Michael  Shrimpton:Conspiracy Theorist or Harbinger?
'Spyhunter' (The Secret History of German Intelligence) by Michael Shrimpton, 2014
A draft of one of the most controversial intelligence books recently written popped through my mailbox several months ago.   It was from an old colleague, Michael Shrimpton.  Some will argue that it is not an intelligence book at all but a jumbled collection of conspiracy theories woven into faction.
Spyhunter is essentially about a fabled German spy network which was never dismantled after World War II, the DVD.   If I am to be really precise, we first talked about this book 3 years ago and, with Michael's agreement, I pulled a review just before it went to print.   What I don't want to do is to fall either into the conspiracist nor into the 'Whodunnit?' trap.  Conspiracists will agree with Michael's analysis - as it fits several other patterns they have already revealed.   The problem here is, just because you don't agree with conspiracists that doesn't mean that there is absolutely no truth in everything they allege (!)
Edward Heath,British Prime Minister

Firstly, Ted Heath made a lot of enemies when he took Britain into Europe.   Many in the Tory Party believed he had 'sold out' and this was unforgivable.  Indeed the argument about Europe and Britain's place in it rages on today within the rank and file membership so it continues to remain a highly divisive issue.

Gay Politicians and Statesmen -When It Was Illegal To be Gay
We know that several world statesmen are Gay, but this does not mean that they are child molesters or murderers - which Michael alleges of one in his book. The problem here is that you can say anything about anybody - if they are dead - they have no comeback!
Chairman Mao and Paedophile Rings
Secondly we know that Chairman Mao used paedophile rings, gays and lesbians to blackmail political opponents - but so too did (do) many other intelligence agencies I can think of throughout the world.
The Cambridge Soviet Spies & The DVD
Cambridge is again dug up as a nest of Gay recruits to MI6 - but I have been reading about this since at least 10 years before the time I knew Anthony Verrier (Through The Looking Glass,1983) - we both served on the Editorial Board of The European Review.   So again, what's new Michael? Anthony Verrier's contacts were highly reliable and none were 'cookies'.  Sadly in this area, when individuals think you have a contact source in intelligence, a lot of fruitcakes want to either attach you to fruit and nut causes - or rope you in as a committee member.  I recently had to extract myself from one such situation (where a 'tutti frutti' -  nutcase/mentally unbalanced individual - had ensconced on a committee with the sole purpose of compromising me) and that took almost one year!  So this matter of the reliability of sources is of utmost importance where 'smoke and mirrors' are involved.
Princess Diana - Murder or a Tragic Accident?
Michael's revelations about the death of Princess Diana are likewise controversial - but again, other than blaming the DVD, there is little new information here.   Of course if you are German, you will most likely be either incensed or indeed delighted to know that almost everything in the world for the past 1300 years, indeed even the origin of Islam itself (!) can be attributed to German Intelligence!
The Hidden Sexual Proclivities of World Politicians
The hidden sex life of world politicians is always titillating - and it's so sad that Michael did not 'go to town' on this matter-as there are a lot of' 'hetero' scandals out there which would have given such added 'spice' to a book which became bogged slightly down in 'kiddie sex' politicians - to the point of boring the reader.  I won't rewrite Michael's book-but there are heirs and spares (even to Royal thrones) whose true lineage is just as interesting and the the general public would go ape (!) to know about such matters.

Deja Vu?

Michael's book becomes a read, almost of, 'read it all before, heard it all before, seen it all before - so what's new?'  However, I must not be too critical because to weave an intelligence book of 800 pages requires a wonderful talent in itself.   I have kept my ear to the ground over the years so perhaps have heard more 'backtalk' than that which many people would ever encounter.   The revelations in Spyhunter will most certainly amaze and stupify a whole new generation
Faction Sells Better Than Reality
Several months ago I was at a low-key reception for a very senior politician.  I met with someone and afterwards we exchanged emails.   I said to him that these days people don't want hard facts and a dull analysis of politics or history, they want everything to be 'jazzed up' - sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll will always keep them (readers) awake.   No 'dry' book about politics and political events will ever sell today as well as one with politicians caught with their 'trousers down' or 'skirts up' and 'in the act'.  If you add brothel scenes and orgies, murder of gay lovers and everything else in the stable, you are probably guaranteed to make enough to retire on your first book!    Shrimpton covers the field quite well - so it would not at all surprise me if Spyhunter is a runaway success.
What I am absolutely sure of is that no 18-23 year-old university undergraduate will fall asleep whilst reading Spyhunter - as they most certainly will with the rest of the 'stuffy' prescribed literature!   And they may actually be motivated to take a real interest in history as a subject; hopefully with a very critical eye.

Markus Wolf and Inga Haag

Michael mentions Markus Wolf - one of the last of the Old World's foremost (and greatest) Cold War spymasters.   But for many years I knew Inga Haag, Britain's foremost spy in Admiral Canaris' Office during World War II.    She showed me a lot of unknown and unpublished material from the days of the Third Reich - all of which is now in the hands of her biographer, a confidant, whom I will not name.   Indeed I was sworn to never reveal where Inga lived - and I knew someone 2 doors away, a socialite, who was quite angry with me when I told her after Inga's death, whom she had been living beside for many years.   Inga would never call herself 'German'.    All her life she remained a 'Prussian'.    The frown on her face and a cursory glance at her watch when I was seconds late reminded me she was still keeping Prussian time - and I dared not repeat the offence twice!   I often felt like a puppy being scolded and on such occasions (yes, unfortunately, there was more than one!) even though Inga did not say a word, I felt like finding some dark place in the corner of the reception room to hide away until her irritation subsided and I could crawl back to the table some seconds whilst her attention was diverted to other matters.   Don't misunderstand me, if you knew Inga well, you knew where she lived.    And she had many friends.    It was not a state secret.   Most people not within her circle, knew little about her background.   We never agreed on how to tackle social issues and, politically, I think , that I was something of a disappointment to Inga, but we agreed to differ.   Inga was highly respected and she also carried one of the first issued NATO passports I ever saw.    So I knew of Markus Wolf, in passing conversation, with Inga at her home.   I had read about the legendary Markus Wolf but never imagined I would have the privilege of discussing with one who knew him.     It's not often you can call someone a legend in their own lifetime but Wolf fits this bill.    Markus knew of Inga from the 'old days' of the Third Reich.    If they ever met before the War it could not have been after 1933 and may have been at a social or societal function when they were both quite young, but I do not know this to be fact.   That not being the case, there were many opportunities in the closing days of World War II when both the Allies and The Soviet Union were vying with each other for top Nazis and Anti-Nazis - with something to offer - and prepared to jump ship in exchange for a new life and anonymity behind the Iron Curtain or in The United States. 
Inga was part of the plot to assassinate Hitler at the Wolf's Lair and only through careful pre-planning and a little bit of luck did she herself avoid the firing squad or the meat hook.  Claus von Stauffenberg and many other co-conspirators were not so fortunate.
 An excellent article by Jason Hiller:'Shaken, not Stirred: Markus Wolf's Involvement in the Guillaume Affair and the Evolution of Foreign Espionage in the Former DDR', published in 'Voces Novae', Chapman University Historical Review,Vol 3, No.1, 2012; may throw some light on where they could have encountered each other, given the difficult circumstances Wolf and his family found themselves in after the Nazis came to power.    I only met Markus Wolf once, in London, whilst chaperoning Inga (who was now in failing mental health, a shadow of her former wonderful sharp-minded self) to a small gathering at a private club off Pall Mall.    Michael was present at this gathering and I introduced him, for the first time, to Inga.   I studied a video on You Tube ('The Secret Vault') in which Michael describes an encounter with Markus Wolf where he addresses him with formal military rank title.   I had initially thought this was during or after a formal intelligence debriefing but Michael assures me this was not the case.   Michael's description of Mr Wolf's reaction was reminiscent to me of an extract from a classic war movie 'Where Eagles Dare' (Story and Screenplay by Alistair MacLean) and I suspect Mr Wolf, as first a former East German Officer and Gentleman (!) reacted exactly how the situation required.  'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' (John le Carré, 1974) and 'The Puzzle Palace' ( James Bamford, 1982 ) are probably the nearest anyone might ever get to this frame of thinking where everything is just one great big puzzle waiting to be solved.   I grew up with German children as intimate friends for the better part of my childhood - the Braun Family as I recall - (I don't think any relation to Eva Braun - but I really don't know as they moved away when I was about 10 or 11 years of age) and who lived above a shop opposite Trinity College.  So I understand the mentality very well - just in case Michael will more likely say: 'ah yes but you know nothing about Jerry!' .   A further criticism is that Michael does not cover the best spy agencies in the world - those famed for their use of sex, drugs and everything else.   Michael might respond by saying 'well we wouldn't want to cover what the good guys and gals do!'; but that reduces your coverage to a very limited and narrow viewfinder making it impossible to paint a reliable picture of the contemporary world of espionage.   I suppose the subtitle 'The Secret History of German Intelligence' might preclude others - but, even if the DVD exist, they cannot operate in a vacuum.

