We are just a group of retired spooks that discuss things that you’ll not find anywhere else. It makes us unique. Take a look around. Learn a thing or two.
Here, I continue on my “bender” on taking a look at other nations in our world. In each case, so far, I have shown the reality to be something different from what you would ever read about in the Western (especially the American) press. I have looked at China, Russia, Thailand, Cambodia, the middle East, and now, Vietnam.
Vietnam is a very interesting place full of great beauty, beautiful women, delicious food, and an easy going happy-go-lucky lifestyle.
Enter Donald Trump and his neocon war-mongers
Vietnam continued their easy and laid back lifestyle since the tumultuous 1960’s when America decided to churn up and rape the countryside for freedom™ and democracy™. And it continued that way through the decades, up until Donald Trump took office and started his “War on China”.
He demanded that American companies leave China or face all sorts of consequences. In American “language” this means that “border-line legal” actions might (and probably would) be directed at the company. Such as suspicious hard-line tax audits, and review of OSHA and EPA policies and factory operation shut-downs during the “investigations” as well as mysterious fires in the warehouses, random union uprisings and personal tax audits and random arrests of key corporate executives.
Many, but not all, American companies started to relocate a number of their operations out of China. The vast bulk did not return to America, however. Instead, they went to Mexico and Vietnam.
About Factories
When America switched from manufacturing inside of America to outsourcing to China, they did NOT teach the Chinese how to make factories or build products. Instead, they went to existing factories, handed over the blueprints, and quality specifications, moved their tooling and equipment, and said “make this for us”. And that is pretty much (as harsh as it sounds) what actually happened.
Now, in the thirty to forty years that America has been devoid of solid manufacturing skill, the American companies that manufactured inside of China were in a bind. Just how do you move your factory, when you don’t own it?
Do you start from scratch? Hire new engineers? Try to reverse engineer your systems to fit a Mexican or Vietnamese work force? What do you do?
Well, I can’t say that this is what happened to all of the factories, but I can tell you that a sizable number took this action…
…the Chinese factories that supplied the American companies, set up divisions inside of Vietnam.
Thus, the Donald Trump trade war, as far as bringing manufacturing capability back to the United States failed. Instead, all that happened is the existing Chinese factories continued to supply the American companies. The only difference is that they did so out of Vietnam.
Vietnam Changed.
Of course, all of this movement of Chinese factories into Vietnam, and with it, the Chinese support structures, have made great changes to Vietnam. While it is still a sluggish and rather backward nation, it is growing and expanding. And this has created a rather unique mix of older traditional Vietnam, with modern Chinese industry and support structures. Very few American influences are present. As America is rather a nation of bankers, accountants, lawyers, and diversity experts. Very few have an kind of impact on Vietnamese society.
Here we are going to look at some videos out of Vietnam taken these last two months. It’s a quite interesting mix of color and tradition.
The Videos
Let’s go through these videos.
I suggest you watch them in order to get the full diverse effect. And I hope hope that you enjoy them and get “something out of them”. This group has around 85 (give or take) videos. So to prevent you from getting carpal tunnel syndrome (yikes!) clicking on each individual video, I have clustered the videos into small zip files that you click on, download and then browse through at your leisure.
Group A
Cooking some kind of purple Vietnamese food.
Foreigner in Vietnam trying to pick up a local butterfly girl.
Young love having some fun.
Lunch in a Chinese factory located in Vietnam.
Dressing up to go out on a date.
You ride scooters to get anywhere.
Making supper.
Loved ones going off to do their mandatory military service.
Some girls getting down at a local gathering.
Another foreigner trying to pick up some butterfly girls.
Night life in one of the bigger cities.
Two girls on the way to work (my guess is a massage or restaurant).
Bar Life.
Home made turbo-generators for local village power needs.
As the Biden administration consolidates its foreign policy, it has predictably turned its attention towards Southeast Asia in a bid to “counter China”.
Just last week, Mid-August 2021, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin visited Vietnam, the Philippines, and Singapore in a bid to increase military ties between Washington and the region.
Means… allow American military bases there, American war ships to sail there, and the placement of American offensive missile systems there.
You know like swallowing bile that rise up in your throat.
The vice president’s aim with this trip is to “call out” China over its maritime claims in the South China Sea.They can’t do it personally face-to-face with China. They will no longer play “that game”. So like cowards, they are trying to undermine all the relationships of all the nations that border on China.
They come with suitcases (no cross that out) pallets, (no cross that out) Shipping containers full of freshly minted US dollars.
Freshly minted.
Hot off the (over worked) printing presses.
For, you know, the leadership to do what ever they want with the nice crisp “green backs”.
This comes amid America’s attempts to militarize the region.
They’ve been really busy, don’t you know.
The anti-China QUAD; those vassal states of the UK and Japan who will be compelled to “die on their swords” at the push of a button from the American Pentagon. To Australia who has only become a vassal state for reasons not so obvious. In my mind, a treasonous Morrison government with many, many skeletons in his closet is willing to sacrifice his people for Washington DC.
As well as continuously sailing aircraft carriers through the sensitive waters in a bid to project American power.
No prizes here for guessing who he was talking about…
The US says that it’s “back” to Southeast Asian countries.
It’s just bullshit.
The reality is this: apart from all the militaristic “sabre rattling” and pushing a non-stop hate China narrative while convincing everyone (with a pulse) to oppose China, the United States actually doesn’t have a strategy for the region.
But Beijing does.
In many ways, the legacy of recent US policies in this area of the world has been self-defeating.
The “political space” (the room to maneuver and work around is) that Biden has to turn it around is really quite limited.
