes at Cripple Creek in 1903-04, making him literally a pre Dict Act figure, as the Dick Act, which officially established the Guard system, came into effect in 1903.

In October 1913 the Colorado National Guard was called out, but six months later the financial drain on the state caused all but two companies to be withdrawn.  When more fully deployed miners had welcomed it, as it was a neutral party, but the change, with quite a few of the Guardsmen deployed in that period being imported strikebreakers with no military experience, changed things considerably.  Strikebreakers were additionally brought in by the mines in the form of Baltwin-Felts detectives, who had experience in the same from West Virginia.


Clashes occured all winter long, with the Guard sometimes acting as strikebreakers and sometimes acting as intervening parties between strikers and private strikebreakers.  Things had largely calmed down by early 2014, but the death of a strikebreaker near Ludlow caused increased tension once again.  Mother Jones returned in late March and was detained in dank conditions.

On Orthodox Easter, April 20, 1914, many of the miners were Greek immigrants, fighting broke out after early morning negotiations between the parties, the miner's UMW representative Louis Tikas being among those participating in discussion. The negotiations were brought about by rising tensions and threads the prior day.  Perhaps ironically, Tikas, who had initially refused to meet, was encouraged to do so by Colorado National Guard Major Patrick J. Hamrock, who had been with the Army at Wounded Knee.

UMW rep John McLennan and Patrick Hamrock.  Hamrock would be charged with murder for his actions at Ludlow, but was acuitted.  He later went on to command the Colorado National Guard.

The two parties nonetheless began to move for position and fighting broke out.  

The remaining Guard companies attacked the camp and fighting went on all day long. At some point Lt. Karl "Monte" Linderfelt, a notable figure in the actions locally, butt stroked Tikas in the head, although later examinations showed Tikas, who was a Cretan immigrant, to have multiple gunshot wounds. Linderfelt's unit had been kept some distance from Ludlow as he was so inclined to violence. Thirty-two strikers or their families, including women and children, were killed, and thirty-seven Guardsmen lost their lives. Four Hundred miners were arrested, and the camp was destroyed.

The violence at Ludlow led to a union call to arms throughout Colorado and a switch to miner sympathy on the part of the press.  The Southwestern Mine Co.'s Empire Mine was laid under siege on April 22, with the miners yielding after 21 hours, a ceasefire being negotiated by a Protestant minister.  An attempt to take Delagua, Colorado, was made by strikers who were republished, but three mine guards were killed in the assaults.  A mine guard was killed at Tabasco and the Las Animas County Sheriff's Department cabled that it had been defeated and requested Federal troops.

Linderfelt, who was also tried for murder but acquitted.  
Linderfelt had served in the Philippine Insurrection and in China with the U.S. Army and Colorado National Guard.  He's also served in the Mexican Army in 1911 and his name was in the Colorado newspapers frequently due to that at the time, usually under his nickname "Monte".  Prior to the 1913 mine labor troubles in Colorado, he's been working as a mine guard.  He was activated again during the Puntive expedition and then again for World War One, during which he rose to the rank of Colonel in the Colorado National Guard in spite of Ludlow.  His name was frequently in the news in the teens, with the papers being very hostile to him at first, but later more sympathetic as the Punitive Expedition and World War One rolled on.  The troops he was in command of did deploy to France, but not until October 1918, making it unlikely that hey saw much, if any, wartime combat.  In 1919 he purchased a farm in Custer County, Colorado.  In 1922, however, he was being foreclosed upon. He died at age 80 in 1957, at which time he was living in Los Angeles.    

While this was going on, the UMW briefly organized a truce, but at the same time the Governor attempt to deploy the National Guard to what had become a 175-mile-long front.  Of the 600 Guardsmen who were expected to answer the call, only 362 men reported showing that the insurrection and public sympathy had passed to the miners, who now had the press's full support nationwide.  One of the cavalry troops of the Colorado Guard, which included two of the Colorado Guard's commander's sons, mutinied and had to be removed from deployment.  Artillery was deployed from Denver, but the miners also secured firearms.

The Chandler Mine near Cañon City was fired upon on April 25, breaking the truce. On the 26th, 1,000 armed miners attacked and took the town.  Residents of Walsenburg's fled.  Greek miners grew unhappy with union officials and began guerilla attacks on the town and attacked the McNally Mine.  Communiques from both sides took on the nature of those from regular combatants.

The Women's Peace Association staged a sit in Denver starting on April 25, which forced Governor Ammons to act, sending his request on the 25th.  On the 26th, protesters in Denver demanded the impeachment of Governor Ammons.  One of the speakers was former Denver Police Commissioner George Creel.

The National Guard deployed in force on April 27 near Trinidad, where Tikas' funeral was scheduled to, and did, take place without incident. There had been plans to retake the town, which was in miner control, but the assault did not occur.

On this day, the Battle of Heclar Mine in Louisville took place, with that mine owned by the Rocky Mountain Fuel Company.  This was considerably further north than the other mine attacks and fairly near Denver.  National Guardsmen that had been rotated off of the southern front were sent to quell that attack.

The Army was on its way.

Ironically, perhaps, on the same day a mine explosion in Eccles, West Virginia, killed over 180 miners.

British suffragettes Hilda Burkitt and Florence Tunks burned down the Felixstow Bath Hotel in Suffolk as part of an ongoing suffragette terror campaign.

Last prior edition:

Sunday, April 26, 1914. No longer in doubt.