NSA/CIA Military Satellite Diverted In Hunt For The DVD

As to Michael having the influence to divert an NSA /CIA satellite (watch 'The Secret Vault' on You Tube)  for look down elsewhere, all I can say is I doubt that without recommendation from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Director of the CIA, FBI, FDA ,the DEA, NSA or another Government Department or Agency or in preparation for a major covert operation, such an event can occur.    It's not an impossibility (reliable intelligence on the whereabouts of Osama Bin Laden might be an occasion for such access/diversion request) but I would be very nervous if military satellites are indeed being diverted at the whims of private citizens (and non-U.S. nationals) to follow up their own free-range private intelligence operations or research.    Michael has told me that, because of the high grade nature of his contacts, it is never possible to compromise intelligence sources by revealing who and when it happened.   Only what, where and how events unfolded can be relayed.   As it stands therefore, we have to believe Michael in this matter on faith alone.  
In Central America, I once encountered a senior CIA operative, living in the safest place in town, and if someone had information which might have been useful, he did have the authority to make such a request, based on hard intelligence.   As it happened, I was not engaged in military intelligence harvesting and therefore had nothing to offer - but the point here is that maybe with the right contacts, something along the lines Michael describes just might be possible. 
The 'Execution' of Admiral Wilhelm Canaris

Quite rightly Michael has said that there is no first-hand account about this matter.  Intelligence Officers have not been unknown to make themselves invisible – forever after - and Canaris was one of the best.   If this were to be true, Soviet Intelligence (NKGB - possibly even involving the young Markus Wolf) or the OSS  and the CIA would have played no small part.  These 'ifs' are, however, speculation, as no hard evidence exists to suggest Canaris survived the failed plot.
Seal Team 6
I was hesitant whether to include anything about the fact that team  members which took out Bin Laden were killed when a Chinook crashed having been struck by Taliban fire while on another mission. I have my own theory, which, for security reasons, I will not elaborate.  What is more important is that many, including Michael Shrimpton, are convinced that the mission was betrayed.  Michael has very persuasive arguments as to why this was the case - and his revelations and conclusions are equally startling.

Madeleine McCann
Michael mentions the Madeleine McCann unsolved disappearance.  Good taste does not allow me to elaborate on his theories - which are also available at 'The Secret Vault' on You Tube, only to say that in our many discussions about aspects of Spyhunter (sometimes page by page or chapter by chapter) I did caution about the wisdom of such idle speculation, without any solid foundations nor evidence, knowing the hurt it will most likely cause her parents.   I have to say here I don't believe a word of Michael's theory - but many conspiracists will.    At the end of the day, it is his book and he is entitled to write it as he see's fit.
Spyhunter – Fact, Fiction, Faction or Conspiracist - Judge For Yourself
In conclusion, Spyhunter, when eventually released, will either be a monumental success or a monumental failure.    In a world of 'smoke and mirrors' you can say anything about anyone - no proof required - as sources can be deemed 'unattributable' - substituting for solid hard facts and evidence.    As to the historical relevance of Spyhunter; well, what exactly is history, if not a jumbled kaleidoscope of faction - spoils to the victor?

Spyhunter,The Secret History of German Intelligence, by Michael Shrimpton

additional references:
http://journals.chapman.edu/ojs/index.php/VocesNovae/article/view/324 
http://www.pubbiz.com/page/content/000049


© Patrick Emek  2013

                Edward Snowden IS Now A Spy

      NSA, World Leaders, and Eavesdropping

The latest  releases of data  have caused me to revise my opinion of Edward Snowden.  It is clear that he is intending to do maximum damage to the U.S. and it's international standing.  While it could be argued that some of the information he released could be deemed to be of public interest,clearly continuing to make available reams of information which only facilitate the ability of hostile intelligence agencies worldwide to subvert the U.S. and it's allies, is so damaging that, by default or intent he is making it impossible to ever return home to the United States without very serious charges of espionage being applied, without leniency.   Firewalling world communications is exactly the scenario which will facilitate. for example, analytics networks in (or controlled by) China and Russia to replace the United States. Russia has, for a long time, been unhappy with the dominance of U.S. communication networks and their monopoly on information.   This has been assessed as one of the reasons the Russian Federation has been unable to compete globally with the United States. (In actual fact the real reason, as I said about a week ago to a Ukrainian national, is because Russia has nothing to offer developing countries in Africa and Asia-apart from oil and gas, subservience, neocolonialism and racist imperialism on a scale far worse than that provided in the last century by Western Europe and which most African, Asian and Caribbean nations will simply reject when they see it for what it is.) There are no more opaque intelligence services than those of countries such as Russia and China-both of which are continually spying on their own people 24/7 -and the rest of the world- without a modicum of checks nor balances.  I often say to educated African and Asian citizens who criticize American 'imperialism' that they should go to Moscow or St. Petersburg sometime in the near future, try to set up a business and see how many days it will exist before being firebombed-as Jewish and other ethnic and religious minority businesses were during centuries of pogroms throughout Europe.   They should then try to set up a business in the Unites States and compare how their rights and liberties are protected under State and Federal law-and vigorously proactively upheld by all U.S. law enforcement authorities (the Police,FBI, The National Guard, The Armed Forces (as high as the Office of The President itself) and contrast that with the absence of protection of rights, at every level, for minorities in the Russian Federation.   How Mr Snowden could be so naive in this regard almost defies belief.   The only beneficiaries are quite clearly intelligence services which have not a shred of democratic accountability and which even resort to murder of their own citizens-worldwide. I refer to the French Intelligence Services (DGSE) sinking of the Greenpeace Ship, Rainbow Warrior, and murder of it's crew member, Fernando Pereira, as just one example.   The poisoning of  Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko - leaving a trail of polonium-210 across London-by persons (to date) unknown but suspected to be linked to Russia's Federal Security Service (FSS) was the first recorded case of an assassin(s) using a radioactive (nuclear) element to eliminate the enemy of a foreign State.   The world will most certainly become a more insecure place as China and Russia replace the U.S. as the chief monitoring agencies of global communications.   I would be very interested to know how China and Russia would react should Mr Snowden release such information about the working of their elaborate technological spy networks- satellite, electronic, digital and  'motherboard' short-circuits to fast-track intelligence routing.   I think that Mr Snowden already knows the answer to this question.  Having said the above, there must be avenues for internal disaffected individuals to take grievances on grounds of conscience to lawmakers without fear of punishment nor loss of income-other than reassignment to different roles and locations.   Until these matters can also be addressed, Mr Snowden  will not be the last to believe he can bring positive outcomes to world events through the release of divisive information which he had sworn to protect.

Patrick Emek

Murder of Ambassador Christopher Stevens in Benghazi Libya

                      -White House Whitewash-

Lobby Your Congressman & Congresswoman To Support a Bipartisan Resolution:

H.Res.36 - Establishing a select committee to investigate and report on the attack on the United States Consulate in Benghazi, Libya

Sponsor:Congressman Frank Wolf  (R-VA 10th District)

Cosponsors:  177 (to date)

To view this Bipartisan Resolution go to: http://beta.congress.gov/bill/113th/house-resolution/36

 

The House Armed Services Committee investigating the role of the military in the failure to rescue Ambassador Stevens and his team have concluded that the military are not to blame, the Ambassador could not have been saved during the eight hours he and his Staff fought off the butchers of Benghazi-Saudi-backed Jihadi Salafists - because military assets were 'poorly postured' and that if there is any blame for this, it lies with the Department of Defense and the then Defense Secretary, Leon Panetta, and not with military commanders.

Like Judases, they are all washing their hands of the blood of Ambassador Stevens and his Staff as they move blame for the Ambassador and his Staff deaths and the terrible injuries sustained by his guards around the political table.

I believe that, thanks to Rep. Frank Wolf, the families of the victims of this butchery, people of America and the world, will eventually get to the truth about why Ambassador Stevens and his Staff were butchered whilst 'poorly postured' assets were repeatedly told to 'stand down'.