In other words, it’s essentially still Trump’s ‘America First’ sentiment.
And that is quite telling as the biggest gaping hole in America’s strategy towards Southeast Asian countries is failing to offer them anything in return.
There are no, absolutely zero, economic incentives to oppose China. All they have to offer is personal riches for the rulers. As well as promises to offer them “green cards” and citizenship if the whole plan goes “tits up”.
China, need I remind you, which is right next door to these nations.
On this front, America has isolated itself.
In so many ways too.
Most notably by withdrawing from the mega trade deal which Obama fashioned as an anti-China initiative known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).
Now rebranded CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership) amongst local partners.
On the level of US domestic politics, this is toxic because the consensus is that free trade is bad, especially if it detracts from jobs at home.
Therefore, Biden faces protectionist pressure not to re-join it, thus it has not come back on the Biden agenda.
China, on the other hand, has comprehensively doubled down on its economic ties with the surrounding region and entrenched its presence. Most notably through joining the ASEAN-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which it quickly ratified.
This creates an obvious problem for America.
China is increasingly integrating itself with the region on an economic level.
In which local parties (Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, etc.) welcome with open arms gleefully.
But, you know, the United States is not happy with in the least.
No longer is trade being conducted in the “almighty” US Dollar. It’s local currency to the e-yuan. And as time moves forward, more and more nations are following this lead.
The US doesn’t have an answer to any of this.
Recently, it was reported that Washington wanted to try and propose a ‘digital trade deal’ among the economies of the Asia-Pacific. This “digital trade deal” is intended to lock China out of trade with any nations that sign that agreement. This is by regulation.
A favorite technique, mind you, well established and mature to crush nations that do not “toe the line” with American Geo-political policy.
This is intended to be done by setting strict rules and regulations on the ‘digital economy’ of the region.
Because it’s absolutely untenable for these countries to lock China out, and it’s not hard to see why.
Yesterday (Mid-August 2021) Huawei announced it would be investing $100 million into over 1,000 software start-ups throughout Southeast Asia. And that’s just one of the many initiatives in bringing manufacturing, development, growth and prosperity to all the nations that surround China.
With a high degree of integration and economic benefits, it is impossible for the US to now shape the region’s initiative while keeping China excluded.
There’s nothing left.
This leaves the military.
And this is where China is increasingly powerful, but the US remains competitive and relevant.
Many countries in the region accept the presence of the United States and its allies militarily, because it gives them strategic space to prevent them from being completely dominated by China.
For a small city state like Singapore, this inclination makes obvious sense, but this is not so much ‘siding’ with America as it is a geopolitical balancing act between both powers.
Walking the “tight rope”; the “fine line” of neutrality.
Here lies the problem: America wants countries to align with it against China in a binary way, but the nations themselves want neutrality.
And ASEAN (The association of South East Asian nations) as an institution officially seeks such.
Some of these states of course are formally allied with America, such as the Philippines. Yet, you know, for all intents and purposes they utilize a strategy of ‘hedging’ between both sides.
And for certain, they do not seek confrontation with Beijing.
If Washington pushes too hard on anti-China initiatives, these countries become uncomfortable, and this may have the ‘opposite’ result.
This aims to ease tensions, and brands the US a ‘troublemaker’.
Duh!
Again, Washington doesn’t have the ability to conduct close diplomacy with these countries as a neighbor, only as a ‘visitor’.
America is an outsider.
China is local.
China is right there.
All in all, geography works against America. China is the neighbor of Southeast Asia, not the US.
Beijing is the largest economy in the region and is irreversibly integrated in terms of trade, technology, and finance.
America is not.
Yet, the US foreign policy strategy seems to pursue the bizarre premise that they can somehow dominate this region…
… push back China…
…and match its growing power…
… despite the fact they physically cannot, simply because they are not based there.
This means that whilst these countries are not necessarily rejecting an American presence, they are never going to adopt any serious anti-China policies or the militarization of the region that Biden hopes for.
Would you start a fight with your much bigger next-door neighbor?
Biden has no economic incentives to offer either.
China is, in many ways, continuing to lead and shape the regional agenda through its own initiatives, and as its own military presence in this area also grows, it has plenty of options to counter US posturing.
And the United States is impotent in the region, no matter what the American media says to the contrary.
Conclusion
Most of the world is still being influenced by the American media in one form or the other. And on subjects that everyone seems to have adjusted to what ever narrative that the American government made, the belief is that what ever Washington DC says is the truth. Nope. It is not.
Vietnam is many things, but an American proxy nation, whether military, commercial or economic, is simply not true.
This article broaches the true and actual state of affairs, and I do hope that it was interesting and meaningful at the same time. I have tried to present a diverse collection of videos showing the great breadth and width of the colorful Vietnamese society, and I hope that I put it in a positive light.
I have many friends how go to Vietnam, as it’s not too far from where I live, and they pretty much confirm what I have listed here. I hope that you all can see that it has a bright future ahead, and some deep and wonderful culture and traditions. I sincerely hope that they hold on to them and not allow them to disappear.
And when the pandemic ends, perhaps a nice visit to Vietnam would be a wonderful trip, and I am sure that you would make some wonderful, maybe even lifelong friends. And isn’t that what we all want out of life?
Hows’ that for a mouthful? Yeah, it’s a long title, but it has to be. You know with what “news” has actually become over the last few decades, most Americans are the most ignorant and uninformed people on the planet. Sure they have tons and tons of media outlets… but all the outlets originate from one or two main sources. And those are all controlled by the United States government.
Sad to say.
