Bob Zimmerman has some observations after a recent visit to Israel.
Category Archives: War Commentary
North Korea
Assessing its war plans:
Recognizing that in war nothing ever goes entirely as expected, and that there are some major unknowns, this is based on what we do know about North Korea’s force structure, its comparative strengths, and terrain and other considerations—along with my own assessment of how Korean War II would initially unfold. But regardless of how it played out, one thing is near certain: It would entail horrific destruction and suffering. Tens or hundreds of thousands could become casualties. In defeat, North Korea would become a 25-million strong humanitarian catastrophe. And that is just with conventional weapons: The possible consequences of attacking Seoul with WMD are almost too awful to contemplate. There is a role for force here—a strong ROK/US posture has certainly constrained North Korean aggression for decades—and in no way should DPRK threats be simply acceded to. But under current conditions, and given the scale of likely destruction, planners should strongly question whether each DPRK provocation—even the imminent development of a ICBM—justifies risking such a war.
As a general once said, war consists of sh***y options, and this is probably the worst problem currently on the global state.
The Iran “Deal”
It just keeps looking worse and worse:
When federal prosecutors and agents learned the true extent of the releases, many were shocked and angry. Some had spent years, if not decades, working to penetrate the global proliferation networks that allowed Iranian arms traders both to obtain crucial materials for Tehran’s illicit nuclear and ballistic missile programs and, in some cases, to provide dangerous materials to other countries.
“They didn’t just dismiss a bunch of innocent business guys,” said one former federal law enforcement supervisor centrally involved in the hunt for Iranian arms traffickers and nuclear smugglers. “And then they didn’t give a full story of it.”
In its determination to win support for the nuclear deal and prisoner swap from Tehran — and from Congress and the American people — the Obama administration did a lot more than just downplay the threats posed by the men it let off the hook, according to POLITICO’s findings.
Through action in some cases and inaction in others, the White House derailed its own much-touted National Counterproliferation Initiative at a time when it was making unprecedented headway in thwarting Iran’s proliferation networks. In addition, the POLITICO investigation found that Justice and State Department officials denied or delayed requests from prosecutors and agents to lure some key Iranian fugitives to friendly countries so they could be arrested. Similarly, Justice and State, at times in consultation with the White House, slowed down efforts to extradite some suspects already in custody overseas, according to current and former officials and others involved in the counterproliferation effort.
And as far back as the fall of 2014, Obama administration officials began slow-walking some significant investigations and prosecutions of Iranian procurement networks operating in the U.S. These previously undisclosed findings are based on interviews with key participants at all levels of government and an extensive review of court records and other documents.
“Clearly, there was an embargo on any Iranian cases,” according to the former federal supervisor.
It was treasonous, really, and probably at the instigation of Valerie Jarrett.
Theresa May
Is she about to become the most powerful person in Europe?
Given the way Europe is imploding, may be.
Socialism Denial
It’s the equivalent of Holocaust denial for the Left.
Yup. Particularly considering that the Holocaust itself was a leftist project. There’s nothing “right wing” (if by that you mean conservative, or libertarian) about rounding up and murdering people wholesale.
[Late-morning update]
Related: Venezuela’s socialist hell. This is always the inevitable end state, but “Hey, this time it will be different,” say Bernie supporters.
[Update a couple minutes later]
Twenty die in Venezuelan protests. Sadly, the only hope for them is to get them arms, since the government has confiscated them and armed its own supporters. As I said, this is the inevitable end state, and ultimately why we have a Second Amendment here.
Kremlingate
Was John Brennan the mastermind behind it? It wouldn’t surprise me.
The Fate Trump Spared Us
Why despite my visceral dislike and low opinion of Trump, I’m still glad she lost:
I am sure Obama always remained ambivalent about Hillary Clinton from their 2008 contest, as he was very critical of Bill Clinton’s “triangulation” in The Audacity of Hope. Then, too, we know that Hillary’s 2008 campaign was an organizational disaster from start to finish, reflecting her own disorderly mind, arrogant manner, and presumptuous character. It appears she learned nothing from that experience as the campaign approached.
Yes. As I’ve always said, she’s an incompetent, corrupt hack, and her administration would have been a disaster on top of terrible policy.
[Update late morning]
Hillary ran the worst presidential campaign ever. And there’s no reason to think that she’d have run the country any better.
B-25s On The Prowl
I’d never seen this photo before. It’s a little weird, because for all I know, my father could be in the waist of one of those planes manning the radio and a gun. I don’t know what missions he flew. I wonder if there’s a way to find out?
The Syria Strike
Why did they use Tomahawks? This is a pretty good explanation. As the article says, it was low payoff, but it was also low risk, and could be done quickly without having to coordinate with allies, as symbolism.
[Update a few minutes later]
What the Syria attack did, and didn’t do.
Susan Rice
Here are the questions that she needs to answer under oath.
If Nunes is telling the truth—and despite a widespread effort to make him look like a liar, he’s been right so far—then this incidental collection had nothing to do with Russian collusion charges. Why has the media shown such little curiosity about the subject matter of the collection?
Yes, reporters, we know that “unmasking” is legal. So is meeting with a Russian ambassador during a campaign. And no, it does not vindicate Trump’s tweet. Stressing the legality of the unmasking is a way to distract from the real questions: Did Rice abuse her power? Who did she share it with? Why? Did those people then leak the information for political purposes? That is illegal.
That will be pretty challenging for her, given that she seems to be as big a congenital liar as Hillary Clinton.
[Update a few minutes later]
Sorry, Democrats, the Obama-spying scandal isn’t going away.
Nope. Sessions recused himself from the Russia investigation. He didn’t recuse himself from this.