1<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:blogger='http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7804762</id><updated>2026-10-06T14:58:59.258-07:00</updated><category term="Iraq"/><category term="Syria"/><category term="Iran"/><category term="Israel"/><category term="al-Qa'idah"/><category term="ISIS"/><category term="intelligence"/><category term="Afghanistan"/><category term="Kurds"/><category term="Palestinian"/><category term="Hizballah"/><category term="Hamas"/><category term="Lebanon"/><category term="Turkey"/><category term="Russia"/><category term="Saudi Arabia"/><category term="Egypt"/><category term="Pakistan"/><category term="Yemen"/><category term="Libya"/><category term="Jordan"/><category term="UAE"/><category term="Sudan"/><category term="Islam"/><category term="Qatar"/><category term="Bahrain"/><category term="Morocco"/><category term="Tunisia"/><category term="Algeria"/><category term="China"/><category term="Iran. Iraq"/><category term="Kuwait"/><category term="Oman"/><title type='text'>Middle East Perspectives by Rick Francona</title><subtitle type='html'>An acknowledged Middle East expert, dynamic speaker, author of "Ally to Adversary - An Eyewitness Account of Iraq's Fall from Grace," and CNN military analyst, retired intelligence officer Lt Col Rick Francona offers his thoughts and opinions on various Middle East topics. </subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://francona.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='https://francona.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><link rel='next' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default?start-index=26&max-results=25'/><author><name>Rick Francona</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01540695760234038044</uri><email>[email protected]</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>1241</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7804762.post-121145378288895847</id><published>2026-10-06T14:58:59.258-07:00</published><updated>2026-10-06T14:58:59.258-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Egypt"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Israel"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Syria"/><title type='text'>October 6 - Celebrating the "Victories" of the 1973 War</title><content type='html'><p>&nbsp;</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_k43nFWNm7qEK_mxtkSr0IceW3xJ3HJJCf-snJv60CHkaGqjZiOI-NXSy0kLOvmhlY6TJ7rrQ3IE_IuTcjKkyATX8vt0gr9F4jGOHuV_7Rq7aLgTemVeylNWibw9TIgnLayux4RAthLXo7PUWFLQKYNm81SxOqfPq3_4T31bb16fae8lsytMTrQ/s1943/oct6.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1048" data-original-width="1943" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_k43nFWNm7qEK_mxtkSr0IceW3xJ3HJJCf-snJv60CHkaGqjZiOI-NXSy0kLOvmhlY6TJ7rrQ3IE_IuTcjKkyATX8vt0gr9F4jGOHuV_7Rq7aLgTemVeylNWibw9TIgnLayux4RAthLXo7PUWFLQKYNm81SxOqfPq3_4T31bb16fae8lsytMTrQ/w400-h216/oct6.jpg" width="400" /></a><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span>Photos: On top is the banner of the news outlet Al-Ahram touting special coverage of "The&nbsp;</span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Glorious October Victory." On the lower left is a monument at the spot where Egyptian forces crossed the Suez Canal. On the lower right, a monument to the Egyptian soldiers lost in the war. <br /></span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">October 6 is Armed Forces Day in Egypt, this year celebrating the 53rd anniversary of the "victory" in the 1973 war, which is often called the Yom Kippur War, named for the Jewish holiday. Syria had celebrated October 6 as Tishreen Liberation War Day, but after the fall of the Bashar al-Asad regime and the end of the al-Asads' rule, the holiday was terminated by the new government.</span></span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Both Egypt and Syria believe they were victorious in this war, which is patently absurd. Yes, they both were initially successful on October 6 in surpring the Israelis. The Egyptians were able to cross the Suez Canal into the Israeli-occupied Sinai Peninsula and break the Israeli Bar-Lev defense line. The Syrians were able to get to the top of the Golan Heights. Israeli forces retreated a short distance on both fronts.<br /></span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">These "victories" were short-lived. The Israelis stopped the advances on both fronts, c
1alled up the reserves, and - thanks to a massive U.S. airlift and equipment transfers - counterattacked on both fronts.</span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">When the fighting stopped, the Israelis had completely encircled the Egyptian Third Army in the Sinai, crossed the Suez Canal, and were on the highway to Cairo, stopping at Kilometer 101. </span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">On the northern front, Israeli forces retook the entire Golan Heights and moved up along the road to Damascus. They stopped at the town of Sa'sa', just 28 miles from the capital, basically within artillery range.</span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The fighting stopped on October 24, with the United Nations Disengagement of Forces (UNDOF) agreement taking effect the next day. The UNDOF lines in Syria held until the end of the al-Asad rule, at which point Israeli forces re-entered southern Syria. Their remaning presence is an issue that is impeding a security agreement between Israel and the new Syrian government. <br /></span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">On the Egyptian front, Israeli forces pulled back to the Sinai. However, unlike with Syria, Egypt and Israel eventually reached a deal by which Israel agreed to a phased withdrawal in return for a peace treaty with Egypt. It was formally signed in 1979.<br /></span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">All that said, for Egypt and Syria to claim victory is, as I said, absurd. On both fronts, the Israelis soon regained the initiative and moved towards Damascus and Cairo, plus surrounding and rendering useless an entire Egyptian field army. <br /></span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">That's not victory. Egypt and Syria each won a battle, then lost the war. <br /></span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">___________<br /></span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;">
1PS - See my photographs of the <a href="https://francona.com/travels/egypt/index.html#suez2017" target="_blank">Suez Canal</a> and <a href="https://francona.com/travels/egypt/index.html#suezmilitary2017" target="_blank">Suez Canal Military</a></span></span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p></content><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/121145378288895847'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/121145378288895847'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='https://francona.blogspot.com/2026/10/october-6-celebrating-victories-of-1973.html' title='October 6 - Celebrating the "Victories" of the 1973 War'/><author><name>Rick Francona</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01540695760234038044</uri><email>[email protected]</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_k43nFWNm7qEK_mxtkSr0IceW3xJ3HJJCf-snJv60CHkaGqjZiOI-NXSy0kLOvmhlY6TJ7rrQ3IE_IuTcjKkyATX8vt0gr9F4jGOHuV_7Rq7aLgTemVeylNWibw9TIgnLayux4RAthLXo7PUWFLQKYNm81SxOqfPq3_4T31bb16fae8lsytMTrQ/s72-w400-h216-c/oct6.jpg" height="72" width="72"/></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7804762.post-6420659337992709242</id><published>2026-09-04T00:00:14.800-07:00</published><updated>2026-09-04T14:24:07.498-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Afghanistan"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="al-Qa'idah"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="intelligence"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Islam"/><title type='text'>The Bowe Bergdahl Saga â Is It Finally Over?</title><content type='html'><div style="text-align: left;">&nbsp;</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii53HXGyIJe-R9VIVTPLHw6L1p0zs0XUufVaVzyH9XGX2hioSbY5QMbLb_fLUVBvcpIFiIpEoHINVEkDTyT6kaAAaV0FuDoEhAaQHBH_5YfmJkW2X3BX4iKXuIUxIKOQYnq4ATFx4CLSJMbu2xgkVkL_yYjDldsvS7rjYMB7Cszt7xWNbDw5k4dQ/s399/bowe.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="306" data-original-width="399" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii53HXGyIJe-R9VIVTPLHw6L1p0zs0XUufVaVzyH9XGX2hioSbY5QMbLb_fLUVBvcpIFiIpEoHINVEkDTyT6kaAAaV0FuDoEhAaQHBH_5YfmJkW2X3BX4iKXuIUxIKOQYnq4ATFx4CLSJMbu2xgkVkL_yYjDldsvS7rjYMB7Cszt7xWNbDw5k4dQ/w400-h306/bowe.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Bowe Bergdahlâs 2017 desertion and misbehavior before the enemy conviction has been reinstated by a federal court. The court ruled â correctly in my non-lawyer 2opinion â that a district court judge does not have the authority to interfere 3in any way with the military justice system. Letâs review this case.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">On the night of June 29-30, 2009, U.S. Army Private First 4Class Bowe Bergdahl deserted his post at Observation Post Mest in Paktika 5Province, Afghanistan. Bergdahl was assigned as an infantryman to the 1st 6Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th 7Infantry Division. He had enlisted in the Army in 2008.</span></p> 8 9<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Bergdahl was captured relatively soon after deserting his 10post. The exact date is unknown; however, the Taliban released a video of 11Bergdahl in captivity on July 18, 2009. This began his five years of captivity by 12the Haqqani network under extremely harsh conditions.</span></p> 13 14<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">In May of 2014, in a colossal lapse of judgment, the Obama administration agreed to release five extremely dangerous and notorious senior 15Taliban leaders from the U.S. detention center in Guantanamo, Cuba in exchange 16for Bergdahlâs release. </span></p> 17 18<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">On May 31, 2014, Bergdahl was released to a U.S. special operations 19team at a helicopter landing zone in Afghanistan. The âTaliban Fiveâ were 20transported to&nbsp; Qatar who had agreed to hold them and restrict their travel. Chalk up another failure for the Obama team â the "Taliban Five" later all became involved again in operations in Afghanistan. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span></span></p> 21 22<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Following an investigation to confirm what virtually everyone 23already knew â on March 25, 2015, the Commanding General of U.S. Army Forces 24Command authorized charges to be brought against Bergdahl under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ):</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">-&nbsp;<span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">Article 85 â Desertion with intent to shirk 25important or hazardous duty</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">- Article 99 â Misbehavior before the enemy</span></span></p> 26 27<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The charges were referred to a military court for an Article 32 preliminary 28hearing.</span></p> 29 30<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">It was noted in the charges that several U.S. troops were 31injured in attempts to locate Bergdahl after his initial disappearence/desertion. Members of his unit believe that other 32soldiers lost their lives in these searches.</span></p> 33 34<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">For those of us who have served in combat zones, these two 35articles are considered to be as bad as it gets. Desertion (Article 85) is extremely 36serious and potentially punishable by death if committed in time of war. We can 37argue over the question of whether Afghanistan was a war or not. This was one 38of the Obama Administration talking points as several officials and supportive media 39attempted to downplay Bergdahlâs desertion. At one point, Obama's&nbsp;National Security Advisor Susan Rice declared that Bergdahl "served the United States with honor and distinction." Nothing could be further from the truth.</span></p> 40 41<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">However, the charge of âmisbehavior before the enemyâ (Article 99) is the
42big one. It is explicitly punishable by death or another punishment directed by 43a court-martial. </span></p> 44 45<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">In September 2015, the Article 32 preliminary hearing was 46convened. There were attempts by some in the Obama Administration to downgrade this into a lower-level 47special court-martial, but in the end, the Army stuck to their guns (no pun 48intended) and referred the charges to the highest level, a 49general court-martial. Bergdahl was arraigned at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, on 50December 22, 2015.</span></p> 51 52<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">In December 2016, Bergdahl asked President Obama for a 53pre-emptive pardon ahead of his trial. To his credit, in a rare moment of moral 54clarity, Obama did not do so.</span></p> 55 56<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">On October 16, 2017, Bergdahl voluntarily 57pleaded guilty without a plea bargain and opted for a military judge only 58trial. Probably a smart move â <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>presenting 59these serious charges to a full general court-martial panel in the face of 60overwhelming inculpatory evidence likely would have resulted in a harsher sentence.*</span></p> 61 62<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">On November 3, 2017, the military judge sentenced Bergdahl to a 63dishonorable discharge, reduction in rank to Private (E-1), and forfeiture of pay, but 64no prison time, despite prosecutors seeking 14 years of incarceration. I agreed with the judge's decision to not impose prison time.</span></p> 65 66<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">After his sentencing, the military appellate system kicked 67in. These are serious charges, with a serious sentence â a dishonorable discharge 68from the armed forces carries serious consequences.<br /><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">-&nbsp;</span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">July 16, 2019 â Army Court of Criminal Appeals 69(ACCA): Affirmed Bergdahl's conviction and sentence.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">-&nbsp;</span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">August 27, 2020 â Court of Appeals for the Armed 70Forces (CAAF): Affirmed the ACCA decision, upholding the conviction.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-language-override: normal; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">-&nbsp;</span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">February 2, 2021 â Final military appeal: CAAF 71denied Bergdahl's writ-appeal petition, exhausting his military appellate 72remedies.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">On February 17, 2021, Berdahlâs lawyers filed a lawsuit in 73the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia asking the court to review the military justice proceedings and declare that Bergdahl's conviction was unconstitutional and should be vacated.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">On July 25, 2023, a U.S. 74District Judge in that court vacated Bergdahl's conviction on procedural 75grounds.</span></span></p> 76 77<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">On September 1, 2026, the D.C. Circuit struck down that 78decision because a federal district court lacks authority to vacate a 79court-martial conviction. The court ordered Bergdahl's lawsuit dismissed, leaving 80his original military conviction in effect. His dishonorable discharge was effectively reinstated.<o:p></o:p></span></p> 81 82<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Eugene R. Fidell, Berdahlâs very capable and experienced attorney said the case is about 83âthe integrity of the military justice system,â and added that âthere is a 84grave command influence problem that has pervaded this case from the very beginning.â 85Fidellâs team has 45 days to weigh several options for challenging the ruling, 86including asking the same panel to reconsider or seeking a discretionary review 87by the Supreme Court.</span></p> 88 89<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">My take: Give it up, Fidell. The guy is a confessed deserter. 90He pleaded guilty to that and, even worse, misbehavior before the enemy. He got 91what he deserved. The prosecution wanted 14 years of incarceration at the U.S. 92Military Disciplinary Barracks at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. I was among those who 93supported the dishoorable discharge and the non-custodial sentence. His five years at the hands of the 94Taliban were enough punishment, albeit self-induced. Itâs over â move on.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span>ADDENDUM:&nbsp;</span>When Bergdahl was returned to American control, I 95was a military analyst for CNN. As such, I was interviewed extensively about 96this case, and wrote several articles detailing my personal views and analysis (see links below). I stand by every word.</span></p> 97 98<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://francona.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-bowe-bergdahl-exchange-mixed.html" target="_blank">The Bowe Bergdahl exchange - a mixed blessing (June 1, 2014)</a><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://francona.blogspot.com/2014/07/military-chiefs-support-release-
98of.html" target="_blank">Military chiefs support the release of the "Taliban 99Five" for Sergeant Bergdahl - well, sort of.... (July 12, 2014)</a><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://francona.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-bergdahl-court-martial.html" target="_blank">The Bergdahl court-martial recommendation - has someone leaned on the Army? (October 12, 2015)</a><br /><br /><a href="https://francona.blogspot.com/2015/03/bergdahl-army-does-right-thing.html" target="_blank">Bergdahl - the Army does the right thing (March 25, 2015)</a></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://francona.blogspot.com/2015/03/bergdahl-deflective-media-campaign.html" target="_blank">Bergdahl - the deflective media campaign begins (March 28, 2015)</a><br /><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">__________________<br />* Personal note: Shortly after I was commissioned, I was selected to be a 100member of a general court-martial panel. I was ordered to present myself to the 101military judge (in this case, a USAF colonel). The defense counsel took one 102look at me, called for a pre-emptory challenge, and asked that I be excused. I 103was dismissed without saying a word, no explanation other than, âThank you, 104Lieutenant, you are excused.â</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br />I asked a mentor, a USAF colonel, 105what happened. He asked about the case. A staff sergeant had killed his five-year 106old son in base housing and was being charged with murder. The local police in 107Denver, Colorado, wanted no part of it â let the Air Force figure it out.&nbsp;</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The 108colonel explained: "You showed up as required in full service dress ('dress 109blues') which requires all awards, decorations, and badges to be worn. The defense 110counsel, also a USAF officer, read your ribbons â he saw a prior service NCO, aircrew 111wings, nine Air Medals, Vietnam campaign medals â you are the last person he 112wants judging his NCO client. â</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p></p><p></p></content><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/6420659337992709242'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/6420659337992709242'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='https://francona.blogspot.com/2026/09/the-bowe-bergdahl-saga-is-it-finally.html' title='The Bowe Bergdahl Saga â Is It Finally Over?'/><author><name>Rick Francona</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01540695760234038044</uri><email>[email protected]</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii53HXGyIJe-R9VIVTPLHw6L1p0zs0XUufVaVzyH9XGX2hioSbY5QMbLb_fLUVBvcpIFiIpEoHINVEkDTyT6kaAAaV0FuDoEhAaQHBH_5YfmJkW2X3BX4iKXuIUxIKOQYnq4ATFx4CLSJMbu2xgkVkL_yYjDldsvS7rjYMB7Cszt7xWNbDw5k4dQ/s72-w400-h306-c/bowe.jpg" height="72" width="72"/></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7804762.post-4933605604823679488</id><published>2026-08-23T22:54:33.621-07:00</published><updated>2026-08-24T00:11:38.164-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Islam"/><title type='text'>The Islamic Society of Monterey County and the Defense Language Institute </title><content type='html'><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI2lvmVPv0VVuAP3rdBAhys
1127B2xh_ur6P041g9VztJviQvG6FgLM9VRtkuekRa9dm8rEa5pVvkw4VqlQqV0n8Rz5K0DcTzwar1FSJzTGrHIMqTwh87Nr-WvQdYsz8V-z8NmiGwqfgpTmfYe7Yy0koDy1cTcn-onn-_PfETlhw2HDopQYr0TWpOzw/s1600/ismc-masjid.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1448" data-original-width="1600" height="363" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI2lvmVPv0VVuAP3rdBAhys7B2xh_ur6P041g9VztJviQvG6FgLM9VRtkuekRa9dm8rEa5pVvkw4VqlQqV0n8Rz5K0DcTzwar1FSJzTGrHIMqTwh87Nr-WvQdYsz8V-z8NmiGwqfgpTmfYe7Yy0koDy1cTcn-onn-_PfETlhw2HDopQYr0TWpOzw/w400-h363/ismc-masjid.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Al-Taqwa Mosque, Seaside, California</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">On a quiet sidestreet in the city of Seaside, California sits a unobtrusive building with a sign in Arabic and English identifying it as the Masjid al-Taqwa (al-Taqwa Mosque) of the Islamic Society of Monterey County.* You may ask yourself, "Why is there a mosque on the Monterey Peninsula?"<br /></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The answer to that question involves one of the peninsula's major employers and landholders - the U.S. Army Presidio of Monterey, home of the Defense Language Institute (DLI). DLI is one of the largest and most respected language schools in the country. It trains thousands of members of the U.S. armed forces in dozens of languages used in intelligence, security assistance, diplomatic and exchange positions worldwide.&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">DLI has been at the Presidio since 1963 - it's predeccesor, the Army Language School began its instruction there in 1947. In 1963, the Department of Defense consolidated all military foreign language training as DLI.<br /></span><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The requirements for native speakers of dozens of foreign languages to become faculty members drew people from around the world, people of different ethinc and cultural backgrounds, including different religions. It should come as no surprise that many of the new faculty were Muslims - Islam is the second largest religion in the world, closely following Christianity.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I was a student at DLI several times: first at Biggs Field, Texas, for Vietnamese-Hanoi during the war in Southeast Asia, then at the Presidio for basic and intermediate Arabic, and later as an Arabic instructor. During those years, I saw&nbsp; changes in the demographic makeup of the Arabic language deparment's faculty.&nbsp;</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In my first encounter as a student in 1973-74, most of the instructors were from Iraq and Egypt, with a smattering of Lebane