Anyways…
Grab a glass of wine and some delicious pizza and listen to a little story that I want to tell…
Pizza and wine go together nicely.
Firstly, for those of you that are unaware of the background, here’s a brief overview…
The Trump Administration was engaged in a hybrid war with China that included carpet-bombing of Chinese food and livestock with bio-weapons (8 strains). HERE.
It was planned to be a minimum of 8 years in duration, and 2020 was the year that was to “kick off” the “hot” (shooting) portion of the war. HERE.
The Coronavirus was a really devilish plot using and A-strain to inoculate four “friendly” nations, and the B-strain to attack four “enemy” nations. HERE.
Tin foil hat stuff, eh?
Nah.
Let me tell you all a nice little story…
When Donald Trump was elected there were some high hopes that a “businessman” would be able to conduct global and international trade and relationships from a business point of view with China. That is, as opposed to a political viewpoint as was displayed by the Obama administration when it was in Washington. Many nations, specifically China, believed that America would (finally) join the rest of the world in being a reasonable partner in trade and a steward for the planet.
That did not happen.
Instead, he staffed his administration with “hard Right” neocons and went on a ‘war footing” regarding China. Publicly, it was a series of “failed negotiations” and an increase in tariffs on Chinese made goods. Privately it was a complete “hybrid-war” gearing up for a “hot war” event that was to be “kicked off” in late 2019.
The idea was to to create all kind of stresses on the Chinese people, and then when the nation was at it’s weakest, America could invade under the pretext of saving “democracy” all “for the people”.
The public actions are well known. that included tariffs, censorship, attacks on Huawei, etc. This includes the “pro democracy” (NGO-sponsored) “color revolutions” in Hong Kong, and the military incursions to destabilize the Uighur population in Xinjiang.
The non-public actions are not that well known. These included carpet bombing of Chinese livestock with bio-weapons agents, the use of drones to hit remote villages, the destruction and suppression of chip-making equipment to China, interruption of precious mining operations, behind-the-scenes manipulations and black-mailing of “friendly” national leaders, and military probes into Chinese territory and systems.
Now, around 2019 China received word that a “big event” was planned to occur on or during CNY (Chinese New Year), and whether they knew exactly what it was, or how it would manifest, they knew something was up somehow. So once they received word, they immediate began reconnaissance efforts.
These reconnaissance efforts are just now coming to light…
The following article is from The Drive. Reprinted as found, and all credit to the author. Edited to fit this venue.
Mysterious Drone Incursions Have Occurred Over U.S. THAAD Anti-Ballistic Missile Battery In Guam
It's yet another reminder of just how vulnerable highly strategic assets, even air defense systems, are to low-end drones.
Earlier this year, it came to The War Zone‘s attention that a series of bizarre and highly concerning events took place in the late Winter of 2019 at Andersen Air Force Base on the Island of Guam.
Map of Guam.
As we understand it, between late February and early March of last year, the massive installation experienced repeated incursions by unmanned aircraft. The aircraft that appeared to be extremely interested in one highly sensitive area of the highly strategic base. This area of interest is the U.S. Army’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery that is tasked with defending the island from ballistic missile attacks.
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The incursions, which were said to have occurred in late March and early April 2019, had been observed by personnel manning the guard towers that loom over the highly secure THAAD area. This area, situated towards the northern end of the air base, is often referred to as “North West Field.” Andersen itself takes up the northern and western reaches of the entire island.
U.S. THAAD Anti-Ballistic Missile Battery, showing the deployment of the radar module and the launcher tubes.
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The intruding craft were described as “quadcopter-like” vehicles with bright spotlights that flew from over the water and then across the North West Base area. They flew at not much higher than treetop level, about 20 to 30 feet above the ground. On a number of nights, the craft would make multiple incursions in the very early morning hours. They would show up, disappear, then come back a few hours later.
Quad rotor drone with camera.
The spotlight that shone down from the craft made it hard for personnel to make out a detailed description of the craft, although estimates range from being three to five feet in diameter largely based on the size of the spotlight.
The craft would maneuver dynamically, appearing with the spotlight on, then disappearing, just to reappear moments later over to one side or another with the spotlight on, which was unsettling to those that witnessed it.
Supposedly, there was a concerted effort to identify, track, and down the mysterious craft, but it doesn’t seem that those efforts were successful based on our understanding of events.
U.S. THAAD Anti-Ballistic Missile Battery.
This information was highly interesting if not downright alarming, but we had to find hard evidence that at least something similar did indeed happen during this timeframe.
We got just that straight from the U.S. Air Force.
The United States will compete, deter, and win in the #IndoPacific.
The #THAAD system I visited on Friday, is one of our most advanced missile defense systems. It enables the defense of #Guam against short, medium and intermediate-range ballistic missiles.
#TaskForceTalonpic.twitter.com/g8C2b602aT
— Archive: Dr. Mark T. Esper (@EsperDoD) August 31, 2020
The War Zone was able to confirm that at least one of the incidents described above did occur through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), by which we obtained a copy of the relevant entry from the Air Force’s 36th Security Forces Squadron’s internal crime blotter. The is unit is part of the 36th Wing at Andersen Air Force Base.
The entry describes the “possible drone” as being of an
"unknown color and size, [with a] bright white light."
Army personnel at “THAAD Tower #2” had radioed in at
"2315," or 11:15 PM to report "a bright white light was seen from [their] LOCATION hovering over a field and quickly disappeared."
"Tower #2 personnel were unable to provide any further description,"
.
U.S. THAAD Anti-Ballistic Missile Battery. Showing the missiles in the pre-launch configuration.