Do lobby your Congressman or Congresswoman to ensure they support Re. Frank Wolf's Bipartisan Resolution to bring closure for the victims of this massacre, those who survived with terrible injuries, their families, the citizens of the United States and, because of the international dimension to these events, the rest of the world.

Patrick Emek

Volgograd Bus Bombing

The recent terrorist bombing of a bus in Volgograd,Russia, should send alarm bells to all
cities in Europe and the United States. First I would like to express my sincere condolences to the victims and all of their families.  I do not know (nor probably will ever know nor meet)  the families of the victims, but I do feel their pain and suffering and my sincerest of condolences go out to them. At an earlier phase of my life, whilst in Sri Lanka, during a very bloody war between the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan Army (SLA), I continually traveled on civilian buses which Sri Lanka military personnel were visibly using to get to and forth their destinations.  On many occasions there were more soldiers on the bus between Colombo and Kandy-Trincomalee/Batticaloa than there were civilian passengers-myself being the exception.  The Tamil Tigers were probably the most ruthless terrorist organization I had ever encountered.    The Irish Republican Army (IRA) were wrongly accused of setting off bombs on buses.  To the best of my knowledge the IRA never deliberately targeted civilians on buses.  They were 'unlucky' (their assessment) in that bombs in transit and destined for elsewhere prematurely exploded. and killed civilians.  The resulting carnage from such incidents caused this insurgency group to revise their strategies to attempt to target, what they regarded as 'military' targets.  From my recollection, the Army Council of the IRA always denied deliberately targeting civilians.  The CIA had penetrated the Republican Movement in Northern Ireland during the years of 'the troubles' to an extent little known as yet by the British public.   Rather bizarrely, the IRA were fully aware of this-and did little to deter it during the entire period of  the Northern Ireland conflict.  For these reasons, and also for reasons of historical background, it was never IRA policy to deliberately target non-political and non-security personnel, notwithstanding collateral damage.  With Islamic Jihadis,Al Qaeda and other Islamist groups, whether in Russia or elsewhere,we are talking about a religion which basically has been hijacked by fanatics who place little or no value on civilian life. They argue that all civilians are targets because they are brothers, sisters,uncles,aunts sons, children of the infidel or oppressor are unclean and therefore legitimate targets for murder-which of course Allah has told them he will reward them for the performance of this task as they are bringing nearer his Islamic Kingdom on Earth.  But the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka,as with Islamic Jihadi fanatics, deliberately targeted civilians as a matter of policy-on  buses and  at rail stations-at the height of the school, lunch and evening  rush hours-when children and parents with children were waiting for their buses-resulting in absolute carnage on a horrific scale I do not wish to remember nor relate.  What I will say is that the body parts of children and babies-heads and torsos-is not a sight to be easily erased from memory.  They did this for 'shock and awe' effects.  So I took the same risks as SLA troops on public transport throughout Eastern and Western and South Sri Lanka.  I was just lucky.  As in the UK, the effects of such bombings in Sri Lanka only increased the resilience of the local people to reject extremist violence and the resolve of the Government to reject acts of extreme terror and increased support for the government in it's fight against the terrorists. The reason such a terrorist attack in Volgograd  should trigger alarm in Western capital cities is because young Muslims are being encouraged to join Jihadi Salafist brigades in Syria, Somalia and Yemen. These are young, impressionable teenagers who are brainwashed into thinking that Islam is under attack or that what they will be doing is in the cause of a 'Holy War'. For some of those who survive and return, psychologically scarred, from Syria and elsewhere to Europe, their experiences of Jihad will be transferred into training and motivating others.  This in itself will pose a problem for authorities.  My concern however is for those who will advocate direct action in Europe as a means to influence Western European (EU) policy in the Middle East.   It is well known that Western Europeans have a high value for individual liberty,individual life and personal freedom of the individual.  This is perceived as a weakness ripe for exploitation by Jihadi fanatics.   One bomb in St. Petersburg or Moscow is worth 100 in Omsk or Talnakh.  The same can be said of one bomb in Oslo,Stockholm,Copenhagen,Amsterdam Brussels,Rome,Madrid,London and Paris.  It's increasingly becoming more difficult to identify volunteers who are traveling to war zones- as such are likely to change their passports when, say, in Sudan, Egypt,Saudi Arabia,and Turkey for other passports-more easily to obtain from 'sympathetic' elements within foreign ministries. I came across such facilitating the transit of Taliban fighters after 9/11 in late 2001 early 2002  from Afghanistan through Pakistan to other destinations-such as Indonesia.  Not long after the Nairobi (Kenya) terrorist attack on a Shopping Mall which also resulted in the tragic loss of innocent Kenyan and expatriate lives in a public environment, I met with individuals with close links to Israel.   As a recipient of such terrorism over many years, Israelis have developed elaborate security preventative measures to protect it's citizens.  We discussed how could the Kenyan authorities have been so lax in security to have allowed such an event to occur.  My response was that 100% security for everywhere all of the time is a physical impossibility and in a developing country like Kenya, even more difficult to achieve.   There are close links between Israel and Kenya on security transit and terror issues but even so, the nature of modern urban insurgency can never guarantee total success all of the time.   So how do intelligence services identify such individuals?   To answer this question would give potential terrorists a head start so I will just say is that by  increased vigilance and security it is becoming increasingly easier to identify such persons by profile characteristics-which even they are unaware of.   In addition to this a complete halt must be made to all Imams and preachers who have been trained in Saudi Arabia-and those already 'in situ' should be deported on grounds of national security-if they are non-nationals.   If they are nationals and have received training in Saudi Arabia,Somalia, or Iran or Yemen or Sudan or Algeria or Pakistan, their sermons must be carefully screened for public incitement content and if found to be inciting hatred, they should be immediately removed from all public and private sermon provisions with the sanction of hefty financial penalties and imprisonment for incitement to hatred or on 'hate crime'  charges,also carrying mandatory 15-20 year mandatory bans on further preaching, on the grounds of public safety.  So there are practical measures which Western countries can proactively take to prevent repeats of Volgograd and Nairobi.  It is not feasible nor practical to work on security anti-terrorist cooperation agreements with The Russian Federation as there are many parts of the Russian Federation where there are disputes with Europe and America about the validity of territorial claims-South Ossetia being just one example- may well result in a deluge of unjustified demands for the deportation from Western countries and the United States of political activists involved in legitimate democratic protest and activism of a non-violent nature and within the laws of their host countries.   The emergency services in Western Europe are well-prepared for emergency responses-given their previous experiences of terrorism.   What one can never predict is the asymmetric nature of the attack-often confounding preplanned anti-terrorist response models. Perhaps the one factor which is common to all preventative agencies is vigilance. Lets hope that the politicians will manage to resolve world conflicts in such a way so that such vigilance becomes a  relics of a bygone age and we can all again move about in a safer world.

Patrick Emek

Murder of  U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens by the Butchers of Benghazi-A Further Revelation

A further matter has now come to light which would appear to confirm that there is much more to the murder of Christopher Stevens and members of his team than just gun running to Islamic Jihadis.

CIA Director John Brennan has reportedly requested all survivors of the Benghazi Embassy carnage to voluntarily provide lawmakers (who have been asking him repeatedly, on behalf of the victims families) with all that they know about what took place.  This, Mr Brennan has said, is an entirely voluntary process and can be done without going through the usual internal CIA reporting administrative channels, if they so choose.  Something however does not square up.   All of these survivors have been subjected to internal lie detector tests every quarter, rather than the usual every 3-5 years.  This is unusual in itself and would appear to suggest that, even though Mr Brennan has said that they can contact and speak with lawmakers (Members of Congress) without going through official internal channels and in confidence, for those that take this course of action, there can be no confidentiality.  

This lends further credence to what exactly is being covered up is far more than just gun-running to the enemy.    There is a belief, as I have stated earlier, that advanced weapons have fallen into the hands of terrorists.  The exact circumstances as to how this occurred, are, at present, unclear.   Are we to wait until an El-Al civilian airliner is targeted on take-off or landing from afar?; or perhaps an aircraft carrying a Head of State or perhaps an aircraft carrying U.S. Senators or Representatives?   There is more than an urgency with which all the issues connected with the Benghazi siege and butchery need to be addressed.  It is better that the world knows now than wait until events unfold - with Islamic Jihadi terrorists calling the shots.   There is a way forward, and it's not through Congressional Intelligence Committees and Sub-Committees.       Mr Brennan and others must be subpoenaed to appear before a specially convened Congressional Committee.  Only through this course of action can the whole truth be revealed about how and why an Ambassador and his team were left abandoned to be butchered in Benghazi together with the other issues which not only affect national but also international security.   

