Link: The Crusades
The Birth of Israel
Part I
Trying to explain the genesis and motivations behind the Arab/European/Jewish conflicts in the Middle East is probably a bit much for my modest little blog. But my dear friend Jennifer's brilliant, inquisitive 10-year old daughter Amanda asked her mother for an explanation, and I decided to give it a shot. Not that Jennifer didn't respond to Amanda; I'm sure her answer made complete sense (Jennifer is fluent in the reasoning of young people....she is a teacher). But if Jennifer is brave enough to give it a shot, I will as well.
The link I provided is the typical Wikipedia (I keep typing Wikileaks by accident...Freudian?) collection of useful and streamlined details regarding the various European Crusades during the High and Late Middle Ages. My explanation begins earlier, at the time of Roman occupation of Judea. The Romans were originally allied to the Jewish state, but under Pompey, absorbed it into the Empire in 6 CE. In 66 CE the Jews rose in revolt, and the entire population was either wiped out or sold into slavery (give or take...). The area we know as Palestine was occupied by various Muslim nation-states for almost ten centuries (with times of conflict involving the Byzantine Empire), with Christians usually welcomed as pilgrims to the Holy Land. This changed in 1096, with the occurrence of the First Crusade. At the time, Palestine was occupied by Seljuq Turks. The Crusaders were successful in capturing both Antioch and Jerusalem (the city of Jerusalem was defended by both Muslims and Jews against the Crusaders, and together the Muslims and Jews of Jerusalem were put to the sword). The First Crusade established what came to be known as the Crusader states- the County of Edessa, the Principality of Antioch, the County of Tripoli, and the Kingdom of Jerusalem. I would love nothing more than to dive head-first into the history of the Crusades, but I've already taken up too much time.
Over the next two centuries, eight more Crusades would be attempted (the last in 1272); the former rulers were not happy with the Christian occupation of land that was just as Holy in their religion as it was to the Christians. Eventually the Kingdom of Jerusalem was sacked, and the land reverted to Muslim control. Lets fast-forward to 1914, with Palestine as a province of the Ottoman Empire. Then in World War One, the Ottomans chose the wrong side and ended up losing control of Palestine. The entire area we now know as the Levant (Syria, Lebanon, Israel and Jordan) was occupied by France and Great Britain until the conclusion of the Second World War (see Sykes-Picot Treaty for a taste of European land-grabbing at its best). At first, with the Balfour Declaration, it appeared that the British government was seriously considering establishing a Jewish state in Palestine. The opposition of the Arab Palestinian community ended any such plans. During this time, attempts were made to locate land for the creation of a Jewish state in other areas, including Africa (the Jews of Europe and Russia had suffered great hardships even before the Holocaust). The displacement of so many European Jews by the Nazis left many without a home. In 1947, a United Nations partitioned Palestine into two-separate nations, one for a Jewish state and one for a Palestinian state. The Arab nations bordering Palestine (Egypt, The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and even Yemen and Saudi Arabia sent troops) declared war against the nascent Jewish state. The war was completely one-sided, as have been the two wars since that were fought to destroy Israel. The Israeli Armed Forces earned a reputation from the very beginning of being disciplined, courageous, cunning and formidable in the methods of war. That reputation exists today. The history lesson is complete. Now on to the difficult part.
