Turkey: Beware of Islamists Bearing Gifts ‘Russian Oligarchs Are Welcome in Turkey’ by Burak Bekdil

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18416/turkey-islamists-bearing-gifts

Then there was what turned out to be a myth about the success of Turkish drones used by the Ukrainian army inflicting “huge” damage on the invading Russian columns. Drones, regardless of their capabilities, cannot be game-changers in a conflict with such vastly asymmetrical military might. The West must send jets, tanks, anti-aircraft, anti-armor and anti-ship missiles, and other weapons to Ukraine to repel Russia’s Chinese-backed aggression — fast — or the US and Europe will soon find themselves enmeshed in wars even messier to fight.

What else does Erdoğan — who is and always has been ideologically anti-Western — think he can win from the West by his hoax charm offensive?

Erdoğan seems to think that just because the madman of Russia did something mad, he, the president of Turkey, can once again fool the West by posing as a pro-Western ally. Let’s do a reality check….

Believing that the TB2 unmanned aerial vehicles could be game-changers in Ukraine is similar to thinking that the Turkish drones could be used to stop a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.

In an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal, former CIA official Paul Kolbe suggested that “Turkey should send Ukraine the Russian-made S-400 missile defense systems.” Turkey said, however, that it dismissed the idea of transferring those systems to Ukraine to help Kyiv resist Russian troops.

The West’s primary weapon against the Russian aggression is sanctions. Who is in it? And who is not? As Western governments targeted Roman Abramovich and several other Russian oligarchs with sanctions to isolate Putin and his allies — but not most Russian oligarchs or businesses — a second super-yacht linked to the Russian billionaire docked in a Turkish resort. In addition, no one seems to be touching the $700 million yacht docked in Italy and reportedly owned by Putin.

A source in Ankara told Reuters that given the sanctions imposed elsewhere, Abramovich and other wealthy Russians were looking to invest in Turkey…. Another source in Ankara said Turkey was not currently considering joining the sanctions action against Russia and was expecting wealthy Russians to purchase assets and make investments.

Turkey apparently hopes to get all it can from this “Christian-to-Christian” conflict: Let the infidels destroy each other as Turkey cashes in with geostrategic gains and spill-over Russian business from the West.

Few people could imagine that on a cold March day in Turkey’s capital, Ankara, the presidential corps, after more than a decade of hostility to its neighbor Israel, would welcome Israeli President Isaac Herzog by playing Israel’s national anthem, Hatikva, with two presidential guards holding Turkish and Israeli flags on horseback. Pundits were quick to talk about a “reset in relations,” or a “historic visit.” Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said he now intends to host Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in Ankara.

Points that Putin Apologists Miss by Amir Taheri

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/18415/putin-apologists

The second charge related to NATO’s alleged rush to included Ukraine, or what [Professor John] Mearsheimer calls “reckless expansion”, provoked Putin is equally absurd.

For almost two decades, Russia made no objection to NATO enlargement that included former members of the Warsaw Pact. Under Putin, Russia even concluded a deal for cooperation with NATO on issues of mutual security with the Helsinki Accords as historic reference. In 2002, Putin met NATO Secretary-General George (Lord) Robinson and quipped that “maybe it is time NATO invited Russia to become a member.”

In NATO’s 2008 Bucharest summit, both Georgia and Ukraine expressed the desire to apply for membership but were quietly told not to submit formal applications. The undeclared reason was the persistence of irredentist problems both had with Russia. Putin interpreted that as a rebuff to Kiev and Tbilisi by NATO and invaded Georgia, snatching South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

What would Putin do if China invaded Russia to regain control of territory that was once Chinese?

If we accept that what once belonged to one state can never belong to another, Crimea must be handed over to Turkey as successor to the Ottoman caliphate….

Who do you think is to blame for the war in Ukraine?

For the Blame-America-International the answer is simple: the culprit is the United States.

Putin Should Have Brushed Up on His Clausewitz: Robert Kaplan

https://quadrant.org.au/opinion/qed/2022/04/putin-should-have-brushed-up-on-his-clausewitz/

“The one lesson to be learned from this blatant land-grabbing invasion driven by nationalistic factors is that history repeats itself as both tragedy and farce. Clausewitz, as ever, could have predicted the outcome. Whatever happens, the Free World is behind the Ukrainians in their determination to defend their land. If the axiom that generals are always fighting the last war is applied, it would seem that this has been ignored by the Russian High Command – and to their cost. Whatever is to follow, we are seeing Stalingrad in reverse.”

