Rantburg.com is still going, growing stronger with each passing day. There are some things that need improving, but overall we continue to provide curated news articles on the ongoing war on terror and our government’s war on us.
Fred continues to give us the Bloid and for that we are grateful, but we must ask for donations, if for no other reason than to keep him posting.
#15
Not buying American goods can be done, certainly, with some effort. Canada’s problem is that over 75% of her exports are sold in the U.S., Craing Guelph4483, so American tariffs on Canadian goods is a serious problem for you lot. Sure, China and Japan would be happy to buy Canadian oil and petroleum products, but all the pipelines are pointed in the wrong direction, and it would take years and billions of dollars to reroute. Sawn wood for construction would be easier to redirect, but I understand that is a distant second for Canadian exports.
#16
If you take away petroleum (and I can't see any "unfair" Canadian practices there) Canada's trade surplus goes away.
I simply don't get it. I understand that Trump wants better "deals" with everything he does, but he also destroys a lot of trust. The consequences will be felt later. Canada was just made aware how much it depends on the U.S. and it might want to change that. It may take years, even a decade, but there will be consequences.
The fentanyl argument doesn't hold water, and you know it. Canada has no interest in flooding the U.S. with dangerous drugs. You ask Canada to stop the flow across the U.S. border but you can't do it yourself? Stop the demand, and the flow will stop. Of course better collaboration will always help but tariffs are not the way to do it.
Trump may get some easy "wins", but at a high price to be pais later. Nations don't like to be bullied.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
02/03/2025 6:17 Comments ||
Top||
#17
Someone has read The Prince -
And here comes in the question whether it is better to be loved rather than feared, or feared rather than loved. It might perhaps be answered that we should wish to be both; but since love and fear can hardly exist together, if we must choose between them, it is far safer to be feared than loved.
So much for decades of trying to buy 'love'. America First means just that. We're turning away from wasting our people and resources to 'save the world' particularly when they are not willing to help themselves and operate in their own interests as they have for decades.
#18
RE #16
It would have been far easier for Canada to agree to tighten the border and increase raids on drug dealers than pick a fight with Trump. I suspect there is a lot of Chinese money involved for Justin Trudeau.
There is a back story going on here with Trump and Trudeau. I suppose it will be disclosed soon enough. In the meantime haters will blame the US for everything they perceive wrong in the world.
#19
/\ In the meantime haters will blame the US for everything they perceive wrong in the world.
French in the pudding, not generally found in the Western Provences and territories of the Yukon, Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan.
#21
I simply don't get it. I understand that Trump wants better "deals" with everything he does,
It’s not about trade, European Conservative, though the Canadians have latched onto that idea as fitting their conception of mad President OrangeManBad. Tariffs are just a lever big enough to fix their attention on the problem of Canada securing their side of the border, which means drugs, illegal migrants, and terrorists including jihadis international drug gangs, and very likely infiltrating Chinese soldiers out of uniform. President Trump said so bluntly in his announcement.
Ditto on the Mexico side, where the Mexican government has been — with malice aforethought — enabling the drug gangs to move and traffic illegal migrants, drugs, terrorists, and Chinese soldiers our of uniform through Mexico and around the U.S.
The kinds of things you German conservatives are trying to accomplish against the resistance of the current government.
#22
Maybe if we had US troops guarding our borders instead of being somewhere in the world or more worried about Ukraine's borders, perhaps the fentanyl and illegals might have a tougher chance of getting into the US.
From Truth Social:
I just spoke with President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico. It was a very friendly conversation wherein she agreed to immediately supply 10,000 Mexican Soldiers on the Border separating Mexico and the United States. These soldiers will be specifically designated to stop the flow of fentanyl, and illegal migrants into our Country. We further agreed to immediately pause the anticipated tariffs for a one month period during which we will have negotiations headed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent, and Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, and high-level Representatives of Mexico. I look forward to participating in those negotiations, with President Sheinbaum, as we attempt to achieve a “deal” between our two Countries.
Feb 03, 2025, 10:41 AM
#24
"It’s not about trade..."
