On 11 May, in Reyhanli, Turkey, on the border with Syria, twin car bombs killed 51 people and wounded many others.

According to The Economist, 18 May: “… locals, blame the interventionist policies of Turkey’s prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.”  They went on to report that the blasts ripped out the commercial center of Reyhanli which until recently had been a bastion of Mr. Erdogan’s Justice and Development (AK) party.

Reyhanli and other nearby villages are the homes to thousands of Syrian refugees and the rebel opposition to the Syrian regime. Locals vented their rage at the Syrians after the bombings and caused many Syrians to flee.

A local newspaper editor, Hasan Ozdemir, said: “Arming the opposition fighters and providing them haven …was the worse blunder of all.”

Turkey has embraced an explicit policy of regime change in Syria and opened its doors to thousands of refugees. The Turks deny arming the rebels but some rebel groups are praising Turkey for the assistance to the fight.

Many in Turkey are unhappy at the influx of foreign jihadist fearing they will infect local communities. Many fear that the blow back for the support to the rebels will affect the chances of Erdogan’s chances for reelection next year.

Some think that Turkey could become another Pakistan with sectarian tension with the Turkish majority Sunnis and the small Alawite (Shi’ite) who are fiercely loyal to Assad.

However, a Muslim cleric living in the U.S., Fetullah Gullen, wields surprising political power in Turkey. Hr recently gave a sermon in Pennsylvania, where he broadcast from his website warning against hubris. Mr. Gulen is the spiritual leader of a global network, the Hizmet (meaning service), that includes media outlets, schools, and charities. The party of Erdogan, AK, and the Gulenist joined forces against the generals for the election in 2007.

It remains to be seen if Erdogan can continue to support the Syrian rebels or he has to pull back to maintain political support at home.

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The Guantanamo hunger strike is not a precedent setting news event.

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) in a UK jail started with Bobby Sands refusing food on 1 March 1981. Sands decided that other IRA prisoners should join the strike at staggered intervals in order to maximize publicity with prisoners steadily deteriorating successively over several months.

The significance of the hunger strike was the prisoners’ aim of being declared political prisoners (or prisoners of war) as opposed to criminals. The Washington Post reported that the primary aim of the hunger strike was to generate international publicity.

Sands died on 5 May 1981 in Maze, UK, prison hospital after 66 days of hunger-striking, aged 27.

Nine of Sands’ IRA comrades followed, refusing to eat until they too made the final trek from their cells in the notorious Maze prison to their plots in a cemetery.

The hunger strike in Guantanamo for Islamic Jihadist who was captured while using arms against the U.S. continues.
Fayiz Al-Kandari is one of an estimated 100 men on hunger strike at the Guantanamo terrorist prison camp, isolated on the tip of Cuba. Of that number, whose two-month starvation protest has created news headlines around the world, 100 out of the 166 prisoners are following some form of hunger strike. It is reported that only 12 are being force fed continually and the others are eating a little…

In the decade of the War on Terror Guantanamo is the site of an out-of-jurisdiction prison camp for suspected Islamist militants captured during the “war on terror” has the base been featured so prominently in the headlines that many think the hunger strike is something new.

It is surprisingly that the strike did not begin about issues with their treatment. Nor did it immediately involve larger numbers of detainees. Statements from prisoners passed on by their lawyers, and declassified for release, show that on Feb. 6 there was an intensive search of prisoner accommodations at Camp Six where the most dangerous inmates are kept.

Inmates were ordered outside and personal items, such as letters, toothbrushes and books, were searched and some confiscated.

The hunger strike is nothing more than an attempt by the Jihadist to gain attention to be released or for the U.S. to close Guantanamo. Force feeding can be very painful but better than let them die a martyr’s death.

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A number of U.S. politicians and news media, to include the New York Times, have called for the removal of Iraq’s PM Nuri Kamal Al Maliki.

The New York Times printed a story by Nussaibah Younis “ Why Maliki Must Go”:  “Nobody wants another civil war in Iraq, yet events are propelling it in that direction. War can be averted only by a new political understanding among three main groups, Sunni Arabs, Shiite Arabs and Kurds but Nuri Kamal al-Maliki has become too divisive to deliver it.”

But who will take his place?

Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, a Sunni, remains in exile, having fled the bogus charges on terrorism and then been given a death sentence in absentia. Similar moves to charge Finance Minister Rafe al-Essawi, a moderate Sunni, led to the protests and riots that have now engulfed Iraq’s Sunni heartland and alienated other communities. An army response to a protest encampment caused more violence.

While Iraq is now governed by Shiite Muslims in line with the Iranian Shiite regime, Maliki has allow3d Iranian aircraft to fly over Iraq to provide arms and other support to the Bashar al-Assad Shiite forces.

In Syria, President al-Assad¹s forces appeared to be closing in on rebel strong holes in a key area of the battered city of Homs.

The Syrian army, supported by Iranian al Qods forces and Hezbollah fighters, has taken control of large parts of the Wadi al-Sayeh district in Homs,

After previously having rejected the idea to support the Syrian rebels, President Barrack Obama¹s deputies were now discussing the option of providing weapons to Syria¹s outgunned opposition, according to Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.