The “JET PATROLS” that are referenced in the document are not aircraft, but are Jungle Enforcement Teams of the 36th Security Forces Squadron.
…the blotter entry continues.
"At 2318, JET PATROLS were in the vicinity conducting covert operations. None of the JET PATROLS were able to locate the suspicious white light."
The Air Force describes the teams as being
"tasked with preventing security breaches, apprehending poachers, and securing the perimeter around the jungle."
U.S. THAAD Anti-Ballistic Missile Battery showing a launch.
The team’s personnel move silently through the jungle that permeates much of the base at night and have unique human tracking skills. You can read all about this specialized security force in this official media release.
Interestingly, the 36th Security Force Squadron’s blotter lists this incident as
which implied that there was at least one other similarly classified drone incident at Andersen Air Force Base before this one by that point in the early 2019 calendar or fiscal year.
Radar for a U.S. THAAD Anti-Ballistic Missile Battery.
Another FOIA request confirmed that there was a “2019-1” blotter entry, but the Air Force withheld information about that event citing privacy and law enforcement exemptions.
Agencies typically withhold records for law enforcement reasons because of a potential risk of exposing sensitive tactics, techniques, or procedures, or because of an ongoing investigation.
It is then doubly interesting that the March 2019 incident near the Army’s THAAD battery at North West Field was not also subject to the exemptions.
U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM) forwarded a separate FOIA request regarding this incident, any other similar occurrences around the same timeframe, to the U.S. Army. The War Zone is still awaiting a response to that request, as well as another one to the Guam Police Department. We inquired directly to the 36th Wing and INDOPACOM, but never got a response.
A general diagram showing how a U.S. THAAD Anti-Ballistic Missile Battery operates.
We found this information to be highly troubling for a number of reasons.
The most important is that this craft was able to penetrate its way over an air defense system that is tasked with defending the highly strategic island from ballistic missile attacks.
In other words, that THAAD battery is largely what stands in the way of a country like North Korea from holding the island at imminent risk.
The system is even capable of shielding against a lower volume barrage from a peer state competitor, such as China.
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Guam would be near the top of Beijing’s targeting list during a conflict with the United States and its growing ballistic missile arsenal has been developed largely to deny the U.S. the utility of its regional bases during the open stages of a conflict.
U.S. THAAD Anti-Ballistic Missile Battery.
The thing is that destruction of enemy air defenses (DEAD) is not defined by a platform, it is a mission.
Traditionally we associate the objective of destroying enemy air defenses with standoff cruise missile attacks and ‘wild weasel’ fighter jet operations, but DEAD can be carried out by a team of special operators with some well-placed explosives or via a barrage of naval gunfire.
Even carefully deployed malware that targets the software that an air defense system and its mechanical component run on could potentially be destructive enough to be considered a DEAD method.
U.S. THAAD Anti-Ballistic Missile Battery showing the inception stage.
With that said, America’s preeminent adversaries in the entire region would make taking out the THAAD battery on Guam a top priority during a conflict or even as part of a limited demonstration of force.
Why barrage it with ballistic missiles or attempt a cruise missile launch from a forward-deployed submarine or even a clandestine commando raid when you can just fly a drone loaded with explosives into it?
A diagram of an ICBM showing and indicating interception stages.
And no, you don’t need some high-end drone system to do this as real-world events have highlighted many times over.
Somewhat more sophisticated types can be launched from longer distances and can even home in on radar or other RF emissions sources, like THAAD’s powerful AN/TPY-2 Radar and data-links, autonomously, beyond just striking a certain point on a map.
U.S. THAAD Anti-Ballistic Missile Battery.
Simply put, ‘shooting the archer,’ in this case an advanced anti-ballistic missile system that protects America’s most strategic base in the entire region, via a relatively cheap drone is both an absurdly obvious and terrifyingly ironic tactic—the U.S. can shoot down ballistic missiles, but the critical systems used to do so remain extremely vulnerable to the lowliest of airborne threats—cheap drones.
For those that follow our work, this is not news. The U.S. military was dangerously aloof when it came to the threat posed by low-end drones.
We spent years highlighting this threat while seeing the U.S. military do very little to actually counter it, that is until ISIS was constantly dropping bomblets from drones or just flying explosive-laden drones into allied positions during the Battle of Mosul, Iraq.
U.S. THAAD Anti-Ballistic Missile Battery showing the three points and opportunities for interception.
The radar unit of a U.S. THAAD Anti-Ballistic Missile Battery.
In the meantime, it’s abundantly clear that even America’s most capable air defenses are vulnerable to the most meager of aerial capabilities—commercially available drones.
If anything else, this is yet another, but possibly the biggest example of just how misplaced the U.S. military’s priorities had become when it comes to investments in air defense over the last two decades or so.
The components of a U.S. THAAD Anti-Ballistic Missile Battery minus the launcher truck module.
You can read how the Pentagon let its short-range air defense (SHORAD) capabilities wither on the vine to an appalling degree while concentrating on higher-profile, ‘sexier,’ and drastically more lucrative weapon systems in this past feature of ours.
The Pentagon’s appalling lack of vision regarding the emergence of this threat has made quickly ramping-up efforts to counter it that much more of a scramble, which is ongoing now.
The radar and command and power modules for a U.S. THAAD Anti-Ballistic Missile Battery.
Still, America’s potential enemies are already a step ahead, working on swarming low-end drone concepts that will overwhelm most countermeasures currently in the works.
A comparison of three anti-ballistic missile batteries deployed by the United States; the Patriot, Thaad, and Ages.
