"At some point, the U.S. and other rule-of-law countries will have to decide whether and how to increase the consequences for these brazen acts." What a piece of propaganda. America and Israel have a huge history of assassinations.
And your naive to think that has stopped America from committing them. Biden is breaking several laws at home with the American made Genocide in Gaza and America is breaking international laws...
Be specific if you have specifics. Cite the statutes and violations and proof they occurred, if they exist. No one is going to take these generalized, unsourced and unsupported claims seriously. Especially not in this group were we deal with influence operations.
ConOld stated he will back Israel to end Gaza, he stated that in an interview, the video can be found on YouTube. Whereas, Biden has told Israel to end their war with Gaza, then has asked them for a ceasefire for aid for the people many times. You seem to have not been following much
Wow, Asha, after my morning dose of Bob Woodward’s book “WAR” discussing Biden’s delicate dance in the Middle East, your class explains some of the issues. I have to limit my intake of horror for today. Thank you for sharing your expertise, but some lighter fare is now needed.
..<><>.. Ms.Asha with Trump being on the ballot, America has already joined this "group of thugs"! The World is very aware of "what went on", on January 6, 2021 and the charges the DOJ has charged Trump with. To be allowed to run for the Office of the President, the DOJ is saying to the World, We as a Nation are NOT one of the "Rule of Law" because there is a chance Trump wins (elected) this Tuesday and will "erase these Federal Charges he is presently out on Bail" for..... by people he places into DOJ ect!
The Courts in Maine and Colorado should of "stayed" firm!... Ms.Asha
In FACT former President or NOT he should be sitting in Jail ( Denied Bail) for all the TOP SECRET Government Documents he STOLE upon leaving the WHITE HOUSE and FOUND at his residence in FLORIDA!!! NOT Running for the Office of the President of the United efffn States!!!
As always, absolutely brilliant commentary. I was actually thinking about the Skripals yesterday as there was news from the inquiry being held (my understanding is that it was treated as a Fentanyl overdose by the paramedics, and Narcon saved their lives.) I'm sure that intelligence services and UK / US governments knew very early on considering the victims. Obviously, Putin's dirty, unpublished book "Everything I Ever Needed to Know I learned in the KGB" and Napoleon complex / bullying mentality emboldens him to walk as close to the cliff's edge tempting fate. Asha and many of her colleagues / circle of friends know much more about response than I do certainly, but I do think a hawk attitude is the only way to deal with this. The boycotts are only symbolic, and I think of the Olympic boycotts of the 1980 Moscow Summer games in regard to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. A lot of good that did considering the Soviets stayed for eight more years. One thing that has been consistent since the end of the War (as in WWII), has been a "don't mess with me" attitude of the US. We don't try to wake the Russian bear, and they don't try to poach from the Eagle's nest. But Putin has had a totally different KGB-nurtured outlook. He has quietly observed our softening stance from Bush, Obama, and his fan club president Trump. Mrs. Clinton would have been tough as nails with Putin probably along the lines of Reagan, I suspect. In the present circumstances / unilateral rule, Russia cannot be trusted. It's like dealing with an obstinate neighbor, doing our best to wait it out until they eventually move away and are replaced. In that time, there is no way that any of this nonsense is acceptable. The Russians have been getting worse as they are more emboldened. I have no idea what we can do to send them a message, but a fresh chapter under President Harris can start with the first page laying down the line in the sand and holding to it. I never had a good feeling about Putin even when Bush was trusting him after 9/11, the photo ops of Bush driving one of Putin's Russian jalopies, etc. Bush had no experience that suited him to that situation, meanwhile, Putin had been a dirty trickster since at least his 20s. I supported Bush at that time, but in retrospect, an awful leader. The Russians are like cockroaches that must evolve of the centuries to survive and remain pests. That means switching from expensive nuclear weapons and military investments as a deterrent to a new method. I wouldn't be surprised that for the same money of developing and assembling a nuclear weapon, they could operate a troll farm paying computer hackers to work from wherever to cause chaos. Chaos Entrepreneurship is a lucrative business these