Showing posts with label Tripoli. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tripoli. Show all posts
Saturday, October 11, 2014
Wednesday, September 3, 2014
11 missing planes from Tripoli Airport in Libya
Link: Planes missing from Tripoli Airport
Initially I had planned to blog about another subject this evening, but a friend brought this
story to my attention and I decided to share my perspective. Unfortunately we are missing a few vital pieces of information, including the type of aircraft and the condition. Certain media folks have already raised the alarm that the missing planes could be used in "9/11 copycat" operations. At this stage, with so little information to process, anything is possible. For the sake of discussion, lets assume that the planes were commercial aircraft (along the lines of Airbus, Boeing, and McDonald-Douglas), and that they have been flown to other as yet unknown airfields. Although the planes have been identified as "commercial airliners", there is the possibility that some or all could be cargo carriers. As of early 2013, Afriqiyah Airways and Libyan Airlines both utilized Tripoli Airport as their main hub, and both companies basically flew Airbus-built planes (no Boeing or McDonald-Douglas in their inventory), and nothing larger than a 320. This is important because the larger the plane, the larger the runway. Unfortunately, you can land an Airbus 320 in the bed of an El Camino (they are relatively small planes, similar in size to the 737). Back to our assumption: at this point we have no way to determine if the planes were flown to one location or broken up into groups and spread out. It is possible; I'm sure Libya is full of airfields that were left over from the last World War, not to mention temporary airfields constructed to accommodate the petroleum industry. The planes are missing, and there are plenty of places in the near vicinity to hide them (but only for so long...the Drones are out there looking as we speak).
One thing the continent of Africa does not need is more planes. I like to joke that Africa is truly the place old planes go to die. The next time you are looking to kill a few hours on the computer, cruise over to Google Earth and have a look at the various airports that serve the cities of Africa. Start off with Khartoum, then maybe Ouagadougou or Bangui, and notice all the rusting hulks of abandoned planes that litter the periphery of the runway. When a manufacturer like Boeing or Airbus (or Vickers just to be fair to our British friends) ceases production of a particular model, you can count the years before it starts appearing in Africa in significant numbers. It happened with the Boeing 707, various Lockheed models, and the Airbus 300. Not surprisingly Africa is littered with Russian junk, some of still flying. The point is, once an airliner is too old to be useful, or is no longer able to meet safety or EPA (or the EU version of the EPA) standards, it has a good chance of ending up in the third world, where safety regulations are usually seen as "suggestions". In my soon-to-be-released book I made a point to tell a few "flying in Africa" stories, some of which will leave you in stitches. I could personally take you to acquaintances in at least 10 African countries who would be able to sell you a Boeing or an Airbus or a McDonald Douglas jet and hand you the keys before the sun goes down (provided you have the cash up-front). The point is, the bad guys do not have trouble finding planes to buy. For a legitimate terrorist group, it would not be necessary to steal planes from the runway in Tripoli. Let's have a look at the group that seems to be responsible for the missing planes.
The Masked Men Brigade (MMB) is a small terrorist group that split from "Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb" (AQIM) in 2012 and formed it own group, lead by a particularly nasty character named Mokhtar Belmokhtar. If in fact MMB is in possession of the missing planes, then we must assume they found persons who were able to fly and navigate the jets to pre-designated locations (its a bit trickier than flying a carpet, I'm told). Its possible that MMB just happened to be the last Jihadi group standing after the battle for the airport, and got lucky enough to round up enough pilots. But why take 11 planes? Why not just 2 or 3? Its very possible that the intention was to sell the planes on the black market (there's a black market for everything, and Africa is the place) in order to raise operational funds, since Al-Qaeda is no longer paying the Cable Bill.
I fear the sensationalist approach to this story has everyday folks wondering if one of these planes is going to be used to crash into big buildings somewhere. Its certainly possible, but highly unlikely. Whether its one plane or 11, a suicidal pilot is needed, and probably a suicidal co-pilot/navigator as well, and a decent amount of aviation fuel (assuming the plane would be flying from inside Libya and out over the Mediterranean). Then the bad guys have to deal with post -9/11 enhanced radar capabilities. Regardless of the approach or the altitude, I can't imagine an unidentified plane even getting close to a European population center. And its not only the voice identification issue. Planes communicate recognition signals without involvement from the cabin crew, not to mention the GPS in each engine. I cannot hypothesize a situation in which an unidentified commercial-sized jet can get past both NATO and whichever respective European Air Force. On the other hand, it might be possible to pull something off if the target is an African city. But what would be the motivation or the purpose?