In the meantime, the events on Guam in 2019 serve as maybe the most outstanding reminder of how the Pentagon’s fixation on high-end threats, and the huge gold plated weapons programs that are put into play to counter them, have left even those very capabilities remarkably vulnerable to far less advanced attacks.
As to quote the character from “Laugh In”… “Very Interesting…”
So what does this mean?
Well, strangely…
…immediately before the bio-weapons attack on CNY 2020 there were incursions of a reconnaissance nature on Guam investigating the THAAD missile batteries. These incursions were visible. They intentionally turned on flood and spot lights and were not secretive. Which is a very UNUSUAL way to conduct reconnaissance operations.
One must wonder what was actually going on.
Who operated the drones? Was it the Chinese? Or an American operation that was testing the defenses? Was it someone else?
Where were the drones controlled from? Was it from a civilian located on the South end of the island, or was it from a submarine or some other vehicle?
Why did the drones turn on the lights? Was it to be noticed, or was it to take quick photographs?
Why isn’t the American military concerned? Perhaps this event is really nothing to worry about. You can trust the United States government, right?
The thing is, however, this is not the only event leading up to the 2020 CNY bio-weapon attack on China. Throughout 2019, American bases, and Naval ships were being probed.
Such as described in this article. Reprinted as found. All credit to the writer, and edited to fit this venue.
Navy’s Top Officer Says ‘Drones’ That Swarmed Destroyers Remain Unidentified
A series of bizarre events off Southern California in 2019 remain unexplained according to the Chief of Naval Operations.
At a roundtable with reporters today, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Michael Gilday, the U.S. Navy’s top officer, was asked about a series of bizarre incidents that took place in July 2019 and involved what only have been described as ‘drones’ swarming American destroyers off the coast of Southern California.
American destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill
The War Zone was the first to report in detail on this series of mysterious events after the incident was originally uncovered by filmmaker Dave Beaty.
Asked by Jeff Schogol of Task & Purposeif the Navy had positively identified any of the aircraft involved, Gilday responded by saying:
“No, we have not. I am aware of those sightings and as it’s been reported there have been other sightings by aviators in the air and by other ships not only of the United States, but other nations – and of course other elements within the U.S. joint force.”“Those findings have been collected and they still are being analyzed," Gilday added. "I don’t have anything new to report, Jeff, on what those findings have revealed thus far. But I will tell you we do have a well-established process in place across the joint force to collect that data and to get it to a separate repository for analysis.”
At the time of writing, it is unclear if Admiral Gilday was referring to the Department of Defense’s Navy-led Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Task Force (UAPTF), created last August to examine “incursions by unauthorized aircraft into our training ranges or designated airspace.”
A Senate-requested report on Unidentified Aerial Phenomena is expected later this year. Representatives from the UAPTF could not be reached for comment.
Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell (DDG 85)
A preliminary response to our Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) inquiries indicates that the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) possesses documents about the incident and that they are intermingled with records from several other agencies. This would make sense as the UAPTF was established within ONI, according to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
Schogol also asked if there was any suspicion that the aircraft described as drones were “extraterrestrial.” Gilday responded,
“No, I can’t speak to that - I have no indications at all of that.”
American destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill
The War Zone has reached out to the Navy, Coast Guard, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for further details regarding the drones flying near Navy destroyers in 2019. Members of the intelligence and armed services committees in both the Senate and the House were asked for comment, as well. While at least some elected officials indicated they were aware of the issue, none were able to make a statement at this time regarding the encounters off the coast of Southern California two years ago.
So What is going on?
Well, you know that throughout the Pacific in 2019, drones were “buzzing” and observing United States military operations. They studied defense operations, ship capabilities, and base operations.
This all occurred simultaneously while the Trump Administration was ramping up a “war stance” towards China.
2010 – 2016 Obama setting up bases that surrounded China.
2017 – 2019 Trump media march for war, color revolutions, tariffs, and induce famine inside of China.
2020 was to be the year for actual military operations, kicked off by a full-scale bio-weapon attack with R0=20% lethal COVID-19B strain. (Not the “safe” American R0=0.01% COVID-19A strain.)
Also simultaneously during this time period was a complete restructuring of the American military…
Combined we see a picture that is quite disturbing.
A Washington DC establishment desirous of a “Hot War” with China. Not only one of the largest nations on the planet, but the home of most of the factories, technology, and and military on the planet.
A realization that China has Intel that indicates activities that might happen in the future. Somehow they found out about the CNY plans a year earlier.
Scanning and recon of American Naval forces, bases and defenses in the South Pacific right before the CNY 2020 Bio-weapon attack.
A politically focused restructuring of the military.
An over emphasis in American technical superiority, and a discounting of the basic physical standards of the military.
One cannot help to remember stories about similar events in the past and how they all turned out.
I am reminded of Babylon. Not the city written about in the Bible, but the much later incarnation. The Babylon of the Islamic Empire. It was the center of all society, technology, and manufacturing in the ancient world.
But it was ruled by self-absorbed fools.
And out from the East came a “rough and tumble” people that DID.NOT.PLAY. They wanted to align with the Islamic nation, they wanted to expand but incorporate the nation and peoples in with their society.
Nope!
Says the self-absorbed Babylon ruler drinking his wines. Singing his songs, dancing with his friends…
The following is from HERE. All credit to the author, and reprinted as found and edited to fit within this venue.
The Mongol conquest of the Abbasid Caliphate culminated in the horrific sack of Baghdad that effectively ended the Islamic Golden Age.
The Islamic Golden Age—from the 8th to the mid-13th century—was one of the greatest periods of human flourishment in knowledge and progress, with Baghdad as its focal point.