days. Money has replaced God for too many people, and in the process, morals and ethics have fallen by the wayside. I certainly don't believe in Christian Nationalism, and fully support the First Amendment separation of Church and State. I do think that some of us need to return to our roots and realize where true happiness lies, and that the path forward is through decency. The Pope did advise US Catholic voters to choose "The lesser of two evils". That does suggest an unreasonably idealistic and almost naive outlook for such a complex job in an increasingly more complex world. But that being said, I think that Kamala Harris is ethical and moral, and will do the right thing. She may not have showed up at the Al Smith Dinner, but she quietly lives an example of her own Christianity by example. Donald's "Christianity" is telling stories "There were these two Corinthians" and boasting about his Christian "faith". These are my typical random thoughts flowing in a stream of consciousness, hoping there is something within these words that can trigger the discussion, and hopefully the US can find its way out of this situation. At the moment, I am feeling positive (though cautious!), and that enough people are not bamboozled by the baboon bamboozler. That MSG event last week was unimaginable to anyone over a certain age, and is absolutely NOT normal. I look at Harris and I see empathy and reason; I look at Trump and see a distracted mind unfocused on the moment, but the future trying to keep out of prison and enrich himself. The failed "casino magnate" wannabe is making the ultimate roll of the dice, and on Tuesday, its either freedom or no. If he loses on Tuesday, he and his gradually movement wither and die.
It's scary, kashogi was working on pieces directly involving kushner, and Trump. That administration straight up had a hand in kashogi's death. If this to much let me know and I can tack it off or d we let my opinion!!
If Putin's campaign to disrupt our (US) elections and generally undermine trust in our government by way of targeted mis/disinformation campaigns can be seen as asymmetrical warfare, could Putin's assets here, Tucker Carlson, et al, for example, be charged with treason under the Constitution's definition of treason?
One difficulty for intelligence and in response to these assassinations in Western nations is the West's financial and trade agreements with the nations authorizing the murders. One example, the UK members of Parliament and City of London individuals who sit on the boards of offshore Russian banks, which are laundromats for criminal funds.
The United States has been involved in assassinations abroad, as of late by drone, regardless of human casualties… appears it’s an acceptable practice around the globe Asha, it’s a criminal act, that requires some measure of enforcement, however…?
Exceptionally crafted piece to ponder Asha thanks!!
I was serving in the 501st MI Brigade in the Republic of Korea in '76-'77, assigned to the Tunnel Team and hunting North Korean tunnels under the Chorwon Valley in the DMZ , when North Korea assassins crossed the valley near our position. Their targets were various government officials at various levels, reporters, thought leaders.
Myself and my team were aware we were operating near a particularly porous section of our defensive lines, and that North Korea's 3rd Reconnaissance Brigade, their elite assassins, attempted annually to cross into the South at that point. Traditionally these attempts were made when the river was frozen over and this was in late March, so we were not expecting trouble. Nevertheless, at night we camped on a hilltop occupied by a South Korean guard post just in case.
One night sirens went off and the searchlights on the hilltops around us all came on and started sweeping the valley. We could see what appeared to be dozens of men in black suits running up the valley. The South Korean guard posts tilted their quad-50 caliber anti-aircraft guns downward and began spraying the valley with machine gun fire. The sirens and weapons fire continued for about ten minutes then stopped. At sunrise multiple platoons of ROK infantry came out of heir hilltop bunkers and began sweeps (too dangerous to perform at night because of mine fields) and found nothing. Either they hadn't hit any of the North Koreans, or the infiltrators had carried off their wounded and dead, but it was clear they had gotten through. All of them.
Over the next several weeks local officials began turning up dead as far south as Pusan. If any of the assassins were killed or captured we were not told. But we did come into possession of a diary one of the assassins had apparently dropped on a bus in Osan where we had our largest air base in the country. The diary detailed his assignments and when he had completed them, i.e. the targets he had killed.