112se and Jordanians, and smaller numbers of Palestinians and Syrians, but very few Gulf Arabs.** An inordinate number of these intructors were Christians, much more than the demographics of the Middle East would indicate.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">On my second tour as a student a few years later and during my tenure as a faculty member, I did notice a change in the makeup of the faculty. I have been back to speak to the Arabic students over the years, and I think my assessment is still accurate. What I see now is a much broader representation of the Arabic-speaking countries and a decided shift in the religions of the faculty. It appears to be mostly Muslims now.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Unfortunately, this developed into an issue during operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm - the U.S. defense of Saudi Arabia and the liberations of Kuwait, respectively. After the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in August 1991, some - albeit a small minority - took umbrage at the "rallying around the flag" not just in the country, but on the Presidio as well.&nbsp;</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">When asked about it, I had little sympathy for the position of the instructors who claimed to be offended. My comment: "This is a U.S. military facility, training American warriors to execute U.S. foreign policy. If that means military action&nbsp; against your country of origin, so be it. If it offends you, find another place to work." Again, I stress that this was a small minority.&nbsp;<br /><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">There were similar reactions after the al-Qa'idah attacks of September 11, 2001. That tragedy was of such magnitude that even if people were offended by the U.S. response, they knew better than to raise it. I am curious, but do not know, the reaction to the Hamas attacks on Israelis on October 7, 2023.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So, what does this have to do with the Islamic Society of the Monterey Peninsula and its al-Taqwa (pronounced ah-TAQ-wa - the L is silent here***) Mosque? It means "the mosque of piety."&nbsp;</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">No great mystery. As native speakers took positions as instructors of the many languages being taught at DLI, faculty members came from many Muslim countries, not just Arabic-speaking countries, but countries such as Indonesia (the largest Muslim population in the world), Pakistan, India, Iran, Turkey, Albania, Afghanistan, etc.&nbsp;</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">At that time, there were no existing Muslim houses of worship in the area. A group of Muslim faculty members began meeting in their homes, finally forming the organization now known as the Islamic Society of Monterey County. To the point that it'
112s not always about Arabic-speaking people, one of the founders of the society was an Indonesian, brought in to start the Indonesian and Malay department at the language school. The society began in 1965 and became a nonprofit religious corporation in 1969.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Following the attacks of 9/11, I also noticed an increase in what I would call the "Islamic leanings" of some of the faculty, many of whom I considered close friends - I still do, but the relationship has certainly changed. It is no longer possible to discuss Middle East events with some of them who become almost enraged when speaking about U.S. foreign policy. It's better left alone. I am often tempted to repeat the comments I made after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait (see above).&nbsp;</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So, in a way, the creation of the Defense Language Insititute at the Presidio of Monterey logically resulted in the creation of the Islamic Society of the Monterey County. It remains a key source of membership in the congregation.&nbsp;</span></span></div><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">______________<br />* There is another mosque in Monterey County - the Salinas Masjid of the Islamic Community of Salinas. The two groups are not affiliated, but often conduct programs, events, and celebrations with each other.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">** I am speaking anectdotally here, based on my observations.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">*** In Arabic, half of the letters are "solar" and half are "lunar" - solar letters drop the L in the definite article "al-" and double the next (solar) letter.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></content><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/4933605604823679488'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/4933605604823679488'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='https://francona.blogspot.com/2026/08/the-islamic-society-of-monterey-county.html' title='The Islamic Society of Monterey County and the Defense Language Institute '/><author><name>Rick Francona</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01540695760234038044</uri><email>[email protected]</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhI2lvmVPv0VVuAP3rdBAhys7B2xh_ur6P041g9VztJviQvG6FgLM9VRtkuekRa9dm8rEa5pVvkw4VqlQqV0n8Rz5K0DcTzwar1FSJzTGrHIMqTwh87Nr-WvQdYsz8V-z8NmiGwqfgpTmfYe7Yy0koDy1cTcn-onn-_PfETlhw2HDopQYr0TWpOzw/s72-w400-h363-c/ismc-masjid.jpg" height="72" width="72"/></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7804762.post-3218124286741504903</id><published>2026-08-09T16:13:15.342-07:00</published><updated>2026-08-09T16:13:15.342-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Libya"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Russia"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Syria"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Turkey"/><title type='text'>Syria Reasserts Sovereignty Over Russian Bases</title><content type='html'><p>&nbsp;<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP09yqkBOc69qJbuTkcuWYgTxCfRZ_pZWJ0M2kVsgYYJzh_JTli0-M44h_8pyXetyqdQw6d_u5JmQfMgko3f_kWueIF_544SsM5PDoV7HM6lB0TuNPMwqriDbvTfV0Ov7xSEBtwGeOHhgQctR3f2MZKMMlNlJE0AxNdvyH6zt1lqUNztNJEU-yjQ/s1005/su-25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="663" data-original-width="1005" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP09yqkBOc69qJbuTkcuWYgTxCfRZ_pZWJ0M2kVsgYYJzh_JTli0-M44h_8pyXetyqdQw6d_u5JmQfMgko3f_kWueIF_544SsM5PDoV7HM6lB0TuNPMwqriDbvTfV0Ov7xSEBtwGeOHhgQctR3f2MZKMMlNlJE0AxNdvyH6zt1lqUNztNJEU-yjQ/w400-h264/su-25.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>
112Russian Air Force Su-25 attack jets at Humaymim</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">On August 9, the Syrian Foreign Ministry announced that Damascus and Moscow have signed a memorandum of 113understanding (MOU) addressing the future of Russia's two military facilities in Syria: the naval facility at Tartus and the air base at Humaymim (colocated with Latakia International Airport).&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">The MOU comes after negotiations between the Russians and the new government of Syria following the removal of the Bashar al-Asad regime in December 2024.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">&nbsp;</span></div><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiImdmq6xRRGwinZRTDJ_Hnb7vTHB9f6r3Cbj3nCHXKo2l6fpMbOM2vSTwfg_W7s3VLlUCOHxqbHIDSMmGKEnP94sMOO064T3gd0WFTf8_h4UQTdBf1S49-0MsT5Z_6k7ainVvnPZ4jEarK1QRkxzi205uUNgGZt13ORMcyy1D-lfPWR6ZdjeKuZw/s1066/Russian%20bases.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="798" data-original-width="1066" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiImdmq6xRRGwinZRTDJ_Hnb7vTHB9f6r3Cbj3nCHXKo2l6fpMbOM2vSTwfg_W7s3VLlUCOHxqbHIDSMmGKEnP94sMOO064T3gd0WFTf8_h4UQTdBf1S49-0MsT5Z_6k7ainVvnPZ4jEarK1QRkxzi205uUNgGZt13ORMcyy1D-lfPWR6ZdjeKuZw/w400-h300/Russian%20bases.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Tartus has been used by Russian Navy ships for over 50 years. In 1971, Syria and the Soviet Union had signed an agreement to establish a Soviet naval logistics and support facility at the port. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the base remained open for use by the Russian Navy.&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">In 2015,&nbsp;the Bashar al-Asad government requested Russian military assistance&nbsp;to help in the fight against anti-government groups and the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The logisitics facility at&nbsp;Tartus then developed into a semi-permanent Russian naval presence. At the same time, the Russian Air Force deployed combat and support aircraft to Humaymim air base&nbsp;and established a logistics air bridge between Russia and the Syrian base.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">In 2017, Russia secured renewable 49-year leases for both the naval facility at Tartus and the air base at&nbsp;Humaymim.&nbsp;These facilities became Russian exclusion areas.&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">The Russians made extensive improvements to the air base to handle the expanded air force presence - runways extended, new taxiways and parking aprons, aircraft maintenance hangars, administrative buildings, and barracks built, as well as delployment of a&nbsp;state-of-the-art air defense and electronic warfare systems<span style="background-color: white;">.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">After the fall of the al-Asad government in December 2024, Russia withdrew its ships from the port at Tartus. It was not until the spring of 2026 that Ru
113ssian Navy ships returned for a short time. While they continue to have access, there is not a restored permanent presence.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Today's agreement replaces the 49-year leases on both the naval facility and the air base. The key points of the MOU:</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">The Syrian Ministry of Defense will gradually take over the administration of the air base at Humaymim and the commercial pier at the port of Tartus.<br /><br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">The 114transfer will be completed and the new arrangements will take effect in three 115months.<br /><br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">The Syria Civil Aviation Authority will take over the Latakia International Airport and begin its rehabilitation.<br /><br /></span></li><li><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">The military facilities at Humaymim and Tartus will be transformed into joint Russian-Syrian training and qualification centers.</span></li></ul><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Russia's loss of the Syrian bases has forced them to seek alternative bases for its presence in the Mediterranean. Although they can still use Humaymim air base as a staging area for their operations in the Middle East and Africa, Libya is now being used more and more - Russia has access to as many as six air bases in the country.&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">As Syria attempts to reconstitute its armed forces, it is increasingly turning to Turkey for assistance and training. What remains to be seen is where the Ahmad al-Shara' government will seek to acquire new weapons, including aircraft and air defenses. While it would be preferable to wean the Syrians off Russian equipment, I am not sure Western governments will be willing to supply Damascus with sophisticated weaponry.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></content><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/3218124286741504903'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/3218124286741504903'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='https://francona.blogspot.com/2026/08/syria-reasserts-sovereignty-over.html' title='Syria Reasserts Sovereignty Over Russian Bases'/><author><name>Rick Francona</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01540695760234038044</uri><email>[email protected]</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP09yqkBOc69qJbuTkcuWYgTxCfRZ_pZWJ0M2kVsgYYJzh_JTli0-M44h_8pyXetyqdQw6d_u5JmQfMgko3f_kWueIF_544SsM5PDoV7HM6lB0TuNPMwqriDbvTfV0Ov7xSEBtwGeOHhgQctR3f2MZKMMlNlJE0AxNdvyH6zt1lqUNztNJEU-yjQ/s72-w400-h264-c/su-25.jpg" height="72" width="72"/></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7804762.post-447415731855796839</id><published>2026-07-28T17:24:16.026-07:00</published><updated>2026-07-28T17:24:16.026-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="al-Qa'idah"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Hamas"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Hizballah"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Iran"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Iraq"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="ISIS"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Israel"/><title type='text'>اÙÙ٠أÙبر - "Allahu Akbar" - a Pronunciation Guide to the Takbir</title><content type='html'><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimkVGh2SNVEu-lQrimHB-JYHdgXGDlQLIl7VIxbXgiYCSUd6Piqi8HQPI5ziNV4okXlOX_2EemwhEonnyoU2X3K05DzMTDzWQJ0gnTVMSnqhq78aTyPCBegwD6JIuZgH0c8r8gSaqSZ4Fn-5nRvKd8Ig4IakEBb8nGaGTWio5_NN84FWk7I3S-Dw/s338/takbir2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="170" data-original-width="338" height="201" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimkVGh2SNVEu-lQrimHB-JYHdgXGDlQLIl7VIxbXgiYCSUd6Piqi8HQPI5ziNV4okXlOX_2EemwhEonnyoU2X3K05DzMTDzWQJ0gnTVMSnqhq78aTyPCBegwD6JIuZgH0c8r8gSaqSZ4Fn-5nRvKd8Ig4IakEBb8nGaGTWio5_NN84FWk7I3S-Dw/w400-h201/takbir2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>Allahu Akbar</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">The <em data-end="601" data-start="593">takbir -&nbsp;</em>the Arabic phrase <span data-end="636" data-start="620"><i>Allahu akbar</i></span> ("God is greatest" or "God is greater") - is one of the best-known expressions in Islam. It has been used for nearly fourteen centuries in daily prayer, religious observance, and, historically, as a battlefield cry by Muslim armies. In recent decades it has also become associated in the public mind with Islamist terrorism because it is frequently shouted during attacks.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">The phrase is frequently mispronounced in English-language media. Even experienced speakers occasionally omit the final 'u' in <em data-end="1623" data-start="1615">Allahu</em>,&nbsp; pronouncing it as <i>Allah akbar</i> instead of the grammatically correct <i>Allahu akbar.</i></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><span class="citation-17" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0px;">The </span><span data-index-in-node="4" data-path-to-node="0" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0px;"><i>takbir</i></span><span class="citation-17" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0px;"> </span><span class="citation-17 citation-end-17" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0px;">appears on the national flags of two countries* - Iraq and Iran.&nbsp;</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><
115p data-path-to-node="0" id="p-rc_1cb7fecc5fd274ce-22" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="citation-17 citation-end-17" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0px;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p data-path-to-node="0" id="p-rc_1cb7fecc5fd274ce-22" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span class="citation-17 citation-end-17" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0px;">On the Iraqi flag (left), the&nbsp;</span></span><span data-index-in-node="4" data-path-to-node="0" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0px;"><i>takbir</i></span><span class="citation-17" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0px;">&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">is the green script in the white stripe. The <em data-end="1815" data-start="1807">takbir</em> was added to Iraq's flag in January 1991 just days before the beginning of the Gulf War, when Saddam Hussein sought to portray the conflict as a jihad against the U.S.-led coalition.<br />&nbsp;</span></span></p><p data-path-to-node="0" id="p-rc_1cb7fecc5fd274ce-22" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><sources-carousel-inline _nghost-ng-c2801529890="" ng-version="0.0.0-PLACEHOLDER" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0px;"><source-inline-chip _ngcontent-ng-c2801529890="" _nghost-ng-c3774318310="" class="ng-star-inserted" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0px;"><!----><!----><!----><!----><!----></source-inline-chip><!----><!----><!----></sources-carousel-inline></span></p><p data-path-to-node="0" id="p-rc_1cb7fecc5fd274ce-22" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVAW8wYVEl6UrB1qrq0psP39i0CTUetkNPPOWJ8K66dl8hZsEwXa792Y25i9MDM0B4Nj_DT9C0NqzIxmVN0TwvvgCZ3xJS9rheHeWAix7-ktubOxT73Gnht3hP9gjx1HdW4CLpYQrptaDVKfVo8VsLLz33S4I3CxLsJsjw1-rHwUBemRUNHi7XDw/s1000/flags.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="1000" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVAW8wYVEl6UrB1qrq0psP39i0CTUetkNPPOWJ8K66dl8hZsEwXa792Y25i9MDM0B4Nj_DT9C0NqzIxmVN0TwvvgCZ3xJS9rheHeWAix7-ktubOxT73Gnht3hP9gjx1HdW4CLpYQrptaDVKfVo8VsLLz33S4I3CxLsJsjw1-rHwUBemRUNHi7XDw/w400-h160/flags.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">On the Iranian flag (right), the&nbsp;</span><span data-index-in-node="4" data-path-to-node="0" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0px;"><i>takbir</i></span><span class="citation-17" style="font-family: verdana; line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0px;">&nbsp;in white stylized script appears 22 times in the green and white str
115ipes.&nbsp;</span></span></div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div> 116 117<div style="text-align: left;"> 118 <span style="font-size: medium;"> 119 My guide to pronouncing the <i>takbir</i>: a-LAH-hu AK-bar. 120 </span> 121</div> 122 123<div style="text-align: left;"> 124 <span style="font-size: medium;"> 125 International Phonetics: ÊaÉ«.É«aË.hu Êak.ba</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.francona.com/Allahu_Akbar.mp3" target="_blank">Listen to a native speaker</a>.&nbsp;<br /><br />_____________<br />*&nbsp;<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHdqVgPLbleRdLgOSKz7ucLqQtjXGWcnMo0fZDcE2op4VUhYNkOFOzUBdO6GutR2aqS8XrebdnTZzZN8KLJDDuka6JCdu8LK-g5Y7ZCnNcfAEsBc2rS8ZHmAjqe0-P7MdKyY-oCWsCqX65jtnfWglO4TI0rbBLwzlewLGrSu8yTIGzl1ZqDA1GdA/s805/FotoJet.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="505" data-original-width="805" height="93" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHdqVgPLbleRdLgOSKz7ucLqQtjXGWcnMo0fZDcE2op4VUhYNkOFOzUBdO6GutR2aqS8XrebdnTZzZN8KLJDDuka6JCdu8LK-g5Y7ZCnNcfAEsBc2rS8ZHmAjqe0-P7MdKyY-oCWsCqX65jtnfWglO4TI0rbBLwzlewLGrSu8yTIGzl1ZqDA1GdA/w148-h93/FotoJet.jpg" width="148" /></a></div></span><span data-index-in-node="0" data-path-to-node="2" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><span class="citation-15" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0px;">Saudi Arabia's flag does not contain the <em data-end="2176" data-start="2168">takbir</em>. Instead, it bears the <i>shahadah</i>:&nbsp;</span><span class="citation-15" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-top: 0px;">"There is no god but God, and Muhammad is His messenger."</span></span></span></div><p></p></span></div></span></div></content><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/447415731855796839'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/447415731855796839'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='https://francona.blogspot.com/2026/07/allahu-akbar-pronunciation-guide-to.html' title='اÙÙ٠أÙبر - "Allahu Akbar" - a Pronunciation Guide to the Takbir'/><author><name>Rick Francona</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01540695760234038044</uri><email>[email protected]</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimkVGh2SNVEu-lQrimHB-JYHdgXGDlQLIl7VIxbXgiYCSUd6Piqi8HQPI5ziNV4okXlOX_2EemwhEonnyoU2X3K05DzMTDzWQJ0gnTVMSnqhq78aTyPCBegwD6JIuZgH0c8r8gSaqSZ4Fn-5nRvKd8Ig4IakEBb8nGaGTWio5_NN84FWk7I3S-Dw/s72-w400-h201-c/takbir2.jpg" height="72" width="72"/></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7804762.post-5780648475260121879</id><published>2026-07-27T08:09:38.457-07:00</published><updated>2026-07-27T23:14:56.654-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Iran"/><title type='text'>Aerial Refueling - Key to American Airpower (Part Two)</title><content type='html'><p style="text-align: center;"><span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: verdana; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;"><span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXijcyFvv40O1DEnmdYx-Us44LkwuIjub5cUvq6OXRKyV0wb-6jpFtc6LhfsGLhgiqdPKu73j5YEZqeq3NPSWK8xw892t7e07705BfVRowS_OeKx6Zz344btQYHXiwgNWDPzgOla_Wq7JFQ0lpj0t4gaz0Jyon5T4hMihCiR-dSyeUXu82g9LxhA/s1024/Refueling.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1024" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXijcyFvv40O1DEnmdYx-Us44LkwuIjub5cUvq6OXRKyV0wb-6jpFtc6LhfsGLhgiqdPKu73j5YEZqeq3NPSWK8xw892t7e07705BfVRowS_OeKx6Zz344btQYHXiwgNWDPzgOla_Wq7JFQ0lpj0t4gaz0Jyon5T4hMihCiR-dSyeUXu82g9LxhA/w400-h225/Refueling.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>KC-135T of the Pennsylvania Air National Guard's 147th Air Refueling Squadron (Pittsburgh) refuels an F-15C of the 71st Fighter Squadron (Langley AFB)</b></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><span style="text-align: left;">Note: This should be read in conjunction with&nbsp;</span><a href="https://francona.blogspot.com/2026/07/aerial-refueling-key-to-american.html" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">Aerial Refueling - Key to American Airpower (Part One</a><span style="text-align: left;">). As with that part, Part Two will feature graphics from one of my cruise lectures.<br /><br /></span></span></div><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjia3hgll1VsjrDHFNkEVKIBrNQPed0RutYE79h1MlxpY1b1XJOqzJBJx2KkY8KVAadJqOdaKANB3vRjnEOSVKi6n9SFpAGfXlBhwghMtPYIjBk4CRwwVxLw1t3_GBrvEJTeZB6kZIRHmpKUWiAC_uFqPmtIZVUgpov23uZHNqLzY0jCa5ZzpufyQ/s3000/refueling-x.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="3000" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjia3hgll1VsjrDHFNkEVKIBrNQPed0RutYE79h1MlxpY1b1XJOqzJBJx2KkY8KVAadJqOdaKANB3vRjnEOSVKi6n9SFpAGfXlBhwghMtPYIjBk4CRwwVxLw1t3_GBrvEJTeZB6kZIRHmpKUWiAC_uFqPmtIZVUgpov23uZHNqLzY0jCa5ZzpufyQ/w400-h160/refueling-x.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>Flying boom refueling - Probe-and-drogue refueling</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">In this part, we will examine the two methods of aerial refueling, the advantages and disadvantages of each, and how they affect military operations.&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Fortunately, the U.S. Air Force KC-46A Pegasus is equipped to conduct both flying boom and probe-and-drogue refueling, making it compatible with virtually every U.S. military fixed-wing aircraft requiring aerial refueling.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQFjJO3sEDOjIcLgYE4aniiHRZ7XDVXgWcRVZV8USK-k8caMJ0eNetDVROw4PLDaKNSVBOCnYell4RQDF5QDeTUk9WVzgs96WKQmBjiZIQAzhp2nQBFNj_0n9jIubzK1xZStgIGsmfp8ZfeNM9l-NovkKZ2Oxt_Z_II3PvZxhfPjymbfK5-RyNKQ/s1893/refuel-9.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1074" data-original-width="1893" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQFjJO3sEDOjIcLgYE4aniiHRZ7XDVXgWcRVZV8USK-k8caMJ0eNetDVROw4PLDaKNSVBOCnYell4RQDF5QDeTUk9WVzgs96WKQmBjiZIQAzhp2nQBFNj_0n9jIubzK1xZStgIGsmfp8ZfeNM9l-NovkKZ2Oxt_Z_II3PvZxhfPjymbfK5-RyNKQ/w400-h228/refuel-9.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Flying boom refueling is favored by the Air Force. It's principal advantage is a much higher fuel transfer rate than the probe-and-drogue refueling.&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">The flying boom can transfer about three to four times the rate of a typical probe-and-drogue system. While this provides little advantage when refueling fighters, whose fuel systems cannot accept fuel at the boom's maximum rate, it is invaluable for large aircraft such as bombers, transports, airborne warning&nbsp;and control&nbsp;systems (AWACS),&nbsp;maritime patrol aircraft, and&nbsp;reconnaissance aircraft, all of which may need to take on tens of thousands of pounds of fuel during a single refueling.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">
125At one point in my career, I was assigned to an RC-135 unit. We routinely flew missions lasting up to 20 hours -&nbsp;and occasionally even longer - requiring rendezvous with two KC-135 tankers about halfway through each sortie. Even using the flying boom, completing the refueling sequence could take 45 minutes or more. Had we relied on probe-and-drogue refueling, those missions would have been far less practical.</span></div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD2WagH0zX0uZw4ZLGjCNDQg58zx9dWerSXHf09oF6y7sSPcDzZyUU9rY4NJj__HicOL7FqoBB2YxfXhyX0epeUa6mR0DD9R9ZqB1lhZ0TFaPcuSRSeQSrBh2tXxQLrgLJZ_1jHvxExK4-EggTnQo4QMyFYBPf0c8kDJfiGJClDSjZR9BKrdVYZQ/s1690/refuel-10.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1079" data-original-width="1690" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD2WagH0zX0uZw4ZLGjCNDQg58zx9dWerSXHf09oF6y7sSPcDzZyUU9rY4NJj__HicOL7FqoBB2YxfXhyX0epeUa6mR0DD9R9ZqB1lhZ0TFaPcuSRSeQSrBh2tXxQLrgLJZ_1jHvxExK4-EggTnQo4QMyFYBPf0c8kDJfiGJClDSjZR9BKrdVYZQ/w400-h255/refuel-10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">In the Air Force, we often joke that flying boom refueling is "full service"- the boom operator puts the gas in your tank. Probe-and-drogue refueling is "self-service" because the receiver pilot has to fly the probe into the basket himself. It's all good-natured interservice humor.</span></div><div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZIlGgJFf70t44qm1bBfF-WytvUwK9Oz1xo
