Graham James McAleer

Let me tell you a little story. I never followed Syria very closely but I followed the Iraq War very closely at the time, to include the Twilight Zone interbellum from 2011-2014 when Iraq seemed like it had stabilized but the security establishment dying of corruption.⬇️ I recall the first article I read that sounded the alarm on the kind of systematic, destructive corruption - kleptocratic looting of state resources, really, it's hard to call it corruption in the sense that term is normally conceived of in the West - that spread like wildfire in Iraq after we left in 2011 and which came close to collapsing the Iraqi Armed Forces when Daesh rolled across the border from Syria in 2014. This was in 2011 or 2012 and was a little piece titled something like "US forces gone, an Iraqi Army base mired in corruption." The piece detailed how the food contracts for the Iraqi Army soldiers on this facility that the since-departed US Army had laid on were still active and the usual shipments of healthy groceries were being delivered - and then immediately diverted, often on the same trucks, to be sold by corrupt officers. The jundis were subsisting on bread and thin soup - and morale and, downstream of morale, actual combat capability reflected it. Here's the thing. The Trump Administration is openly corrupt and fish rot from the head down. It should be a trivial logistical exercise to get rations to a floating airbase, but for some reason we keep seeing pictures of sailors on aircraft carriers subsisting on grim, minimal fare. And I suspect the reason we're seeing this stuff from aircraft carriers specifically is because they have better internet connectivity for the crew than lighter combatants. Logically a carrier would be the easiest ship to provision given it's a floating airbase, so the rest of the fleet probably has it worse. Yet somehow rations don't seem to be being delivered, and the Navy's response has been PR photo shoots instead of investigations and explanations. Are rations being diverted? Or is there some kind of supply chain issue thus far unknown to the public that is preventing the Navy from properly resupplying its fleet in the Arabian Sea? What does this portend for more difficult things to replenish, such as munitions?

Iran’s diplomat makes a Jane Austen reference. White British male newscaster does not get it. SO much of contemporary British cultural hubris and ignorance (even of themselves) encapsulated in this clip.

Following the completion of an initial examination regarding a photograph published earlier today of an IDF soldier harming a Christian symbol, it was determined that the photograph depicts an IDF soldier operating in southern Lebanon. The IDF views the incident with great severity and emphasizes that the soldier’s conduct is wholly inconsistent with the values expected of its troops. The incident is being investigated by the Northern Command and is currently being addressed through the chain of command. Appropriate measures will be taken against those involved in accordance with the findings. Furthermore, the IDF is working to assist the community in restoring the statue to its place. The IDF is operating to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure established by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, and has no intention of harming civilian infrastructure, including religious buildings or religious symbols.

Lebanon | An Israeli soldier smashing the head of a Jesus Christ statue during operations in southern Lebanon.

🚨🇮🇷🇺🇸 New Iranian LEGO video just dropped This one might be the most brutal one yet😵‍💫