In early August 2008, Russian military forces invaded the nation of Georgia. An American action encouraged the Kremlin to halt its attack. U.S. Air Force transports flew elite Georgian infantrymen deployed in Iraq from Iraqi bases to their hard-pressed home country. August 2018, a decade later: Poland audaciously asked America to build a permanent U.S. […]
Austin Bay
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Yemen's little wars and opportunistic arrangements
Critical facts on the ground don’t support the cynical assessment that Yemen’s chaotic war pits everyone against one another in a confused melee of carnage and starvation. Stipulate the key combatant coalitions, the Saudi Arabia-led pro-Yemen government coalition and the Iran-backed Houthi rebel confederation — both have political weaknesses. Despite their flaws, they manage to […]
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Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
UN will maintain presence in Somalia
Since April, 1992, an international peacekeeping or monitoring force of some type has attempted to reduce the mayhem in war-wracked Somalia. Subtract 1992 from 2018: you get 26 years. Prepare to add more. This week the UN Security Council voted to maintain the UN and African Union Somali peacekeeping operation (African Union Mission in Somalia, […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
China’s imperialist ventures in Africa
It’s time the world recognized sub-Saharan Africa’s newest economic and military imperialist: Communist party-ruled China. China’s immense economy needs natural resources and markets to continue generating wealth. Sub-Saharan Africa offers both — rich mineral deposits in particular — so China is there, with money and weapons. Since China’s major mineral and oil companies are state-owned […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Turkey-U.S. relations under increasing strain
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s authoritarian behavior has further stressed Turkey’s already frayed defense relationships with the U.S. and other NATO members. The increasing strain — to the point of permanent break — is bad news for an already unstable Middle East, Central Asia and eastern Europe. It is flat-out awful news for culturally Muslim […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Sweden prepares for Russian aggression
Russia’s heinous 2014 invasion and annexation of Crimea continues to spur military responses in Free Europe. This week, Finland’s and Sweden’s defense ministers signed a defense agreement covering operations in war time as well as peace time training and crisis preparation. Since Moscow’s Crimean caper, closer defense cooperation to the point of military alliance has […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Iran's internal clash
The December 2017, nationwide protests that surprised and rattled Iran’s clerical dictatorship never quite subsided. Demonstrations occurred in January 2018, then again in April. Since mid-May, publicly expressed anger in Iran’s would-be global revolutionary state has intensified to the point that regime internal security units have fired on demonstrators. There is no accurate death toll […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
Yemen's seaport battle for food and the future
In fractious Yemen’s swirl of tribal, sectarian and proxy wars, two conflicts stand out: America’s drone and special operations war on al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula bases and personnel; and the much larger ethnic-sectarian war pitting Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia’s coalition against Shia Iran’s Houthis rebel proxy army. The Houthis belong to the Zaidi sect […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
The violent stagnation in Eastern Ukraine continues
In June 2018, the Russo-Ukraine War has become an expensive example of violent stagnation. The expenses are measured in lives lost and money wasted, spilled blood and red ink. Both sides suffer, and Ukraine demonstrably since the fighting occurs on its territory. However, Russian president Vladimir Putin and the curious oligarchy of billionaires and gangsters […]
Posted inOp-Eds, sj-web
The deep history behind the Singapore summit
President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un have concluded their summit in Singapore. The summit mixed theatrics and drama. At least two of the handshake photo ops included canny doses of Trumpian flattery. The summit produced a dictator’s commitment to denuclearize and an agreement to continue discussions calculated to achieve denuclearization — […]