The ROK government kept it all quiet, but they most definitely saw it as an act of war and retaliated. Units of ROK Marines equivalent to our SEALs crossed into North Korea and took out entire North Korean villages as they had done in response to a similar NK operation in 1968. While I understood the impulse, I didn't see how killing a bunch of North Korean farmers accomplished anything. The NK populace would never know it had happened, and even if they were told, it would only have been used to feed Kim Jong-Ils propaganda machine and fire up his military. And that for me is the conundrum in responding to Iranian provocations.
What is an appropriate response? When the Iranian revolutionaries took our embassy staff hostage a lot of people in 9th Infy were all gung ho to go to war and pilots I knew at McChord AFB all wanted to bomb Tehran. Friends of mine in the Ranger battalion volunteered for and participated in the attempted rescue that failed at Desert One. I don't seriously believe any would have gotten out alive if they had penetrated into Tehran.
Years later Obama's answer to retaliating without risking personnel was clearly drone strikes. Lots of drone strikes. Many with casualties not limited to the persons we were targeting. And if collateral damage is a line we don't want to cross, do do we send in assassins of our own? Tit for tat? We tried that, the British tried that. I'm not aware of it ever changing anything the Soviets ever did.
I think unless we turn the Iranian oil fields into a burning inferno nothing we do about Iran matters. Unless we seize or sink Putin's shadow fleet of oil tankers, our sanctions on Russia are a joke. The Iranians, like Putin, know the West is unwilling to bear the painful jump in oil prices real action would entail. So what to do? Wish I had an answer.
"At some point, the U.S. and other rule-of-law countries will have to decide whether and how to increase the consequences for these brazen acts." What a piece of propaganda. America and Israel have a huge history of assassinations.
Assassinations have been banned in the U.S. since 1981 under Executive Order 12,333. Keep up.
Given that the cheato threatened Liz Cheney, am I wrong to assume he'd have another country kill her?
just don’t get maimed by the state and they won’t have to have you removed from the books: https://x.com/eklund_matthew/status/1366401298363527168?s=46
And your naive to think that has stopped America from committing them. Biden is breaking several laws at home with the American made Genocide in Gaza and America is breaking international laws...
Be specific if you have specifics. Cite the statutes and violations and proof they occurred, if they exist. No one is going to take these generalized, unsourced and unsupported claims seriously. Especially not in this group were we deal with influence operations.
He has been listening to ConOld, you can tell by his remark
ConOld stated he will back Israel to end Gaza, he stated that in an interview, the video can be found on YouTube. Whereas, Biden has told Israel to end their war with Gaza, then has asked them for a ceasefire for aid for the people many times. You seem to have not been following much
Wow, Asha, after my morning dose of Bob Woodward’s book “WAR” discussing Biden’s delicate dance in the Middle East, your class explains some of the issues. I have to limit my intake of horror for today. Thank you for sharing your expertise, but some lighter fare is now needed.
..<><>.. Ms.Asha with Trump being on the ballot, America has already joined this "group of thugs"! The World is very aware of "what went on", on January 6, 2021 and the charges the DOJ has charged Trump with. To be allowed to run for the Office of the President, the DOJ is saying to the World, We as a Nation are NOT one of the "Rule of Law" because there is a chance Trump wins (elected) this Tuesday and will "erase these Federal Charges he is presently out on Bail" for..... by people he places into DOJ ect!
The Courts in Maine and Colorado should of "stayed" firm!... Ms.Asha
In FACT former President or NOT he should be sitting in Jail ( Denied Bail) for all the TOP SECRET Government Documents he STOLE upon leaving the WHITE HOUSE and FOUND at his residence in FLORIDA!!! NOT Running for the Office of the President of the United efffn States!!!