A truly global repository of human knowledge, this Arab-Muslim imperial capital also welcomed—indeed encouraged—scholars from across the known world. As its wealth and fame grew, more and more scholars and engineers were drawn to the city from all over civilization.
But in January 1258, a vast Mongol army reached the city’s perimeter and demanded that the caliph—al-Musta’sim, the nominal spiritual authority of the Islamic world—surrender.
History of Baghdad: The Greatest City in the World
If you can imagine the shock waves, were London razed to the ground tomorrow, you’d be getting close to the horror that was about to accompany the Sack of Baghdad in 1258.
Founded 500 years earlier, Baghdad’s population had reached one million within a century, making it the world’s largest, most prosperous, and celebrated city. If one thinks of London in 1897—the year when Queen Victoria celebrated her Golden Jubilee—the English city on the Thames was by then the largest and most important city on earth. In 1897, London was peerless in the world, with nowhere else coming close to matching its power and influence. It was the capital, and the fulcrum, of the British Empire.
A Devastating Moment in History for Muslims in the Middle East
For many historians, the arrival of the Mongols into the heart of the Muslim faith and empire is the single most devastating moment in the history of the Muslim Middle East. It’s easy to see why—and hard to argue otherwise—because the Sack of Baghdad would mark the end of the Islamic Golden Age.
Rather than submit, the Abbasid caliph challenged the Mongols to attempt to storm his city, if they dared. The nomadic army from Asia—led by Hulagu Khan, one of Genghis Khan’s grandsons—did indeed dare. Doing what they are most famous for, the Mongols thrashed Baghdad. In 10 days of unremitting violence and destruction, Baghdad and its inhabitants were completely and utterly vanquished. Almost without exception, the population was either put to the sword or sold into slavery. The River Tigris ran red—to cite one of the most over-quoted, and overwrought phrases in history—with the blood of slaughtered men, women, and children.
After this, every building of note in Baghdad—including mosques, palaces, and markets—was utterly destroyed, among them the world-famous House of Wisdom. Hundreds of thousands of priceless manuscripts and books were tossed into the river, clogging the arterial waterway with so many texts, according to eyewitnesses, that soldiers could ride on horseback from one side to the other. Of course, the river turned from red to black with ink.
Who Were the Mongols?
The Sack of Baghdad fits, like a hinge, almost exactly in the middle of two defining dates in the history of Islam, from the founding of the faith in the year 622 to the end of the last caliphate in 1924. Even by the standards of the day, the destruction was shocking, and the results long-lasting, if not permanent. The Mongols’ name during this period in history was a byword for destruction. Who were they and where did they come from? Is there any reason to think that they were any more destructive than other peoples at the time?
The Mongols, an ethnic group, originating in north and central Asia, were typically pastoral peoples, whose nomadic lifestyle inevitably brought them into conflict with more settled populations. Probably the best example of how settled peoples tried to restrict their otherwise free movement is the Great Wall of China. The wall was essentially built to hold back incursions of their Mongolian neighbors to the north.
This preference for nomadism over a settled existence is central to the view of the Mongols as especially destructive. As one writer put it, while Muslims built cities—Baghdad and Cairo, for example—Mongols destroyed them. Does this mean that the Mongols were inherently more ruthless or violent than Muslims or crusading Christians? Not necessarily. Rather, it shows that their priority, in terms of conquest, was for land, for grazing—for space even—rather than for cities and confinement.
As one writer put it, while Muslims built cities—Baghdad and Cairo, for example—Mongols destroyed them.
One thing that came out of the Mongols’ lack of interest in seizing cities was their enhanced mobility. Often living on a diet of mare’s milk—or blood, if the mares were not lactating—Mongol custom meant that they never washed their clothes. This, along with a heavy fat diet—both milk and meat—no doubt accounted for the Mongols’ reputation as a very smelly, as well as scary, foe.
The Fierce Mongol Warriors
Contemporary chroniclers tell us that Mongol warriors were most comfortable in the saddle, literally, it seems. If they had to move more than a hundred yards, or so, they’d jump on a horse and ride. Also, all warriors owned numerous mounts, allowing them to cover larger distances than more traditional cavalry found in the Near East and Europe. While they rode light into battle, the Mongols used harnessed oxen to pull their heavier and more cumbersome possessions from place to place.
An important facet of the Mongol way of war and conquest was their use of terror as a tactic. The banging of metal pots and the rattling of bells was the usual way of announcing the start of a battle. This created such a din that defenders of a city under siege would find it almost impossible to hear their officers’ commands.
Whenever they entered new territory, the Mongols would offer the local rulers an opportunity to surrender. But in the language of many a salesman, this was a one-time offer. For those foolish enough not to surrender immediately, conquest and destruction without quarter would be their lot, and the people of Baghdad knew this.
Setting the Scene for Catastrophe Before the Sack of Baghdad
In 1206, just 52 years before the Sack of Baghdad, the Mongol Empire was formed and led by the legendary Genghis Khan. Khan is originally a Mongolian word that means military leader, or sovereign, a king, in English. Being accepted as the Great Khan effectively elevated Genghis to the status of an emperor. His grandsons now ruled the Mongolian Empire. In addition to Hulagu Khan, who led the attack against Baghdad, there was Kublai Khan, conqueror of China, and Mongke Khan, who became the Great Khan and sent his brother Hulagu to Baghdad.
Hulagu marched at the head of perhaps the largest Mongolian army ever assembled, consisting of as many as 150,000 troops, with Baghdad one of several goals for this mission. First, Hulagu was told to subdue southern Iran, which he did. Next, he was to destroy the infamous Assassins.
