Geopolitics and the conditions for sparking a more typical global military conflict: Links 2 on May 14 – 2015

1. Ezra on Newspeak and criticism of the Oz PM for stating the undeniably obvious

2. Unnamed and un-described man detained for trying to fly a drone over the White House

3. Amtrak train from Chicago catches fire in Milwaukee

(Everyone escaped)

4. Terrorist task force picks up chatter of threats to Palm Beach event 

5. Oil tanker directly fired upon by craft thought to be Iranian – owner

(Obama must be ‘sitting shiva’ for his planned legacy of the Iranian nuclear deal)

LONDON, May 14 (Reuters) – Small craft thought to be Iranian fired on a Singapore-flagged oil products tanker after the ship ignored an order to stop in international waters in the Gulf, the ship’s owner said on Thursday.

Owner South Maritime Pte Ltd said in a statement the Singapore-flagged Alpine Eternity was attacked by a number of small craft, “thought to be Iranian”, earlier on Thursday while in international waters off the United Arab Emirates after it had sailed from Bahrain en route to Fujairah.

6. Islamic State releases ‘al-Baghdadi message’

Islamic State (IS) has released an audio message it says is from its leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, which if confirmed would be the first in months.

The message urges Muslims to take up arms in its cause and emigrate to the “caliphate” it has proclaimed in areas of Syria and Iraq.

Analysts say the voice appears to be Baghdadi’s but this is not verified.

Baghdadi’s fate has been unclear amid reports of air strikes by the US-led coalition that is opposing IS.

The message was released by the group’s al-Furqan media outlet and appeared on several websites. The speaker says: “There is no excuse for any Muslim not to migrate to the Islamic State… joining [its fight] is a duty on every Muslim. We are calling on you either to join or carry weapons [to fight] wherever you are.”

(It may be time to take up a collection to pay boat fare or buy some dinghies and some oars for muslims wanting to make hijra to the Islamic State. So long as they are never allowed back)

7. NYT: Saudi Arabia Promises to Match Iran in Nuclear Capability

WASHINGTON — When President Obama began making the case for a deal with Iran that would delay its ability to assemble an atomic weapon, his first argument was that a nuclear-armed Iran would set off a “free-for-all” of proliferation in the Arab world. “It is almost certain that other players in the region would feel it necessary to get their own nuclear weapons,” he said in 2012.

Now, as he gathered Arab leaders over dinner at the White House on Wednesday  and prepared to meet with them at Camp David on Thursday, he faced a perverse consequence: Saudi Arabia and many of the smaller Arab states are now vowing to match whatever nuclear enrichment capability Iran is permitted to retain.

8. IRGC Deputy Commander Salami: “We Welcome War with the Americans” 

(That dern legacy is slipping away by the minute. But hey wait! Maybe he can score some rep as the man who created the conditions for WW3 and then lost it!)

 

Thank you M., Draculea, Ox AO., Wrath of Khan, and all and there is much more and many more people to thank as well. There are serious events unfolding. But does the Western world have any serious leaders?

About Eeyore

Canadian artist and counter-jihad and freedom of speech activist as well as devout Schrödinger's catholic

8 Replies to “Geopolitics and the conditions for sparking a more typical global military conflict: Links 2 on May 14 – 2015”

  1. 1/ The ivory tower lifted off some time ago and has been circling the Earth at what the professors think is a safe distance.

      • Good question. I only meant to suggest that most of our academics are about as distant from reality as they can get without actually setting out for the next star system.

        And what is a source of steady amazement for me, that they don’t suffer the consequences of their ideas, being so well insulated, and the university culture, and the culture at large, being so far to the left.

  2. 8/ The Iranians welcome war with the US because their Twelver eschatology requires an apocalyptic war, paving the way for the way for the return of their Hidden Imam