125ROcsXwyhso6SKl-t2yB4KasbELltxc6NQbjWd3li2xSTDndG97116DYngkCbrPOlb0MADF4l4JCEtNzLNppC3Z40dEAVabX-Ll3C5v97ZGggtEE5mw86MWfuWJkx0GlEAKjpoiaYKpKnNROUCa9LQ/s1918/refuel-11.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1079" data-original-width="1918" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZIlGgJFf70t44qm1bBfF-WytvUwK9Oz1xoROcsXwyhso6SKl-t2yB4KasbELltxc6NQbjWd3li2xSTDndG97116DYngkCbrPOlb0MADF4l4JCEtNzLNppC3Z40dEAVabX-Ll3C5v97ZGggtEE5mw86MWfuWJkx0GlEAKjpoiaYKpKnNROUCa9LQ/w400-h225/refuel-11.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">So what are some of the planning factors that must be considered? Neither the U.S. Navy nor the U.S. Marine Corps operate boom-equipped tanker aircraft.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">During carrier operations, tactical aircraft are normally refueled by other aircraft within the carrier air wing, most commonly F/A-18 Super Hornets equipped with buddy refueling stores.&nbsp;</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">The Navy is fielding the MQ-25 Stingray unmanned tanker to reduce this limitation. Every Super Hornet assigned to the tanker mission is one fewer aircraft available to carry weapons on strike or air-defense missions.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Fleet support by land-based Navy P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft and Navy E-6B Mercury airborne command post relies on aerial refueling by the Air Force - the airframes require boom refueling. The bottom photo here is a USAF KC-135 refueling a USN E-6B over my house (red dot) on the south Oregon coast on aerial refueling track AR-8A South.</span></div><div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwElE6A9z20c5zvPu9D1rNrZ2mIX-vRRPrffwECj9lAVjRJjRaxIDFE7-JlgZvwNNdDfmlOmkL01SG7lnRSfcOZUhE3f7kMNJjEDnFWxcJvtpehFWf9a72l2LPXbEmgo56fMt9nQLn3uz94ZTiaD4_FoksOCxfqMVY5wX2Hyp8NrrGUGVSgFIEeg/s1918/refuel-12.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1079" data-original-width="1918" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwElE6A9z20c5zvPu9D1rNrZ2mIX-vRRPrffwECj9lAVjRJjRaxIDFE7-JlgZvwNNdDfmlOmkL01SG7lnRSfcOZUhE3f7kMNJjEDnFWxcJvtpehFWf9a72l2LPXbEmgo56fMt9nQLn3uz94ZTiaD4_FoksOCxfqMVY5wX2Hyp8NrrGUGVSgFIEeg/w400-h225/refuel-12.jpg" width="400" /></a><br /><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-wf887GfpW0qbvSCbxz15Pk1BdIGwevp1J5N0Nf96Kt5EWg2KQsBO_ii5w8fTzpmIjybgxG79bMOpfaG3dHt26fKGVY4NAyfZj14KGoQum5cAdmzyL7whpEhprMHYR8tNB1YY_kvTYjJElOZ3KTgEzQyUVrygjUN0Caw7MlBFwYUK-1iwF1Xdyg/s1024/refuel-13.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="725" data-original-width="1024" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-wf887GfpW0qbvSCbxz15Pk1BdIGwevp1J5N0Nf96Kt5EWg2KQsBO_ii5w8fTzpmIjybgxG79bMOpfaG3dHt26fKGVY4NAyfZj14KGoQum5cAdmzyL7whpEhprMHYR8tNB1YY_kvTYjJElOZ3KTgEzQyUVrygjUN0Caw7MlBFwYUK-1iwF1Xdyg/w400-h284/refuel-13.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Here is where it can become more complicated. The United Kingdom, one of our closest allies, operates four type of Boeing aircraft. These Royal Air Force (
125RAF) assets are the E-7 Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft, the RC-135 Airseeker (similar to the USAF RC-135V/W Rivet Joint) signals intelligence reconnaissance platform, the P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, and the C-17 Globemaster III heavy transport.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">These aircraft all require flying boom refueling. However, the RAF Voyager tanker fleet is equipped eclusively for probe-and-drogue refueling. Currently there are no plans to retrofit any of the tankers to add a boom capability, nor are there plans to acquire such tankers in the future.<br /></span><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJkXynFtU91asYi7_Q0BWXiJI4Pbfrpcf3WamScLekqlJ-8TVk50YmsXg_hfJL3UpBaIo-HT5xA7vt_1TuBPilyA4qHuIQH8JolzWCRjocALfCo7pZpCPtZJ9OdWmuVX6xpppFUgDXTk74JLjp2khy3ysifINZLJyeaFTEB_U3KIKlcEel6QYLUg/s1917/refuel-14.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1079" data-original-width="1917" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJkXynFtU91asYi7_Q0BWXiJI4Pbfrpcf3WamScLekqlJ-8TVk50YmsXg_hfJL3UpBaIo-HT5xA7vt_1TuBPilyA4qHuIQH8JolzWCRjocALfCo7pZpCPtZJ9OdWmuVX6xpppFUgDXTk74JLjp2khy3ysifINZLJyeaFTEB_U3KIKlcEel6QYLUg/w400-h225/refuel-14.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">As a result, the RAF must rely on allied air forces with boom-equipped tankers for refueling. While some European countries have with this capability, none have anywhere near the capability of the U.S. Air Force.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Let's look at a real world example of how aerial refueling extends the reach of American airpower, even beyond that of the U.S. Navy carriers. At times, there is nothing like five acres of American sovereign territory - and the carrier strike group that sails with it - to project power. At other times, only long-range land-based aviation can reach the target.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">This is USAF B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, one of the most advanced aircraft in the world. It is currently the only aircraft in the U.S. inventory that can carry the 30,000-pound GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6_8cJttTBYHlNpKt5CaEXU8LCOU_KltB9aqzUyWY_rwS2TVAqlSLtPCTdhjZaXc8esIEXJJ7WRO_4y5EvKTvFxZYPkMOiUHdrAIPMVRSMiFxl67hB5iwnfbUhBPP3cawcp9_FrC0XWovSp_mAKyghpyJrDRGU-SZUHH2Bp2-bG8ATe_GR2zVZkw/s1916/refuel-16.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1079" data-original-width="1916" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6_8cJttTBYHlNpKt5CaEXU8LCOU_KltB9aqzUyWY_rwS2TVAqlSLtPCTdhjZaXc8esIEXJJ7WRO_4y5EvKTvFxZYPkMOiUHdrAIPMVRSMiFxl67hB5iwnfbUhBPP3cawcp9_FrC0XWovSp_mAKyghpyJrDRGU-SZUHH2Bp2-bG8ATe_GR2zVZkw/w400-h225/refuel-16.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">That aircraft-and-weapon combination was employed during the June 2025 American strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities.</span><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">&nbsp;Seven of these bombers flew over 36 hours to and from the targets in Iran.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAZ1Gh-FZCnpiV5-_8GcY8d9wiKBgCpFokNbd1_SV-SuCVfTu9m-KfCuY5ubIVQq4Ivx2MytW8CzxT9o2NPEE9dDD-uVCh2MDCLg8FivzvrzaYa_gzJ3y5e4VMjaktDBtxq-P25nJwi2Inruvqjj6UkQP0q
125sKJKxEAbipR1FsDNkXwbNZzF9XS-g/s1700/refuel-15.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1076" data-original-width="1700" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAZ1Gh-FZCnpiV5-_8GcY8d9wiKBgCpFokNbd1_SV-SuCVfTu9m-KfCuY5ubIVQq4Ivx2MytW8CzxT9o2NPEE9dDD-uVCh2MDCLg8FivzvrzaYa_gzJ3y5e4VMjaktDBtxq-P25nJwi2Inruvqjj6UkQP0qsKJKxEAbipR1FsDNkXwbNZzF9XS-g/w400-h254/refuel-15.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3acb-7fNwANn0ACPb5PZQYuTMvWZJXXNYXk9X8iYSlFO_0R2vzcOQ9d5d9ayqLpqL_hH9HN3_SDZRR5omr-dwfAA3Z3P9iuMTXW4y58d3qOpgIPNfCdbKsakJVzh1GYImIHkGTPsADBfc3nEuhqr5Q2v1EQ-PwixBTiJNM006GJ898DXphEN2sg/s1919/refuel-17.jpg" style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1079" data-original-width="1919" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3acb-7fNwANn0ACPb5PZQYuTMvWZJXXNYXk9X8iYSlFO_0R2vzcOQ9d5d9ayqLpqL_hH9HN3_SDZRR5omr-dwfAA3Z3P9iuMTXW4y58d3qOpgIPNfCdbKsakJVzh1GYImIHkGTPsADBfc3nEuhqr5Q2v1EQ-PwixBTiJNM006GJ898DXphEN2sg/w400-h225/refuel-17.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">The operation required refueling support from 32 tanker aircraft operating from multiple locations. Without aerial refueling, a mission of that distance and duration would simply not have been possible.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">While the fighters and bombers may get the headlines, much of what they accomplish relies on the tankers.&nbsp;Aerial refueling is not simply a support function, it is what makes American global airpower possible.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></content><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/5780648475260121879'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/5780648475260121879'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='https://francona.blogspot.com/2026/07/aerial-refueling-key-to-american_0624493358.html' title='Aerial Refueling - Key to American Airpower (Part Two)'/><author><name>Rick Francona</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01540695760234038044</uri><email>[email protected]</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXijcyFvv40O1DEnmdYx-Us44LkwuIjub5cUvq6OXRKyV0wb-6jpFtc6LhfsGLhgiqdPKu73j5YEZqeq3NPSWK8xw892t7e07705BfVRowS_OeKx6Zz344btQYHXiwgNWDPzgOla_Wq7JFQ0lpj0t4gaz0Jyon5T4hMihCiR-dSyeUXu82g9LxhA/s72-w400-h225-c/Refueling.jpg" height="72" width="72"/></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7804762.post-8016582453483337963</id><published>2026-07-22T16:23:16.021-07:00</published><updated>2026-07-28T07:24:05.761-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Iran"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Israel"/><title type='text'>Aerial Refueling - Key to American Airpower (Part One)</title><content type='html'><p>&nbsp;</p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOPg2EJu0Jq0PqmhWi1p-pgTkzx16d1Kljf6DZhxs0zIOJU9K-2_YmRwpxGE-MVLSs2bIP9YSzPxP7T-2oZIf64Zag7aYmANtc99TGqTTH-Rqmy7MpCfLP6IcnCwNQrAvieDTI-W1nRdH0Jzhte3WXRhWGKPygzvBsOmArZbKIujCWz2cjsUeVkA/s2000/0921_World_KC_46_refuel.jpg"><img border="0" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="2000" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOPg2EJu0Jq0PqmhWi1p-pgTkzx16d1Kljf6DZhxs0zIOJU9K-2_YmRwpxGE-MVLSs2bIP9YSzPxP7T-2oZIf64Zag7aYmANtc99TGqTTH-Rqmy7MpCfLP6IcnCwNQrAvieDTI-W1nRdH0Jzhte3WXRhWGKPygzvBsOmArZbKIujCWz2cjsUeVkA/w400-h266/0921_World_KC_46_refuel.jpg" width="400" /></a><br /><span style="font-family: arial; font-weight: 700;">USAF KC-46A Pegasus refueling an A-10 Warthog *</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br />Last week, the United States asked the Israeli government to increase the number of U.S. Air Force aerial refueling aircraft temporarily based at Ben Gurion International Airport. At the time of the request, there were about 60 tankers at Ben Gurion. The presence of this number of USAF aircraft has reduced the capacity of the airport by about 70 percent.&nbsp;<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Increasing the number of tankers to almost 100 aircraft would severly limit civilian air traffic into and out of Israel's primary and largest airport.&nbsp;Israel has agreed to the increased number of tankers, but they will be based at Israeli air bases instead.<br /> </span><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Why does the USAF need so many tankers? Aerial refueling is a major mission for the USAF, and an important mission for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. The U.S. Army has only a few refuelable helicopters, mostly belonging the the 160th Special Operations Air Regiment - these are almost always refueled by the USAF Special Operations Command's MC-130 aircraft.<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Why is aerial refueling important? I am going to use some graphics from one of my cruise ship presentations about the 2025 and 2026 Israeli and U.S. air operations against Iran.&nbsp;<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Given the distances between air bases and targets, aerial refueling plays a major role. For example, the distance between air bases in Israel and targets in Iran can be 1000 miles or more.&nbsp;<br /><br /></span></div><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEryV3PvsGV4ns-bN7AtaOV0T5zsmZzlDU627UbjHLLbsCh8QUQwnQz-SyGbhem6TWqg0iOqihixxTOhyphenhyphen34w0ZIbRtoPRzEO_bQsNxWVpHg9cxjTt5vLaAQFkETgzKKf6llKUNnnClwrSYd0avWI-BHJCjf_e8MOlxCAYQIktwFfvMiOUDAfWBfQ/s1911/refuel-1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1072" data-original-width="1911" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEryV3PvsGV4ns-bN7AtaOV0T5zsmZzlDU627UbjHLLbsCh8QUQwnQz-SyGbhem6TWqg0iOqihixxTOhyphenhyphen34w0ZIbRtoPRzEO_bQsNxWVpHg9cxjTt5vLaAQFkETgzKKf6llKUNnnClwrSYd0avWI-BHJCjf_e8MOlxCAYQIktwFfvMiOUDAfWBfQ/w400-h225/refuel-1.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br />Most Israeli aircraft cannot fly that distance unrefueled. Unfortunately, Israel has only six aging B707 refueling aircraft. They have ordered the KC-46A Pegasus, but they have not been delivered.&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7uTJG6ZIrPy4sr9O9-fe2ULa_GUa_hynz87TMeGV8IfUoMxQVcPMDyrL_PdPB091OUZX6VkKu1vryIQfYmSgltVnx_FkhVKL61SMTMy5beS1Q25mRk0lxOPPTm6Y2cswpbNGen4seM9hq0597RZE7W5Ma1Peyyrav0CRiUd5sKo7kA0Tce7ZNhw/s1914/refuel-6.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1076" data-original-width="1914" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7uTJG6ZIrPy4sr9O9-fe2ULa_GUa_hynz87TMeGV8IfUoMxQVcPMDyrL_PdPB091OUZX6VkKu1vryIQfYmSgltVnx_FkhVKL61SMTMy5beS1Q25mRk0lxOPPTm6Y2cswpbNGen4seM9hq0597RZE7W5Ma1Peyyrav0CRiUd5sKo7kA0Tce7ZNhw/w400-h225/refuel-6.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>
125Israeli Air Force refueling F-15I Ra'am aircraft<br /><br /></b></span></td></tr></tbody></table>Because of that shortage, the USAF provided KC-46A tanker support to Israeli aircraft on their way to and from Iran during Operation Rising Lion.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ5m7bMhVY-b3D5ohqXq2eaZ4hbYrhIB5MqgWnNpjl9-VZLd9oVxyArSRItm9XZRNlF_IjPsltkDgHKCx6fJOTxXk63Lm79A6ZLk_-jd6EdLbnwXC62Khh8GhpCzOL6FG_vEFx7BbUaGBpbJ-HJN3BRmrIvjTxqaGAGXcbqVY_j8h2ZWs5rpKwBA/s1917/refuel-7.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1078" data-original-width="1917" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ5m7bMhVY-b3D5ohqXq2eaZ4hbYrhIB5MqgWnNpjl9-VZLd9oVxyArSRItm9XZRNlF_IjPsltkDgHKCx6fJOTxXk63Lm79A6ZLk_-jd6EdLbnwXC62Khh8GhpCzOL6FG_vEFx7BbUaGBpbJ-HJN3BRmrIvjTxqaGAGXcbqVY_j8h2ZWs5rpKwBA/s320/refuel-7.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: verdana;">USAF KC-46A refueling Israeli Air Force F-35</b></td></tr></tbody></table></div><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Given the lack of an adequate number of tanker aircraft, there are other solutions to extend the range of fighter aircraft. The Israelis make extensive use of conformal fuel tanks (CFT) and external drop tanks. CFT are attached to the aircraft and are aerodynamically designed to cause less drag than coventional drop tanks, which are carried under the fuselage and/or wings.&nbsp;</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Here are an F-15I and F-16I with CFT. Please note that these aircraft are also carrying drop tanks.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsZAt4XIolFf1o7MXEf-p4a5wchgaclSpnaF_6sDGBZ0k0lZYmmOMnFPgRoe9J9GRGm5SbIdJHCxj93BUvrodISKakWFNmaLvOpqbj_8vmljoEi0hObUmhzHDeMQTP0Kn8pFBXow4mlF4DtaYGmFzd3RD2iMk7YbQ0CeZLv6ORF_4CSJreiuvvsA/s1492/cft.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1492" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsZAt4XIolFf1o7MXEf-p4a5wchgaclSpnaF_6sDGBZ0k0lZYmmOMnFPgRoe9J9GRGm5SbIdJHCxj93BUvrodISKakWFNmaLvOpqbj_8vmljoEi0hObUmhzHDeMQTP0Kn8pFBXow4mlF4DtaYGmFzd3RD2iMk7YbQ0CeZLv6ORF_4CSJreiuvvsA/w321-h400/cft.jpg" width="321" /></span></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">This picture below highlights the problem of not having sufficient aerial refueling capability.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJVFvjhc2udcnqijzc_JjIkbehMMul72cNvP4V5LKgIsQiiGXG09Gz2lSedvx2STFNhzhaweXH9qR1zsK6aFSAKD3qG6wcTifSm5nkpXJoyJBO5QX-mpzdBljI2s3zZPJgmWTSk-CEczQ3Ql0QNvhdxN_3SQncQ9USOXkhBRRKcCs-CmJKAnZI_w/s1917/refuel-5.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1079" data-original-width="1917" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJVFvjhc2udcnqijzc_JjIkbehMMul72cNvP4V5LKgIsQiiGXG09Gz2lSedvx2STFNhzhaweXH9qR1zsK6aFSAKD3qG6wcTifSm5nkpXJoyJBO5QX-mpzdBljI2s3zZPJgmWTSk-CEczQ3Ql0QNvhdxN_3SQncQ9USOXkhBRRKcCs-CmJKAnZI_w/w400-h225/refuel-5.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: verdana;">F-16I Sufa ready to go to Iranian targets</span></b></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Again, this F-16I is outfitted with CFT as well as three external drop tanks. It is only carrying two air-to-ground munitions, in this case SPICE 1000-pound precision-guided munitions, plus wingtip-mounted AIM-120 air-to-air missiles in the off-chance that the virtually destroyed Iranian air force attempted to engage.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">That's a long way to go to drop just two weapons. Most of the aircraft capability is tied up in carrying enough fuel to make the round-trip sortie.</span></div></div></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">This illustrates the fuel-munitions tradeoff. For those not familiar with air operations, a quick review.&nbsp;The limiting factor for air operations planners is the gross takeoff weight of an aircraft. Start with an aircraft with no fuel or munitions. For example, an empty F-15I weighs about 32,700 pounds, with a gross takeoff weight about 81,000 pounds. That leaves almost 50,000 pounds of payload.&nbsp;</span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">This is where the USAF excels in the use of aerial refueling. When possible, aircraft are loaded with a maximum munitions load and a minumum fuel load. Immediately after takeoff, the aircraft meets a tanker prepositioned near the base, where it takes on as full a fuel load as possible. Now, it is a fully armed and fully fueled aircraft.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">That's why we put so many of our resources into aerial refueling. It is a force multiplier. Fun fact: 75 percent of world's aerial refueling aircraft belong to the U.S. Air Force.<br /><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXCgjQMlZE9FEm_4hzL6W-1WI0IKRalz_a0KxdsdIpI-KDc4444jAhWcyKocLyxd9X65d9ucwDDLmXkS7xVl3cGhzUTR8CJavJf6IHpqEupLtvVPXHvNaiYD6xANnGnpCkvv_bhS4ndZYG9RfC0WskGu224ASrHlUTyeleWZ3ehg02OFWGGBtZSA/s1919/refuel-8.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1079" data-original-width="1919" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXCgjQMlZE9FEm_4hzL6W-1WI0IKRalz_a0KxdsdIpI-KDc4444jAhWcyKocLyxd9X65d9ucwDDLmXkS7xVl3cGhzUTR8CJavJf6IHpqEupLtvVPXHvNaiYD6xANnGnpCkvv_bhS4ndZYG9RfC0WskGu224ASrHlUTyeleWZ3ehg02OFWGGBtZSA/w400-h225/refuel-8.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">We do this better than anyone in the world.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Note: Part Two will discuss types of refueling and issues for some of our allies. (<a href="https://francona.blogspot.com/2026/07/aerial-refueling-key-to-american_0624493358.html" target="_blank">Click here to go to Part 2</a>.)<br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;">_____</span></span></div><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">* Yes, I know the official name of the A-10 is the Thunderbolt II. In over 27 years of service in the USAF, I can probably count on one hand the number of times anyone in the field called
125it anything but the Warthog, usually with admiration and respect. It is a fearsome weapon system.</span></div><p></p></content><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/8016582453483337963'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/8016582453483337963'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='https://francona.blogspot.com/2026/07/aerial-refueling-key-to-american.html' title='Aerial Refueling - Key to American Airpower (Part One)'/><author><name>Rick Francona</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01540695760234038044</uri><email>[email protected]</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOPg2EJu0Jq0PqmhWi1p-pgTkzx16d1Kljf6DZhxs0zIOJU9K-2_YmRwpxGE-MVLSs2bIP9YSzPxP7T-2oZIf64Zag7aYmANtc99TGqTTH-Rqmy7MpCfLP6IcnCwNQrAvieDTI-W1nRdH0Jzhte3WXRhWGKPygzvBsOmArZbKIujCWz2cjsUeVkA/s72-w400-h266-c/0921_World_KC_46_refuel.jpg" height="72" width="72"/></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7804762.post-4158568477143896735</id><published>2026-07-20T23:04:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2026-07-27T23:05:59.164-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Islam"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Yemen"/><title type='text'>It's "Houthis" with a TH</title><content type='html'><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrT8VH4lX3rARnbTQeYh7l1gEAavC4Ee0TNywM1Ry3q9HacyXk0Uwjduuc3kEljxv1ggLZCN041KJEaijJsIIQqLdIV3W-HfDT2xprxyrXjPU4SDLMi1VikcENax4X3ygNxqhhm7Oo_9YqoMmkoNeFQhpBsepJ2_FJ5t5uDdmoofBqrHe-8Mh0iw/s1200/houthis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrT8VH4lX3rARnbTQeYh7l1gEAavC4Ee0TNywM1Ry3q9HacyXk0Uwjduuc3kEljxv1ggLZCN041KJEaijJsIIQqLdIV3W-HfDT2xprxyrXjPU4SDLMi1VikcENax4X3ygNxqhhm7Oo_9YqoMmkoNeFQhpBsepJ2_FJ5t5uDdmoofBqrHe-8Mh0iw/w400-h400/houthis.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"><b>The Houthis in Yemen - their logo and spokesman</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Public Service Announcement for journalists, reporters, 126anchors, news readers, media analysts, and anyone else who has reason to 127comment on the Iranian proxy group in Yemen, the "Supporters of God" 128(Ø£Ùصار اÙÙÙ) the movement's official name, often rendered as Ansar Allah.<br /></span><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">&nbsp;<br /></span></o:p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">They are more commonly called "the Houthis" (اÙØÙØ«ÙÙÙ). 129The name "Houthi" comes from the family's surname, not from a 130religious or tribal title.<br /></span><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">&nbsp;<br /></span></o:p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">The movement is named after the al-Houthi (اÙØÙØ«Ù) family, 131particularly its founder, Husayn Badr al-Din al-Huthi (ØسÙ٠بدر اÙدÙ٠اÙØÙØ«Ù)., 132who launched the movement in the 1990s in Yemen's northern Sa'da Governorate.<br /></span><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">&nbsp;<br /></span></o:p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">It is pronounced: "the WHO-thees". I add this to 133correct the mispronunciation by those who want to sound like they know what
134they are talking about, changing the Arabic letter Ø« (thÄʾ) â (th as in think) 135-- to a T, resulting in WHO-tees.<br /></span><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">&nbsp;<br /></span></o:p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Unlike many other languages that do not have the TH sound, 136Arabic has three different distinct letters that employ that linguistic dental 137fricative sound.<br /></span><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">&nbsp;<br /></span></o:p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">All of those who insist on converting the TH to a T only 138highlight their lack of understanding of the language and the region.</span></div> 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158<br /><p></p></content><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/4158568477143896735'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/4158568477143896735'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='https://francona.blogspot.com/2026/07/its-houthis-with-th.html' title='It's "Houthis" with a TH'/><author><name>Rick Francona</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01540695760234038044</uri><email>[email protected]</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrT8VH4lX3rARnbTQeYh7l1gEAavC4Ee0TNywM1Ry3q9HacyXk0Uwjduuc3kEljxv1ggLZCN041KJEaijJsIIQqLdIV3W-HfDT2xprxyrXjPU4SDLMi1VikcENax4X3ygNxqhhm7Oo_9YqoMmkoNeFQhpBsepJ2_FJ5t5uDdmoofBqrHe-8Mh0iw/s72-w400-h400-c/houthis.jpg" height="72" width="72"/></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7804762.post-3076576655030400511</id><published>2026-07-04T10:48:51.890-07:00</published><updated>2026-07-10T13:19:51.220-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Iran"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Oman"/><title type='text'>The Strait of Hormuz: Iran's View of the MOU</title><content type='html'><p>&nbsp;</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz3-m05_f0sMm_5eY6ZDS_ApxSooT4sgLAof_WNUj3wS__thDUYPFTaoeRJtlAswuy9MwEi8o7ciuiD9nloXYMdDOo-07eURJCuhd2oWzPh3-SQm7Y5T0hIkMJrDXIvfW_bqEPPqJKOfBfe_Ja0jGr6Ltm3e7kiAMczlXYOWmZ4JKqPBY6KLFn-g/s706/ghalibaf1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="706" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz3-m05_f0sMm_5eY6ZDS_ApxSooT4sgLAof_WNUj3wS__thDUYPFTaoeRJtlAswuy9MwEi8o7ciuiD9nloXYMdDOo-07eURJCuhd2oWzPh3-SQm7Y5T0hIkMJrDXIvfW_bqEPPqJKOfBfe_Ja0jGr6Ltm3e7kiAMczlXYOWmZ4JKqPBY6KLFn-g/w400-h306/ghalibaf1.jpg" width="400" /></a><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><p style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Let's talk about the "Strait of Hormuz."</span></p><p style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">In an interview aired yesterday on Al Jazeera TV, the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament&nbsp;Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf spoke of his interpretation of Iran's future role as it concerns the Strait of Hormuz.</span></p><p style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">The takeaways:</span></p><p style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">&nbsp;<br /></span></p><p style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></p><p></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">We will not permit the United States to interfere in the 159Strait of Hormuz.</span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">We have agreed with 160the Sultanate of Oman on the navigation mechanism in [the Strait of] Hormuz 161based on the fifth article of the memorandum of understanding.</span></li></ul><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">We are proceeding 162with the implementation of the [Strait of] Hormuz navigation mechanism and will 163consult with the countries bordering [our] territorial waters.</span></li></ul><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">It is clear from Ghalibaf's statements that he views the Strait of Hormuz as the territorial waters of Iran, and if pressed, jointly owned by Iran and the Sultanate of Oman. In his view, it is anything but how the world sees the Strait - an international waterway with free access to all. He is on record claiming that control of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz is Iran's right, and that Iran will not relinquish control under any circumstances.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Ghalibaf is not alone in this belief. Iran's deputy foreign minister unilaterally informed Omani officials that&nbsp;Iran alone will determine the transit routes in the Strait, and prohibit the use of other routes. Again, this is the Iranians ignoring the fact that the Strait of Hormuz is a declared international waterway according to the 1994 United Nations Convention on the Laws of the Sea (UNCLOS). The Strait is neither Iranian nor Omani territorial waters.</span></p><p></p><p></p><p style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></p><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">It gets even better. On May 18, Iran announced the creation of the <i>S</i><i>trait of Hormuz Administration</i>. Iran unilaterally declared that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) will exercise control over the area shown in yellow on the map.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">&nbsp;</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1702" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEDpxJQo7X4YCmInkLkznQ-O6vqgGV23bMXMFB8iRusjqfJzmvFmQpAVDsj_3n43WC6pW-HT59VR-k79wdgTlAHSx3MFmokL9lEgPNmwG9aSCFzx5_Y0j9CGG1caQJhzDiIM4yCSTNW6aLgdoPTOP4_U55EJyMvI7DTvvb5