Watching Libya as it descends back into chaos is depressing. Its nearly impossible to separate some of the groups that are fighting each other, and the names seem to change on a weekly basis. A day doesn't go by that I don't think of Libya. I lost a friend in Benghazi and I can only hope that I will eventually reconcile myself to those events. One lesson I learned about myself: I can't outrun nightmares. The Libyan people are stuck in what seems like an open-ended nightmare, and its sad that it takes the death of 4 heroes to get people talking about events in Benghazi, or Tripoli, or Surt. As for the missing planes, I pray that the story ends with the location and neutralization of each one of those potential weapons.
God Bless James Foley and Steven Sotloff.
Initially I had planned to blog about another subject this evening, but a friend brought this
One thing the continent of Africa does not need is more planes. I like to joke that Africa is truly the place old planes go to die. The next time you are looking to kill a few hours on the computer, cruise over to Google Earth and have a look at the various airports that serve the cities of Africa. Start off with Khartoum, then maybe Ouagadougou or Bangui, and notice all the rusting hulks of abandoned planes that litter the periphery of the runway. When a manufacturer like Boeing or Airbus (or Vickers just to be fair to our British friends) ceases production of a particular model, you can count the years before it starts appearing in Africa in significant numbers. It happened with the Boeing 707, various Lockheed models, and the Airbus 300. Not surprisingly Africa is littered with Russian junk, some of still flying. The point is, once an airliner is too old to be useful, or is no longer able to meet safety or EPA (or the EU version of the EPA) standards, it has a good chance of ending up in the third world, where safety regulations are usually seen as "suggestions". In my soon-to-be-released book I made a point to tell a few "flying in Africa" stories, some of which will leave you in stitches. I could personally take you to acquaintances in at least 10 African countries who would be able to sell you a Boeing or an Airbus or a McDonald Douglas jet and hand you the keys before the sun goes down (provided you have the cash up-front). The point is, the bad guys do not have trouble finding planes to buy. For a legitimate terrorist group, it would not be necessary to steal planes from the runway in Tripoli. Let's have a look at the group that seems to be responsible for the missing planes.
The Masked Men Brigade (MMB) is a small terrorist group that split from "Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb" (AQIM) in 2012 and formed it own group, lead by a particularly nasty character named Mokhtar Belmokhtar. If in fact MMB is in possession of the missing planes, then we must assume they found persons who were able to fly and navigate the jets to pre-designated locations (its a bit trickier than flying a carpet, I'm told). Its possible that MMB just happened to be the last Jihadi group standing after the battle for the airport, and got lucky enough to round up enough pilots. But why take 11 planes? Why not just 2 or 3? Its very possible that the intention was to sell the planes on the black market (there's a black market for everything, and Africa is the place) in order to raise operational funds, since Al-Qaeda is no longer paying the Cable Bill.
I fear the sensationalist approach to this story has everyday folks wondering if one of these planes is going to be used to crash into big buildings somewhere. Its certainly possible, but highly unlikely. Whether its one plane or 11, a suicidal pilot is needed, and probably a suicidal co-pilot/navigator as well, and a decent amount of aviation fuel (assuming the plane would be flying from inside Libya and out over the Mediterranean). Then the bad guys have to deal with post -9/11 enhanced radar capabilities. Regardless of the approach or the altitude, I can't imagine an unidentified plane even getting close to a European population center. And its not only the voice identification issue. Planes communicate recognition signals without involvement from the cabin crew, not to mention the GPS in each engine. I cannot hypothesize a situation in which an unidentified commercial-sized jet can get past both NATO and whichever respective European Air Force. On the other hand, it might be possible to pull something off if the target is an African city. But what would be the motivation or the purpose?
Watching Libya as it descends back into chaos is depressing. Its nearly impossible to separate some of the groups that are fighting each other, and the names seem to change on a weekly basis. A day doesn't go by that I don't think of Libya. I lost a friend in Benghazi and I can only hope that I will eventually reconcile myself to those events. One lesson I learned about myself: I can't outrun nightmares. The Libyan people are stuck in what seems like an open-ended nightmare, and its sad that it takes the death of 4 heroes to get people talking about events in Benghazi, or Tripoli, or Surt. As for the missing planes, I pray that the story ends with the location and neutralization of each one of those potential weapons.
God Bless James Foley and Steven Sotloff.
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