A breakaway Nizari-Ismaili-Shia sect, founded in the 11th century, the Assassins had achieved infamy for the political assassinations—hence, the term we use today—carried out by certain of their number. Although it was known that the Assassins were based at the castle of Alamut in northwestern Iran, many of their adversaries thought they were somehow invincible because of the stealth they typically employed. Hulagu Khan proved this was not the case. After destroying the Assassins and their castle fortress at Alamut, Baghdad was the next stop on his list.
The majority of Hulagu Khan’s men were Mongolian warriors, but the force also contained Christians, including soldiers led by the king of Armenia, Frankish Crusaders from the Principality of Antioch, and Georgians.
The majority of Hulagu Khan’s men were Mongolian warriors, but the force also contained Christians, including soldiers led by the king of Armenia, Frankish Crusaders from the Principality of Antioch, and Georgians. There were also Muslim soldiers from various Turkic and Persian tribes, and 1,000 Chinese engineers—artillery specialists, who were always in demand when the need arose to reduce walls to rubble.
The Abbasid Caliphate
The Abbasids—the third Islamic caliphate to rule the Muslim Middle East since the death of Muhammad—had risen to power in 750, after overthrowing their rivals, the Damascus-based Umayyads. Taking their name from one of Muhammad’s uncles, Abbas, the Abbasids quickly took control of almost all Umayyad lands, and so found themselves ruling over an enormous empire that covered the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, Syria, Iraq, Persia and beyond to modern Afghanistan.
A new Abbasid caliphate deserved a new capital, which they established in Baghdad, in 762, and immediately built it into an imperial city worthy of their greatness.
A new Abbasid caliphate deserved a new capital, which they established in Baghdad, in 762, and immediately built it into an imperial city worthy of their greatness. Within a couple of generations, Baghdad had attracted some of the world’s greatest scholars. Alongside Persian scholarship and cultural traditions—and Arab authority—one saw people from other parts of Asia, Europe, and Africa. Numerous Jews and Christians also pursued studies there.
Baghdad: A City of Learning
Among the greatest of them all was founded by the early Abbasid caliphs. Called the Bayt al-Hikma—or House of Wisdom—this was the place that the best scholars and professors aspired to reach—not just Muslims from the Islamic world. Imagine if you will, all of America’s Ivy League Colleges rolled into one; add to those the science and technological power of Carnegie Mellon, MIT, Stanford, and Berkley, then add Oxford and Cambridge to the mix, and the world’s great non-English-speaking universities. It comes close to what the House of Wisdom was like—except it was even more influential.
Imagine if you will all of America’s Ivy League Colleges rolled into one; add to those the science and technological power of Carnegie Mellon, MIT, Stanford, and Berkley, then add Oxford and Cambridge to the mix, and the world’s great non-English-speaking universities. It comes close to what the House of Wisdom was like—except it was even more influential.
There were two distinct sides to scholarship in Baghdad. One was translation work, with texts from India, Persia, and Greece gathered in huge numbers. Texts originally composed in Persian, Sanskrit, Greek, Syriac, and Chinese were all eagerly rendered into Arabic. Combined with this extensive translation work, however, was a wealth of original scholarship, funded and encouraged by the caliphs. The arts and sciences alike were covered, so that advances were made in almost every imaginable subject, including mathematics, medicine, astronomy, physics, cartography, zoology, and poetry.
A Weak-Willed Caliph in Thirteenth-Century Baghdad
In the year 1242, al-Musta’sim became the 37th caliph in the Abbasid line. Baghdad’s glory days were behind it. By this stage, the Abbasid caliphs were largely figureheads, propped up by outside forces. If they were important at all, it was as the inheritors of Islamic orthodoxy and as beacons of cultural greatness, but not as a political power to be obeyed nor a military force to be feared. Indeed, the Abbasids already were in the habit of paying an annual tribute to the Mongols. Despite this, the city was still large and prosperous.
A weak-willed, even dissolute character, al-Musta’sim was happier hanging out with musicians and drinking wine than he was ruling…
Alas for Baghdad, the court of history doesn’t rate the caliph as the greatest of his line. A weak-willed, even dissolute character, al-Musta’sim was happier hanging out with musicians and drinking wine than he was ruling an already weakened empire. In 1251, the Abbasids sent a delegation to pay homage on the coronation of Hulagu’s brother, Mongke, when he became the Great Khan, but this was no longer considered enough.
Mongols Demand Submission by Abbasid Caliph al-Mustasim
Mongke insisted that the Abbasid Caliph al-Musta’sim come in person to Karakorum, the 13th century capital of the Mongol Empire, in the north of modern Mongolia, to fully submit to Mongol rule. The Caliph al-Musta’sim refused to do so. The final showdown between the Mongols and the Abbasids was set. With the Mongol horde marching on Baghdad, a clash was inevitable, although this wouldn’t be the first encounter between the Abbasids and the Mongols.
In the recent past, the Abbasids had managed a couple of small-scale military victories against Mongol forces; however, these were soon overturned and weren’t part of any trend of a militarily resurgent Abbasid Empire. Their days of martial glory were long gone. Adding fuel to the fire, al-Musta’sim is said to have slighted Shia Muslims by various acts and decrees. He should have known better, as his grand vizier, or senior advisor, was himself a Shia Muslim. This vizier is said to have sided with the Mongols, encouraging their takeover of the city, perhaps imagining that he’d be given control of Baghdad by a grateful Hulagu. If this is what he thought, he didn’t know anything about Hulagu.