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2013/aug/06/cia-chief-has-asked-benghazi-survivors-testify-att/


http://www.newsmax.com/MediaWire/benghazi-wolf-witnesses-truth/2013/08/19/id/521172

Patrick Emek

On The Motion to Concur With The Senate Amendments

     Capitol Hill,Washington,D.C.                                                      Wednesday,16th October,2013,22.25

        Children Vote to end School Shutdown:

Yea                       Nay                              Non Voting

285                       144                                      3

............................that is.....................until after the School Christmas Holidays on January 15th, 2014........................

 

 

                 Estimated Cost to The Nation:

             Anywhere between $24-55bn dollars

            

http://rt.com/business/us-government-shutdown-losses-256/

http://www.businessinsider.com/sp-cuts-us-growth-view-2013-10

     Estimated Cost In Human Misery:   Incalculable

Murder Of Ambassador Christopher Stevens in Benghazi Libya

What Are President Obama and The Speaker of The House of Representatives, John Boehner, Really Covering Up?

It is traditional in U.S. politics for the President to brief The Speaker in ultra-sensitive matters, regardless of colors.     It has always been accepted that National Security, defense and foreign policy transcend local politics, which, as we see at present, can get infantile.     For this reason, a sensitive operation to, say, supply America's foes in the Syria, through Turkey (the difficult to seal Kurdistan border region) or Saudi Arabia, with advanced weapons, would be a subject the President would not want Members to address in Congress.       One way to ensure this would be to fully keep Representative Boehner 'in the loop'.     Nobody could  anticipate that such an operation could have ended the way that it did.      The fact is that it resulted in carnage inside the Benghazi Embassy (I have always called it an Embassy because when The Ambassador is present in an official capacity and conducting affairs of State from within, it is no longer a Consulate.)      

There is no blame being ascribed to either The President or Representative Boehner but both need to come clean about exactly why, on several occasions, rescue teams from different locations were repeatedly told, in the ensuing hours while the Ambassador and his team bravely held out against the butchers of Benghazi (a Salafist Jihadi militia linked with Al Qaeda), to stand down.   

There is no evidence to suggest that such a rescue operation could have been successful.    Even the best planned operations - as we saw with the Iran hostage rescue attempt by President Jimmy Carter - can result in disaster through sheer unpredictable events.  There may well have been a whole series of miscalculations - that the Ambassador was being held as a hostage and that he and his Staff could be released through rational negotiations.  (One thing I have learned is that  when dealing with religious fanatics, rational negotiations should be the last option to consider.)     The fact that it was still unknown exactly who had taken Embassy Staff hostage may have added to the indecision.    Whatever the case, the American public, and the world, should be told the truth.  

Are there batches (not one or two but a batch or batches) of Stinger surface-to-air missiles in the hands of both Sunni and Shia militants in Syria and Iran respectively, and now active, having been reprogrammed?    Has control been lost of one or two or even an entire batch?     If so, how did this happen?  

Not long after 9/11 when discussing events with an individual, I said that civilian air transportation as we know it will come to an end on the day several airlines are brought down simultaneously and worldwide with surface-to-air missiles by terrorists.   (I repeated another similar scenario with regard to usage of  surface-to-surface missiles to a Staff member at the British Embassy in Berlin about eight years later when I was a transient guest with a visiting delegation, mindful of how just a rudimentary (surface-to surface) version had almost assassinated the (then) British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, at her Official Residence, 10 Downing Street.) 

The President and Speaker Boehner need to reassure a worried planet that U.S. foreign policy actions have not, knowingly or unwittingly, brought this day closer.    And if they have what steps are they taking to redress the situation?     A missile or batch originally supplied with intent for other purposes could well be used to bring down civilian airlines tomorrow if foreign policy decisions have resulted in arsenals being held at unknown locations by terrorists.         

 

Patrick Emek                                                          
 

Ali Zeidan, Libyan Prime Minister, Kidnapped-then Released-by Terrorists

                               - More Chaos In Libya -

It should come as no surprise that the ensuing chaos following the brutal murder of Colonel Gadhafi - which was publicly applauded by Western politicians - is continuing.   Our decision to renege on our responsibilities for bringing the murderers to justice culminated in the impunity with which another murderous faction then went on to brutally slay U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens.  Again we see yet another murderous faction kidnap at will the country's Prime Minister, Ali Zeidan, from what was said to be the safest place in Tripoli -The Corinthia Hotel.   The fact that he was released hours later should give no security assurances to any foreigner doing business with one or another faction of the (so-called) Libyan 'government'.  Libya is the new base for Al Qaeda and all factions of Salafist jihadi militias in North Africa - thanks to our intervention into the chaotic internal political affairs of yet another brutal Arab regime.   When will our politicians get the message that there is nothing to be gained by overthrowing brutal dictators in the Arab world only to see them replaced with fanatical religious zealots - even more blood-thirsty than their predecessor tyrants?   There is not a single Arab country where recent intervention by the West (The European Union and The United States) has created stability.        But Libya is an exception.   Libyans have never known 'democracy' and it certainly will not be parachuted in on the backs of MacDonalds and Pizza Hut.  Like most Arab Middle East countries, in Libya we are talking tribal, ethnic, superstitious and uneducated masses which have been dragged kicking and screaming into the 20th and 21st centuries on the backs of petro-dollars -but whose perceptions of the world are rooted in the 7th-8th century-and Islam has taught the masses not to move very far beyond this frame of thinking for the conduct of their daily lives.   What secular Muslim societies that had a fledgling existence we (the West) have destroyed in favor of religious extremists.           We should not blame the uneducated masses in these countries for the chaos - it was created by external interventions to secure strategic resources.    We were unhappy with the 'deals' already on the table and thought that doing business with the religious extremists would ensure more favorable terms.

Foreign policy today is dictated by global multinationals which have not one iota of a clue how to govern a country - only how to extract it's resources.   So to them, the loss of lives - be they hundreds of thousands or millions - is totally irrelevant as it does not need to appear on the profit and loss balance sheets.  

 Libya presents a very clear and present danger to Southern Europe.  Gadhafi facilitated  the EU to halt the passage of  illegal migrants from all parts of Africa through Libya to Europe.  What happens if these Jihadi Militias use such (innocent) migrants as 'political' weapons?   Potentially they could flood, to the point of overwhelming the capabilities of the EU  countries to both prevent and detain such illegal migrations, across the Mediterranean.  So the next 'terror attack' could well be a concerted plan to overwhelm resources and facilities in Southern Europe with illegal migrants-literally forced out of Libya by Jihadi militias onto hundreds or even thousands of boats - at gunpoint with the sole aim of destroying the infrastructures of Southern European Union countries - already reeling and buckling from economic austerity brought about by the world recession.  

Having some understanding of the tactics of these very evil people, how are we to know that they would not deliberately sink hundreds of boats with tens of thousands of illegal migrants on board, in the middle of the Mediterranean, to cause maximum political impact in mainland Europe?  Indeed how are we to know that the planning of  'terrorist' attacks of this nature has not already begun, specifically in Libya?; which has no functioning central administration.

I do not blame these poor people who may well have paid smugglers from as far afield as Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Central Africa, West Africa to get them into Europe.  They are no different than any other immigrants seeking  better lives for themselves and their families.  They are unfortunate to be choosing a time to emigrate illegally when Europe is in the depths of a major economic recession and also redefining itself as Judeo-Christian Europe.   In my opinion, at this present moment in time, they would be better off seeking a new life in fellow- Muslim countries where their traditions, cultural values and practices would be more accepted - and seeking sanctuary, refuge and economic opportunity in Muslim societies whose values they and their families would willingly be able to easily adapt to - rather than be faced with daily conflicts and challenges in Christian societies whose value systems they would most certainly reject, despise, and some may well find themselves in perpetual conflict with and ultimately either hate their host countries or, even worse, wish to impose their values on reluctant majority Christian populations.    It's a terrible dilemma and I do not profess to have an answer.   What I do know is that if we allow this chaos in Libya to continue it will permeate the whole of North Africa as Al Qaeda establishes itself in it's new base - just miles off the coastline of  Europe - that is, in anarchic Libya.   One solution might be to place Libya under a 'Protectorate' Muslim administration-perhaps initially that of Egypt - and then attempt to move the country toward normalcy and civil society over a period of 20-50 years. 

There are no easy solutions-and in the meanwhile only expect bad news from Libya for the foreseeable future.          