163F-pleNASVm6LRxCvQ/w400-h283/hormuz.jpg" width="400" /></span></p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The lines run from the western edge of Qeshm island in Iran to Umm al-Quwayn in the UAE, and from Jabal Mubarak, Iran to Fujayrah, UAE.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">The area includes not only the international waterway, but also Omani territorial waters.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">This attempt flies in the face of a variety of international agreements that prohibit either Iran or Oman from restricting passage through the strait or charging a toll.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Why are the Iranians taking these what I would call unwarranted actions?&nbsp;</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;">The answer is the imprecise wording of the last sentence in the fifth article of the memorandum of understanding between the Iran and the United States. It reads:<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i><b>"The Islamic Republic of Iran will conduct dialogue with the Sultanate of Oman to define the future administration and maritime services in the Strait of Hormuz, in discussions with other Persian Gulf littoral states, in line with applicable international law and the sovereign rights of coastal states of the Strait of Hormuz."</b></i></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i><br /></i></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Ghalibaf'
163s comments suggest that Tehran interprets this sentence to mean that Iran and Oman will jointly administer and manage the Strait, rather than merely establish navigational procedures to ensure the safe passage of commercial shipping.&nbsp;The map and declaration that the IRGC will exercise control over a huge swath of the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman - including the entire Strait of Hormuz - far exceeds the provisions of this statement.</span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">In the end, the Iranians and Omanis will have to allow free passage - the legal term is "right of transit" - through the Strait with no tolls or fees.&nbsp;If Iran attempts to enforce a contrary interpretation, it would almost certainly invite a direct challenge from the United States and possibly other maritime powers.</span></p><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p></content><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/3076576655030400511'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/3076576655030400511'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='https://francona.blogspot.com/2026/07/iranian-views-on-strait-of-hormuz.html' title='The Strait of Hormuz: Iran's View of the MOU'/><author><name>Rick Francona</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01540695760234038044</uri><email>[email protected]</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiz3-m05_f0sMm_5eY6ZDS_ApxSooT4sgLAof_WNUj3wS__thDUYPFTaoeRJtlAswuy9MwEi8o7ciuiD9nloXYMdDOo-07eURJCuhd2oWzPh3-SQm7Y5T0hIkMJrDXIvfW_bqEPPqJKOfBfe_Ja0jGr6Ltm3e7kiAMczlXYOWmZ4JKqPBY6KLFn-g/s72-w400-h306-c/ghalibaf1.jpg" height="72" width="72"/></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7804762.post-3022922171130495824</id><published>2026-07-02T06:28:51.653-07:00</published><updated>2026-07-02T07:29:35.077-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Saudi Arabia"/><title type='text'>"Is My Daughter an American Citizen?"</title><content type='html'><p style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRgrhJ-b8r7Y8s_Et_NZzD3EoO1pUg5Ub4ozlPkpU2svCoAvdQJeG1cIsdetiX6O762WQz6xZ8PS2lIc7b8BcVlAZAsDx-A53elQvkKtYKL1C1GglUziPIXSIP_RkbDKd8PxWhGj2DIFvifzU35FOpXystmGvaVd2dAK67UKHKMuJLsiC7Qvpk2Q/s1242/passports.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="956" data-original-width="1242" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRgrhJ-b8r7Y8s_Et_NZzD3EoO1pUg5Ub4ozlPkpU2svCoAvdQJeG1cIsdetiX6O762WQz6xZ8PS2lIc7b8BcVlAZAsDx-A53elQvkKtYKL1C1GglUziPIXSIP_RkbDKd8PxWhGj2DIFvifzU35FOpXystmGvaVd2dAK67UKHKMuJLsiC7Qvpk2Q/w400-h308/passports.jpg" width="400" /></a><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>American and Saudi Passports</b></span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br />Let's talk about "birthright citizenship.â</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">The recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling affirming absolute 164birthright citizenship has generated considerable discussion on both sides of 165the issue. I have my own views, but it is not germane to this discu
165ssion 166of birthright citizenship.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">It is January 17, 1991. Operation Desert Shield â the 167defense of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia â has transformed into Operation Desert 168Storm, the campaign to liberate the State of Kuwait. Throughout the night, hundreds 169of coalition aircraft pound targets in Baghdad and other key locations in Iraq. 170&nbsp;</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Before dawn the next morning, the Iraqis responded with 171al-Husayn ballistic missile attacks on Riyadh, Dhahran, and Israel. The war was 172on. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br />The atmosphere in Saudi Arabia had changed dramatically over 173the previous five months.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Iraq invaded Kuwait on August 2, 1990. Four days later, 174President George H.W. Bush ordered American forces to Saudi Arabia. The lead 175elementsâthe "division-ready" brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division 176and the U.S. Air Force's 1st Tactical Fighter Wingâarrived on August 7. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">In those months leading up to the war, we American troops 177spent a lot of time working alongside Saudi officers. When not interpreting for 178General Schwarzkopf, I worked in the in the Coalition Coordination, 179Communications, and Integration Center (C3IC). I had become close to several of 180the Saudi officersâthey were intrigued with any American or Westerner who had 181learned their language.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Watching the change in their demeanor from our arrival in 182August to the attack on Iraq was fascinating. Many of the officers I came to 183know had grown up in relative privilege and had never imagined that their 184country might face a direct military threat. As tensions mounted and the 185coalition buildup accelerated, some quietly began looking for a safety netâa 186way out should the worst happen.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">One afternoon, a Royal Saudi Air Defense Force brigadier 187with whom I had become friends, approached me and asked if we could 188speak in private.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Once alone in his office, he asked whether it was true that 189people born in the United States were automatically American citizens. I told 190him that I believed that to be true in most cases. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">He explained that years earlier as a young officer, he had attended 191the U.S. Army Air Defense Artillery School at Fort Bliss, Texas. While there, 192his wife had given birth to their daughter at the postâs hospital. He wanted to 193know if his daughter was, in fact, a U.S. citizen.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Not being an immigration lawyer, I contacted a friend in the 194Consular Section of U.S. Embassy in Riyadh explained the situation. Her 195first question surprised me â did he have diplomatic status?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">I hadn't even considered that. I asked the brigadier whether 196he had been assigned to the Saudi Embassy or had any form of diplomatic 197accreditation while he was in the United States. He had not. He had simply been 198a military student attending training at an Army post in Texas.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">My friend at the Embassy clarified for me. If he had enjoyed 199diplomatic immunity, neither he nor his wife would have been âsubject to 200the jurisdictionâ of the United States, a key requirement of the Fourteenth 201Amendment. As a foreign military officer attending school in the United States, 202he and his wife were fully subject to American civil and criminal law. Their 203daughter therefore acquired U.S. citizenship at birth.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Although she had been eligible since birth, her parents had 204never applied for documentation, not thinking that it would ever be needed. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Within a month, I had arranged for her U.S. 205passport, and presented it to her father along with an American flag. His smile 206said everything - h</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">e invited me to his office for âtea.â If you've ever served 207in Saudi Arabia, you know exactly what that means.&nbsp;</span></span></p><p> 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">_____</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Note: Justice Clarence Thomas wrote a dissenting opinion of 240the Fourteenth Amendment. Under his interpretation, the daughter may not have 241acquired U.S. citizenship at birth since her father was posted in the United States 242on a temporary basis. I get it, but it felt good to be able to do this for the brigadier and his daughter.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p></content><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/3022922171130495824'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/3022922171130495824'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='https://francona.blogspot.com/2026/07/is-my-daughter-american-citizen.html' title='"Is My Daughter an American Citizen?"'/><author><name>Rick Francona</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01540695760234038044</uri><email>[email protected]</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author>
242<media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRgrhJ-b8r7Y8s_Et_NZzD3EoO1pUg5Ub4ozlPkpU2svCoAvdQJeG1cIsdetiX6O762WQz6xZ8PS2lIc7b8BcVlAZAsDx-A53elQvkKtYKL1C1GglUziPIXSIP_RkbDKd8PxWhGj2DIFvifzU35FOpXystmGvaVd2dAK67UKHKMuJLsiC7Qvpk2Q/s72-w400-h308-c/passports.jpg" height="72" width="72"/></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7804762.post-1106172286757784044</id><published>2026-06-01T10:30:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2026-07-03T21:45:18.377-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Islam"/><title type='text'>Abdul Carter - What's in a name?</title><content type='html'><p>&nbsp;</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzZ8319FQDnVESAf7I2jspFSijlLnZi1ohrhC9FwPK7wSrk5SDUmZwFr3Cp0REey6XG0pm_3o3gvU0UG1xGr26S0doaO4hQURi6hxnzsOq7KKW5GZU_Da4pWI9nn9cDSqbju0AEZKXgCJOjV1lZ2BAQTBdrOGlvaSXLCHfvHiZRxHHZOnOcz-zMg/s960/carter.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="960" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzZ8319FQDnVESAf7I2jspFSijlLnZi1ohrhC9FwPK7wSrk5SDUmZwFr3Cp0REey6XG0pm_3o3gvU0UG1xGr26S0doaO4hQURi6hxnzsOq7KKW5GZU_Da4pWI9nn9cDSqbju0AEZKXgCJOjV1lZ2BAQTBdrOGlvaSXLCHfvHiZRxHHZOnOcz-zMg/w400-h225/carter.jpg" title="Abdul Carter and Jason Dart" width="400" /></a><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>Abdul Carter and Jason Dart</b></span></div><p></p><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Let's talk about "Abdul Carter."&nbsp;</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There was a bit 243of controversy over New York Giants quarterback Jason Dart. Carter criticized 244Dart for introducing President Trump at a rally - not that it is any of 245Carter's business.</span></span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">I was struck by the name Abdul Carter. I have been dealing 246with this for decades, mostly among young men who claim to have converted to 247Islam.&nbsp;</span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">During Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, there was 248a team of Saudi imams (we called them the God Squad) who would roam the joint 249commannd center and target Americans for conversion, including me, with offers 250of money, trips, gifts. They assumed that because I could speak Arabic, I would 251be a potential convert. I didn't take the time to explain that we in the 252intelligence services normally learn the languages of our potential foes....</span></p> 253 254<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Many of these converts take on what they think are Muslim 255names. I am not sure if Carter is a convert or was born into a Muslim family. 256In any case, I would recommend that they learn either a smattering of the Arabic 257language, or the concept of the 99 attributes of Allah.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Abdul cannot stand alone as a name.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">It is actually the word 'Abd (meaning "servant of") and the Arabic definite article al- (meaning "the"). It is followed by one of the attributes of Allah.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">So when I am introduced to a new convert, and he says his name is "Abdul" - I ask him "'Abd al- WHAT?" Virtually every time, I get a blank stare. This is when I cease to take them seriously. Although I am not a Muslim, I generally know more about it than they do.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">So, in deference to either Carter or his parents, I will acknowledge that his middle name is Jabbar (meaning "the compellor" or "the almighty") - the same as the basketball legend Karim Abdul Jabbar. As with both, the correct transliteration of the Arabic (<b> عبد اÙجبار</b> ) would be 'Abd al-Jabbar. It is not a first and middle name, or a middle name and last name - it is one name.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In the Middle East, if you introduce yourself as Abdul, you will get a puzzled look meaning 'Abd al- WHAT?</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><div style="text-align: left;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" /></div></content><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/1106172286757784044'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/1106172286757784044'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='https://francona.blogspot.com/2026/07/abdul-carter-whats-in-name.html' title='Abdul Carter - What's in a name?'/><author><name>Rick Francona</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01540695760234038044</uri><email>[email protected]</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author>
257<media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzZ8319FQDnVESAf7I2jspFSijlLnZi1ohrhC9FwPK7wSrk5SDUmZwFr3Cp0REey6XG0pm_3o3gvU0UG1xGr26S0doaO4hQURi6hxnzsOq7KKW5GZU_Da4pWI9nn9cDSqbju0AEZKXgCJOjV1lZ2BAQTBdrOGlvaSXLCHfvHiZRxHHZOnOcz-zMg/s72-w400-h225-c/carter.jpg" height="72" width="72"/></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7804762.post-3730571017024943636</id><published>2025-12-12T10:58:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2025-12-12T21:02:58.388-08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Morocco"/><title type='text'>The Medjool Date - No Longer "Unknown"</title><content type='html'><p>&nbsp;</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-gWM7-2XqeGRd4bHbiqARbgVqxw0NzwSZvhiOL424SWjoL2V8FlhPBdoHdlF7ePBxorhHHZXdj8C8LwXGQEb1RD97cgWRGNhpFLW0RPdNVmyjhPcA_8dVz5uUe0L-Y63Ly4zlP1gIhG451cDaqMPAGrUb8kOCkNmOpEw7HThQcMWjyIK6WAv5zQ/s500/ca-dates.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="348" data-original-width="500" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-gWM7-2XqeGRd4bHbiqARbgVqxw0NzwSZvhiOL424SWjoL2V8FlhPBdoHdlF7ePBxorhHHZXdj8C8LwXGQEb1RD97cgWRGNhpFLW0RPdNVmyjhPcA_8dVz5uUe0L-Y63Ly4zlP1gIhG451cDaqMPAGrUb8kOCkNmOpEw7HThQcMWjyIK6WAv5zQ/w400-h279/ca-dates.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Shields Date Garden - Indio, California</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Time for some Arabic language trivia.<o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> 258 259<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">&nbsp;</span></o:p></p> 260 261<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Most of you are probably familiar with the Medjool date. 262Theyâre one of the most popular date varieties in the world.<o:p></o:p></span></p> 263 264<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">&nbsp;</span></o:p></p> 265 266<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">The name Medjool comes from the Arabic word 267<i>majhul</i>&nbsp;(٠جÙÙÙ) meaning "unknown" or 268"unidentified." It was applied to this variety of date because its 269place of origin was unknown and the dates do not grow in the same manner as 270other dates.<o:p></o:p></span></p> 271 272<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">&nbsp;</span></o:p></p> 273 274<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">With the advent of DNA testing, scientists have been able to 275determine that the "unknown" date variety originated in a specific 276grove in the Tafilalt region in eastern Morocco.<o:p></o:p></span></p> 277 278<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">&nbsp;</span></o:p></p> 279 280<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Today, Californiaâs Coachella Valley produces more Medjool 281dates than almost any other region in the world.<o:p></o:p></span></p> 282 283<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">&nbsp;</span></o:p></p> 284 285<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Since it is no longer an unknown date, 286should it not be renamed the <i>ma'ruf </i>(٠عرÙÙ) or "known" date? Or call
287it the Tafilalt variety?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Yes, I am being facetious....</span></p> 288 289<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">&nbsp;</span></o:p></p></div><p><span face="&quot;Segoe UI Historic&quot;, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #080809; font-size: 15px;"><br /></span></p></content><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/3730571017024943636'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/3730571017024943636'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='https://francona.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-medjoool-date-no-longer-unknown.html' title='The Medjool Date - No Longer "Unknown"'/><author><name>Rick Francona</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01540695760234038044</uri><email>[email protected]</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-gWM7-2XqeGRd4bHbiqARbgVqxw0NzwSZvhiOL424SWjoL2V8FlhPBdoHdlF7ePBxorhHHZXdj8C8LwXGQEb1RD97cgWRGNhpFLW0RPdNVmyjhPcA_8dVz5uUe0L-Y63Ly4zlP1gIhG451cDaqMPAGrUb8kOCkNmOpEw7HThQcMWjyIK6WAv5zQ/s72-w400-h279-c/ca-dates.jpg" height="72" width="72"/></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7804762.post-3391621190323138363</id><published>2025-10-10T16:10:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2025-10-10T16:19:18.147-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Egypt"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Hamas"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Israel"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Palestinian"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Qatar"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Turkey"/><title type='text'>"Palestinian Exhaustion" â Thoughts on Hamas and the Trump Plan</title><content type='html'><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="363" data-original-width="755" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4YO0Ag-tYqvEBz3lsAVb6hU5OqVoqcL_FYUMbkc2E8abJgffqWQpVRE1M2lzYjnpyCsPHj-89IZ4B7xTVNuCX3q1Ni4Lc3rQ1PdwSGLUrIXHvjlzpUWSsYhcoYZPgP4CZVHXs-W03FXKHFiOo_kGcN5hmKQ93URIPb0dRS58T18eHYcY8ALCR_g/s400/tweet.jpg" width="400" /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">In a whirlwind of activity in the Middle East that has resulted 290in the success of the Trump plan for what appears to be a permanent ceasefire in 291the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, one has to wonder about the thought process on
292the Hamas side that led to the agreement.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p> 293 294<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">The question most of those of us who specialize in the Middle 295East are asking is, âWhy would Hamas agree to give up what is their ace-in-the-hole 296during the entire two year confrontation, the Israeli hostages*?â</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p> 297 298<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>The hostages were all 299that was preventing the Israelis from going what we Christians would call âOld 300Testamentâ on Hamas. If they had not had these âdetainees,â I believe that the 301Israel Defense Forces would have laid waste to the entire Gaza Strip. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p> 302 303<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">For those not familiar with the geography, the Gaza Strip is 304about 25 miles long and seven miles wide, home to about 2.3 million people. We 305do not have good number on how many of them support Hamas, but at one point, 70 306percent of Gazans supported the attacks of October 7, 2023. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p> 307 308<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">That has since declined as the IDF has turned the area into the 309rubble that resembles Dresden in 1945, but the remaining level of support for 310the group that is responsible for creating one the greatest humanitarian crises 311in modern times is astounding.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p> 312 313<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Letâs go back to the agreement between Hamas and Israel. I 314understand the pressure applied on Israel by President Donald Trump and other 315world leaders. What I remain curious about is the pressure applied on Hamas â 316and it was there â from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey. I believe that it was the 317pressure from Turkey that may have carried the day. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p> 318 319<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">It is no secret that Turkish President is an avowed 320Islamist, a behind-the-scenes supporter of both Hamas and the Islamic State â after 321all, how did all those ISIS fighters get into Syria and Iraq? I have spent a 322lot of time on both sides of the border between Turkey and Syria. It is a serious 323border, especially on the Turkish side, complete with fencing, lighting, guard 324towers, and minefields. ISIS fighters crossing from Turkey into Syria had to 325have assistance â either bribery, government collusion, or both. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p> 326 327<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">As is the case with many countries in the Arab and Muslim 328worlds, Turkey has been a political and diplomatic supporter of Hamas. Turkish 329President Recep Tayyip ErdoÄan has defined Hamas as liberation movement. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>Even after the October 7, 2023 massacre, he 330was quoted as saying, âHamas is not a terrorist organization, it is a group of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">mujahidin</i> (holy warriors) defending 331their lands.â</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p> 332 333<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Why was Turkey at the talks? </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p> 334 335<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">My take on this is that most of the Arab and Muslim world, 336and now likely including Turkey, is suffering from âPalestinian Exhaustion.â In 337other words, they are tired of the Palestinians in general, and Hamas in 338particular. Even countries that had previously supported the Palestinians â 339some even condoning the violence of October 7 â have watched for two years as