A Difficult Decision for the Caliph to Surrender to the Mongols
The caliph was faced with a choice between surrendering to the Mongol leader and presumably saving his city, or building up his army, and riding out to meet the invading warriors in combat. It likely never crossed the caliph’s mind that he should probably surrender rather than send threats to Hulagu. Al-Musta’sim discovered a third option: Doing nothing.
Baghdad was surrounded, and al-Musta’sim realized too late that the Mongol army was far larger and stronger than he’d been told. The rest of the Muslim world wasn’t about to rush to his rescue either. The siege of Baghdad began on January 29, 1258. The Mongols quickly built a palisade and ditch and brought siege engines, such as covered battering rams that protected their men from the defenders’ arrows and other missiles, and catapults to attack the city’s walls. At this stage, al-Musta’sim made a last-ditch attempt to negotiate with Hulagu and was rebuffed. Al-Musta’sim surrendered Baghdad to Hulagu five days later, on February 10. Adding to the distress of those inside the city, Hulagu and his horde didn’t make any attempt to enter the city for three days.
A Glimmer of Compassion for Baghdad Christians
Late in life, Hulagu became a Buddhist. At this moment, however, the only sign of compassion he showed was towards Baghdad’s Nestorian Christian community. Nestorianism was a form of Christianity that church authorities had declared heretical in the 5th century. It stressed that the divine and human aspects of Jesus’s nature were separate. Many Nestorians had moved to Persia, where they’d lived ever since. Hulagu, upon entering Baghdad, told the Nestorians to lock themselves in their church and ordered his men not to touch them. What was the reason for this act of kindness before the bloodbath that was to follow? Simply that Hulagu’s mother and his favorite wife were both Nestorian Christians.
Mongols Execute Baghdad Notables
About 3,000 of Baghdad’s notables—including officials, members of the Abbasid family, and the caliph himself—pleaded for clemency. But all 3,000 were put to death without compunction…
With the Nestorians secure, Hulagu allowed his army an unfettered week of rape, pillage, and murder to celebrate their victory. About 3,000 of Baghdad’s notables—including officials, members of the Abbasid family, and the caliph himself—pleaded for clemency. But all 3,000 were put to death without compunction; all, that is, except for the caliph. He was held prisoner for a little while longer, perhaps in part so that he could see the full extent of what befell his capital.
Estimates of the death toll range from 90,000 at the lowest end to one million at the other. Apart from being a conveniently round number, the population of Baghdad was around a million, and the historical record tells us not everyone was killed. Whatever the actual number, it included the army that had dared resist Hulagu’s advance, and the civilians, who had no choice either way. Men, women, and children down to babes in arms were put to the sword or clubbed to death. Little mercy was shown unless it was of a quick rather than a lingering death.
Death of a Caliph
The Caliph al-Musta’sim was forced to watch these murders and the plundering of his treasury and palaces. Hulagu taunted him that, with so much gold and so many jewels, he’d have been better off spending some of these riches on building up a bigger army. As for how the caliph met his end, one account says he was locked in his treasury, surrounded by his wealth, and left alone to starve to death. As colorful as this account is, it doesn’t sound likely, given the widespread looting that took place, nor is it corroborated by any sources.
A more plausible account, as reported by several chroniclers, goes like this: Hulagu had been warned by his astronomers that royal blood shouldn’t be spilled onto the earth. If it were, the earth would reject it, and earthquakes and natural destruction would follow. If we consider his record, one might not think Hulagu an especially cautious man. However, in this case, he plotted the safer course. The caliph was rolled in carpets, which would catch any blood spilled, and then he was trampled to death by his cavalry. For the first time since the death of Muhammad, 636 years earlier, Islam had no Caliph whose name could be quoted in Friday prayers.
Destruction of the City of Baghdad
If you’re looking for an example of a city razed to the ground, Baghdad in 1258 would be a good choice.
Apart from the human casualties, there was the destruction of the 500-year old city itself. Fires were set so that the fragrant scent of sandalwood and other aromatics was smelled up to 30 miles away. If you’re looking for an example of a city razed to the ground, Baghdad in 1258 would be a good choice. After a week, Hulagu ordered his camp out of the city, and moved upwind, away from the stench of rotting corpses.
Hulagu left Baghdad a broken and depopulated city. Even if those left alive had wanted to rebuild, they lacked the numbers, the resources, and the skills to do so. The death and destruction were such that it would be more than a decade before anyone from Baghdad performed the hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. In attacking Baghdad, Hulagu also destroyed the network of canals that irrigated the arable land thereabouts. Famine and plague followed the Mongol horde to Baghdad as elsewhere. Their scorched-earth tactics make it easy to see why they’re often tagged with a reputation as the most destructive of all the great empires.
Conclusion
All things taken into account, and the knowledge that history tends to repeat itself…
…it seems that the entire United States is Hell-bent on duplicating the fall of the “Golden Age of Islam” and the destruction of Baghdad.
Which is a bitter-sweet thing. After all, there are many great people in the United States, and it is a beautiful land, with some wonderful cities, some great food, and basically decent culture. Taken a a whole.
But…
On the other hand…
Can you imagine what happens if the United States does NOT correct it’s posture. That it does not correct it’s desire to rule over the world. That it does not change it’s social structure, it’s ownership by corporations, and it’s basic inequalities. What if it implements “The Long Telegram” and it is successful in doing so; where the entire world becomes like Detroit or Baltimore and ruled by a 0.001% of psychopathic individuals under a global plutocracy?? Can you just imagine it?
Burrrr!
I get shivers just thinking about it.
Ugh!
It’s time to think about something else. If any one asks. I’ll be jammin’.
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