So, where are the protests in the streets? Where is the public outrage? Obviously, these HTS fighters, including Chechen, Indonesian and Uyghur volunteers– consider that the Uyghur who are persecuted in China helped carry out this massacre of Alawites in Syria– have carried out these mass killings in retribution for…
Author: Royce de Melo
Musings and analyses related to history, conflict, terrorism, defence, security, culture, human nature, politics, the Middle East, Africa, and the odd anecdotes | Royce de Melo
Russo-Ukraine War
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Read The Man, Zelensky and the Oval Office Public Spat
IMHO, I think what happened at the Oval Office the other day was Zelensky being spontaneous, it’s his personality. Profile the man, the former comedian and actor, and we might have a better understanding of the human factors at play. (Profiling Trump and Vance is another topic; I’m going to…
PMSCs
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In A Follow Up Politico Report, Trump Appears Open To Using PMSCs To Deport Illegal Immigrants
‘The president added that he didn’t think it was necessary, and that he hadn’t read Erik Prince’s proposal.’– Politico Politico is very slanted in its reporting, so one has to take the tone of the reporting with a grain of salt. Former PMC Black Water chief Erik Prince comes up…
Self-defence
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Never Bring A Towel To A Knife Fight
I dunno… Watch the video. How out of touch with reality does someone have to be to come up with this stuff? Would swinging a towel at a knife-yielding attacker hellbent on hurting or killing you work? I’m going to say, basically, that is a no. The towel defence method…
Egypt
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US and Israel Concerns Over Egypt Deploying Tanks and Troops to Sinai; and Video of Egyptian Armed Forces in Training Exercises using Ultralights
Here’s a video of the Egyptian Armed Forces making the rounds. It shows Egyptian paratroopers, soldiers and aircraft in training exercises. In the video, you will see the use of ultralight aircraft, which can be an innovative way to deploy men. However, what I’m seeing is many expressing concern that…
HistoryLegends: ‘How France Got EJECTED From West Africa’
This is well worth the watch. HistoryLegends points out something related to what I’ve been saying consistently, i.e. the French military in those Sahelian countries was there to help those countries. This was nothing colonial because those troops were there at the invitation of those governments. These are independent nations…
Middle East History
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A Bit of History and Background as Jordan’s King Abdullah Meets with Trump Over His Gaza Plan
Jordan has had bad experiences with allowing Palestinians into Jordan from the “Palestinian” enclaves before. What comes to mind is the Black September conflict (6 September 1970 – 23 July 1971) when Jordan, led by King Hussein, went up against the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), led by Yasser Arafat, along…
El Salvador, Prisons
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BBC News report ‘Could US criminals be sent to El Salvador’s mega-jail?’
Having worked briefly in El Salvador during the Emergency Regime and the War on Gangs, I was keeping track of the building of the mega-prison known as Cecot (the Terrorism Confinement Centre). At the time, I learned and reported that Cecot technically was/is violating the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules…
PMSCs
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A Former CIA Military Advisor’s Perspective About The Hiring of US PMSCs Tasked To Operate In Gaza
A Former Special Forces CIA Advisor shared with me what he thinks about the contracting of two previously unknown American PMSCs (Private Military Security Companies) tasked with running checkpoints in Gaza. The former advisor also has experience working in the PMSC world. Please note that the opinions expressed by the…
The Grey Men of Gaza, Contracting US and Egyptian PMC/PMSC To Manage Checkpoints and Security; Will It Work?
I can understand why hiring PMSCs will be considered beneficial to carry out these duties in Gaza as these are contractors taking no sides in the situation, as they are not part of a military/security government forces. They are the grey men. This is a good option, IMHO… For the…