Well, it will be when Trump starts to hit the EU with tariffs. I remember last time when the price of fine bourbon exploded. I better stock up now.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
02/03/2025 11:07 Comments ||
Top||
#25
@The Walking Unvaxed
German elections in three weeks.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
02/03/2025 11:08 Comments ||
Top||
#26
And btw I bet Canada will make the same promises. Mexico certainly is the much bigger problem here (with migration and fentanyl).
Posted by: European Conservative ||
02/03/2025 11:11 Comments ||
Top||
#27
Canada has no interest in flooding the U.S. with dangerous drugs. You ask Canada to stop the flow across the U.S. border but you can't do it yourself?
Canada as a nation state has no interest, but China does. It is part of their total war on all fronts philosophy. Plus it makes money. And while Canada itself may have no interest, there are persons and parties in Canada that do. Money, influence, and power. See Mexico for an example of how it all works.
Stopping the cross-border flow is not a civil engineering problem. Otherwise, we could just put up 5,000 miles of wall and fence and call it a day. It is going to take police work and intelligence on the Canadian side to bring down the distribution systems. And it will take a Canadian Trump to deal with the government corruption that supports the rotten mess.
#29
Ultimately the drug problem is not supply but demand. With synthetic drugs, things are going to get a lot uglier unfortunately. What can be done in Mexico (and to a much lesser extent in Canada), can be done in the U.S. as well.
Fentanyl ist starting to appear in Germany, too, often sent by mail from China.
We need a united front against China.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
02/03/2025 11:19 Comments ||
Top||
#30
Btw we have a "No China Policy" in our company. We don't buy from China, and we don't sell to China. And it's not that they haven't asked.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
02/03/2025 11:23 Comments ||
Top||
#31
@The Walking Unvaxed
German elections in three weeks.
I'm praying for your country EC. But your conservatives are like our Democrats.
#32
We’ve been praying for Germany alongside prayers for America and Israel for years. May this election be the one where the voters finally drive out the selfish idiots of your major parties.
#33
"But your conservatives are like our Democrats."
Not this one.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
02/03/2025 12:41 Comments ||
Top||
#34
To be fair, it’s not been long since our Republicans were an awful lot like our Democrats, too — just with added impulse toward business and sort of balancing budgets. See President George W. Bush and Jeb!
[Garowe] The US Africa Command conducted rare Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s against ISIS in Puntland ...a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998. Puntland and the equally autonomous Somaliland seem to have avoided the clan rivalries and warlordism that have typified the rest of Somalia, which puts both places high on the list for Islamic subversion... , perhaps the second time the team is targeting the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... murderous Moslems in the Horn of Africa, leading to the death of several bad boys, including senior commanders.
In May 2024, the US Africa Command launched an airstrike within the Puntland mountains, which is said to have targeted Abdulkadir Mumin, the global leader of ISIS. Although initial reports indicated he died, other theories suggest he survived the attack.
On Saturday, the US army returned to Puntland mountains targeting ISIS 'planner' whose name was not immediately revealed. Several bad boyz were potted in the encounter, President Donald Trump ...dictatorial for repealing some (but not all) of the diktats of his predecessor, misogynistic because he likes pretty girls, homophobic because he doesn't think gender bending should be mandatory, truly a man for all seasons... said.
Saturday's airstrike, the first against IS in Somalia so far this year, was carried out by fighter jets launched from the USS Harry S. Truman, currently in the Red Sea, according to defense officials who spoke to VOA on the condition of anonymity to discuss details of the operation.
The US Army used FA-18 Super Hornets from the USS Harry S Truman, per a defense official. The outing was strongly recommended by President Donald Trump who has declared war against global terrorists.
General Adan Abdi Hashi, commander of the Puntland Dervish Forces said the airstrikes targeted at least 10 locations of the Islamic State murderous Moslems in the Cal-Miskaad hills, which is part of the Bari region.
"The strikes targeted about 10 locations in the Cal-Miskaad areas, most of them caves, and we believe that many of the murderous Moslems were killed," said the general.
In Qandala, a small town within the Bari region, residents told VOA on the condition of anonymity because they feared for their lives, that they could see from the distance plumes of smoke and flames, and that they could hear at least seven huge explosions.
The airstrikes came at the time the Puntland military was pursuing ISIS murderous Moslems in the Cal-Miskaad mountains. Puntland confirmed that both the US and United Arab Emirates have been critical in aerial surveillance.
