ITN reporter Sandy Gall says something at the beginning of the footage that isn’t very flattering to the Americans fighting at Hue: “…Bravo Company, which started off with more than 130 men, is now down to 90. They are courageous, but they lack cunning. And because they lack cunning, they’re…
History, Conflict, Terrorism, Political Talk and Anecdotes
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A Friend’s New Novel, Shanghai’ed, Promises a Lot of Intrigue, Adventure and Historical Facts in Context
Shanghai’ed (Lucky Bastard Series Book 1) A young Canadian cavalry trooper of mixed Canadian native and Scottish blood is blown up in a WWI cavalry charge in France. He is presumed dead with his horse in a deep water-filled shell crater. The trooper’s life is saved by a Chinese Canadian…
Mali
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Great Report about PMCs Arms Control and Wagner in Mali, But Falls Short Understanding Arms Procurement Processes and Usage
This is an interesting and very insightful report by Global Initiative called ‘Private military companies and arms control challenges, The Wagner group in Mali‘. There is a bit in the report about Russians not getting along with the Malian troops are entirely in line with expectations. In Mozambique a few…
Israel-Hamas War
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Many Thought the Gaza Ceasfire Celebrations Were Premature. The IDF is Responding to Hamas Violation of the Ceasefire.
Should any of us have expected anything else? Hamas applies deception and deceit as a religiously sanctioned thing. The failure of the ceasefire at this moment was more than predictable. The celebrations over the Gaza ceasefire and a peace initiative were premature. Included in Hamas’s religiopolitically sanctioned objectives, and their…
History, Conflict, Terrorism, Political Talk and Anecdotes
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DefenceWeb: Cabo Delgado insurgency persists amid failed military strategy
Great report. It raises some questions about how this war is being handled. In late June, during my last discussion with Phil Gurski on his podcast Borealis ‘How serious is the jihadi threat in Mozambique?’, we discussed the ongoing war, terrorism, the government’s and Rwandan forces’ campaign against the insurgency,…
FN FAL
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Wow, an FN C1. Or Is It?
For some years, I have been helping a friend with events, displays, and parades featuring his incredible collection of old military vehicles and items, including rare deactivated small arms. One big attention getter is the rifle below. Many remember when the FN C1 A1 was used in the Canadian military…
History, Conflict, Terrorism, Political Talk and Anecdotes
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Stuck In A Dirt Road, A Canadian, An Afrikaner Farmer and The Battle of Paardeberg
An out-of-the-way trip to visit an almost forgotten battle site where Canadians fought in South Africa and won, marking a key historical moment in Canadian history that helped forge a Canadian identity, revealed more than expected, and also had some disappointment. This article was first posted on LinkedIn on May…
El Salvador, Prisons
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Soldier of Fortune Magazine: El Salvador’s Tattoo Dragnet Flipped the Script in War on Gangs
by Royce de Melo Link: Soldier of Fortune Magazin:, El Salvador’s Tattoo Dragnet Flipped the Script in War on Gangs: https://sofmag.com/el-salvador-tattoo-war-on-gangs/ Some meters ahead of me on the left side of the street, two soldiers armed with M16 A1/A2 rifles approach a young man. He definitely caught their attention. As…
Lebanon
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Will Lebanon’s Government See Hezbollah Disarmed by the End of the Year?
Fascinating developments with the Lebanese government trying to push the disarmament of Hezbollah. Obviously, the Lebanese parties interested in seeing Hezbollah disarmed do not want the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) to go to all-out war with Hezbollah, thereby sparking another Lebanese civil war, but would prefer a peaceful disarmament agreement….
History
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Are We in Stage 6 or 7 of ‘The Eight Stages of the Rise and Fall of Civilizations’?
SEE: ‘The Eight Stages of the Rise and Fall of Civilizations‘: https://blog.adw.org/2016/10/eight-stages-rise-fall-civilizations/ There’s an expression I use loosely, sometimes sarcastically, other times to make a point, related to what is happening in the West in general: “The last days of Rome.” Mind you, Rome, the empire (and as a civilization)…