 

Patrick Emek

October 10th   2013                                                     

       The Day After Tomorrow

(Day 8: Terrorist Shutdown of the U.S. Federal Government)

President Obama explains the Shutdown:

"If you're in negotiations around buying somebody's house, you don't get to say, 'Well, let's talk about the price I'm going to pay, and if you don't give the price then I'm going to burn down your house.' That's not how negotiations work.... In the same way, members of Congress -- and the House Republicans in particular -- don't get to demand ransom in exchange for doing their jobs. And two of their very basic jobs are passing a budget and making sure that America is paying its bills."
(President Barack H. Obama)

If you want to see and read what the Media will not let you hear nor see in full about what The President has to say about the Federal Government Shutdown go to:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/share/heres-what-president-obama-said-week-about-government-shutdown?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=email244-text1&utm_campaign=shutdown

 

           Shutdown:Domestic Terrorism:Day 3:

 (Shutdown Of The U.S. Federal Government By Domestic Terrorists)

 Are You Considered A 'Non Essential' Federal Officer?

(This is the definition of your post by the people responsible for this Shutdown and not by myself)

                                           or

 Are you a Recipient of Federal Services Affected By This Shutdown and have access to the Internet?

        If you are then you may have some spare time at this moment.

You can still tell David Simas, Deputy Senior Advisor at The White House, how this shutdown has affected your life and that of your family:

 http://www.whitehouse.gov/shutdown-story?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=email243-text1&utm_campaign=shutdown#content_top 

 

Please refer to the previous post for other essential websites not shutdown

 

 

Shutdown:DOMESTIC TERRORISM: The SHUTDOWN OF THE U.S. GOVERNMENT

If there was ever a case for recall of House of Representatives and Senators it would be any man or woman who voted for the ceasing of Government administration and delivery of services to those who cannot afford alternative private sector hospitals,schools,social service facilities,leisure and recreational facilities for the very young and elderly.
The fact that they have made 'exceptions' to the shutdown cuts no ice with me.

The essence of the vote is to ensure a cessation of Federal services to fracture the American nation and have it turn upon itself  to find scapegoats in a frenzied blame game.
This is the objective of terrorists and not of democratically elected representatives of the American people.

Above The Law
Steven Seagal once starred in a film of the same name,this, and another similar, more true to aspects of  American life than one might imagine.
This particular issue is an argument between two Americas: one of privilege and one of poverty.
Between both is a very strong, but not so vibrant as in previous centuries, middle-class base. Middle America or silent America, which is rare to include itself,in majority and actively, in the debate between the two extremes.
So this America, majority America, is largely 'invisible'- except when it gets angry and motivated.
A historical example of it (young and educated Middle America) getting angry was when the Draft was introduced during the Vietnam War-meaning that the sons of Middle America,elite America and poor America would be equally subject to dying on the battlefield-a lesson never forgotten by successor Presidents and administrations. 
Playing God With The Lives of The Weak and The Helpless
Those of privilege and wealth believe they have a right to play God with the very existence of those who hold no power, no wealth and are totally dependent, for their very existence, on the whims of the former, who also believe that the lame, crippled, blind, homeless, unemployed,elderly,single parents dependent on welfare, should just 'disappear' from the State payroll check-since they regard welfare support as the epitome of evil
in this world.
The essence of their argument is this:
If you are not prepared to work for a slave wage then you don't deserve to exist.
If you can't motivate yourself to be independent of the State you don't deserve it's support.
The role of the State is only to support you when you have proved you are independent of it.
Again readers should not think that this viewpoint represents majority America.
It is a very powerful minority of politicians within the Republican Party and of very wealthy individuals and lobby groups in Washington which bankroll them to ensure votes in favor of the shutdown of government-and who hide behind these Senators and Representatives to avoid the consequences of their actions ever appearing in the public domain.   Readers should not think that these individuals, lobby groups individuals and private corporations represent the majority of average middle and fair America.  They do not.  They are a powerful minority which, laden with explosives, have hijacked Congress, put  guns to it's head and  threatened to pull the trigger-if they don't get what they want.  I do of course speak metaphorically, but this is in essence what they are doing.      Be in no doubt, this is exactly what these minority but very powerful - and well-supported financially- Senators (a few)  and House of Representative Members (39 hard-core) are doing today.                        [Of the 39, 9-11 represent areas which are so extreme in politics, they would make Adolf  Hitler look like a moderate-and are therefore very unlikely to be subject to recall.]                                                                                                                                    The very fact that nobody will actually say this (that the media is restrained in it's fair and balanced coverage
of this issue by it's private owners) on Fox, CNN, MSNBC, NBC or CBS should not just tell you something about mainstream media in America today but also what power this hidden group wield in the background, either as corporate owners or majority shareholders of major national and local media services.

Another thing which a few of you might have missed:
On the very day of the Shutdown,Obamacare, the greatest victory for health uninsured (or uninsurable) individuals in the history of the United States, became law.
By a very cruel trick, major media networks diverted preplanned U.S. Government coverage and information about this historic service (actually booked by the Government in slots on their networks from months ago) from this issue to the news about the actual shutdown of Government.
The explanation the producers of major networks concocted for not inviting Government Public Relations Officers to explain Obamacare on to their networks was their uncertainty about 'legal issues'-since the Shutdown-on the very day Obamacare became law 'confused' the legal issue (sic. of whether they could invite public servants on air during the Shutdown.)   In actual fact the real reason was that the media was scared of the consequences of offending  powerful corporate and individual owners  by inviting government officers to inform the public how to access the new insurance and care structure.  (I do of course exclude networks which, traditionally, have a disdain for everything the Obama administration produces.)

It is really a pity that the financial bill for this terrorist act cannot be extracted from these individuals and the corporations backing them.

I hope the American people do the right thing either before or at the forthcoming (and not too distant) elections by recalling all Congressmen and Women  guilty of the betrayal of democratic trust of the people, as a whole, whose interests they swore to equally uphold and defend.  They have now broken their oath of loyalty to the American people in an act of betrayal so cruel and so lacking in mercy, that the only recourse of Middle America is to now stand up as a united front, regardless of differences, to sweep the stable clean, clear the suffocating and overwhelming stench, and start afresh.   Those elected Public Representatives and Senators should now answer to the American people as a whole.
Perhaps the new intake will end up doing the same-ultimately.  This we do not know for certain.  What we do know without a doubt is that if there is no unity by the silent majority, to judge this betrayal, then America is just steps away from a political coup by  privileged, elite, super-rich who don't care if your neck is red or black, it's hanging material if you are not one of them.
Americans are privileged to still live in  country where the people can still express their anger in the proper way, through the ballot box, and consign this form of domestic terrorism, at the highest levels, to the back pages of history.
I hope the silent majority will all work together and contain their frustrations for the proper place and time.
If they do, the will of the people will most certainly triumph as day follows night.

If you find yourself locked out of your Federal building, welfare establishment, public park, library,public zoo or other State provision main or ancillary service this morning, with  little else to do, can access the internet, and if you might want to view the legislation for the recall of Congress Members, go to

http://www.senate.gov/CRSReports/crs-publish.cfm?pid='0E%2C*PL[%3A%230  %0A

The message of the Administration appears garbled in this whole debate.

The media appears to portray the shutdown as an equal argument between two sides rather than what it really is-a hijack of the Federal government - with clearly defined and stated political objectives by the hijackers.


You can find information about the effects of this hijack - and who will be affected - at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/09/30/heres-how-government-shutdown-hurts-american-people?utm_source=email&utm_medium

Are you considered a 'non-essential' Federal Officer or a recipient of Federal Services affected
by this Shutdown?  (I know that all Federal Officers are essential, but the 39 Republicans responsible for this Shutdown will only allow,what they call and consider to be 'essential' Officers to work during this Shutdown.  This is their definition, not mine.)
If you are a 'non-essential' or 'essential' Federal Officer,w hy not let the White House know how the Shutdown has affected your life?
You can do so at:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/shutdown-story?utm_source=email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=email243-text1&utm_campaign=shutdown#content_top


God Bless America!