[Rudaw] The Khor Mor gas field in Sulaimani province was targeted in an attack on Sunday. The strike did not cause any casualties, according to the natural resources ministry. Rudaw has learned that the attack was carried out by a drone.
"At 7:05 pm today, a drone attack was carried out on the Khor Mor gas field, without causing any damage to the field or the gas company. Gas production at the Khor Mor field is normal, and gas pressure to power generation stations remains normal so far. An assessment of the material damages from the attack is being conducted," Kurdistan Region’s natural resources ministry said in a statement.
Khor Mor gas field is located in Sulaimani province’s Chamchamal district and is operated by the UAE-based Dana Gas.
Sulaimani-based Kurdistan Special Counter-Terrorism (CTG) blamed "militia groups and outlaws" for the drone attack on Khor Mor gas field.
Shakir Shakir, head of Dana Gas' Iraq branch, tells Rudaw that the production of gas at Khor Mor field was "unaffected."
An eyewitness told Rudaw on the condition of anonymity that "a black smoke rose from the targeted site."
A member of the field's security team stated that they were working to protect the staff by evacuating them from the danger zone.
Chamchamal mayor Ramk Ramazan that the drone had "hit outside the camp."
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudan ...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans... i directed the formation of a technical committee to investigate the attack, said the federal Security Media Cell in a statement, adding that the strike "resulted in a minor fire near the fuel tank affecting it."
Sudani is also the commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
"We emphasize that any attempt to sabotage the country's economy and harm the people's livelihood and interests is an attempt targeting all Iraqis, and this matter will not be allowed by our security forces, which will work to follow up on all details of this incident. They are capable of restraining all cheap attempts and punishing anyone who attempts to tamper with the country's economic security," added the cell.
The field was frequently attacked by Katyusha rockets and suicide drones in recent years and the Kurdish authorities blamed Iran-backed militia groups.
A drone on the field in April last year killed four Yemen ...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of... i nationals.
Khor Mor field produces 452 million standard cubic feet of gas per day, according to Dana Gas. The gas is a key fuel source for electricity generation plants in the Kurdistan Region.
[Rudaw] At least seven "terrorists" were killed in an earlier Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... between the northern provinces of Kirkuk and Salahaddin, Iraqi security forces said on Sunday.
An Iraqi airstrike on Friday targeted suspected Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that they were al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're really very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear western pols talk they're not really Moslems.... (ISIS) positions in the Zarka area between Salahaddin and Kirkuk, ... a thick stew of Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, and probably Antarcticans, all of them mutually hostile most of the time... the latest as Baghdad continues cracking down on jihadist cells, particularly in the country’s rural areas in the north and center.
"7 bodies of terrorists, including those wearing boom belts, in addition to various weapons, logistical materials, devices, criminal evidence, and other materials" were found as security forces arrived at the site on Sunday to inspect the aftermath of the strike, Iraq’s Security Media Cell said in a statement.
[IsraelTimes] Law enforcement over the weekend uncovered a stash of firearms smuggled in from Jordan, according to a police spokesman.
Border Police found the smuggled arms as they were being transported in two vehicles through the northern city of Afula. Upon stopping the cars, officers discovered the weapons stash, which consisted of 34 pistols, two Kalashnikov rifles and two M16 rifles.
Police arrested the drivers and passengers, three residents of Zarzir, whom they suspect were involved in the smuggling, says the spokesman.
[IsraelTimes] More than 100 wanted Palestinians detained, some 40 weapons seized and 80 explosives neutralized during ‘Operation Iron Wall’ in Jenin, Tulkarem, and Tamun in northern West Bank
The Israel Defense Forces said Sunday that it has killed over 50 Paleostinian terror operatives in the northern West Bank since launching a major counterterrorism offensive nearly two weeks ago.
Over 35 button men were killed by troops during operations in Jenin, Tulkarem, and the Tamun area, while another 15 were killed in dronezaps, the military said.
The IDF has acknowledged mistakenly killing several civilians amid the operation, including a toddler.
More than 100 wanted Paleostinians have been detained, and troops have seized some 40 weapons and neutralized over 80 bombs during the operation, according to the IDF.