340Israel destroyed virtually the entire infrastructure of the Gaza Strip, with no 341indication that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intended to stop before Hamas 342was completely eradicated.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p> 343 344<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">I suspect that the leadership of Egypt, Qatar, and Turkey informed 345what is left of the leadership of Hamas that it was time to stop the fighting. 346At last count, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the death toll 347in Gaza is over 67,000 with almost 170,000 injured, and as many as 11,000 348missing (believed to be under the rubble). Hamas has lost most of its senior 349leadership inside and outside of the Gaza Strip, civilian casualties continue 350to mount, and there was no possible path to any sort of meaningful victory. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p> 351 352<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">The Trump plan, among other things, calls for the immediate return 353of the 48 hostages (only 20 of whom are thought to be alive), phased withdrawal 354of Israeli forces from the Strip, and the disarming of Hamas. Hamas is still 355refusing to disarm.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p> 356 357<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">I am surprised that Hamas has agreed to release the 358remaining hostages in the first phase. While the Israelis have begun the initial 359phase of their withdrawal, they are still in Gaza with overwhelming military 360force. Once the hostages are released, Hamasâs leverage is gone. It was their 361sole bargaining chip. Hamas will now have to rely on whatever security 362guarantees were made by the negotiating parties in Sharm al-Shaykh. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p> 363 364<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Hamas realistically had no choice. Support for Hamas in the 365Arab and Muslim world was declining, the Israelis were relentlessly pursuing Hamas 366members in the last bastion of Gaza City, and even the hard-core could see that 367it was only a matter of time before they would be all killed or captured. </span></p> 368 369<p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> 370 371<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">___________</span></p> 372 373<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">* When the international press referred to the Israelis 374taken on October 7 as âhostagesâ â the Arabic word is (رÙائ٠â <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">rahaâin)</i>, most of the Arabic media was offended. 375They refer to those taken as âdetaineesâ (Ù ØتجزÙÙ â <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">muhtajazin</i>), which must be some lesser category. When I was the 376interpreter for the U.S.-Iraqi talks at the end of Desert Storm, this was the 377agreed-upon word for Kuwaiti prisoners. The Iraqis had referred to them as âguestsâ( 378ضÙÙÙ â <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">dhiyuf</i>) until I officially objected.</span></p><br /></div></content><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/3391621190323138363'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/3391621190323138363'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='https://francona.blogspot.com/2025/10/palestinian-exhaustion-thoughts-on.html' title='"Palestinian Exhaustion" â Thoughts on Hamas and the Trump Plan'/><author><name>Rick Francona</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01540695760234038044</uri><email>[email protected]</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author>
378<media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4YO0Ag-tYqvEBz3lsAVb6hU5OqVoqcL_FYUMbkc2E8abJgffqWQpVRE1M2lzYjnpyCsPHj-89IZ4B7xTVNuCX3q1Ni4Lc3rQ1PdwSGLUrIXHvjlzpUWSsYhcoYZPgP4CZVHXs-W03FXKHFiOo_kGcN5hmKQ93URIPb0dRS58T18eHYcY8ALCR_g/s72-c/tweet.jpg" height="72" width="72"/></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7804762.post-3683346408542494603</id><published>2025-10-06T15:11:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2025-10-06T15:13:59.518-07:00</updated><title type='text'>Syrian President Abolishes October 6 Holiday</title><content type='html'><div class="mainTitleWrapper" style="margin-bottom: 14px;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdTjytwHRPbQn_p58qxm7Cx_U3OBvnTStotFutqR_5M2_Zr-ykANx9qq7O4QwMW3r0WinzL3HUKqocjVcuTVDLBMsk48oN5x8lWtUNOmDo9DN_AOWm_B5YpfgFRalDRkw4MgEcyJld7nqvAxjk1BkXhfKDndkekFOI-xYzpOC9OxdQKA9U-bZhoA/s950/suez-canal2017-19.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="626" data-original-width="950" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdTjytwHRPbQn_p58qxm7Cx_U3OBvnTStotFutqR_5M2_Zr-ykANx9qq7O4QwMW3r0WinzL3HUKqocjVcuTVDLBMsk48oN5x8lWtUNOmDo9DN_AOWm_B5YpfgFRalDRkw4MgEcyJld7nqvAxjk1BkXhfKDndkekFOI-xYzpOC9OxdQKA9U-bZhoA/w400-h264/suez-canal2017-19.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Memorial on east bank of Suez Canal where Egyptian troops crossed on October 6, 1973</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">In a rather surpring move, Syrian President Ahmad al-Shara' announced the abolishment of the October 6 holiday. Officially, it was called&nbsp;<span data-end="86" data-start="57">âTishrin Liberation Dayâ</span> (Arabic: <span data-end="123" data-start="96">عÙد Øرب تشرÙ٠اÙتØرÙرÙØ©), which commemorated an initially successful Syrian military operation aimed a retaking the Golan Heights from the Israelis. Israel had captured the Heights in the Six-Day War of 1967, and has not only occupied the area, but has formally annexed it to the State of Israel.*</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><span data-end="123" data-start="96"><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><span data-end="123" data-start="96">The October 6, 1973 operation was part of joint Egyptian-Syrian coordinated attacks on Israeli-occupied territory in the Sinai Peninsula and the Golan Heights. Egypt also celebrates the perceived "victory" on October 6 as Armed Forces Day. The Egyptian army was able to cross the Suez Canal and break through the Israeli defenses, although with heavy casualties.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><span data-end="123" data-start="96"><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><span data-end="123" data-start="96">The Syrian decree drew sharp criticism throughout the Arab world, particularly Egypt. While both Syria and Egypt view their performance in the two-week conflict as a victory, it was a stalemate at best, a defeat at worst. The rest of the Arab world goes along with the mischaracterization as it provides some relief from the humiliation that usually follows their military clashes with the Israel Defense Forces.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I have always been amazed that both Egypt and Syria regard 379their military operations in the Yom Kippur War as a victory. Let's take a quick look at what started as successful assaults, but soon withered in the face of Israeli counterattacks. It took a few days for the Israelis to stop the advances and activate enough of their reserve forces to mount counteroffensives on two fronts.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;">First, Egypt. Yes, the Egyptians crossed the Suez Canal and broke through the Israeli defenses, a series of fixed fotifications along the canal known as the Bar-Lev Line. They used water cannons to breach the high sand berms, and built pontoon bridges to move enough troops to overwhelm the sparesly manned fortifications.&nbsp;</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The success of that part of the operation has become a teaching point in many military schools - static defenses can be overcome by determined troops using innovative tactics. So, yes, initial success.&nbsp;</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Israeli forces pulled back and regrouped. As reinforcements and reserves arrived, the Israelis counterattacked. They eventually encircled the entire Egyptian Third Army in the Sinai and cut them off from resupply and reinforcement, effectively taking them off the battlefield without having to defeat them militarily.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Other Israeli forces crossed the canal and proceeded down the main highway towards Cairo, eventually reaching a position known as Kilometer 101, just over
37960 miles from the capital city, where they were located when the ceasefire took effect.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Egyptian victory? Hardly. Yet, it is celebrated like they just won World War II.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Now Syria.&nbsp;Yes, Syria was able to seize portions of the Golan Heights from Israeli forces, only to be forced back as the Israelis regrouped and launched a counteroffensive, advancing on the main road from al-Qunaytirah toward Damascus.**&nbsp;</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">By the time a ceasefire had been arranged, Israeli troops were as far along the road as the town of Sa'sa', roughly 18 miles from the city. That placed the Syrian capital within artillery range of Israeli gunners.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Syrian victory? Hardly. I will say this for the Syrians. There never seems to be the level of celebration there as compared to the massive celebrations in Egypt. It's hard to claim victory when the opposing army can fire artillery into the capital city.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Shara' may be making a gesture to Israel. There have been a series of talks between Syria and Israel possibly leading to a security arrangement between the two countries. Tension with Israel is something the Syrian president doesn't need. He has his hands full with not only the Druze in the south, but also the Kurds in the northeast, and al-Asad loyalists in the northwest. Then there are the parliamentary elections - you get it.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">________</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">* In 1981, Israel announced "application of Israeli law and administration," replacing the military administration of the area. Although the word "annexation" has never been used, it is in effect what it is. Only the United States recognizes Israeli sovereignty, done so by President Trump in 2019.</span></p></div><div class="subTitleWrapper" style="margin-bottom: 25px;"><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br />** This is the same "road to Damascus" traveled by the apostle Paul (then Saul) cited in the Bible. During my assignment as the Air Attache at the embassy in Damascus, I traveled this road regularly "observing and reporting." There is a Russian Orthodox chapel at what is believed to be the spot of his conversion. And there's a huge Syrian military facility there as well....</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div></div> 380 381<a href="https://twitter.com/share?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" class="twitter-share-button" data-show-count="false">Tweet</a><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></content><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/3683346408542494603'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/3683346408542494603'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='https://francona.blogspot.com/2025/10/syrian-
381president-abolishes-october-6.html' title='Syrian President Abolishes October 6 Holiday'/><author><name>Rick Francona</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01540695760234038044</uri><email>[email protected]</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdTjytwHRPbQn_p58qxm7Cx_U3OBvnTStotFutqR_5M2_Zr-ykANx9qq7O4QwMW3r0WinzL3HUKqocjVcuTVDLBMsk48oN5x8lWtUNOmDo9DN_AOWm_B5YpfgFRalDRkw4MgEcyJld7nqvAxjk1BkXhfKDndkekFOI-xYzpOC9OxdQKA9U-bZhoA/s72-w400-h264-c/suez-canal2017-19.jpg" height="72" width="72"/></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7804762.post-6414545763967055746</id><published>2025-09-27T11:37:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2025-09-27T11:40:27.722-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Hamas"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Israel"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Palestinian"/><title type='text'>Todayâs Trivia â âFrom the River to the Seaâ</title><content type='html'><p>&nbsp;</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfNnVFer5xRYmIFglETiTIXKcOtv93hhDk5K-zCrCIxKQT0eKn1ATBcyWC2tJxshOxbqKcnVGATT8quVk6LzbWjWBGurpy9BZw5eJGppZ1bJTo8IJcJs4rjIYVC6SCAEF3dkCRqQcgY2KLdkMXssZ5O_RWSna9W4WJdTG0nTP2RiVJeEXZAIJpOw/s600/river-sea.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="581" data-original-width="600" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfNnVFer5xRYmIFglETiTIXKcOtv93hhDk5K-zCrCIxKQT0eKn1ATBcyWC2tJxshOxbqKcnVGATT8quVk6LzbWjWBGurpy9BZw5eJGppZ1bJTo8IJcJs4rjIYVC6SCAEF3dkCRqQcgY2KLdkMXssZ5O_RWSna9W4WJdTG0nTP2RiVJeEXZAIJpOw/w400-h388/river-sea.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">âFrom the River to the Seaâ - Youâve heard it at all of the 382anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian, or Hamas-support demonstrations. It is the 383oft-repeated mantra that most of those who are shouting it likely have no idea what it 384means. The modern mantra includes the additional phrase âPalestine will be 385free.â</span></p> 386 387<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">In Arabic, the words rhyme: it is pronounced âmin al-BAHar 388ilah an-NAHarâ â in Arabic, the definite article AL before the letter N changes 389to AN.*</span></p> 390 391<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">For those not exactly sure what it means, itâs quite simple. 392The river is the Jordan River, and the sea is the Mediterranean Sea. While the 393meaning is quite simple, the implication is not. </span></p> 394 395<p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipS5hbI_hRZIJW6Be_WaSaSflGkWyGBhHcv38tHqgA7TLCAVVwdEwCPDgNzQDlwcWJo4l6JXhp3NEpginJfzkX6S4HA7Wg93_aCFndaCa62kw5Tz5hfBGruOgzEnAjDWY3j4laburO8KTc16A_NXQx9bHk02wvJKlnklR2mYVBPrptYWhpR1APOA/s511/map.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="511" data-original-width="248" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipS5hbI_hRZIJW6Be_WaSaSflGkWyGBhHcv38tHqgA7TLCAVVwdEwCPDgNzQDlwcWJo4l6JXhp3NEpginJfzkX6S4HA7Wg93_aCFndaCa62kw5Tz5hfBGruOgzEnAjDWY3j4laburO8KTc16A_NXQx9bHk02wvJKlnklR2mYVBPrptYWhpR1APOA/w226-h468/map.jpg" width="226" /></span></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">A look at a map that shows the area 396between the Jordan and the Mediterranean reveals that what the Palestinians 397believe is their country would include what is now the State of Israel, the 398West Bank of the Jordan River, and the Gaza Strip.&nbsp;</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">That is basically the complete 399territory of the British-administered Palestinian Mandate. The map to the left 400shows the United Nations partition plan of the Mandate proposed in 1947.</span></p> 401 402<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Use of the chant âfrom the river to the seaâ 403is a call for the elimination of the state of Israel. It also is a refutation 404of the so-called âtwo-state solutionâ called for by the United Nations, 405European Union, Palestinian Authority, some Arab countries, and even some
406Israeli political parties. As you would expect, both Hamas and most Israelis are against the plan.&nbsp;</span></p> 407 408<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Ask virtually any of the protesters to explain it â most of them canât.</span></p> 409 410<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">&nbsp;</span></o:p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: large;">_________________</span></p> 411 412<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">* In Arabic grammar and pronunciation, the concepts of solar 413letters and lunar letters are essential for correctly pronouncing the definite 414article (â<i>alâ</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">â)</span>. 415Do a ChatGPT search on âArabic solar and lunar lettersâ for a complete 416explanation. Itâs a complicated language. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><br /><p></p> 417<a href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Check+this+out!&url=https://francona.blogspot.com/2025/09/todays-trivia-from-river-to-sea.html" 418 class="twitter-share-button" 419 data-show-count="false"> 420 Tweet 421</a> 422<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></content><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/6414545763967055746'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/6414545763967055746'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='https://francona.blogspot.com/2025/09/todays-trivia-from-river-to-sea.html' title='Todayâs Trivia â âFrom the River to the Seaâ'/><author><name>Rick Francona</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01540695760234038044</uri><email>[email protected]</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfNnVFer5xRYmIFglETiTIXKcOtv93hhDk5K-zCrCIxKQT0eKn1ATBcyWC2tJxshOxbqKcnVGATT8quVk6LzbWjWBGurpy9BZw5eJGppZ1bJTo8IJcJs4rjIYVC6SCAEF3dkCRqQcgY2KLdkMXssZ5O_RWSna9W4WJdTG0nTP2RiVJeEXZAIJpOw/s72-w400-h388-c/river-sea.jpg" height="72" width="72"/></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7804762.post-4579204134646032863</id><published>2025-09-21T21:57:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2025-09-21T22:28:40.915-07:00</updated><title type='text'>United Kingdom: The Royal Air Force and Power Projection</title><content type='html'><p>&nbsp;</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNAspjcp6TnT2rudm-8t3UWiQxYfGcLPl731Ba2B3JY1-rWWaNr9lGrn0bqFPw9NBiKjTCcQPvZZRMVMZ20yHNHZ-ockTVMCes6xnoKvMQD3ZaATBk0L1ijNpQJHx_O-kAzumvFbhBOdq6MkJIAMunlkqwkQqe-ou7MhIO-Nnx2bJqN6chdUTowg/s1030/RAF.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="550" data-original-width="1030" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNAspjcp6TnT2rudm-8t3UWiQxYfGcLPl731Ba2B3JY1-rWWaNr9lGrn0bqFPw9NBiKjTCcQPvZZRMVMZ20yHNHZ-ockTVMCes6xnoKvMQD3ZaATBk0L1ijNpQJHx_O-kAzumvFbhBOdq6MkJIAMunlkqwkQqe-ou7MhIO-Nnx2bJqN6chdUTowg/w400-h214/RAF.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">In response to the obvious question - what does this have to do with the Middle East? While doing some research on the U.S. strike on the Iranian nuclear facility at Fordow nuclear enrichment facility, specifically the use of aerial refueling to supp
422ort the B-2 bomber attack, I discovered an interesting fact about what I believe is a Royal Air Force refueling shortfall.</span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Over the last few years, the 423Royal Air Force (RAF) has acquired more modern aircraft that normally would 424allow significant power projection capability in addition to enhanced regional 425operations.</span></p> 426 427<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">These include:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0px;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">- E-7A 428Wedgetail airborne early warning and control aircraft</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0px;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">-&nbsp;</span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">P-8A 429Poseidon (RAF designation Poseidon MRA1) maritime patrol and - anti-submarine 430warfare aircraft</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0px;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-emoji: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal;">- C</span></span><span style="text-indent: -0.25in;">-17A Globemaster III strategic airlifter</span></span></p> 431 432<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal;">&nbsp; &nbsp; - RC</span></span>-135W Rivet Joint (RAF name Airseeker) signals 433intelligence (SIGINT) platform</span></p> 434 435<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">All of these aircraft were built 436by Boeing Defense, Space &amp; Security, and include aerial refueling 437capability via the flying boom system. In this system, fuel is transferred from 438a tanker aircraft to a receiver aircraft via a rigid, telescoping tube called a 439boom, which is controlled by a boom operator on the tanker.&nbsp;</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">This system is used 440extensively by the U.S. Air Force, as well as air forces that operate many 441American built aircraft, such as the F-15 Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon, and the 442F-35A.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjziiwfEuBzFoET8-S2cFXuv-ipk-dhTsuAbbVnrRGKdPuzLqT-MZCiafS9AZTYQC0cik5l54kpSIa1QezH3nygJK8V-6B9JKnBE_dT14PkeVOha0gnwsr_XJsuCde_r-gc5aV1S_wuk66VpkfC1Ut6EX3Qc18HQXbr_BNH8WUnk594JWHxQwJFHA/s1517/e7.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="758" data-original-width="1517" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjziiwfEuBzFoET8-S2cFXuv-ipk-dhTsuAbbVnrRGKdPuzLqT-MZCiafS9AZTYQC0cik5l54kpSIa1QezH3nygJK8V-6B9JKnBE_dT14PkeVOha0gnwsr_XJsuCde_r-gc5aV1S_wuk66VpkfC1Ut6EX3Qc18HQXbr_BNH8WUnk594JWHxQwJFHA/w400-h200/e7.jpg" width="400" /></a><br /><span face="Calibri, &quot;sans-serif&quot;" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">F<b>lying 443boom: U.S. Air Force KC-46A Pegasus refuels a Royal Australian Air Force E-7A 444Wedgetail</b></span></div><br /><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Although the RAF operates a fleet 445of 14 aerial refueling tankers, none of them are equipped with the flying boom 446system.<br /><br /></span><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">The RAF tankers are Airbus A330