Patrick Emek
October 2013

9/11 Revisited

                                         9/11 Revisited

                          (A Terrible Beauty Is Born)

Many people remember exactly what they were doing at certain monumental times.   I can recall the day I heard that The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated, where exactly I was when I heard that Robert Kennedy has died from mortal wounds.   I even remember the tabloid 'In Memoriam' supplements which the media had produced following the assassination of President John Fitzgerald Kennedy and which my Mom had hung on the wall in the kitchen, near to the picture of Pope John  XXIII.        So too with 9/11.                                                                     It was something after 2 in the afternoon.  I  was doing my mundane household chores of laying a carpet in the rooms my Mom and Aunt occupied.   My mobile phone rang.   It was R, a Scientific Adviser to a Government Department who kept me regularly up to date on many issues.    R has now sadly passed away but I must thank him for alerting me to a multiple of possible terrorist scenarios well in advance of 9/11.     I cannot recall that we ever discussed this particular one - but we did discuss other possibilities and the need for continuing vigilance.     At one point, in the 1990s, R invited me to visit a security-vulnerable installation so that I could grasp the enormity of the problems first hand.    R told me that there was a terrorist attack in progress on the Twin Towers in New York.    As we were good friends and always joking at first I thought he was just kidding - and I laughed it off with a rhetorical joke.   After a few seconds it was clear that this was no joke and something monumental was in progress.    Like many people I was transfixed by the events unfolding.    It seemed almost like a dream.     Something surreal which surely could not really be happening.      I would wake up any minute and realize it was all a dream.    I simply found it difficult to believe the events unfolding before my very eyes.  I was stunned.    Feeling quite helpless with a world of sympathy for those who would rather take a leap of fate than be consumed to cinders in the ensuing inferno and thinking how merciful God had been to those who were erased in an instant.    That evening I had prearranged a get together with friends I had not seen for several years,staying over for the week.    It was meant to be a happy occasion but beneath all the smiles and laughter we could all sense each others nervousness and premonitions of fear and uncertainty for the future.    There was a lot of speculation but no answers.     I had previously been on the Advisory Board of The European Review with, amongst others, Dr. Anthony Verrier, (Through the Looking Glass: British Foreign Policy in an Age) who was at that time also a Senior Adviser at St. Anthony's College, Oxford.     I looked at back copy issues  of The Review, at the many interviews the journal had published with, for example, the (then) Director of The CIA, George Tenet,'Security Threats To the U.S.';an interview with the then Director of the FBI, Louis J. Freeh; a rather reassuring article by Richard N. Haass entitled 'The Biggest Islamic Threat isn't Terrorism' and others, just to try to make some sense of what was happening and possibly gauge exactly what direction we should be focused on to understand the fateful distorted events.    I felt I had to keep our despondent spirits high, whatever the cost to good taste.   Fortunately they were Welsh and of Irish stock so they understood what I was saying, no offense meant nor taken with my jocular interjections.    I did get a despairing utterance (in laughter) of  'shut the f*** up will you Pat!' from one who had already found all the answers at the bottom of Paddy's Single Malt.    But apart from that, there was a glum silence all around.     I think that, with hindsight, my sense of humor at such an awkward moment just might well have taken us all through that sinister evening.   What I do remember was that outside in the warmth of that September evening, there was an unusual silence.    Many people who would have their back kitchen lights on, were switched off.      It was eerily dark.     There was a deathly silence coming from the garden and all the neighboring gardens.     It screamed a pregnant pause, before something, something unknown, but momentous and ominous, had crossed over from the dark side and cometh this way.    Little did any of us appreciate, at that moment in time, that things had changed, changed utterly, and a terrible, terrible beauty was about to be born.

 

 

Patrick Emek

 

September 2013

          Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff Tells It As It Is?                                  

          ( United Nations General Assembly  2013 )

                             

In a speech delivered a few hours ago President Rousseff blasts the U.S. for it's 'spying' activities.

This is very rich coming from the President of a a country where  99.9% of it's 75%+  (Black) Brazilian-African population are economically disenfranchised and hold absolutely no economic power in big business,trade,commerce and industry.   Not to mention the fact that more African- Brazilians die at the hands of Police 'death squads' each year than all the deaths in police custody (White and Black) in the United States.

                   A Few Little Known Facts About Brazil

Did you know.......................most Black Brazilians cannot get to University because of racial discrimination in the School system and by the Universities themselves...............

Did you know.......there have even been Black Brazilian student protests against apartheid inside Universities and against University boards decisions to exclude Black Brazilians............on racial grounds.......The University Admission Boards citing other reasons for exclusions of course................Brazil is not an advancing civilization where,as with J.F.K., the Attorney General, Robert Kennedy and even more so by their successor,President Lyndon B. Johnson (born at Stonewall,Texas) ,the U.S. National Guard is sent into States to enforce desegregation.  In Brazil the Police and army are sent in to enforce segregation and support the segregators - using prejudicial violence while breaking up these peaceful student protests with the pro-apartheid media services (press,television,radio) quite willingly suppressing these stories (or as Bob Dylan might have said-if Brazil had a Bob Dylan and a counterculture -which it doesn't - the media services 'going along for the ride.')                   These civil rights stories are only covered by (usually minority) sections of the foreign media. 

 ........Did you know...............The Government does not encourage it's Black Brazilian population to learn the English Language.................. I  wonder why? ......what will they learn through the medium of  English civilization and democracy,civil rights struggles and civil society not available in the Portuguese nor Hispanic worlds?.................................................

 Did you know...........more (native) Brazilian journalists have been murdered in Brazil by (contract) death squads in recent years....for telling the truth and investigative reporting..... than any other country in South America......the highest in the world at one point within the last 6 years....and  95% of all these political murders are unsolved...............

...............Did you know.......if you are Black in Brazil it's impossible to get a bank loan to start up a business or buy realty?.............................Banks simply don't lend to African-Brazilians to set up enterprises..........................

Did you know...that.....at the same time......The Brazilian Government actually encourages wealthy African-Americans to invest in Brazil saying (privately) that their own African-Brazilians are simply not motivated to start up businesses................................strange..........as most came originally from Nigeria,Senegal,the Gambia and Ghana........ cultures renowned in West Africa for enterprising self-motivated individuals...........................

.............You didn't know that at least 75 % of Brazil's population is African-Brazilian?  The government stopped keeping (honest) statistics on ethncicity some 10-20 years ago for fear of revolution if the glaring disparity was evidenced in Government statistics.                                     Lets face it....  if you don't have the stats you don't require any action...........................

You didn't know these facts?;..................perhaps YOU outta get better informed with  alternative media sources?......................

Perhaps President Rousseff might wish to address her forthcoming tsunamis of social, political and economic revolutions at home (against apartheid and economic disenfranchisement) before putting President Barack Hussein Obama, 44th President of the United States, in his place and be grateful for the fact that She has a place at the table in a real democratic forum;one which 75% of her fellow-citizens are denied back home?

( ...............Watch out for protests at the Brazilian Olympics as the dispossessed poor and underclasses show the world they are not just available for singing and dancing displays at Carnival time....................................)

 

Patrick Emek

 

September 25th  2013

Afghanistan-A Bleak Future As The Past Repeats Itself

Jack Devine Former CIA Deputy Director of Operations and Chief of the CIA Afghan Task Force (1986-87) and  Whitney Kassel  former Foreign Affairs Specialist for Counter-terrorism Policy in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and who has also worked in Pakistan and Afghanistan, have just published probably the best analysis you will get anywhere about where Afghanistan is heading.
The article is entitled 'Afghanistan:Withdrawal Issues'.
So as not to ruin their hard work and complex analysis, which, in my opinion, is spot on, I will just add several observations they have allured to in this article.
(What I say below about the direction of U.S.-Saudi-Pakistan foreign policy are entirely subjective and in no way do I ascribe them to the article 'Afghanistan,Withdrawal Issues'.  I draw on this article to speculate the motives of allowing Salafists,Wahhabists, Jihadi extremists and other fanatics, all affiliated to Saudi Arabia, to run riot in the Arab Muslim world destroying progressive secular Muslim societies in the supposed name of Islam.)

President Hamid Karzai is already a spent force.  He has (already) been 'discounted' as the civil war between the non-Pashtun security apparatus and the (Sunni) Pashtun-Taliban (Salafist)-Al Qaeda (Salafist/Wahhabist Jihadi fanatics)  alliance  will intensify as U.S. withdrawal draws closer.   The victor will of course be the Pakistani-backed Taliban-hence Pakistan.  So the emphasis must be in forging yet another alliance with a dubious ally.   Perhaps I should now refer to the Saudi-U.S.-Pakistan axis as that which I consider similar to the failed  Munich Agreement between Chamberlain and Hitler and Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact.
This axis cannot succeed for several reasons:
An assumption has already been made that Saudi Arabia can 'export' it's religious ideology to control the Muslim world, on our behalf.  To put it plainly, the Middle-East Muslim world becomes a rigid totalitarian Caliphate 'block' where the ignorant,tribal,uneducated and superstitious are ruled in fear of the Imams-and they all 'report' to Jeddah.    The argument is that the Muslim world is so diverse, so undemocratic (indeed nobody is really interested in Western democracy only their own tribal and ethnic group democracy) so steeped in religion and tribalism that someone has to take control and bring a sense of order and discipline into a chaotic environment.   At a time where the Muslim world yearns for leadership and direction Saudi Arabia is the only model which can provide both religious and social cohesion to so diverse a region.
I totally disagree with this analysis.  It's totally insane and the product of too much comparative analysis
and insight based on mirror-like comparisons with the psychology and technologies of societal control in Greek-based democratic societies (i.e. Western societies.)  Historians can no doubt demonstrate how totalitarianism can 'work' for hundreds if not thousands of years-offsetting 'popular' representation so that it need only evolve over centuries rather than decades.

