Tag: Kidnappings

Venezuela: Trump’s Bay Of Pigs?

I am still waiting for some news report on this situation…..so far I got nothing (but I am not watching every channel)….

Looks like Trump has his own Bay of Pigs disaster……(not to worry the MSM is trying desperately to avoid this story)

Bay of Pigs? (Don’t hurt yourself and Use Google)

It appears that an attempt was made over the weekend to kidnap the president of Venezuela…..a failed attempt.

A former Green Beret has taken responsibility for what he claimed was a failed attack Sunday aimed at overthrowing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and that the socialist government said ended with eight dead, the AP reports. Jordan Goudreau’s comments in an interview with an exiled Venezuelan journalist capped a bizarre day that started with reports of a pre-dawn amphibious raid near the South American country’s heavily guarded capital. More:

  • Both Goudreau and retired Venezuelan Capt. Javier Nieto declined to speak to the AP on Sunday when contacted after posting a video from an undisclosed location saying they had launched an anti-Maduro putsch called “Operation Gideon.” Both men live in Florida. “A daring amphibious raid was launched from the border of Colombia deep into the heart of Caracas,” Goudreau, in a New York Yankees ball cap, said in the video standing next to Nieto who was dressed in armored vest with a rolled-up Venezuelan flag pinned to his shoulder. “Our units have been activated in the south, west and east of Venezuela.”
  • An AP investigation published Friday found that Goudreau had been working with Ret. Maj. Gen. Cliver Alcala, a retired Venezuelan army general now facing US narcotics charges, to train dozens of deserting Venezuelan soldiers at secret camps inside neighboring Colombia. The goal was to mount a cross border raid that would end in Maduro’s arrest. But from the outset the ragtag army lacked funding and US government support, all but guaranteeing defeat against Maduro’s sizable if demoralized armed forces. It also appears to have been penetrated by Maduro’s extensive Cuban-backed intelligence network.
  • On Sunday, Goudreau said cells of his men were still on the ground and activating inside Venezuela, some of them fighting under the command of Venezuelan National Guardsman Capt. Antonio Sequea, who participated in a barracks revolt against Maduro a year ago. He said he hoped to join the rebels soon and invited Venezuelans and Maduro’s troops to join the would-be insurgency although there was no sign of any fighting in the capital or elsewhere as night fell.
  • In an interview later with Miami-based journalist Patricia Poleo, he provided a contradictory account of his activities and the support he claims to have once had—and then lost—from Juan Guaidó, the opposition leader recognized as Venezuela’s interim president by the US and some 60 countries. He provided to Poleo what he said was an 8-page contract signed by Guaidó and two political advisers in Miami in October for $213 million. The alleged “general services” contract doesn’t specify what work his company, Silvercorp USA, was to undertake.
  • He also released via Poleo a four-minute audio recording, made on a hidden cellphone, in the moment when he purportedly signed the contract as Guaidó participated via videoconference. In the recording, a person he claims is Guaido can be heard giving vague encouragement in broken English but not discussing any military plans. “Let’s get to work!,” said the man who is purportedly Guaido. The AP was unable to confirm the veracity of the recording.
  • There was no immediate comment from Guaidó on Goudreau’s claim that the two had signed a contract. Previously, Guaidó has said he hadn’t signed any contract for a military incursion. Goudreau said he never received a penny from the Guaidó team and instead the Venezuelan soldiers he was advising had to scrounge for donations from Venezuelan migrants driving for car share service Uber in Colombia. “It’s almost like crowdfunded the liberating of a country,” he said.

Goudreau said everything he did was legal but in any case he’s prepared to pay the cost for anything he did if it saves the lives of Venezuelans trying to restore their democracy. “I’ve been a freedom fighter my whole life. This is all I know,” said Goudreau, who is a decorated three-time Bronze Star recipient for courage in deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan as a special forces medic.

Asked about why his troops would land at one of Venezuela’s most fortified coastlines—some 20 miles from Caracas next to the country’s biggest airport—he cited the example set by Alexander the Great, who had “struck deep into the heart of the enemy” at the Battle of Guagamela.

What a perfect example of how America’s regime change policies are a failure.

In a new Foreign Affairs article this week, Eric Edelman of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies and the Council on Foreign Relations’ Ray Takeyh argue that the United States should be using every tool of statecraft at its disposal to aid dissidents in Iran to overthrow the regime.

They bluntly state that, with Iran, the “only U.S. policy that makes sense is to seek regime change.” They contend that the Iranian regime is inherently revolutionary, and as such, American interests in the Middle East can only be secure once the regime is deposed.

Here we go again with the regime change

I fail to understand how a failed policy can remain popular in some circles.