447Multi Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircraft and are only equipped with a 448probe-and-drogue refueling system. In this method, a flexible hose with a 449drogue (a small parachute-like basket) is trailed from the tanker aircraft, and 450the receiving aircraft inserts a rigid probe into the drogue to receive fuel.&nbsp;</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">This system is used by the U.S. Navy* and Marine Corps, as well as air forces 451that operate some U.S. built aircraft such as the F-18 and some versions of the 452F-35. Most foreign-built aircraft, many in service with the RAF, are designed to 453use this system as well.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv7XMhMJQzUSmY23qUO3iV8hiLAAvmSwbAWVXp3XiLZodoE-uFX4XNxcwYyA_YH5zcyURdRkLwSfDtwuHcdPTqQKu2UacKrd7_U9RfHEanDWA9hkDhiMndcJRhWRjm90k2NDAlhfJ4fA2AQ2PNlvPJ1T147WZ_W257LEjloc5-4KUQxelgx-DEEw/s1911/refuel.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1018" data-original-width="1911" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv7XMhMJQzUSmY23qUO3iV8hiLAAvmSwbAWVXp3XiLZodoE-uFX4XNxcwYyA_YH5zcyURdRkLwSfDtwuHcdPTqQKu2UacKrd7_U9RfHEanDWA9hkDhiMndcJRhWRjm90k2NDAlhfJ4fA2AQ2PNlvPJ1T147WZ_W257LEjloc5-4KUQxelgx-DEEw/w400-h213/refuel.jpg" width="400" /></a><br /><b><span face="&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Royal Air Force Voyager KC3 refueling two Eurofighter Typhoons</span></b></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Airbus offers a flying boom 454capability for the A330 MRTT, however, there are no plans to retrofit any of 455the existing 14 RAF KC2 or KC3 tankers with the Airbus Aerial Refueling Boom 456System (ARBS). <o:p></o:p></span></p> 457 458<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Of note, the 14 Airbus A330 MRTT 459Voyager aircraft are owned, managed, and maintained by a private consortium 460called AirTanker Services Ltd on a 27-year contract that was signed in 2007. 461The RAF leases these aircraft and its crews operate them for military 462operations.</span></p> 463 464<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">This lack of flying boom 465refueling capability presents an issue for RAF operations planners. Should the 466United Kingdom have a need to deploy an expeditionary force to anywhere beyond 467the unrefueled range of these aircraft, they will need to obtain assistance 468from one of the air forces that operate boom equipped tankers. Also, they have 469to consider how long they will want the E-7 and RC-135 to remain on station 470providing command and control, and electronic intelligence support.<o:p></o:p></span></p> 471 472<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Who will they rely on? Obviously, 473their first call will be to the U.S. Air Force. There is an already established 474relationship between the two air forces. If for some unlikely reason the U.S 475cannot or will not support the RAF, there are other options. These are the air 476forces that operate boom-equipped tankers: United States, France, Spain, Italy, 477Turkey, Australia, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Israel, 478Singapore, South Korea, Japan, and Chile.<o:p></o:p></span></p> 479 480<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">NATO also operates nine 481boom-equipped aircraft in a partnership of the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, 482Belgium, Luxembourg, and Czech Republic.</span></p> 483 484<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">______________</span></p> 485 486<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">* U.S. Navy 487P-8 maritime patrol aircraft and E-6B communications relay aircraft require 488flying boom refueling, and thus are normally refueled by U.S. Air Force 489tankers.</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjvLBwoyHtAAokYw__PtO02I5fDB4YDd5LPqYSFZ1U2BuKJ9v0K_wTaf8UUvRZ2n44Du7RkS96Cmkd688Y_PTNIrbykdn07lHbJqJWhfrWKmnaedgqyn37WyOcLFR1avmnbJhhoXSWUvpIkJ5aTwBmHtNXVI4S3WQ5dm7Q7vbOkef_LSPRcsMR4vA" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="944" data-original-width="1337" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjvLBwoyHtAAokYw__PtO02I5fDB4YDd5LPqYSFZ1U2BuKJ9v0K_wTaf8UUvRZ2n44Du7RkS96Cmkd688Y_PTNIrbykdn07lHbJqJWhfrWKmnaedgqyn37WyOcLFR1avmnbJhhoXSWUvpIkJ5aTwBmHtNXVI4S3WQ5dm7Q7vbOkef_LSPRcsMR4vA=w400-h283" width="400" /></a><br /><b><span face="&quot;Calibri&quot;,&quot;sans-serif&quot;" style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">U.S. Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker refuels a U.S. Navy E-6B TACAMO over 490our house (red dot)</span></b></div><br /><br /><p></p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"></span><p></p></div></content><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/4579204134646032863'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/4579204134646032863'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='https://francona.blogspot.com/2025/09/united-kingdom-royal-air-force-and.html' title='United Kingdom: The Royal Air Force and Power Projection'/><author><name>Rick Francona</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01540695760234038044</uri><email>[email protected]</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author>
490<media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNAspjcp6TnT2rudm-8t3UWiQxYfGcLPl731Ba2B3JY1-rWWaNr9lGrn0bqFPw9NBiKjTCcQPvZZRMVMZ20yHNHZ-ockTVMCes6xnoKvMQD3ZaATBk0L1ijNpQJHx_O-kAzumvFbhBOdq6MkJIAMunlkqwkQqe-ou7MhIO-Nnx2bJqN6chdUTowg/s72-w400-h214-c/RAF.jpg" height="72" width="72"/></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7804762.post-830018745727048310</id><published>2025-07-17T14:36:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2025-07-17T14:52:41.224-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="intelligence"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Iraq"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Russia"/><title type='text'>Russian Deployment of North Korean Artillery in Ukraine</title><content type='html'><p>&nbsp;</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8SQjibwFT0trZOu6kh0JdTDTRmYESWxFfZm0LMxavZmAo_BB23kbFL57XtHZTg5x2TznzDdiBL6f-vQ2GBIl4CDejUZuSffghyTOLTHubmVqYSDV7iutoYGkT5hQCvtqsz_NhmJeiTZqpy1B7PTggvu9KjQpb2znlFYU-Y2af3KL5piLP6WFyJw/s800/koksan3.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="800" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8SQjibwFT0trZOu6kh0JdTDTRmYESWxFfZm0LMxavZmAo_BB23kbFL57XtHZTg5x2TznzDdiBL6f-vQ2GBIl4CDejUZuSffghyTOLTHubmVqYSDV7iutoYGkT5hQCvtqsz_NhmJeiTZqpy1B7PTggvu9KjQpb2znlFYU-Y2af3KL5piLP6WFyJw/w400-h256/koksan3.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: x-small;"><b>170mm Koksan&nbsp;self-propelled howitzer&nbsp;in Iraq</b></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p></p><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">A <a href="https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/nkorean-superheavy-artillery-long-range-high-precision-ukrainian" target="_blank">recent article in <i>Military Watch</i> magazine</a> reported on Russia's use of North Korean-made heavy artillery in Ukraine. The article was based on comments made by the commander of the Ukrainian Defense Intelligence Directorate.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><blockquote>âUnfortunately, this gun is demonstrating itself quite well 491in battle. Itâs firing from quite a long range, and itâs quite good in terms of 492accuracy. We have data that the Russian Federation was provided 120 pieces. But 493I think that supply will continue because these guns are demonstrating 494themselves quite well. This is unfortunate for us because this is artillery for 495long-range firing.â&nbsp;</blockquote></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">Why I am writing about a North Korean artillery piece being used by Russian forces in Ukraine? This is, after all, Middle East Perspectives by Rick Francona. Read on.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">I am very familiar with the Koksan gun. In fact, I believe I am one of the few Americans who have ever had the opportunity to get in, on, and under the weapon. I took the above photograph in 1988 at an Iraqi Army artillery depot south of Baghdad. At the time, I was serving as a liaison officer to the Iraqi Directorate of Military Intelligence at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. It was the eighth year of the Iran-Iraq War; we had developed a relationship with the Iraqis to prevent a recurrence of Iraq's mistaken attack on the USS <i>Stark</i> in the Persian Gulf in 1987 in which 37 sailors were killed.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;">I wrote about this experience in my book, <i>Ally to Adversary - An Eyewitness Account of Iraq's Fall from Grace</i>.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">From the book:</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><b><span face="Verdana, &quot;sans-serif&quot;" style="line-height: 115%;"></span></b></p><blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><b><span face="Verdana, &quot;sans-serif&quot;" style="line-height: 115%;">PROJECT 496MORNING STAR <o:p></o:p></span></b></p> 497 498<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span face="Verdana, &quot;sans-serif&quot;" style="line-height: 115%;">Our cooperative 499relationship with the Iraqis allowed us unprecedented access to the Iraqi 500military. For example, the Iraqis had captured a large artillery piece from the 501Iranians during the liberation of Al-Faw. They could not identify its origin 502and were perplexed by the unusual 170-mm bore. Artillery pieces worldwide are 503generally manufactured in standard bore sizes, normally 122-mm, 130-mm, 152-mm, 504155- mm, 175-mm, and 203-mm. We knew they had captured this gun: Army 505Colonel Gary Nelsonâour newly assigned defense attaché in Baghdad and an 506artillery officer by trainingâhad seen it while it was on display at a victory 507celebration in Baghdad. We knew what it was, and we wanted it. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span face="Verdana, &quot;sans-serif&quot;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span face="Verdana, &quot;sans-serif&quot;">The Iranians had acquired 508this self-propelled howitzer in 1987. At that time, it was the longest-range artillery 509piece made anywhere in the world, capable of firing a rocket-assisted 510projectile to a range of almost sixty kilometers. It had been used by the 511Iranians to conduct harassment fire from the Al-Faw Peninsula into Kuwaitâs 512northeastern oil fields. The Iranians were applying military pressure on the 513Kuwaitis in a variety of ways, as punishment for supporting Iraq in the war and 514for alleged violations of oil export and pricing policies of OPEC (Organization 515of Petroleum Exporting Countries). This artillery fire was complemented by 516Chinese-made âSilkwormâ cruise missile attacks on Kuwaitâs oil ports and by 517naval attacks on Kuwaiti shipping in the Gulf.&nbsp;</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span face="Verdana, &quot;sans-serif&quot;" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span face="Verdana, &quot;sans-serif&quot;" style="line-height: 115%;">The attacks were the catalyst for 518the March 1987 decision to register Kuwaiti oil tankers under the American flag 519(a procedure called âreflaggingâ) to offer some protection for oil shipping in 520the region. The U.S. Navy could not legally protect foreign shipping, but a 521merchant ship flying the U.S. flag was entitled to armed escort through the 522Persian Gulf war zone. <o:p></o:p></span></p> 523 524<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span face="Verdana, &quot;sans-serif&quot;" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span face="Verdana, &quot;sans-serif&quot;" style="line-height: 115%;">The high level of U.S. 525interest in the gun had little to do with the situation in the Persian Gulf and 526rested instead on the fact that the weapon had been designed half a world away 527to fire on the capital city of a close U.S. ally, South Korea. What the Iraqis 528had captured on the Al-Faw Peninsula, though they did not realize it, was a 529weapon designed and built by North Korea to fire on Seoul from the North Korean 530side of the Demilitarized Zone. The U.S. military refers to it as a Koksan gun.<o:p></o:p></span></p> 531 532<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span face="Verdana, &quot;sans-serif&quot;" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span face="Verdana, &quot;sans-serif&quot;" style="line-height: 115%;">While inspecting the gun 533(the project was called Morning Star), we discovered more evidence of Iraqâs 534use of nerve gas. As I rooted around the cramped driverâs station of the gun 535system looking for anything of intelligence valueâmaps, notes, logs, manuals, 536firing tables, communications charts, and so forthâI found several used 537atropine injectors. These auto-injectors had been manufactured in Iran and were 538similar to those I had found earlier on a battlefield on Al-Faw. I showed one 539of the injectors (and pocketed another) to both Majid and the brigadier general 540commanding the artillery depot, explaining </span><span face="Verdana, &quot;sans-serif&quot;" style="line-height: 115%;">that these used injectors indicated 541to me that a nerve agent had b</span><span face="Verdana, &quot;sans-serif&quot;" style="line-height: 115%;">een used at Al-Faw.&nbsp;</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span face="Verdana, &quot;sans-serif&quot;" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span face="Verdana, &quot;sans-serif&quot;" style="line-height: 115%;">I was careful not to accuse 542the Iraqis, but the implication was clear. The brigadier general replied that 543Iraqi artillery doctrine calls for use of obscurant smoke in the preparatory 544artillery barrages. His âanalysisâ was that the Iranians mistook the smoke rounds 545for nerve gas and, therefore, self-administered atropine.&nbsp;</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span face="Verdana, &quot;sans-serif&quot;" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span face="Verdana, &quot;sans-serif&quot;" style="line-height: 115%;">Not wanting a 546confrontation while standing in the middle of an Iraqi military installation, I 547did not mention to the Iraqi officers that we had also discovered 548decontamination fluid in many places on the weapon, most noticeably trapped in 549the headlights. It would make no sense for the Iraqis to decontaminate the 550vehicle if they had only fired smoke rounds at the Iranians.</span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 115%;"><span face="Verdana, &quot;sans-serif&quot;" style="line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;">In the end, the Iraqis decided not to allow us to move the gun back to the United States, so I arranged for a small team of artillery experts and engineers to fly to Iraq and do a field exploitation of the piece. I remember that working on the gun in the blazing sun in the Iraqi desert was, and still is, the hottest I have every been. My insides felt like I was being roasted.<br /><br /></div><div style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;">Just as the Ukrainian intelligence chief noted, the gun was well-engineered and manufactured. It was an intelligence boon - these guns pose a threat to U.S. forces in South Korea.&nbsp;</div><div style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"><br /></div></span></div></content><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/830018745727048310'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/830018745727048310'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='https://francona.blogspot.com/2025/07/russian-deployment-of-north-korean.html' title='Russian Deployment of North Korean Artillery in Ukraine'/><author><name>Rick Francona</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01540695760234038044</uri><email>[email protected]</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author>
550<media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8SQjibwFT0trZOu6kh0JdTDTRmYESWxFfZm0LMxavZmAo_BB23kbFL57XtHZTg5x2TznzDdiBL6f-vQ2GBIl4CDejUZuSffghyTOLTHubmVqYSDV7iutoYGkT5hQCvtqsz_NhmJeiTZqpy1B7PTggvu9KjQpb2znlFYU-Y2af3KL5piLP6WFyJw/s72-w400-h256-c/koksan3.jpg" height="72" width="72"/></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7804762.post-7065502661827434583</id><published>2024-10-08T22:40:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2024-10-10T08:10:12.437-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Iran. Iraq"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Saudi Arabia"/><title type='text'>Movie Review: 6 Days (General Film Corp - 2017)</title><content type='html'><p>&nbsp;</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8quHZZYR37Nv0Xac7DcEyBt_uMMp-mssdVmd1knrF8ix9sfLczMyWHib0Nsp3bm1HcqCxMgsl0_N0G47bF-R5dT_JZbbES7spK3LzDQkQDZoYGjF5XpfruSWHHC6kBb5jHr9gpaVRLt5a8FiV7q_Iij3kggquv1vxsZJhb_C2ClzrpNqLIveeww/s1000/6%20days.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="616" data-original-width="1000" height="246" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8quHZZYR37Nv0Xac7DcEyBt_uMMp-mssdVmd1knrF8ix9sfLczMyWHib0Nsp3bm1HcqCxMgsl0_N0G47bF-R5dT_JZbbES7spK3LzDQkQDZoYGjF5XpfruSWHHC6kBb5jHr9gpaVRLt5a8FiV7q_Iij3kggquv1vxsZJhb_C2ClzrpNqLIveeww/w400-h246/6%20days.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><i>6 Days</i> is a 2017 joint British and New Zealand production based 551on the events of April-May 1980 when six armed gunmen stormed the Iranian 552Embassy in London and took 26 people hostage. The perpetrators of the takeover 553were Iranian Arabs from the Khuzestan area of Iran. These Arabs are one of the ethnic 554groups that make up the country, and have at times sought independence from Tehran. 555That effort continues today.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p> 556 557<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">The six gunmen traveled to the United Kingdom on Iraqi 558passports. The weapons they used in the attack on the embassy were brought into 559the UK in diplomatic shipments to the Iraqi Embassy -&nbsp;the entire operation was 560planned by the Iraqi Intelligence Service. Iraqi President Saddam Husayn was a supporter 561of the uprising by the Iranian Arabs â at one point, he wanted to annex 562Khuzestan to Iraq.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p> 563 564<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">After taking control of the embassy, the gunmen demanded 565that Iran release 91 Arab prisoners in Iranian custody, and that they be 566provided safe passage out of the United Kingdom. Iran refused the first 567demand, and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher refused the second â the siege 568began.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p> 569 570<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Two teams of the British Armyâs elite 22nd Special Air Service 571(SAS) Regiment were deployed to London and began planning various options to rescue the 572hostages and either capture or kill the perpetrators. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p> 573 574<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">The movie details each of the six days alternately through 575the eyes of BBC reporter Kate Adie, SAS team member Lance Corporal Rusty 576Firmin, and Metropolitan Police hostage negotiator Max Vernon. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p> 577 578<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Vernon played a critical trying to keep the situation from 579spiraling out of control . Eventually, he was able to secure the release of five 580hostages. On the sixth day, one of the perpetrators killed the Iranian Embassy chief 581press officer. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p> 582 583<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">That murder triggered the approval from Mrs. Thatcher for 584the SAS teams to assault the embassy, attempt to free the hostages, and either capture 585or kill the perpetrators.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p> 586 587<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">The SAS did just that. They assaulted the building, much of 588it caught on broadcast media, and succeeded in rescuing 19 of the remaining 20 589hostages; one was killed in the attack, and two others were wounded. Five of 590the perpetrators were killed by the SAS teams, and one was captured. He was 591sentenced to life in prison, but was paroled in 2008. He was allowed to remain 592in the UK since neither Iran nor Iraq would take him, and lives in London under 593an assumed identity.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">The assault took 17 minutes.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p> 594 595<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Letâs take look at the conditions that led these Iranian 596Arabs to conduct this attack. In 1979, after the Iranian Islamic revolution had 597brought down the Shah, there was an uprising in Khuzestan, fed by demands of 598autonomy. The uprising was crushed by Iranian security forces, resulting in
599more than a hundred combined casualties from both sides. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p> 600 601<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Since 1999, the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of 602Ahwaz (ASMLA), headquartered in Denmark and The Netherlands has advocated for 603an independent Arab state in Khuzestan, and has committed acts of terrorism and 604assassinations in support of this goal. The group is allegedly financed and 605sponsored by Saudi Arabia.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p> 606 607<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">My major issue with 608the movie:&nbsp;</b>Subtitles claim that the terrorists, nationalists from the 609ethnic-Arab Khuzestan area around Abadan, are speaking Arabic. Anyone with more 610than a weekâs language training in either Arabic or Farsi will know that this 611is Farsi, the language of the majority Persians. Khuzestani Iranians mostly 612speak Arabic as their native language, but of course, also speak Persian. I 613would have expected them, given the context of the film, to be 614speaking Arabic. Yes, I know, small knit pick, but it does impact the 615credibility of the movie.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p> 616 617<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">How close are the two languages? Arabic is a Semitic 618language, along with Hebrew and Maltese. Farsi is an Indo-European language in 619the family of Dari. Urdu, Pashto, and Hindi. There are many crossover words in 620Farsi that appear to be Arabic, but have different meanings â the linguistics 621scholars call that a âfalse cognizantâ and is enough to get you in trouble if 622you think you know the actual meaning.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p> 623 624<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Strong performances by Mark Strong as Max Vernon, Jamie Bell 625as Rusty Firmin, and Abbie Cornish as Kate Adie. Since this was closely based 626on actual events, there was almost no suspension of disbelief required to watch 627and enjoy this presentation.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p> 628 629<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">I recommend it â it moves quickly and can be intense. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p> 630 631<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/6-Days-Mark-Strong/dp/B0748P6K13/ref=sr_1_2?crid=8ZFIMNWA94WM&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.7rtLij5G8COMyqJa0MHHUIqCdfHwdQCRVIPaCV3bnp7rUgEfktZ_rfea3qNPnrrqQWrgwPMxsnyDDPd6Q9bLjTI4q0VcaIQTVEWpuNwbuHw8pluRHKRtVxeZ6EVTb9eP0ooQ0SM6nuhjuU-F-AIf3vsMoatROgGo4SdNIKwtF-Ub8RAaZR8opGMRXCkwetEw-Df3aWw8Ezpz7-dwMiOKFNG1Ge4ayB5OF7_t6pLfrO4.kxl7eJ6qK6_cF3MXE376r3x9Q4fowi0zqNCjDTkPVCU&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=6+days&amp;qid=1728364641&amp;s=instant-video&amp;sprefix=6+day%2Cinstant-video%2C245&amp;sr=1-2" target="_blank">Watch on Amazon Prime</a>.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><br /><p></p></content><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/7065502661827434583'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/7065502661827434583'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='https://francona.blogspot.com/2024/10/6-days-is-2017-joint-british-and-new.html' title='Movie Review: 6 Days (General Film Corp - 2017)'/><author><name>Rick Francona</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01540695760234038044</uri><email>[email protected]</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author>
631<media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8quHZZYR37Nv0Xac7DcEyBt_uMMp-mssdVmd1knrF8ix9sfLczMyWHib0Nsp3bm1HcqCxMgsl0_N0G47bF-R5dT_JZbbES7spK3LzDQkQDZoYGjF5XpfruSWHHC6kBb5jHr9gpaVRLt5a8FiV7q_Iij3kggquv1vxsZJhb_C2ClzrpNqLIveeww/s72-w400-h246-c/6%20days.jpg" height="72" width="72"/></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7804762.post-6336966833064854242</id><published>2024-10-06T14:32:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2024-10-06T14:32:02.609-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="intelligence"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Israel"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Syria"/><title type='text'>Movie Review: Damascus Cover (Vertical Entertainment - 2017)</title><content type='html'><p>&nbsp;</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBDJQUS9DWOT8PXu4bXkWcdKb3MmIanNPa8pIFzgRA2px7dXmR4IL6WfJxyY89WA2dvnQdVi6hgsbqzJO-GdM2bzjW8qn29kfaB3gLJ8A35Af_tpnAdZNC8fqyx-0TnTjmSqXWDOFJJV6PKtr7ApecbDoXt9ESrB_zPgCGRJbh1_Qpj-SPli0w6A/s624/damascus-cover-poster.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="452" data-original-width="624" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBDJQUS9DWOT8PXu4bXkWcdKb3MmIanNPa8pIFzgRA2px7dXmR4IL6WfJxyY89WA2dvnQdVi6hgsbqzJO-GdM2bzjW8qn29kfaB3gLJ8A35Af_tpnAdZNC8fqyx-0TnTjmSqXWDOFJJV6PKtr7ApecbDoXt9ESrB_zPgCGRJbh1_Qpj-SPli0w6A/w400-h290/damascus-cover-poster.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Damascus Cover is a 2017 espionage film, based on the 1977 Howard 632Kaplan novel of the same name. The book is the first of four in Kaplanâs <i>The Jerusalem Spy Series</i>. I have not read 633the book. There are a few confusing scenes, but it can be difficult to boil 321 634pages into a 90-minute screenplay.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">Mossad officer Ari Ben-Sion, working undercover as German 635businessman Hans Hoffmann in Berlin in 1989, is recalled and ordered to Damascus to help a 636Jewish family flee the country. This turns out not to be his actual mission, 637which is revealed to him only once he is on the ground in Syria. I am not sure 638why he was not just briefed with the real mission so he could properly prepare 639and train.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">There is, of course, the required romantic entanglement â 640this with an American photojournalist. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">There is also the required double-crossing and changes of 641allegiance as the story unfolds. Hoffman/Ben-Sion adjusts his operation to exfiltrate 642a Syrian scientist and quickly finds himself in way over his head with lessening chances 643of success. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">I will not describe what happen so as not to spoil it for