Such developments, if they come to pass, will also 'encourage' Christian societies to likewise prepare 'for battle' with (perceived)  'fanatical' Islam-as our own citizens are as equally ill-informed as their uneducated counterparts in the Middle-East Muslim world.
I do not believe that Saudi Arabia will be able to contain the forces of religious ignorance which it will unleash in it's 'quest' to Islamize or Caliphanize the Arab Muslim world.
The essence of the Devine-Kassel argument,cutting a deal with Pakistan, is not in doubt.
What I question is the willingness of Pakistan to bring,for example (and I quote the article) the Haqqani Network to task simply by throwing money at Pakistan's military apparatus and offering a few deals on trade and investment.   Nobody doubts the Government of Pakistan has a terrible dilemma with so volatile borders at Kashmir, India and Afghanistan.  But many of their problems are of their own making - furthering terrorism in India to gain leverage in Kashmir, destabilizing  (or at least weakening) Afghanistan to rule this region by proxy.

While I disagree with the conclusions, the article itself shows that there are at least elements of commonsense providing decision makers with material for debate.
As to whether Senators and Representatives take any heed-or indeed argue the issues point by point to avoid yet another failed state - only time will reveal.  (For my part, I doubt if many but a handful of the literate and semi-literate will even bother to read the article.)


Patrick Emek
September 24th 2013

Critique of article entitled 'Afghanistan:Withdrawal Issues',by
 Jack Devine and Whitney Kassel, from the Fall Issue of  World Policy Journal: 'Secrecy + Security', published by The World Policy Institute.
http://www.worldpolicy.org/

Why The Denial of Airspace To Heads of State Is Never A Good Idea

 A recent decision by the United States to deny airspace to the President of Venezuela on his trip to China should again raise serious concerns about the direction of U.S. foreign policy.  Actions which start out as one-sided often end up spinning wildly out of control.   What happens, for example, if a Head of State's plane on a U.S. 'blacklist' flying through a neutral corridor should veer significantly off-course because of instrument failure or bad weather?  What will happen if, because of communications failure, it fails to heed requests of U.S. intercept fighter planes?; will it be shot down?; what will be the profound implications of such an act-in the eyes of world public opinion-despite any excuses or denials of involvement by the United States?; what will be the implications if a Head of State's 'blacklist' plane is forced down and he or she is 'arrested' or 'taken' into U.S. custody?; or how will the world perceive the United States if, for example, China or Russia should publicly announce decisions to provide military fighter 'cover' to certain visiting dignitaries on the U.S. airspace blacklist as their planes fly through neutral corridors?(actually, China does not currently have logistical long-haul capability nor expertise but certainly Russia does); how will the world perceive this and will other countries react with their own airspace blacklists?; how will this affect ordinary Americans traveling abroad? (the very few who bother to travel abroad these days); are they too likely, through no fault of their own, to find themselves by virtue of their passport, on a country's retaliatory blacklist?; in the reverse,what happens if a plane carrying U.S. dignitaries (diplomatic or other senior representatives or senior executives on some countries 'blacklist') should veer off course for the same reasons given above?  These measures can start off as punitive and end up as something quite different - for the whole world.   I often think that today U.S. foreign policy is being made on the hoof with no depth of thought being given to long-term implications.   Policies appear to be very short-sighted with no discernible goal-orientated objective-other than, in this example, being punitive.     The President of Venezuela, for example, is not charismatic as was his predecessor, Hugo Chavez.   He is weak politically and more than likely will be replaced in the natural course of democratic process by a party which is favorable to U.S. foreign policy interests.   An incident like this, if Nicolás Maduro milks it, will only likely prolong his stay in Office as Venezuelans will see such action as an affront to their national sovereignty and anyone supporting the opposition branded as 'enemies' of the Venezuelan people.  Again there appears to be a thinking within the State Department that they have no 'rights' to 'national emotional feelings' of their own.   What I am saying is that policy makers are failing to perceive the world in anything other than short-termism - and through their own perceptions with no thought for anything other than very narrow very short-term and very selfish interests.   As with the recent cancellation of The President of Brazil's State visit to the United States (canceled by Brazil, for entirely different reasons), such denial of airspace to Venezuela will only deepen and intensify relations between opposition forces in Latin America and intensify their campaigns against American interests in the region.   This at a time when most socialist models are proving to be monumental failures in Latin America - with only time itself required before their total democratic collapse - no push required in any way from Washington - they will collapse of their own volition.   Brazil is the best example of this.   It is wrongly hailed as a resounding economic success by such business networks as CNN,CNBC.   None will dare to tell you that Brazil has been hovering on the brink of revolution and social chaos for a very long time (as was South Africa under apartheid) - as 99.9% of it's Black Brazilians (who form over 75%, perhaps much more of the population, as African-Brazilian race origin statistics ceased to be honestly documented for over two decades for fear of revolution) are economically disenfranchised and outrageously impoverished, reminiscent of South Africa under apartheid-but in a more subtle and glaringly dishonest manner.   Brazil is rife for revolution - it has been for a very long time.   When it happens, it will be on a monumental scale (ironically predicted for South Africa-but which never happened thanks to the then wisdom of British-U.S. foreign policy and lawmakers.)     Anybody who tells you Brazil or Venezuela or Ecuador are stable democracies is either being highly selective with information or are themselves ill-informed.      What actions like denying airspace will do will be to enable anti-democratic forces within these countries to capitalize on this unexpected 'political lifeline' thrown to them, inadvertently, by Washington.  

People often ask 'is there intelligent life in Outer Space?'; I now ask, 'is there intelligent life anywhere in the U.S. State Department? '       Perhaps we can ask the NSA to direct their much-talented listening operations towards Washington, for signs of intelligent life?

 

Patrick Emek

September 20th 2013

 

 

Cyprus - EU: Gold Deposits Held For The Russian Federation

(How to Get Your Gold Out Of Cyprus Before The S**t  Hits The Fan If You Are The Russian Government)                                                                                                                                                                                                  or

How Not To Be Ripped Off By The EU If You Are The Russian Government                                                                                                                                                    

............................................................................................................................................

1.Send in 2 Antonovs,after sunset,with testing equipment, and
special forces armed for security.
2.Collect gold as prearranged.
3.Review checklist and sign off.
4.Fly out before sunrise.
.....................................Mission Accomplished...............................................


..................(Fact Is Often Much Stranger than Fiction)..................................

It Could Only Happen In The United Kingdom

Someone I new from his/her childhood told me this story decades ago.

 

Now seems as good a time as ever to tell it.

When he/she grew up, he/she ended up working in the Diplomatic Protection

Branch of the Police.

Now this person was of Greek-Cypriot origin.

The President of Turkey was on a State visit to The UK.

5 of the Officers assigned to protect him were of Greek/Cypriot origin;

that is to say, their parents or grandparents came to the UK as immigrants

from Greece or Cyprus.

Now they had a dilemma:

Some felt very strongly about the situation in Cyprus and they debated how to reconcile

their duty with their emotional,cultural and historical links.

In the end they took a vote on it.  3 voted to go ahead with their duties and 2 voted against.

They made their views known to the Commanding Officer and the 2 who felt too emotional

to reconcile were excused from the personal protection duties for this particular State visit.  

None ever suffered professionally because of this matter.

The Presidential State visit was regarded as a  resounding success by both Britain and Turkey.

I dread to contemplate what fate would have awaited them if they had been serving officers
in another country in the world.
I can think of many where doing the patriotic duty of taking a matter of conscience to a
senior officer or representative, as allowed in law, would have most certainly resulted in witch-hunts,dismissals and abandonment by the very system which should have offered support, confidence and protection and immunity from victimization.

I can't think of another country in the world where the outcome from such an incident would have been favorable to all parties.