Iran will support Assad to the last Syrian and now they have to support Maliki.

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Talk is cheap and the Administration’s “red line” may have been just talk. The Administration has long said that the US would regard the use of chemical weapons in Syria as crossing “red line.” Whatever that means?

Reports of evidence of the Syrian use of a nerve agent have come from the UK, France, Israel and even some US Intelligence agencies.

According to The Economist magazine, Israeli Intelligence sources have revealed that satellite images and witness testimony have conclusively proven the Syrian use of a nerve agent. Photographs showing victims with constricted pupils and foam coming from their mouths are consistent with nerve agent poisoning.

The news media has given full coverage to the Opposition claims of last week that the suburbs of Damascus had over 250 people killed – mostly civilians. The death toll now ranges from 70,000 to 80,000 killed and over 23 million refugees in the two year old Civil War.

Chemical weapons are not easily used on a battlefield but do spread terror among the population. Additionally, Mr. Bashar Assad may have used a small amount of chemical weapons to test the reaction of the Administration.

If he used chemical weapons and the West does nothing, his regime is likely to assume there is no concern for Western intervention.

As the conflict drags on the rebels are increasingly being taken over by radical Islamist.

Unfortunately, the Administration’s hollow threat in Syria may have long range consequences in Iran and their nuclear bomb building.

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The results of Venezuela’s recent election saw the Hugo Chavez hand-picked candidate win by less than 2% of the votes. Chavez had won his last election with a double digit victory.

The close result would seem to be a dramatic shift away from chavismo politics.

In the last four months since Chavez’s death the winner, Mr. Nicolos Mudaro, a former bus driver but foreign minister under Chavez, has seen two currency devaluations and a rise in inflation.

Of course the president-elect has accused the U.S. of being behind a coup plot. There has to be a bogie-man to blame his poor showing and failing economy.

The government’s adherence to expropriation of private companies and strict price controls and exchange controls has brought inflation to 25% and a major fiscal deficit.

After the election the government can hardly claim a mandate for the “irreversible socialist revolution.”

Instead it seems to be ready to impose its will by force.

The Venezuelan military is headed by Chavez supporters and have had no comments on the election. All general officers owe their positions to Chavez. It will be interesting to see if the junior to middle ranked officers are under the chavismo influence.

Venezuela is once again on the brink of chaos.

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According to the Department of Defense (DoD) comptroller the Pentagon is looking to reduce the size of its nearly 800,000 civilian workforce by 40,000 to 50,000 employees over the next five years, mainly through attrition as it closes bases and consolidates healthcare facilities,.

Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel in his first major policy address said that the DoD has been preparing for this inevitable downturn in defense budgets, and has taken significant steps to reduce spending and adapt to the new strategic environment.

The first place to start is the heavy general officers in all Services. The US Air Force leads the pack with 315 general officers and this is one per every 1,o45 airmen. The army with more troops has only one per 1,764.

Some are foolishly talking about a study to look at reducing the bloated DoD civilian and military personnel system.

There are already plenty of studies, internally and externally, that recommend that the DoD’s personnel system needs a total overhaul

Hagel said that with full recognition for the great stresses that our troops and their families have been under for nearly twelve years of war, and for the essential contributions civilian employees make to the department’s mission, fiscal realities demand another hard look at personnel – how many people we have both military and civilian, how many we need, what these people do, and how we compensate them for their work, service, and loyalty with pay, benefits and health care.  This will involve asking tough questions such as:

•           What is the right mix of civilian and military personnel across the Department and its various components?

•           Within the force, what is the right balance between officers and enlisted?

•           Without necessarily accepting the oft-stated claim that there are more than 300,000 service members performing civilian and commercial functions, what is the appropriate distribution of troops performing combat, support and administrative duties?

Donald Vandergriff said that in 1988 a DoD IG study recommended a 50% reduction of two star positions/headquarters and above,

saying that many are redundant and counterproductive. He went on to say that most of the current high level GSs and SESs, along 

with military people are extremely risk averse, inward focused and self-serving individuals. If they do not get threatened by being fired or get

 removed and replaced with real leaders with the character to put the nation first, nothing will get beyond the great sounding names on power 

point presentations.

Col. G. I. Wilson, USMC (Ret) said that the bloated overhead of all the Services is staggering and needs real streamlining and DoD needs fewer senior officers, along with Service headquarters. It seems that we have over sized staffs where everyone is an event specialist. Wilson went on to say that a great start would be a 20% reduction by all the services in the D.C. area staffs and a 20% reduction in military personnel working on the Hill to include the so called “fellowships.

With fewer senior personnel and essential staff, perhaps prioirities will be set and the most important and pressing tasks would be attended to. Now the headquarters large staffs take care of everything in an endless to-do-loop with not much getting done.

Something has to be done.

