The change in Russian 'attitude' - from an 'interferer' to a bombing pal, came after the Prez and the President traded stink-eyes and unminced words at the UN General Assembly last week. Apparently Putin came away from that either unknowing, or unconvinced, that the good guys knew better about where he should be dropping his bombs. The UTube coverage after the first raids was the kind of thing only a real warfighter would want, no shredded women or babies to be seen. Only what the coalition calls 'fighting aged males' - on stretchers or carrying them away. Surprising since that category seems to make up a significant proportion of the refugees pouring into Europe. But hey, fighting age males have everything going for them.
Speaking of the upside of media coverage. As the Coalition of Justis got ready for a little recorded ass-kicking in Kunduz this past week, they ran afoul the twitterverse when MSF started complaining that somebody with an air force had treated their hospital in that place, to 90 minutes of the best high- rate firepower a first-world military-industrial complex can produce. The shooting killed more 20 staff and patients and wounded a good number more.
MSF pulled out of Kunduz.
Nothing out of the ordinary, either in the event - they happen all the time to Afghans- or in the Coalition reaction. First of was was the doubt over who'd done it, or if it wasn't a fairy tale. That was followed by the 'mistake' mantra and the 'well the bad guys were in the hospital wire' malarky. The latest ' evolution' of the story is that the Afghans asked fore close air support after 'being attacked' in the area of the hospital. Washes for me if we recall that the C130 'Spooky' and 'Spectre' gunships are the cutting edge of accurately-placed fire. If you've seen John Wayne in 'The Green Berets' you've seen how they can stitch a lead seam between gooks and good guys - and that outfit was primitive. Today we're told 'eyes on the ground' designate targets with laser and the guns put the ammo within centimeters - just to make sure they don't shred the wrong people. The Hospital in some weird battle zone prescience, informed the good guys of their GPS location to save them having to look it up in combat. That apparently didn't happen either.
You'd think the Coalition would train the Afghans better before giving them a designator? After all wasn't it Afghans who called in an airstrike that wound up 20 miles from the guys who needed it causing an international incident when the attack helos shot up a post 14 miles inside Pakistan? But that was before the days of Afghans with laser designators ... and MSF 'battlefield' hospitals.
See the update to the story - Nov 26
Closer to home the Canadian election is entering the home stretch. The incumbent leader continues to pointing out the danger of switching horses in mid-stream but generally doesn't appear to have much first-hand knowledge of the stream itself. Maybe the horse does. He equates this go-round with not spending money like he has done for 8 successive years now. Almost like magic a budget surplus of $2 billion he said he knew he had, just 'appeared' in time for the election. I was reading to-day how the government had 'trimmed back' public housing this year and guess what? It saved 4 billion dollars! I think he may have promised it away in new spending.
His other big thing is banning the niqab at citizenship ceremonies. Since the candidate for citizenship would have to identify herself (this isn't gender issue, yet) to the Judge and probably to one other agent of the crown, it matters naught what she has on when she takes her oath - although dignified clothing is mandated for all attending - within abilities, genders and other rights and freedoms. You can't be sporting a set of bodacious ta-tas, even though a woman's right to do just that in public has been enshrined at least in the Province of Ontario. Most 'old stock' Canadians are 'up in arms' about the topic, swinging the election round to the Steverino who has removed more rights than any premier before him, and some of those were fighting real wars. Now if Steve were to mandate that all those 'old stockers' also had to attend a citizenship ceremony, say sometime before the age of 18 and twenty-five, and also risk 'decitizenshipment' and exile should they 'turn foul traytor' or become an unwanted criminal, he would lose this election.
The yanks are still playing around getting ready for the first primary, next Spring.
And that refugee crisis in the news for the last two weeks. It's gone just like Yemen, and magic.
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