Patrick Emek

September 15th 2013

Syria: One Week To Disarm-The Cost of Warfare

At first glance giving Syria one week to disarm is totally ludicrous.
No doubt there is urgency in Syria's accession to the U.N. Chemical Weapons Ban
Treaty - but a week is just not viable.
There are a number of factors at work here.
One of them is the sheer cost of keeping U.S. forces in the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf in a state
of readiness for a prolonged period of time.
It should be appreciated that there is a considerable cost to 'hi-gearing' resources and assets for imminent
action.   Military preparedness degrades over a prolonged period of inactivity as all other schedules (combat training, shore leave, etc etc) have been cancelled prior to imminent war and the military-industrial complex supporting a particular brief (from the 'shop floor' to 'systems delivery') have been re-positioned and readied to supply the mission tasks.
In view of this fact alone, significant progress must be verifiable or at least be evident to facilitate a stand down to a lower level of alertness.   It's effectively the equivalent of 'mission creep' if too long a period of
'inactivity' operates.
With significant progress and combat alert in decline, hopefully the diplomats can be given the space to do their jobs and bring about a favorable outcome for the world.

I often hear comments of eminent specialists who talk about the logic of what the Syrian rebels (Al Qaeda) will do in the interests of 'realpolitik'.   Sadly few (appear to have) any experience of dealing with religious fanatics and are simply looking at matters through the looking glass of their practical training and experience of the 'normal' world of political banter and compromise.
What they fail to appreciate is that in the 21st century, in some parts of the world,there are religious idealists
(such as Al Qaeda) who do not see the world through our prism.
You really must put yourself into a framework of medieval-or pre-medieval  thought-where Infidels are put to the sword for the glory of Allah or indeed for the glory of God, The Trinity and the prize of re-taking Jerusalem for Christendom) where unspeakable crimes against humanity are perfectly acceptable-as a matter of course-and will be forgiven (by Allah or God)-if it is to further Islam/Christianity in a 'Holy War'; where the sacking and putting to the sword (and I am talking May Lai Massacre and Pol Pot scale-big time-not just as 'one-off' actions of a disturbed captain or colonel or private but wholesale and as 'the norm') is perfectly justifiable and Allah will forgive as it is all done to further His cause (that of spreading the Koran/Bible by 'fire and the sword' to overcome the 'Infidels'.)
I often wonder if our politically correct versions of sanitized history, religious teachings, and other areas of curricula teachings in schools and colleges are producing generations of  wussies with no real appreciation of the past-thereby ensuring that yesterdays mistakes will be repeated tomorrow.
The general public and indeed  educated professionals  appears to have no real understanding of the mindset
of religious fanatics, who cannot simply be overcome with dialectical (discourse) alone but also with more rudimentary methods which will bring them 'down to earth'.
Let me give just one example.  This is a little know story dating back to the early days of the Lebanese Civil War.  It was a time when Western diplomats were being kidnapped and murdered with frightening regularity.
A faction of a terrorist group (with religious-political ideologies) decided to kidnap Russian diplomats.  The response was, through 'friendly' (pro-Soviet) assets within the terrorist organization, to identify the faction responsible for the kidnappings.   Russian special forces (already present) were deployed to work with friendly locals. The role of local (grass-roots) assets was absolutely critical and without them identification of the terrorist cell would have been extremely difficult.  They promptly kidnapped relatives of the kidnappers and started to send (surgically removed, on ice blocks) 'body parts' of the relatives to the kidnappers-with the message that if the Russian diplomats were not released, more vital parts and organs would follow shortly.)  The kidnappers promptly released their victims and the relatives of the kidnappers were also released, none the worse for wear and tear.   There were no more Russian diplomats kidnapped in Lebanon during the Civil War.

In the politically correct world we inhabit it is assumed that all logic follows the same route.
Not so.
Religious fanatics will often only talk turkey when you have something they regard of  precious value to sell to them.
The Russian 'initiative' did not of course bring about an end to the Lebanese Civil War-but it secured their own position and that of their diplomats.

So with U.S. military intervention temporarily on hold, lets hope that the work of diplomacy will at least marginalize the extremists, for the time being.


Patrick Emek
14th September  2013

Disaffection In the American Armed Forces

Should President Obama continue with his plan to deploy U.S. troops to fight alongside Al Qaeda he risks serious disaffection in branches of the services.

(At this moment a vigorous internal hunt is taking place to try to identify those whom, I would call patriots, who will, more likely, not follow orders to side with America's enemies.)

 This policy of engagement in Syria is ill-conceived,not thought through and the only beneficiaries will be Saudi Arabia and Islamic extremists.

 What Has Led To Disaffection Amongst Rank-and-File Personnel?

U.S. forces are amongst the most highly trained,professional and  reliable in the world.   U.S. Special Forces are,as I have said in BBC World TV interviews after 9/11, the best in the world.  They are noted for their unfaltering loyalty, whatever the situation of personal disapproval.   None, however, joined the armed services to serve nor fight alongside Al Qaeda, the sworn enemies of America, everything American and the Christian world as a whole.

President Obama's foreign policy has been a complete shambles from the beginning.  He switched from supporting friendly pro-West secular Muslim regimes,as dictatorial, undemocratic and oppressive as most were, to supporting religious fanatics.

All the above should not detract from the enormous foreign policy blunder he is about to engage in.

Syria is not Libya,nor Iraq nor Afghanistan.

President Obama is opening a can of worms which will engulf the entire region into decades of conflict and strife.              (Perhaps that's the objective?;again if it was, I will be the last person in the world to be told.)

Hezbollah is the most effective fighting force in that entire region of the Muslim world.  Technology notwithstanding, they can hold their own against the IDF and Special Forces-which they have shown on many occasions.   IDF personnel will tell you that the one force they do not desire to encounter, is Hezbollah.   They are a well-disciplined, seasoned, fighting force which have earned the respect-even of their enemies.

Taking on Syria is effectively taking on Hezbollah.  Once Hezbollah is fully committed in the Syrian civil war, so too is Iran.  So the fight over the future of Iran will take place in Syria, Jordan, Israel, Egypt, and Turkey with jihadi fanatics from the four corners of the Islamic world being beckoned to join in this 'Holy War'.                                     

A military coup in Turkey is also a not too remote possibility - so unpopular amongst the Turkish population as a whole - is the current (U.S. backed) Sunni (pro Salafist) leadership and their stance in the Syrian civil war.

The Turks,despite their partial and temporary truce with the PKK, will not be able to contain the spillover of this new conflict which will engulf their Kurdish borders. 

As a guest of the Turkish Ambassador in London I once had the opportunity (on a river trip) just after the PKK leader was captured, to urge moderation and suggest clemency from a possible death sentence for Mr Ocalan.   My reasoning was that he might be useful someday.  Thank goodness at that time a moderate secular (Atatürk) Turkish government was in power-and taking rational decisions.   I do not profess to have had one iota of influence but realpolitik was, at that time, in Turkey, the order of the day.   Today the religious fanatics have taken power in Turkey - by stealth.  Secular rationalism is today, in Turkey, secondary, to religious priorities.

Throw God and Allah into that arena of the Syrian conflict and you have an unholy mess.

Syria will not stand by and take 90 days of 'punishment' from the United States Congress.   There will be a response.

90 days from zero we may yet again see the President telling us why American (or a Turkish-Gulf coalition,NATO-backed) forces must now be committed to deal with Syria's 'response' to it's 'punishment'.  Neither do a significant number of U.S. serving troops want to see this scenario-because such will involve propping up Al Qaeda, the sworn enemy of everything American, to enable them to seize power from Assad,the secular President of Syria.

For Israel to take sides in this civil strife in Syria is a big mistake.  It will have to live with it's neighbors forever (notwithstanding ability to move the entire territory to Manhattan or Key West.) 

Only extremism can triumph in the current circumstances.

 

Patrick Emek

September 4th 2013

1st Anniversary of The Torture and Murder of Ambassador Christopher Stevens in Benghazi, Libya, by Saudi-backed Salafists:

A lot of effort has been made in the past year,through selective media leaks,by persons unknown, to portray Ambassador Stevens as 'an idealist' and someone who 'went off the reservation' ...the classic setup before justification for abandonment.
Ambassadors,even of Superpowers, are expendable.
Their blood is not as thick as oil.

We already know, from media open-sourced interviews, that unreleased documents of the Obama administration will show Ambassador Stevens could have been saved......but he was expendable.....the First Representative of the President of the most powerful country on earth.....was expendable...think about that.   The next time you and your family take up appointment in some God-forsaken outpost, remember the unsolved cold-blooded torture and murder of Ambassador Stevens ........and reflect......

Patrick Emek
September 3rd 2013
updated September 4th 2013