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The rebel opposition battling Bashar Assad’s regime in Syria are steadily gaining military and diplomatic ground, but in-fighting and divisions among the factions is causing mounting anxiety in the West. The Syrian National Coalition, which replaced the Syrian National Council, has been given a diplomatic boost in terms of recognition. Last December more than 100 governments met in Marrakesh and recognized the coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people.

Meanwhile Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia have backed the rebels with arms and money.

The Coalition elected as its head, Moaz Al Khatib who was thought to be the best man for the job but on 24 March he resigned. It is still not sure if her intends to follow through or has had a change of heart. Mr. Khatib led the Coalition to an Arab League meeting on 26 March in Qatar.

The only public aim of the U.S. seems to be to counter the Assad allies who are still helping his regime.

Mr. John Kerry, new U.S. Secretary of State, on trip to Baghdad, failed to persuade the Iraq government to stop letting Iranian planes fly over Iraq to deliver arms and ammunition to Assad. Iraq is all but an open Iranian ally and both are tied by religion with Assad. The Kerry failure is the continued fall out of the failed Mr. Joe Biden mission to secure a Status of Forces agreement last year. Accordingly, we have no influence in Iraq

Islamic extremist rebels are better armed and organized and some Western arms are falling into the hands of the extremist. Those who chastise the West for its lack of firm support to the rebels, as the war drags on, fear the extremist like Al Qaeda linked groups and the Muslim Brotherhood are getting the upper hand.

Negotiations to settle the war and remove Assad still look unlikely in the near future because the Assad forces are still entrenched in its strongholds.

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The Muslim Brotherhood has proven to be the most organized movement associated bith the ”Arab Spring.” They have taken over 50% of the seats in the new parliaments in Egypt and Tunisia. In Libya they have done less well getting only a fifth of the votes.

However, the Justice and Construction party, Muslim Brotherhood, in Libya is planning for the next round. They are organizaing for the effort now. Outside Tripoli, the capitol, the Brotherhood is opening offices in many small towns and organizing the vote for the next election.

Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi has threatened to take unspecified steps to “protect this nation” after violent demonstrations against his Muslim Brotherhood that the opposition said heralded a crackdown.

In remarks following clashes outside the Brotherhood’s Cairo headquarters on Friday, Mursi warned that “necessary measures” would be taken against anyone shown to be involved in what he described as violence and rioting.

The main problem is that the opposition is so splintered with too many opposition groups and candidates running for elections. No way they can match the Brotherhood organization as they fight among themselves.

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Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, son-in-law of Osama bin Laden, who was once the spokesman for Al Qaeda, was apprehended in Jordan after he reportedly left Iran.

There has always been a very perplexing relationship between Al Qaeda and Iran. Not the least of which Iran is Shi’ite and Al Qaeda is Sunni. It would be foolish to think that Iran and Al Qaeda have been at odds with each other.

What is the old saying: The enemy of my enemy is my friend? Or something like that.

Open U.S. intelligence reports are saying Iran has had some Al Qaeda members living in Iran who fled Afghanistan after the invasion. Originally they were reported under house arrest but most recently have been allowed them to come and go. There are some reports that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps is now even part of the Al Qaeda management council.

Mr. Sulaiman was believed to be a member of the management council in Iran. No word yet why he left.

There is no doubt that Osama bin Laden was never in Iran. It seems that bin Laden was living in Pakistan for 10 years before he was killed. No doubt the ISI was helping him. After all some reports held that the ISI were his patrons for money, arms and training while he was in Afghanistan.

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What is causing all the mass shootings in America?

Last year alone there were the terrible mass murder at a movie theater in Colorado last July, another at a Sikh Temple in Wisconsin in August, another at a manufacturing plant in Minneapolis in September, and were almost unbelievable. But the most horrific occurred in December, at the Connecticut elementary school.

It has been reported that since 1982, there have been at least 62 mass shootings across the nation, with the killings in 30 states from Massachusetts to Hawaii. Twenty-five of these mass shootings have occurred just since 2006, and seven took place in 2012.

The FBI crime classifications identifies an individual as a mass murderer, versus a spree killer or a serial killer, if he kills four or more people in a single incident (not including himself).

Each incident of a mass shooting has been given lavish TV new coverage that had many mesmerized to their TV and news papers. Unfortunately, the news media custom for reporting gun violence is called: “if it bleeds it reads.”

The U.S. Congress is reported to have over 200 gun related bills before Congress or in preparation to ban everything from assault weapons to high capacity magazines (meaning any magazine over 10 rounds).

One measure that should be approved is legislation to require everyone who wants to buy a weapon must go through a police background check. Unfortunately, this would not have helped the pupils in Connecticut because the killer stole his mother’s weapons.

What is causing the mass shootings?

Is it guns or is it the news media?

The problem may be that the news media exploitation of the event gives ides to other nut cases. The news media will give the killer lead story reporting for days to include a picture of the killer and gory details of his life and maybe his motives.

Ever wonder why there is always another mass shootings after one nut kills a number of people?

I call it glorification of the killer and the mass shooting.

We need to ban such reporting. Many people want to amend or remove the 2d Amendment. How about changing the 1^st Amendment?

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