The offensive, dubbed Operation Iron Wall, was launched on January 21, and the military expects it to last several more weeks.
The operation, which has primarily focused on the city and refugee camp of Jenin, was expanded to Tulkarem last week, and to Tamun on Saturday night.
The IDF says it demolished 23 buildings in the West Bank’s Jenin refugee camp which were used by terror operatives.
Troops have scanned hundreds of buildings in Jenin during an ongoing raid there, locating bomb-making labs, caches of weapons, and command centers, the military says.
The army publishes footage showing the detonation.
Huge columns of smoke billowed over the surrounding area following the blasts.
The Paleostinian official news agency, WAFA, said Israeli forces "simultaneously detonated about 20 buildings" in the eastern part of Jenin refugee camp, adding that the "explosions were heard throughout the city of Jenin and parts of the neighboring towns."
Witnesses reported a "large" deployment of Israeli forces in the morning around the towns of Tubas and Tamun, southeast of Jenin.
The Palestinian health ministry said that an elderly man — named as Walid Lahlouh, 73 — was killed by Israeli fire in Jenin on Sunday. There was no immediate comment from the IDF.
DRONE STRIKES IN QABATIYA, JENIN
The IDF also confirmed Sunday that it had targeted Palestinian terrorists in three separate aerial strikes, within several hours, in the northern West Bank, on Saturday night, including a cell that was on its way to carry out an imminent attack, confirming that it took out a prisoner set free as part of a 2023 deal with Hamas.
The military said the strike on the cell on its way to carry out a terror attack occurred in Qabatiya, with secondary explosions observed as a result of bombs that were in the car going off.
That strike, the IDF said, killed terror operatives Salah Zakarneh and Abd al-Hadi Kamil, the latter of whom was released as part of a hostage deal in November 2023.
The IDF published footage of the Qabatiya strike.
The two other strikes occurred in Jenin, the army said, adding that they targeted two armed terror cells.
The Paleostinian Authority health ministry reported two killed in the Qabatiya strike, two killed in one of the Jenin strikes, and 16-year-old Ahmad al-Sadi killed in the other Jenin strike along with others critically maimed.
SETTLERS SAID TO TORCH MOSQUE
Israeli settlers set fire to a mosque overnight Saturday-Sunday in the Bedouin village of Arab al-Mleihat northwest of the West Bank city of Jericho, according to Paleostinian media reports.
A group of settlers poured a flammable liquid inside the building in the early hours of Sunday morning, setting it ablaze and destroying it completely, according to Hassan Mleihat, an official from the local al-Baydar Organization for the Defense of Bedouin Rights, speaking to The Times of Israel.
No casualties were reported in the incident, and no evidence was presented for the accusation against settlers.
However,
the hip bone's connected to the leg bone... a video circulating on social media of a large burning structure purported to show the incident.
Mleihat said that the Bedouin hamlet has been exposed to harassment by settlers in the past three years. Last September, 50 goats were poisoned there, the man recounts. The community is situated in a remote location and is far from the reach of fire trucks and rescue services, he added.
The Israel Police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Since October 7, 2023, troops have arrested some 6,000 wanted Paleostinians across the West Bank, including more than 2,350 affiliated with Hamas ..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,... According to the Paleostinian Authority health ministry, more than 858 West Bank Paleostinians have been killed in that time. The IDF says the vast majority of them were button men killed in exchanges of fire, rioters who clashed with troops or forces of Evil carrying out attacks.
During the same period, 46 people, including Israeli security personnel, have been killed in terror attacks in Israel and the West Bank. Another eight members of the security forces were killed in festivities with terror operatives in the West Bank.
Since October 7, the IDF has carried out more than 100 Arclight airstrike ...KABOOM!... s in the West Bank, using drones, attack helicopters, and fighter jets.
[IsraelTimes] Military stresses it took measures to mitigate civilian injures; vehicle was moving along coastal road designated for pedestrian traffic only, bypassing security checks
The IDF said it carried out a drone strike in central Gaza on Sunday, hitting a vehicle that attempted to travel to the Strip’s north without undergoing a security inspection, in violation of the ceasefire agreement with Hamas.