644any of you who wish to see it. You will have to watch it to the very end â I was 645surprised.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">The movie stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Olivia Thirlby, Jürgen 646Prochnow, Igal Naor, Navid Negahban and John Hurt (in his final role).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">I must compliment the producers for the excellent attention 647to detail when it comes to replicating the country of Syria and the city of 648Damascus in the Moroccan countryside and city of Casablanca, even down to the 649accurate Damascus street signs, including <i>shariâ 650madhat basha</i> (A Street Called Straight) and the Hamidiyah suq.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;">The movie received mixed reviews. I enjoyed it, not only 651because it took me back to my posting at the US Embassy in Damascus, but because 652it was a good story not requiring too much suspension of disbelief (except maybe 653at the very end).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Damascus-Cover-Jonathan-Rhys-Meyers/dp/B07FDBCHJ4/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3PIXT5YO3TH4U&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.m-bq0Xqo4meeKxsgxd_J3tIvhh-G8U9_-ynuCRomOq7W7xL3B2NNtJwhlKc9M0fo2SkSo2EG2muutcgy344_OG9CGDkzdoOlXPfCu_fu4kPutfT69Vg8d-tEUIAJoBgGxf-A0TMG4rV4grR6PQIEbp4OGqW8WJxRBXVMT2yiaiNh3dm_zc6tgHuJ_M2N-Z_B.aJDk_RJfQlyu28G7WbyOAdi2bn4VtZo3dENyHFgsAGE&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=damascus+cover&amp;qid=1728240581&amp;s=instant-video&amp;sprefix=damascus+cover%2Cinstant-video%2C589&amp;sr=1-1" target="_blank">Watch it on Amazon Prime</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><a class="twitter-share-button" href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet">Tweet</a></p><p><br /></p></content><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/6336966833064854242'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/6336966833064854242'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='https://francona.blogspot.com/2024/10/movie-review-damascus-cover-vertical.html' title='Movie Review: Damascus Cover (Vertical Entertainment - 2017)'/><author><name>Rick Francona</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01540695760234038044</uri><email>[email protected]</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBDJQUS9DWOT8PXu4bXkWcdKb3MmIanNPa8pIFzgRA2px7dXmR4IL6WfJxyY89WA2dvnQdVi6hgsbqzJO-GdM2bzjW8qn29kfaB3gLJ8A35Af_tpnAdZNC8fqyx-0TnTjmSqXWDOFJJV6PKtr7ApecbDoXt9ESrB_zPgCGRJbh1_Qpj-SPli0w6A/s72-w400-h290-c/damascus-cover-poster.jpg" height="72" width="72"/></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7804762.post-7734370043293007216</id><published>2024-06-13T18:15:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2024-06-13T18:18:34.709-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Yemen"/><title type='text'>REVISED - Miniseries Review: "The Last Post" (BBC - 2017)</title><content type='html'><p>&nbsp;</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuT1D3CMCOZWbPnvPMAv_bB1HYsvH0Ulyp3BhPVy1ja8mkLRBIRyDNzvLGuFGqzITLQtuKnq4oig9dCBVNNYghZutWIy4BNESPgloYLNWHJcpRkPVF355ZFw2NdF8bvpKqmmRzhz3XlxNyAWXhaY3LBi3pUC-Ev4gKRrpaxrG3WgFLh1Ft5vaTaw/s777/last-post.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="504" data-original-width="
653777" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuT1D3CMCOZWbPnvPMAv_bB1HYsvH0Ulyp3BhPVy1ja8mkLRBIRyDNzvLGuFGqzITLQtuKnq4oig9dCBVNNYghZutWIy4BNESPgloYLNWHJcpRkPVF355ZFw2NdF8bvpKqmmRzhz3XlxNyAWXhaY3LBi3pUC-Ev4gKRrpaxrG3WgFLh1Ft5vaTaw/w400-h260/last-post.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br />I originally reviewed this excellent miniseries in 2018 soon 654after it was released. I watched it again because of what is happening in the 655region, including the Yemeni Houthi involvement in the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza 656and the West Bank, and I was in the mood for some good entertainment. <a href="https://francona.blogspot.com/2018/12/miniseries-review-last-post.html">You 657can read that initial review here</a>. I was able to get much more out of it the 658second time â there is a lot there.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I highly recommend it on the same two counts as before. Not only 659is it solid entertainment â the performances across the board of the BBC 660production are excellent â but also addresses the British experience in 661Aden (âAdan) in the mid-1960âs; It is somewhat applicable to the geopolitical situations in which the 662United States finds itself today in the region.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">"The Last Post"* follows a unit of the Royal 663Military Police and their families in Aden in 1965. Newlyweds Captain Joe 664Martin and his wife Honor arrive into the mix and must adapt to their new 665environment and their new lives together. Throughout the community, 666relationships are tested as the women struggle against what is expected of them 667as British Army wives and their own preferences. &nbsp;At work, the soldiers fight a growing local revolutionary insurgency and face constant threats from hand grenades and snipers.</span><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />Thatâs the theatrical story that carries the underlying 668theme â a declining empire dealing with local nationalism and confronting 669âliberationâ movements. It also deals with military relationships between the officers 670(and their families), noncommissioned officers, and enlisted troops. It offers 671insight into the British Army, still one of the best military forces in the 672world. The series did not fully explain the command relationships between the 673various military units in Aden, but, this is entertainment, not a documentary. An 674added predictable touch is meddling from an American journalist (ably played by 675Australian actress Essie Davis).</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">On November 30, 1967, British forces withdrew from Aden and the 676independent People's Republic of South Yemen was proclaimed. It lasted until 6771990 when South Yemen and North Yemen (Yemen Arab Republic) merged to form the 678Republic of Yemen.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">Weâve seen how that has worked out. The port of Aden was the 679location of the October 12, 2000 terrorist attack on the US Navy Arleigh Burke-class guided 680missile destroyer USS Cole (DDG-67) while the ship was conducting an 681ill-advised, politically-motivated refueling/âshow the flagâ stop in Yemen. <a href="https://francona.blogspot.com/2005/12/editorial-uss-cole-victim-of-bad.html" target="_blank">Read my comments on that folly</a>.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">I want to give a shout out to the standout performances by 682Stephen Campbell Moore as Lieutenant Ed Laithwaite (I see some of me in his 683character), and Jessica Raine and Essie Davis for, well, first, being Jessica 684Raine and Essie Davis. Jessica Raineâs performance as Alison Laithwaite, a 685conflicted, alcoholic, unfaithful wife dealing with her marriage, is excellent, 686often to the haunting rendition by Ketty Lester of â<a href="https://youtu.be/8-kiSd73mag?si=DcD7kCJQ2nmBL7wf">Love Letters (Straight from 687Your Heart)</a>.â<br /><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I highly recommend</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">&nbsp;the series. It moves quickly, and despite a 688few questionable military tactics, requires very little suspension of 689disbelief to watch.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0CBHGHRLQ/">Watch 690it on Amazon Prime</a>.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">_____</span></p><p> 691 692 693 694 695 696 697 698 699 700 701 702 703 704 705 706 707 708 709 710 711 712<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;">* The "Last Post" is a British and Commonwealth 713bugle call used at end of day ceremonies, as well as military funerals, and ceremonies 714commemorating those who have died in war, similar to the US armed forcesâ âTaps.â&nbsp;<br /><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjL6tKqBMPo">Listen to the âLast Postâ 715by the Royal Marines at Prince Philipâs Funeral</a>.</span></span></p><p><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></p></content><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/7734370043293007216'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/7734370043293007216'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='https://francona.blogspot.com/2024/06/revised-miniseries-review-last-post-bbc.html' title='REVISED - Miniseries Review: "The Last Post" (BBC - 2017)'/><author><name>Rick Francona</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01540695760234038044</uri><email>[email protected]</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author>
715<media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuT1D3CMCOZWbPnvPMAv_bB1HYsvH0Ulyp3BhPVy1ja8mkLRBIRyDNzvLGuFGqzITLQtuKnq4oig9dCBVNNYghZutWIy4BNESPgloYLNWHJcpRkPVF355ZFw2NdF8bvpKqmmRzhz3XlxNyAWXhaY3LBi3pUC-Ev4gKRrpaxrG3WgFLh1Ft5vaTaw/s72-w400-h260-c/last-post.jpg" height="72" width="72"/></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7804762.post-1034065883190199308</id><published>2024-04-01T11:44:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2024-04-01T11:44:53.527-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Iran"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Israel"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Syria"/><title type='text'>Israeli Airstrike on Iranian Consulate in Damascus Kills Senior Iranian IRGC Leader</title><content type='html'><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh584X5O2pjc21j-4kFkb7g_TkrAZhwyE33kCmrXx60GRW3TcQBi-QjajGB0UUHWehaHcuhRSFjaOa0PuJlAjRKSALUnQzIuxxF3hND4284UwG_ueYC_mSRobz9PWWSBkVoUPcMDFyeUwJ0BOVfYlg6nteCZ1KfIlcX3Cbghcsql_AS0b6cgBAeSg/s1280/GKFtd5tXsAEZvKE.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh584X5O2pjc21j-4kFkb7g_TkrAZhwyE33kCmrXx60GRW3TcQBi-QjajGB0UUHWehaHcuhRSFjaOa0PuJlAjRKSALUnQzIuxxF3hND4284UwG_ueYC_mSRobz9PWWSBkVoUPcMDFyeUwJ0BOVfYlg6nteCZ1KfIlcX3Cbghcsql_AS0b6cgBAeSg/w400-h300/GKFtd5tXsAEZvKE.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Iranian Consulate - Damascus, Syria</span></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">An Israeli airstrike in the early evening hours of April 1 on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, killed the apparent target of the operation, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi.<br /><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisZxt826g7MMdfmOYo1LOpO39XSx98IIwHNDX0htgXC4r_Z8oGlPHuuBS3fKbc35c3MVJp4eqWGibpwHrKE-NcbAaiawSi-Ut_oTY6p-3OeVg5h_LSwoFujKwEUVHsqH0170YqwF2Af3EMPSJsjdx8PN-r21BOhtZYZBsSC8CJeun2NT4syzxA2Q/s1148/Screenshot%202024-04-01%20112643.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">According to Iranian television, Zahedi was the commander of Qods Force units in Syria and Lebanon. The Qods Force is a capable special operations organization charged with much of Iranian activities in the region and around the world. A previous commander of the Qods Force, Qassem Soleimani, was killed in an American airstrike in Baghdad in January 2020.</span><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">According to the semi-official IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency, five other IRGC commanders and two advisers were killed in the consulate along with Zahedi. They include Zahedi's deputy and chief or staff. The Islamic Republic News Agency reported that the consulate building was completely destroyed. Syrian television added that everyone in the building was killed.<br /><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"></span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1fgAaSPjOs9zLzEFZ3k61IkxiKcToOzpfIqXb4cB6N4BfrfW5_g8_u62cYtBSTiodzwPlZEE-mPBBHw6f1Tm42ChJk6ZRb
715V1ztT4UxqQPpoLtiTu65pUOjpHLXzZNDTotYDQUxI-ytMkyz4LZ_XXYvofnLXCln1IHXGBTbsaAcnH8GRlQ8g3U6Q/s680/GKFrSI3WoAAx-1F.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="564" data-original-width="680" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1fgAaSPjOs9zLzEFZ3k61IkxiKcToOzpfIqXb4cB6N4BfrfW5_g8_u62cYtBSTiodzwPlZEE-mPBBHw6f1Tm42ChJk6ZRbV1ztT4UxqQPpoLtiTu65pUOjpHLXzZNDTotYDQUxI-ytMkyz4LZ_XXYvofnLXCln1IHXGBTbsaAcnH8GRlQ8g3U6Q/w200-h166/GKFrSI3WoAAx-1F.jpeg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small;">Mohammad Reza Zahedi</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Zahedi is one the IRGC's top commanders&nbsp;with a wealth of operational and command experience.&nbsp;A combat veteran of the Irani-Iraq War, he previously served as the commander of&nbsp;the IRGC Air Force, then commander of the IRGC Ground Force, before taking command of all Qods Forces deployed to Lebanon and Syria - one of the key commands in the IRGC.&nbsp;</span></p><p></p><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br />The loss of Zahedi and virtually his entire senior staff is a severe blow to Iranian foreign policy in the region - this was a bad day for the Iranians.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br />I am impressed with the execution of the Israeli operation.&nbsp;</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br />I lived in Damascus not far from these Iranian diplomatic facilities - embassy, consulate, and ambassador's residence. These are located in crowded areas with civilian residential compounds and buildings.&nbsp;The Iranian diplomatic staff in Damascus reported that neither the ambassador nor any other personnel were injured in the attack - this shows the accuracy of the Israeli strike.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br />It also highlights the ability of the Israeli intelligence services to determine that at least eight IRGC commanders and advisers would be in the consulate building at the same time, and determine it in time to take action to eliminate the targets.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Impressive.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><a class="twitter-share-button" data-show-count="false" href="https://twitter.com/share?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">Tweet</a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script> 716 </span></p></content><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/1034065883190199308'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/1034065883190199308'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='https://francona.blogspot.com/2024/04/israeli-airstrike-on-iranian-consulate.html' title='Israeli Airstr
716ike on Iranian Consulate in Damascus Kills Senior Iranian IRGC Leader'/><author><name>Rick Francona</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01540695760234038044</uri><email>[email protected]</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh584X5O2pjc21j-4kFkb7g_TkrAZhwyE33kCmrXx60GRW3TcQBi-QjajGB0UUHWehaHcuhRSFjaOa0PuJlAjRKSALUnQzIuxxF3hND4284UwG_ueYC_mSRobz9PWWSBkVoUPcMDFyeUwJ0BOVfYlg6nteCZ1KfIlcX3Cbghcsql_AS0b6cgBAeSg/s72-w400-h300-c/GKFtd5tXsAEZvKE.jpeg" height="72" width="72"/></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7804762.post-5620856127057162743</id><published>2024-03-30T11:55:00.000-07:00</published><updated>2024-03-30T12:16:47.046-07:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Afghanistan"/><title type='text'>Taliban to revive policy of stoning and flogging women</title><content type='html'><p>&nbsp;</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8DkvdTWzwGy2OnRh85mf5XbEH_oDg5xzz1K2sYxsm2ZUPptFH-o6VUY1ngbog6LiTFQ2Qk-nMaWal-u1LX09baHoXJBbaHBP6oU-HzQJ4WR-_nV6iMKoA536V6uKLmf0UQSf20k12dTgWV8nwyl-uOaroYd5MyUM32Mj4oDfl9V6s08L62r_4tQ/s680/q4JRAWgZ.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="453" data-original-width="680" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8DkvdTWzwGy2OnRh85mf5XbEH_oDg5xzz1K2sYxsm2ZUPptFH-o6VUY1ngbog6LiTFQ2Qk-nMaWal-u1LX09baHoXJBbaHBP6oU-HzQJ4WR-_nV6iMKoA536V6uKLmf0UQSf20k12dTgWV8nwyl-uOaroYd5MyUM32Mj4oDfl9V6s08L62r_4tQ/w400-h266/q4JRAWgZ.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">&nbsp;</span></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Taliban Leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada announces a 717return to the policy of stoning women:&nbsp;<br /><br /></span></p> 718 719<p class="MsoNormal"></p><blockquote><span style="font-family: verdana;">"We will soon implement the punishment for adultery. We 720will flog women in public. We will stone them to death in public. We will bring s<i>hari'ah</i> to this land.â</span></blockquote><span style="font-family: verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span><p></p> 721 722<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">How enlightened - stoning and flogging.&nbsp;</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Stoning as a form of capital punishment goes back to ancient times.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Stoning appears to have been the standard method of capital punishment in ancient Israel.</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">The Torah and Talmud prescribe stoning as punishment for a 723number of offenses, however, Rabbinic Judaism developed a number of 724procedural constraints which made these laws practically unenforceable.&nbsp;</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Although stoning is not mentioned in the Quran, classical Islamic jurisprudence imposed stoning as a <i>shari'ah</i> punishment for adultery based on <i>hadith </i>(sayings attributed to Muhammad).&nbsp;</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Only a 725few isolated instances of legal stoning are recorded in pre-modern history of 726the Islamic world.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">
726In recent times, stoning has been a legal or customary 727punishment in Iran, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, 728Sudan, Yemen, parts of Nigeria, Afghanistan, Brunei, and tribal parts of 729Pakistan. That said, it is rarely practiced - it appears that is about to change in Afghanistan.&nbsp;</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">If you want to see just how barbaric Islamic stoning is, I recommend the excellent movie&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>The Stoning of Soraya M</i></span><span style="font-family: verdana;">, a 2008 movie about the stoning of a young woman in Iran.<br />&nbsp;</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KWEa5ddz6k" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="486" data-original-width="815" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlmYjSnoytj6Bq8MqnVfmuNg4iUIC8drAGeIS1NBuC2JbY7ZbYh19NyHN4Fm7LWPFxNNgDox_ZHBqWBU-jFSH47to2imA9wJfhXcZW9k1cuL7bKkSWb7pzY3HQbiZFg_8nVC2cYOJdSJ4yr1__Ct9g66aHG97E4fm-Lm_9OFKcbjOjuTwImMNueg/w400-h239/stoning.jpg" title="Scene from &quot;The Stoning of Soraya M&quot;" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KWEa5ddz6k" target="_blank">Scene from "The Stoning of Soraya M"</a></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">The movie stars the talented Shohreh Aghdashloo, Mozhan Navabi, and Jim Caviezel, and is <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KWEa5ddz6k" target="_blank">available for free on YouTube</a>.</span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I will caution that the stoning scenes are graphic and intense. The requirements for stoning are quite precise, as shown here (<a href="https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/nationalpost/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/na0124_stoningweb.pdf" target="_blank">click here for a larger view</a>):</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgonTypjzFWDGc8eoRJZXaukcDZ2ggzVzpvzed_LNCZLgTUAazTJjL1V4ynm0NbHI8_CfTrn4RUzKpOSBBW5KtmEBZ0v28HQmH3GI_Fm_QsXNWi6XHhuRFhUyPzlgnwtOT1RpIu_6Tz6VlGDhgTZn_jvvWuotaehRKMXVAtw7YPBXqSi9Gcl3VCnw/s674/stoning-guide.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="674" data-original-width="358" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgonTypjzFWDGc8eoRJZXaukcDZ2ggzVzpvzed_LNCZLgTUAazTJjL1V4ynm0NbHI8_CfTrn4RUzKpOSBBW5KtmEBZ0v28HQmH3GI_Fm_QsXNWi6XHhuRFhUyPzlgnwtOT1RpIu_6Tz6VlGDhgTZn_jvvWuotaehRKMXVAtw7YPBXqSi9Gcl3VCnw/w341-h640/stoning-guide.jpg" width="341" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Welcome to the 7th Century.</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span style="white-space-collapse: preserve;"> 730 <a class="twitter-share-button" data-show-count="false" href="https://twitter.com/share?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">Tweet</a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script> 731 </span></span><p></p></content><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/5620856127057162743'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/5620856127057162743'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='https://francona.blogspot.com/2024/03/taliban-to-return-to-policy-if-stoning.html' title='Taliban to revive policy of stoning and flogging women'/><author><name>Rick Francona</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01540695760234038044</uri><email>[email protected]</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author>
731<media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8DkvdTWzwGy2OnRh85mf5XbEH_oDg5xzz1K2sYxsm2ZUPptFH-o6VUY1ngbog6LiTFQ2Qk-nMaWal-u1LX09baHoXJBbaHBP6oU-HzQJ4WR-_nV6iMKoA536V6uKLmf0UQSf20k12dTgWV8nwyl-uOaroYd5MyUM32Mj4oDfl9V6s08L62r_4tQ/s72-w400-h266-c/q4JRAWgZ.jpeg" height="72" width="72"/></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7804762.post-5443152521868666225</id><published>2023-02-13T10:23:00.000-08:00</published><updated>2023-02-13T10:23:48.289-08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Iran"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Lebanon"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Libya"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Russia"/><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Syria"/><title type='text'>Interesting Syrian Air Force Flight Activity</title><content type='html'><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlf-nj0UTKzhYSBWhnlsJuQB_-pVtfTtO0VoebFcDbp1d9p6z0-0bQztcMhnzQZ4rKjxqSfmDaHv9IJCAS0-kK3Tmt0rWEYJRi7QSXhLcZcZklTyMBA2Y0dQZY1r-43TFwaUKJAXnjqSG3HkY52qt_otVAnTWoDb2uUeomZsOKdRB4jiQXXgw/s640/YK-ATA.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="428" data-original-width="640" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlf-nj0UTKzhYSBWhnlsJuQB_-pVtfTtO0VoebFcDbp1d9p6z0-0bQztcMhnzQZ4rKjxqSfmDaHv9IJCAS0-kK3Tmt0rWEYJRi7QSXhLcZcZklTyMBA2Y0dQZY1r-43TFwaUKJAXnjqSG3HkY52qt_otVAnTWoDb2uUeomZsOKdRB4jiQXXgw/w400-h268/YK-ATA.jpg" title="Syrian Air Force IL-76 YK-ATA" width="400" /></a><br /><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-small;">Syrian Air Force IL-76 YK-ATA<br /><br /></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The Syrian Air Force (SYAF), officially the Syrian Arab Air Force, operates three Ilyushin IL-76T (NATO: Candid) heavy lift transport aircraft: YK-ATA, YK-ATB, and YK-ATD (shown top to bottom). A fourth aircraft (YK-ATC) has not been operational for almost 30 years.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhguJQtrvNDc9NDVhSB3Z7n_W30DVmEPjE21NLHY_pfDLITXq5JdqLSB1gWopmH0aiT4X_ijCREtJ5UjCwF8eBkYkR0GzB7c2g4PKUQ6oB2FHWN1qDpxmyjDrZIWAYNepxuDlJ6xc67rgAIpkh4n0estWlDeLnrJ40z6N3FArCzaAyXUS8oJog/s704/planes.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="704" data-original-width="677" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhguJQtrvNDc9NDVhSB3Z7n_W30DVmEPjE21NLHY_pfDLITXq5JdqLSB1gWopmH0aiT4X_ijCREtJ5UjCwF8eBkYkR0GzB7c2g4PKUQ6oB2FHWN1qDpxmyjDrZIWAYNepxuDlJ6xc67rgAIpkh4n0estWlDeLnrJ40z6N3FArCzaAyXUS8oJog/w385-h400/planes.jpg" width="385" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">These are older photos â all three aircraft are in need of depot-level maintenance, upgrade, and overhaul.&nbsp;This 732is done at at the Ilyushin facility in Ramenskoye, Russia.&nbsp;Based on publicly available flight tracking information, YK-ATD was overhauled