@AshaRangappa
wAc
@CrowBwell9
As always, absolutely brilliant commentary. I was actually thinking about the Skripals yesterday as there was news from the inquiry being held (my understanding is that it was treated as a Fentanyl overdose by the paramedics, and Narcon saved their lives.) I'm sure that intelligence services and UK / US governments knew very early on considering the victims. Obviously, Putin's dirty, unpublished book "Everything I Ever Needed to Know I learned in the KGB" and Napoleon complex / bullying mentality emboldens him to walk as close to the cliff's edge tempting fate. Asha and many of her colleagues / circle of friends know much more about response than I do certainly, but I do think a hawk attitude is the only way to deal with this. The boycotts are only symbolic, and I think of the Olympic boycotts of the 1980 Moscow Summer games in regard to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. A lot of good that did considering the Soviets stayed for eight more years. One thing that has been consistent since the end of the War (as in WWII), has been a "don't mess with me" attitude of the US. We don't try to wake the Russian bear, and they don't try to poach from the Eagle's nest. But Putin has had a totally different KGB-nurtured outlook. He has quietly observed our softening stance from Bush, Obama, and his fan club president Trump. Mrs. Clinton would have been tough as nails with Putin probably along the lines of Reagan, I suspect. In the present circumstances / unilateral rule, Russia cannot be trusted. It's like dealing with an obstinate neighbor, doing our best to wait it out until they eventually move away and are replaced. In that time, there is no way that any of this nonsense is acceptable. The Russians have been getting worse as they are more emboldened. I have no idea what we can do to send them a message, but a fresh chapter under President Harris can start with the first page laying down the line in the sand and holding to it. I never had a good feeling about Putin even when Bush was trusting him after 9/11, the photo ops of Bush driving one of Putin's Russian jalopies, etc. Bush had no experience that suited him to that situation, meanwhile, Putin had been a dirty trickster since at least his 20s. I supported Bush at that time, but in retrospect, an awful leader. The Russians are like cockroaches that must evolve of the centuries to survive and remain pests. That means switching from expensive nuclear weapons and military investments as a deterrent to a new method. I wouldn't be surprised that for the same money of developing and assembling a nuclear weapon, they could operate a troll farm paying computer hackers to work from wherever to cause chaos. Chaos Entrepreneurship is a lucrative business these days. Money has replaced God for too many people, and in the process, morals and ethics have fallen by the wayside. I certainly don't believe in Christian Nationalism, and fully support the First Amendment separation of Church and State. I do think that some of us need to return to our roots and realize where true happiness lies, and that the path forward is through decency. The Pope did advise US Catholic voters to choose "The lesser of two evils". That does suggest an unreasonably idealistic and almost naive outlook for such a complex job in an increasingly more complex world. But that being said, I think that Kamala Harris is ethical and moral, and will do the right thing. She may not have showed up at the Al Smith Dinner, but she quietly lives an example of her own Christianity by example. Donald's "Christianity" is telling stories "There were these two Corinthians" and boasting about his Christian "faith". These are my typical random thoughts flowing in a stream of consciousness, hoping there is something within these words that can trigger the discussion, and hopefully the US can find its way out of this situation. At the moment, I am feeling positive (though cautious!), and that enough people are not bamboozled by the baboon bamboozler. That MSG event last week was unimaginable to anyone over a certain age, and is absolutely NOT normal. I look at Harris and I see empathy and reason; I look at Trump and see a distracted mind unfocused on the moment, but the future trying to keep out of prison and enrich himself. The failed "casino magnate" wannabe is making the ultimate roll of the dice, and on Tuesday, its either freedom or no. If he loses on Tuesday, he and his gradually movement wither and die.
It's scary, kashogi was working on pieces directly involving kushner, and Trump. That administration straight up had a hand in kashogi's death. If this to much let me know and I can tack it off or d we let my opinion!!