This has all the makings of a novel and then a film……not as successful as the hostage rescue from the Canadian embassy……but just as disastrous as Kennedy’s Bay of Pigs fiasco.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Bring Back Our Girls

About 8 months ago the world was shocked and outraged that 276 young women had been kidnapped by a terror group known as Boko Haram…….six months later no body outside Nigeria could care less….

For an event that turned the world into a ranting, raging machine can be forgotten so easily…..just plain sad.

Source: Abandonment of ‘Bring Back Our Girls’ – Al Jazeera English

The world was outraged as I have said and yet what are they doing about this problem known as Boko Haram?

I am so glad you asked……

A long-awaited regional task force is set to begin raids on Boko Haram’s last enclaves when the rainy season ends soon, the U.N.’s top official in West Africa said.

Nigerian and Chadian forces early this year forced the militant group, which has sworn allegiance to Islamic State, to cede large swathes of territory in northern Nigeria, undermining its six-year campaign to carve out a caliphate.

The 8,700-strong joint force, headquartered in Chad’s capital N’Djamena with troops from Chad, Niger, Benin, Nigeria and Cameroon, was supposed to be fully functional in July.

But plans were not finalised until late August, and some observers have bemoaned a lack of progress since.

The African Union and the Lake Chad Basin Commission signed a memorandum of understanding in October giving final implementation guidelines and the United States has sent troops to provide intelligence and other assistance.

The expected joint raids will have to adapt to the changing nature of the enemy, which once attacked with hundreds of fighters aboard scores of vehicles but has been reduced to isolated bands, Chambas said.

(Reuters)

Finally something will be tried to end the reign of terror that Boko Haram has exerted over the region.

Once the media moved on the world stop caring about the fate of these young women…..that is shameful as well as pathetic that the media has that much power to control people’s concerns.

 

More Good News From Nigeria

Awhile back the terrorist group Boko Haram kidnapped hundreds of young women……and they have been attacking and kidnapping ever since.  Recently the Nigerian Army rescued about 300 people from Boko Haram and in a stroke of good luck the Army has struck again……..

Another estimated 100 children and 60 women were rescued from Boko Haram yesterday, just a day after another rescue operation freed nearly 300. Nigerian troops ran the rescue operation in Sambisa Forest, during which one of the hostages and one soldier were killed, CNN reports. Troops are now working to destroy militant camps—they’ve hit nine so far—in the forest. “Many of those kidnapped have undergone psychological trauma and indoctrination,” says an army spokesman—and indeed, some of the 293 women and girls rescued earlier in the week had been so indoctrinated by Boko Haram, they actually opened fire on their rescuers, the AP reports.

A counselor who has treated other Boko Haram hostages says this is not uncommon, and that hostages can also become attached to militants they are forced to marry. Experts say many of the rescued women and girls will need intensive psychological treatment. The Nigerian military earlier said the 293 women and girls rescued were not the “Chibok girls” taken more than a year ago, launching the #BringBackOurGirls campaign, but now the army spokesman says it’s too early to tell who they are. “The processing is continuing, it involves a lot of things because most of them are traumatized and you have got to put them in a psychological frame of mind to extract information from them,” he says.

Slowly but slowly the Nigerian Army seems to be capable of taking on Boko Haram and winning…..if their luck keeps up they may soon have all the women and children that have been taken by the group…….

I wish them good hunting.

Nigeria: Speaking Of Moms

I realize that all eyes are on Baltimore and the violence there……but how about I ask a question?  Does anyone remember #BringBackOurGirls?

We  probably but it is not that a big a deal right now, right?

A story that has not been widely publicized in our dynamite media……….

Nigeria’s army says it has rescued 200 girls and 93 women from Boko Haram, reports CNN. In a sign of just how widespread this kind of kidnapping is, however, those rescued do not include the approximately 200 girls taken from a school last year—the ones who drew worldwide attention in the #BringBackOurGirls campaign. “They are not the Chibok girls,” a military spokesman tells AP. The military is interviewing the rescuees now to determine where they’re from. The original news came via a tweet from the Nigerian military announcing that troops rescued the girls and women from the Sambisi Forest.

A feel good story if ever there was one……if it is an accurate report.

So far I have not been able to confirm this…..lots of whispers and rumors…..but not much officially…..I will confirm when I have it in my hands…….

Watch This Page!

NBC’s Conduct in Engel Kidnapping Story is More Troubling than the Brian Williams Scandal – The Intercept

As one who spends a lot of time with the Middle East and events that occur I like Richard Engel….he knows the region and he speaks Arabic so he can interview people without using a go between….

I heard some rumblings about his kidnapping last summer…..some of them were disturbing……….