The military stressed it took steps to mitigate civilian harm in the strike, including by using precision munition and aerial surveillance.
“The IDF is prepared for any scenario and will continue to take any necessary actions to thwart any immediate threat to IDF soldiers,” it said, giving no details on the impact of the strike or on any casualties.
The vehicle had been driving on the coastal road, which is only permitted for pedestrian traffic under the deal.
Palestinian media reported that a vehicle was struck on Gaza’s coastal road, near Nuseirat. Reports said up to four people were injured.
Under the ceasefire deal, vehicles are allowed to travel to northern Gaza only via the Salah a-Din road, where they undergo an inspection, and not via the coastal road.
The ceasefire exempts Palestinians traveling on foot from inspections, though they are not supposed to be carrying weapons.
On the Salah a-Din road, private US and Egyptian security companies are inspecting Palestinian cars heading north.
Israel has repeatedly said it will determinedly enforce the terms of the ceasefire reached last month, in particular regarding the movement of traffic from south Gaza to the north.
During the 15 months of fighting, Israel was wary about allowing the movement of Gazans from the south to the north fearing Hamas would use the opportunity to reposition its fighters.
[IsraelTimes] Touring IDF posts after deadline to withdraw troops was delayed, defense minister says ‘either there won’t be drones, or there won’t be Hezbollah’
Defense Minister Israel Katz threatened on Sunday that Hezbollah would pay a “very heavy price” if it continued to launch drones at Israel despite the ceasefire deal.
According to Katz’s office, the defense minister visited southern Lebanon on Sunday, touring IDF positions there alongside senior military commanders to monitor the implementation of the extension of the truce.
Under the original terms of the deal, signed between Israel and Lebanon in late November, Israeli troops and Hezbollah forces were both supposed to withdraw from southern Lebanon by January 26. Last month, Israel said it would instead remain in the area through February 18, accusing Hezbollah of not vacating the area and saying the Lebanese army was not deploying quickly enough to replace it.
How much would you bet neither Hezbollah nor the Lebanese army meets the new deadline as well, dear Reader? Or the deadline after that?
“In recent days we have seen attempts to launch drones at Israel,” Katz said Sunday. “I want to send a clear message from here to Hezbollah and the Lebanese government: Israel won’t agree to drones being launched from Lebanon. We won’t allow a return to the reality of October 7, [2023]. We will foil threats and respond with full force.”
On Thursday the IDF said it shot down a drone launched by Hezbollah for the first time since the ceasefire went into effect. Later that night, Israeli fighter jets carried out airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in eastern Lebanon.
“Either there won’t be drones, or there won’t be Hezbollah,” Katz said. “I suggest that the successor to the successor of [slain Hezbollah leader Hassan] Nasrallah not underestimate Israel’s determination as his predecessors did, lest he pay a very heavy price.”
Israel killed Nasrallah in an airstrike in September, and a week later, killed Hashem Safieddine, who had been seen as a likely successor as Hezbollah secretary-general. The group is currently headed by Naim Qassem, who is slated to give a public speech Sunday evening.
On Sunday morning, Lebanese media reported that the Israeli Navy detained a fisherman off the coast of Naqoura in southern Lebanon.
Earlier, reports in Lebanon claimed Israeli forces opened fire on civilians attempting to return to the border village of Yaroun. There was no immediate comment from the IDF on the incidents.
The IDF has warned Lebanese residents against returning to south Lebanon villages amid the ongoing ceasefire.
“Do not move south! The IDF is not interested in hurting you. Do not return to your homes until further notice. Anyone who travels south puts themselves at risk,” Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, wrote on X on Sunday morning.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Rantburg.com is still going, growing stronger with each passing day. There are some things that need improving, but overall we continue to provide curated news articles on the ongoing war on terror and our government’s war on us.
...
...a Moslem country located in the Horn of Africa. It is noted for its affinity for rule by ex- or current generals, its holy men, and for the oppression of the native Afro population by its Arab conquerors. South Sudan, populated mostly by the natives, split off from Sudan proper, which left North and South Darfur to be oppressed by the guys with turbans...
...
..not a terrorist organization, even though it kidnaps people, holds hostages, and tries to negotiate by executing them,...