If Putin's campaign to disrupt our (US) elections and generally undermine trust in our government by way of targeted mis/disinformation campaigns can be seen as asymmetrical warfare, could Putin's assets here, Tucker Carlson, et al, for example, be charged with treason under the Constitution's definition of treason?
One difficulty for intelligence and in response to these assassinations in Western nations is the West's financial and trade agreements with the nations authorizing the murders. One example, the UK members of Parliament and City of London individuals who sit on the boards of offshore Russian banks, which are laundromats for criminal funds.
The United States has been involved in assassinations abroad, as of late by drone, regardless of human casualties… appears it’s an acceptable practice around the globe Asha, it’s a criminal act, that requires some measure of enforcement, however…?
Exceptionally crafted piece to ponder Asha thanks!!
How has the US has been involved in assassinations abroad? And who are/were they that the US has assassinated?
I was serving in the 501st MI Brigade in the Republic of Korea in '76-'77, assigned to the Tunnel Team and hunting North Korean tunnels under the Chorwon Valley in the DMZ , when North Korea assassins crossed the valley near our position. Their targets were various government officials at various levels, reporters, thought leaders.
Myself and my team were aware we were operating near a particularly porous section of our defensive lines, and that North Korea's 3rd Reconnaissance Brigade, their elite assassins, attempted annually to cross into the South at that point. Traditionally these attempts were made when the river was frozen over and this was in late March, so we were not expecting trouble. Nevertheless, at night we camped on a hilltop occupied by a South Korean guard post just in case.
One night sirens went off and the searchlights on the hilltops around us all came on and started sweeping the valley. We could see what appeared to be dozens of men in black suits running up the valley. The South Korean guard posts tilted their quad-50 caliber anti-aircraft guns downward and began spraying the valley with machine gun fire. The sirens and weapons fire continued for about ten minutes then stopped. At sunrise multiple platoons of ROK infantry came out of heir hilltop bunkers and began sweeps (too dangerous to perform at night because of mine fields) and found nothing. Either they hadn't hit any of the North Koreans, or the infiltrators had carried off their wounded and dead, but it was clear they had gotten through. All of them.
Over the next several weeks local officials began turning up dead as far south as Pusan. If any of the assassins were killed or captured we were not told. But we did come into possession of a diary one of the assassins had apparently dropped on a bus in Osan where we had our largest air base in the country. The diary detailed his assignments and when he had completed them, i.e. the targets he had killed.
The ROK government kept it all quiet, but they most definitely saw it as an act of war and retaliated. Units of ROK Marines equivalent to our SEALs crossed into North Korea and took out entire North Korean villages as they had done in response to a similar NK operation in 1968. While I understood the impulse, I didn't see how killing a bunch of North Korean farmers accomplished anything. The NK populace would never know it had happened, and even if they were told, it would only have been used to feed Kim Jong-Ils propaganda machine and fire up his military. And that for me is the conundrum in responding to Iranian provocations.
What is an appropriate response? When the Iranian revolutionaries took our embassy staff hostage a lot of people in 9th Infy were all gung ho to go to war and pilots I knew at McChord AFB all wanted to bomb Tehran. Friends of mine in the Ranger battalion volunteered for and participated in the attempted rescue that failed at Desert One. I don't seriously believe any would have gotten out alive if they had penetrated into Tehran.
Years later Obama's answer to retaliating without risking personnel was clearly drone strikes. Lots of drone strikes. Many with casualties not limited to the persons we were targeting. And if collateral damage is a line we don't want to cross, do do we send in assassins of our own? Tit for tat? We tried that, the British tried that. I'm not aware of it ever changing anything the Soviets ever did.
I think unless we turn the Iranian oil fields into a burning inferno nothing we do about Iran matters. Unless we seize or sink Putin's shadow fleet of oil tankers, our sanctions on Russia are a joke. The Iranians, like Putin, know the West is unwilling to bear the painful jump in oil prices real action would entail. So what to do? Wish I had an answer.
In the dawn before the light
You live or die by shades of gray