A year ago I pointed out how many people from STRATCOM in Texas were connected to or involved in the Trump coup attempt. The info-ops outfit squirreled inside the Air Force that I got to know in Afghanistan. Oh look Mike Flynn!
Back in 2010. I was top of the fold as part of a ninja assassin story. I refused to work with Dewey and his clown show. They went on to cook POW Berghdal's goose with fake intel reports via Mike Flynn. Small world. nytimes.com/2010/03/15/wor…
I wrote about Bergdahl for Vice, then Michael Ames and Matt Farwell wrote a whole book on the debacle (in which I was described by JSOC as the best source of ground intel in Afghanistan (blush). Turns out Flynn had a reason to lie. #ReadTheBookwashingtonpost.com/outlook/in-afg…
Now here we are a dozen years later and the NYTimes got it wrong. I was right. Fuckery abounded. Sadly you don't make money being the smartest guy in the room. But never forget that we have ex military psyopers trying to overthrow the government. Right now.reuters.com/investigates/s…
Most people expect military coups to be simplistic like Seven Days in May. No, regime change is multiple strands of exploitation managed for effect over time. Constantly exploiting weaknesses until a decisive moment occurs. Sentiment analysis is important.
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"Early reporting noted that (Wagner) would train Malian defense forces and provide protection services for senior political leaders—activities Wagner has also undertaken in countries such as the CAR and Mozambique. csis.org/analysis/track…
Not just training and security contractors. Rigged elections and coups also on the menu. issafrica.org/iss-today/wagn…
Donald blew through 8 Trillion we didn't have and I expect "I need a wheelbarrow of Biden dollars to buy a loaf of bread" stories from the right. The economy is about to hit a wall. So you could say Donald built a metaphorical economic wall and we are going to pay for it.
I could use "speed bump" or something less dramatic I guess. Much of the giddy spending was based on fear and then recovery. Pumping tax and future money in to get things going. Joe wanted 11 trillion, then 8, then 5 then 1.7 then ?.... theguardian.com/business/2022/…
The truth? In 2021 federal spending was equal to 30% of the total GDP, down from 44% in 2020. Yeah Trump pushed towards being a socialist nation. Faced with economic collapse, would Biden have done the same. Probably. datalab.usaspending.gov/americas-finan…
Calling it. We have reached peak Wagner. All that is left is the Saturday morning cartoon series for African kids. meduza.io/en/feature/202…
The merch is so so. The movies predictable but in twenty years Russian MercMech will be a hot collectible. Like those Afghan refugee bazaars in Peshawar that sold brain stained Soviet helmets back in the 90s' instagram.com/rsotm_original…
"Quick-dry, breathable performance tee for the gym, the trail, or wherever; Comfortable fit with sport-friendly stretch" redbubble.com/i/t-shirt/Wagn…
The war in Biafra (July 1967 – January 1970) is a fascinating story of the conflict birth to relief agency Medecins Sans Frontier (MSF), modern African mercenaries and the battle over the use of desperate children for media exploitation. chindits.wordpress.com/tag/biafra/
"Recamier & Kouchner believed the world needed to know about the events they were witnessing: civilians being murdered and starved by blockading forces. They openly criticised the Nigerian government and the Red Cross for their ... complicit behaviour." msf-me.org/about-us/histo…
This activism also inspired musicians to do something to raise fund. In 1971 George Harrison put on two concerts for Bangladesh. A place and disaster most people had never heard of. He raised $13.5 million.
The motivation and the plight of migrants has not changed. Nor have the incentives for them to seek work or betterment. It's like an endless argument about why the geese go south for the winter. You cannot stop the movement of humans. amnesty.org/en/latest/news…
A global reality needs a global framework just to respond to it productively. There is no such thing. Like most transnational events in a globalized world there is no mechanism to manage migration. So it both harms and helps depending on the application. migrationnetwork.un.org/sites/g/files/…
Migration is not one way. Nor is it linear. But this map tries to capture the energy of humans on the move. Mostly from poor to wealthy nations. Overpopulated, destroyed or harsh realms to more survivable ones. metrocosm.com/global-migrati…