732in 2016, YK-ATB in 2018, and YK-ATA in 2019.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I suspect that YK-ATD is in dire need of major maintenance - it has not flown since November 24, 2022, and then only for a short domestic flight. It appears to have become what we in the U.S. Air Force refer to as a âhangar queen.â</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Do not let the colorful livery of SYRIANAIR (Syrian Airlines) fool you â I have flown on both SYRIANAIR and with the SYAF - theyâre different. One is a second-tier Middle East airline with great passenger service, and the other is a third-rate air force transport operation that worried me. I have flown on SYAF Antonov AN-24 (NATO: Coke), Tupolev TU-134 (NATO: Crusty), and Yakovlev YAK-40 (NATO: Codling) aircraft â the condition of the YAK-40 and AN-24 was far below U.S. Air Force standards.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The three IL-76 aircraft are actually assigned to the 585th Transport Squadron of the Syrian Air Force 29th Air Transport Brigade, based at Damascus International Airport.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The military ramp at the airport is southwest of the civilian terminal. I have been on the 29th Brigade ramp a few times to catch attaché flights on the extremely rare occasions when the Syrians included American officers in official attaché trips.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPe4J4nnucyzLIGOPmt7_fHUpH5zByoAzl4UHruA3IH7MaNoXkXqU6J9HMBM916u7eWs9LuXew3lubZCX5puiYJpBuZa1dSmRVsYJjk4NN7hxItD60biRtP8Ctpfnj1WDfMsj1b3OV1H5DD7caZ_MOvvanAJg9j_WWpLRAQOoioE2gKZgUXXE/s747/29th%20brigade.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="438" data-original-width="747" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPe4J4nnucyzLIGOPmt7_fHUpH5zByoAzl4UHruA3IH7MaNoXkXqU6J9HMBM916u7eWs9LuXew3lubZCX5puiYJpBuZa1dSmRVsYJjk4NN7hxItD60biRtP8Ctpfnj1WDfMsj1b3OV1H5DD7caZ_MOvvanAJg9j_WWpLRAQOoioE2gKZgUXXE/w400-h235/29th%20brigade.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">These transports were built in 1980 (YK-ATA and YK-ATB) and 1981 (YK-ATD) â I remember them in the original IL-76MD (military) configuration, complete with tail guns. In the early 2000s, all were converted to their current IL-76T configuration.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Over the past few years, the Syrian IL-76âs made almost daily resupply flights to the regime-controlled enclave of&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">al-Qamishly in&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">northeast Syria, and almost daily flights to Mehrabad airport in Tehran, Iran. Once in a while, one of the aircraft would fly to/from Moscow.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">That pattern has changed a bit.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I have noticed a massive increase of SYAF IL-76 flights between Damascus International Airport (read that as 29th Air Brigade) and Benghazi/Beninah International Airport (coincidentally also an air base at which SYAF fighter pilots were assigned to support Muâamar al-Qadhafi&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">in the 1970s</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">). It is in the area of Libya controlled by Field Marshal Khalifah Haftar's Libyan National Army (LNA).&nbsp;</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Syrian media reported that Haftarâs armed forces have airlifted relief supplies to victims of the February 6 earthquakes that have devastated part of northern Syria. Some of that aid was delivered by LNA aircraft to the Russian-leased Humaymim air base south of Latakia.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Looking over publicly available flight records for the past three months, an interesting international flight pattern emerges.&nbsp;</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY60AyEinRpkFjhKkTjASi50_E9uUtQkeNoLjsYXvSk9cOtuHOpkNDh9n4Y3p1UbWhwUsgl_VGLF8J33L10qjBhIaIXkglkMuzf5Ftbh6SSCM6ttJaJCa3marBeZZ_9PkLtNag96e_I-ZqJTqGGAz4WBtFUMPKIJpY_JIVyEydxvozYFzw5a8/s1325/Screenshot%202023-02-12%20215246.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><img border="0" data-original-height="811" data-original-width="1325" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY60AyEinRpkFjhKkTjASi50_E9uUtQkeNoLjsYXvSk9cOtuHOpkNDh9n4Y3p1UbWhwUsgl_VGLF8J33L10qjBhIaIXkglkMuzf5Ftbh6SSCM6ttJaJCa3marBeZZ_9PkLtNag96e_I-ZqJTqGGAz4WBtFUMPKIJpY_JIVyEydxvozYFzw5a8/w400-h245/Screenshot%202023-02-12%20215246.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">YK-ATA has flown 13 round-trip flights between Damascus, Syria and Benghazi, Libya, which seems to be its primary route. It did fly to Moscow three times, Beirut once, and once to, for whatever reason, Oral in northwestern Kazakhstan.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">YK-ATB flew seven round-trip flights between Damascus, Syria and Benghazi, Libya. It also flew to Tehran/Mehrabad airport, using a ramp dedicated solely to the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard (IRGC), four times. Additionally, it was used at least six times for the routine domestic flight from Damascus to al-Qamishly.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">In the last 90 days for the Syrian Air Force, there have been at least:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">â¢<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>20 round trip flights to Benghazi, Libya (most before the earthquake)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">â¢<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>4 round trip flights to Tehran/Mehrabad, Iran</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">â¢<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>3 round trip flights to Moscow/Vnukovo, Russia</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">â¢<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1 round trip flight to Beirut, Lebanon</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">â¢<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>1 round trip flight to Oral, Kazakhstan</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I am puzzled by the number of flights to Libya, specifically to the area controlled by
732Khalifah Haftar. If anyone has any insight into the relationship between Syrian President Bashar al-Asad and Khalifah Haftar, please inform me.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I will note that after the earthquakes that created catastrophic damage in northern Syria, all return flights from Benghazi to Syria stopped first in Latakia, and in at least one case in Aleppo, both areas that have suffered catastrophic&nbsp;</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">earthquake damage</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">. I have to assume that these aircraft were transporting relief supplies from Benghazi.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">My question: What were the Syrian IL-76 aircraft moving between Damascus and Benghazi before the earthquake?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div> 733<a class="twitter-share-button" data-show-count="false" data-size="large" data-text="Interesting Syrian Air Force Flight Activity" data-via="MiddleEastGuy" href="https://twitter.com/share?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">Tweet</a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script> 734 735 736 737</content><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/5443152521868666225'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/5443152521868666225'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='https://francona.blogspot.com/2023/02/interesting-syrian-air-force-flight.html' title='Interesting Syrian Air Force Flight Activity'/><author><name>Rick Francona</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01540695760234038044</uri><email>[email protected]</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlf-nj0UTKzhYSBWhnlsJuQB_-pVtfTtO0VoebFcDbp1d9p6z0-0bQztcMhnzQZ4rKjxqSfmDaHv9IJCAS0-kK3Tmt0rWEYJRi7QSXhLcZcZklTyMBA2Y0dQZY1r-43TFwaUKJAXnjqSG3HkY52qt_otVAnTWoDb2uUeomZsOKdRB4jiQXXgw/s72-w400-h268-c/YK-ATA.jpg" height="72" width="72"/></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7804762.post-390937090726076393</id><published>2023-01-30T22:05:00.001-08:00</published><updated>2023-01-30T22:05:26.099-08:00</updated><title type='text'>Miniseries Review: "Fauda - Season 4" (Netflix 2023)</title><content type='html'><p>&nbsp;</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgHE8pX2qFyK4h3EyepXTxJyvlsYq5KlHvKbiYtMsOvNRrYt3q3ux5ZwoFMdmztmeoQ0Sj2V6NCF1g2J3MSoIi5abLE53zTpPiWU7DBq2HOxMBqdyDEW4cWYk0kFlXwFG70mSgefNVgGNAZad4dsOVgnY8svwmPcdpVtBNULJ8Aceync9c4JM/s1181/fauda4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="606" data-original-width="1181" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgHE8pX2qFyK4h3EyepXTxJyvlsYq5KlHvKbiYtMsOvNRrYt3q3ux5ZwoFMdmztmeoQ0Sj2V6NCF1g2J3MSoIi5abLE53zTpPiWU7DBq2HOxMBqdyDEW4cWYk0kFlXwFG70mSgefNVgGNAZad4dsOVgnY8svwmPcdpVtBNULJ8Aceync9c4JM/w400-h205/fauda4.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Fauda (the Arabic word for chaos) Season 4 is now available 738in the United States, much to the delight of fans of the series â Iâm one. The 739first three seasons* were all âmust see,â and this season again is in that 740category. I will try to avoid spoilers in my review.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p> 741 742<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">This seasonâs action shifts to the international stage with operational 743activities in Belgium, Syria, and Lebanon as well as the usual venues of Israel 744and the West Bank. The antagonists of this seasonâs operations are also
745international â Lebanese Hizballah. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p> 746 747<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The former chief of the IDF special operations unit, Captain 748Gabi Ayoub, is running an intelligence source inside Hizballah via the Mossad 749station in Brussels. The source reports that Hizballah is planning a large 750operation in Israel and the West Bank. This is unprecedented for Hizballah â normally 751they strike Israeli targets from their home territory in Lebanon. Operating within 752the Palestinian Authority is an escalation and exactly what Israel does not 753want â cooperation between Hizballah, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p> 754 755<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Gabi and the main character Doron â now brought back out of 756retirement â travel to Brussels to make contact with the asset. As with many 757intelligence assets, at times the case officer has to do a bit of âhand-holdingâ 758and reassuring. Suffice it to say that once the two get to Brussels, things go 759downhill quickly. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">&nbsp;</span>The team follows in 760support.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p> 761 762<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The asset Gabi is running â Omar Tawalbe â turns out to be 763the brother of an Israeli Arab â a female Israeli police officer. Lucy Ayoubâs 764performance as Maya Binyamin (née Tawalbe) is stellar. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p> 765 766<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">As I have advised in the past three seasons, pay attention 767to the languages being spoken. For the most part, if the charactersâ voices are 768in English, what you are listening to is Hebrew dubbed into English. When the characters 769are speaking Arabic, the audio is played in Arabic and subtitled. The Arabic subtitles 770are an interpretation rather than a literal translation, and are generally well 771done.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p> 772 773<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I especially enjoyed this seasonâs Arabic dialog as the 774characters not only were speaking the Palestinian Levantine dialect, but also 775the Lebanese Levantine dialect, depending on the venue of the action. For the 776most part, the Arabic was excellent, although at times a bit of an Israeli 777accent was evident. This is important since the special operations team often 778impersonates Arabs. If you are going to do that, your accent has to be perfect.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p> 779 780<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">There are letters and sounds in Hebrew that do not exist in 781Arabic, and vice versa. During one of my liaison tours with an Arab 782intelligence service, the officers explained that when they create security challenges 783and responses (the âpasswordâ), they always chose words that are difficult for 784native Hebrew speakers to vocalize correctly. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p> 785 786<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">For example, Hebrew-speakers have problems with the Arabic aspirated
787HAH (what we Arabic linguists sometimes refer to as the âhard Hâ). Hebrew 788speakers tend to say the Arabic KHAH â Hizballah normally sounds like <u>Kh</u>izballah, 789which raises a flag that the subject is not a native Arabic speaker. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p> 790 791<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I will complement one of the actors, Itzik Cohen (playing 792Captain Ayoub), on his vocalization of Arabic. Cohen does not speak Arabic, and 793is coached on his lines before each scene. It sounds native to me. In episode 1 794(minute 26:45), Cohen/Ayoub breaks into an Arabic song (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Habibi ya âayni</i> â My love, my eyes) at a wedding, and it is well done.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p> 795 796<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Season 4 is a definite must watch. As I have commented in 797the past, enjoying good fiction requires the literary concept of âsuspension of 798disbelief.â In other words, even though you know that some of the things that happen 799in a book, movie, or show range from âthatâs a stretchâ to âthatâs not 800possible,â you suspend your disbelief and enjoy the story.&nbsp;</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">While there was quite 801a bit of the suspension of disbelief required in this season, especially the scenes in Syria and Lebanon, it 802was never to the level that I was tempted to stop watching â in fact, I couldnât 803stop watching. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p> 804 805<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/80113612" target="_blank">Watch it on Netflix</a>.</span></p> 806 807<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">_______________________</span></p> 808 809<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">*My reviews of the previous seasons:</span></p> 810 811<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://francona.blogspot.com/2019/01/miniseries-review-fauda-netflix-2017.html" target="_blank">Season One</a></span></p> 812 813<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://francona.blogspot.com/2020/02/update-miniseries-review-fauda-netflix.html" target="_blank">Season Two</a></span></p> 814 815<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://francona.blogspot.com/2020/04/miniseries-review-fauda-season-3.html" target="_blank">Season Three</a></span></p><p> 816 817 818 819 820<a href="https://twitter.com/share?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" class="twitter-share-button" data-size="large" data-text="Miniseries Review: &quot;Fauda - Season 4&quot; (Netflix 2023)" data-via="MiddleEastGuy" data-show-count="false">Tweet</a><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></content><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/390937090726076393'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/390937090726076393'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='https://francona.blogspot.com/2023/01/miniseries-review-fauda-season-4.html' title='Miniseries Review: "Fauda - Season 4" (Netflix 2023)'/><author><name>Rick Francona</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01540695760234038044</uri><email>[email protected]</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author>
820<media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgHE8pX2qFyK4h3EyepXTxJyvlsYq5KlHvKbiYtMsOvNRrYt3q3ux5ZwoFMdmztmeoQ0Sj2V6NCF1g2J3MSoIi5abLE53zTpPiWU7DBq2HOxMBqdyDEW4cWYk0kFlXwFG70mSgefNVgGNAZad4dsOVgnY8svwmPcdpVtBNULJ8Aceync9c4JM/s72-w400-h205-c/fauda4.jpg" height="72" width="72"/></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7804762.post-9144682995108795941</id><published>2023-01-07T13:09:00.001-08:00</published><updated>2023-01-07T13:57:54.192-08:00</updated><category scheme="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#" term="Turkey"/><title type='text'>Miniseries Review: "Rise of Empires: Ottoman â Mehmed vs Vlad" (Netflix - 2022)</title><content type='html'><p>&nbsp;</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyDchNLzud32kPcXDqSF5ZLezGVPmSAik0w-OVDHJ-HxvxB39rMfNM8cR_m543_n6qPMQWWqB_keSYFEaoTsLSZ4VHO7Y0Fm5usziQ88OGFT4nEBY6kDTEEUMN84YMymqbDrFqP8h4D4ZuTUQ8ZDzLfLuY16gwBkze-0UNBDKWv6nuNP4CCP0/s923/Rise2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="514" data-original-width="923" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyDchNLzud32kPcXDqSF5ZLezGVPmSAik0w-OVDHJ-HxvxB39rMfNM8cR_m543_n6qPMQWWqB_keSYFEaoTsLSZ4VHO7Y0Fm5usziQ88OGFT4nEBY6kDTEEUMN84YMymqbDrFqP8h4D4ZuTUQ8ZDzLfLuY16gwBkze-0UNBDKWv6nuNP4CCP0/w400-h223/Rise2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The second season* of this docudrama about the Ottoman 821Empire focuses on the rivalry/enmity between Sultan Mehmed II** and Vlad III Dracula 822(also known as Vlad the Impaler), the Voivode of Wallachia, a vassal state 823under the Ottomans. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p> 824 825<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">The two leaders had a complicated relationship spanning two decades. 826In 1442, when Vlad was only 12, he and younger brother Radu were sent to the 827court of Ottoman Sultan Murad II (Mehmedâs father and predecessor) as 828collateral to assure the sultan that their father â Vlad II, then Voivode â would 829support Ottoman policies. It was here that Vlad learned to speak fluent Turkish 830and studied Ottoman culture, including its military strategies and tactics. It
831was also the time in which he was exposed to Mehmed, who was just two years his 832junior.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p> 833 834<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Vlad was released in 1448 after the assassination of his 835father and elder brother. Although he was able to replace his father, his reign 836lasted only two month. It was not until 1452 that he was able to reclaim the 837voivodate. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p> 838 839<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">At this time, Wallachia was required to pay tribute to the 840Sultan. In return, the Ottomans stayed out of Wallachiaâs internal affairs. It 841was a beneficial arrangement for both sides â Vlad had a throne, and Wallachia 842served as a buffer to the Kingdom of Hungary, which Mehmed, who had acceded to 843the sultanate after the death of Murad II, regarded as a threat.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p> 844 845<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the victorious 84621-year old Mehmed set his sights on expanding the Empire further into Europe. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p> 847 848<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Mehmed continued his conquests in Anatolia with its 849reunification and in Southeast Europe as far west as Bosnia. During this time, 850Vlad paid the tribute and remained on the Wallachian throne.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p> 851 852<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">In 1459, Vlad stopped paying the tribute to the Sultan, 853considering a possible alliance with Hungary. Mehmed sent two envoys to remind 854Vlad of his obligations and to collect the tribute. Vlad ordered them to be impaled 855â his preferred method of execution.&nbsp;</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">This act of diplomatic perfidy was too 856much for Mehmed â he mobilized an army of as many as 150,000 troops, including the 857well-disciplined and highly-trained Janissaries,*** to subdue Wallachia and 858remove Vlad from the throne.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p> 859 860<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Without spoiling the outcome of the struggle between Mehmed 861and Vlad, the conflict reached its zenith during the battle for the Wallachian capital 862city of TârgoviÈte in 1462. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p> 863 864<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">After the battle, Vlad left a field filled with thousands of 865impaled victims as a deterrent to the Ottoman forces. He remains a Romanian folk 866hero for his fight against the far superior Ottoman forces.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p> 867 868<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">I recommend it, but suggest keeping your internet search 869engine of choice handy to clarify things that might not be well-known to people 870who do not have a background in Middle East or Central European history. I 871needed it as well, since I normally begin my presentations about the Middle
872East with the defeat of the Ottomans in World War One and the breakup of the 873empire shortly thereafter.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/80990771" target="_blank">Watch it on Netflix</a>.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p> 874 875<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">_____</span></p> 876 877<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">* The first season of this series dealt with Mehmedâs successful 878conquest of the Eastern Roman Empire capital of Constantinople in 1453, after 879which it was renamed Istanbul. <a href="https://francona.blogspot.com/2020/01/miniseries-review-rise-of-empires.html">I 880reviewed the first season</a>, and highly recommend it.</span></p> 881 882<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">** Mehmed is the Turkish rendition of Muhammad. His full 883title was Fatih Sultan Mehmed II (Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror).</span></p> 884 885<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: verdana;">*** The Janissary corps was originally manned by Christian youths taken from the Balkan provinces, converted to Islam, and 886drafted into Ottoman service. Subject to strict rules, including celibacy, the 887Janissaries were known particularly for their archery, but by the 16th century had 888also acquired rudimentary firearms.</span></p><br /><p></p> 889 890<a class="twitter-share-button" data-show-count="false" data-size="large" data-text="Miniseries Review: &quot;Rise of Empires: Ottoman â Mehmed vs Vlad&quot; (Netflix - 2022)" data-via="MiddleEastGuy" href="https://twitter.com/share?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">Tweet</a><script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script><div><br /></div></content><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/9144682995108795941'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='https://www.blogger.com/feeds/7804762/posts/default/9144682995108795941'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='https://francona.blogspot.com/2023/01/miniseries-review-rise-of-empires.html' title='Miniseries Review: "Rise of Empires: Ottoman â Mehmed vs Vlad" (Netflix - 2022)'/><author><name>Rick Francona</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/01540695760234038044</uri><email>[email protected]</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='16' height='16' src='https://img1.blogblog.com/img/b16-rounded.gif'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyDchNLzud32kPcXDqSF5ZLezGVPmSAik0w-OVDHJ-HxvxB39rMfNM8cR_m543_n6qPMQWWqB_keSYFEaoTsLSZ4VHO7Y0Fm5usziQ88OGFT4nEBY6kDTEEUMN84YMymqbDrFqP8h4D4ZuTUQ8ZDzLfLuY16gwBkze-0UNBDKWv6nuNP4CCP0/s72-w400-h223-c/Rise2.jpg" height="72" width="72"/></entry></feed>
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