I recall when I saw the news that he and his team had been kidnapped in Syria I was concerned….journalist have not been too fortunate in Syria and Iraq…..and then he was “rescued”……

Now a story has come out about that kidnapping and NBC…..it is a disturbing story at that……..while Engel still has my respect and confidence I cannot say the same for NBC……..they are starting to show the same lack of professional journalism as CNN has shown…….

 

NBC’s Conduct in Engel Kidnapping Story is More Troubling than the Brian Williams Scandal – The Intercept.

Nigeria: Let’s Make A Deal

Back in the Summer there was a crisis that swept the social media sites…..it has since been replaced with the Ebola scare….but in the Summer 200+ school girls were kidnapped by a terrorist militia known as Boko Haram…..think back…it will come to you.

Since their kidnapping and a short social media phenom the r4est of the wold moved on…but back in Nigeria the families of the girls have been putting pressure on the government to do something….even of its wrong……

It seems that something has indeed been done…..

A rep for Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan says the country has reached a ceasefire deal with extremist group Boko Haram that secures the release of more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped in April, CNN reports. “[Boko Haram negotiators] assured that the schoolgirls and all other people in their captivity are all alive and well,” a spokesman said today, according to the AP. What’s still unclear is whether—if the deal really goes through—the girls are being exchanged for militant prisoners. Nigerian authorities had originally said they wouldn’t make such a deal, then seemed to switch course; rumors had been flying up until recently about ongoing negotiations regarding the possibility.

Skeptics still aren’t convinced, Yahoo News reports. They cite previous unkept promises, disbelief that the Boko Haram rep making the negotiations is credible, and the fact that it’s widely believed Jonathan will announce his re-election bid soon—meaning optimistic news like this could help his campaign. Boko Haram has been bombarding Nigeria with its terror tactics—including kidnapping, bombing, and the killing of political leaders—in an effort to force strict Sharia law upon the country’s people, notes CNN.

So far there has been NO real confirmation of this deal….but there is hope and prayers that it is true……

Boko Haram: How To Win The Psy-Ops War

Opinion from the desk of the Editor:

I have patiently waited to see what everyone had to say about how to handle the situation in Nigeria and that of Boko Haram……and as usual a lot of it is pure manure!

When I first got interested in international relations I wanted to study the causes of war……thanx to my time experiencing it first hand, both overt and covert………after some of the studies were out of the way I decided to specialize in Middle East Studies……..this opinion piece is from a person who has experienced war first hand and how to deal with an opponent that cannot be negotiated with at any time.

I need to warn my readers that my idea will not be a popular one and may even be considered barbaric by some……but there is a way to handle the situation of the missing girls once they are found……..

We,  and by we I mean the rest of the so-called civilized world, have to make this a situation that should never be attempted and to do that we need to use psychological warfare as well as strength…..we know that this situation will not be resolved by negotiation and trust……and since we know this there can be only one way to proceed.  If we have a weak stomach then this will not end well for the world and especially for the kidnapped girls.

Some action needs to be formulated…….an the time tried technique of sanctions is not, I repeat NOT, a good idea……..this will end only with a good complete strike against Boko Haram……a quick strike and extraction is a good scenario but a lame one……without inflicting damage on the group what will stop them from doing this again?

There comes a time when one must play by the rules of the opponent and this is one of those times……it must be brutal and all encompassing.  Yes, even messy.

I would work the angle of the human traffickers in the region….they know where this group is and where the girls are housed.  Offer them $1 million for location with NO repercussions against them…….then give them the option of taking home $10 million for the head of the leader….and I do not mean that metaphorically.

Once the girls are located and extracted then the entire group needs to pay the ultimate price for their actions…….if that is a sticking point then i say you will face a similar scenario over and over.  There MUST be a price for their actions…..and that price needs to be strong and bold…..so that any further considerations for terror long these lines will cause a group some second thoughts.

Sanctions, condemnation and negotiation will do NOTHING to eliminate these tactics from the terrorist arsenal…..make them face reality……that actions have consequences.  We must cut the head off the snake!

I know these are extreme measures and the world may well criticize such an action……..but it will send a message and make terrorists realize that they are NOT in control.

Doing the little things like sanctions will do nothing to change the minds of terrorists and their unacceptable actions.

Rescue the girls….then be bold…..be brutal……..be barbaric……….. or good home and shut the Hell up!

Note:  Under normal conditions I am NOT in favor of using US Troops for every international situation…..where I do have a problem is when innocent civilians are harmed by warring factions……it is unacceptable……NO matter who does the harming.

The situation in Nigeria demands a through resolution…..a resolution that will send a message to all wannabe extremists…..that there is a consequence for involving civilians in their mindless conflict……..if they act like animals then treat them like animals…….PERIOD!