Everything in war is very simple. But the simplest thing is difficult.
                                                                                   –– Carl von Clausewitz

Six weeks after the Russian invasion of the Ukraine, both military experts and the watching public are more than a little surprised at developments and reconsidering views of fixed certainty that preceded the invasion. Against all odds and contrary to what was expected, the Ukrainians, with a far smaller army and less access to the latest in high-tech weapons, have more than held their own, preventing the Russians from taking any major cities, taking a great toll of their armour and planes and, of late, even advancing from their defensive lines.

None of this was supposed to happen. According to the rules of war, superiority in numbers is essential for victory: “Quantity equals quantity,” Stalin is reported to have said. The blitzkrieg plan was intended to destroy Ukraine’s airfields and air force, followed by an onslaught of armour and infantry supported by drone, artillery and missiles to take the capital Kyiv.

Far from it. Hand-held missiles have contained the airborne onslaught – Russian planes are now rarely seen –  as well as destroying many helicopters. Taking into account that truth is the first casualty, media photos have shown so many shots of destroyed Russian tanks and armoured vehicles that it is clear the armed fist of the invading force has lost its potency. In addition, hordes of soldiers have deserted, surrendered or been captured. Nor have the invaders presented an image of determination or aggression; rather, they come across as frightened and distraught young men bewildered to even be in a war, not having been told before that they were in an invasion. The interviews of tearful lads appealing to their mothers is not a good look in a well-drilled, disciplined and motivated army.

Another Chapter in the Climate War Against Democracy and Prosperity Biden SEC regulations continue costly climate folly. By Peter Murphy

https://amgreatness.com/2022/04/09/another-chapter-in-the-climate-war-against-democracy-and-prosperity/

Last month the Biden Administration unveiled the latest chapter in its climate war against democracy and Americans’ standard of living. The federal Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed a series of new regulations on publicly traded companies to disclose “climate-related risks” and impact, each company’s green-house gas emissions, and a plethora of other costly compliance mandates.

The purpose of the new rules on “environmental, social, and governance” (ESG) issues is not subtle. The SEC states it is for “increasing investor focus and reliance on climate and ESG-related disclosure and investment.” The SEC’s enforcement division also promised “the use of sophisticated data analysis to mine and assess information across [businesses], to identify potential violations.”

American capitalism and freedom, fueled by abundant fossil fuel energy, has brought prosperity to scores of millions of Americans and produced the world’s largest middle class. It has been under attack by Joe Biden’s army of bureaucrats and climate supporters. This current example will force the private sector to steer resources where the government demands. To drive home the point, the SEC promises to comb through and sniff out companies in search of violators and apostates to its climate edicts.  

Right on schedule, coinciding with the Biden Administration’s actions are the spoiled suburbanite snowflake class of credulous protesters demanding banks and financial institutions divest from oil, gas, and coal companies.

America is well on the way to a Chinese-style “capitalism.”

FBI Kidnapping Caper Was Flagrant Election Interference The only people pushing to do something big before Election Day resided in the J. Edgar Hoover Building in Washington, D.C. By Julie Kelly

https://amgreatness.com/2022/04/09/fbi-kidnapping-caper-was-flagrant-election-interference

On October 8, 2020, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced shocking news: federal authorities had arrested several men for conspiring to kidnap and possibly kill her before Election Day. After indulging in a moment of self-pity, Whitmer quickly pinned the blame on President Trump, a man with whom Whitmer had engaged in a very public feud throughout 2020 over pandemic-related lockdowns.

Trump, Whitmer claimed, fueled the rage of alleged white supremacists and right-wing militias responsible for the dastardly abduction plot. “When our leaders meet with, encourage, or fraternize with domestic terrorists, they legitimze their actions,” Whitmer said in a televised speech. “And they are complicit.”

Earlier that day, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, also a Democrat, and officials from the U.S. Department of Justice detailed the charges in a separate press conference. “Last night, the FBI and Michigan State Police arrested six individuals charged in a criminal complaint with conspiring to kidnap the governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer,” explained Andrew Birge, assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan. The defendants, Birge claimed, plotted to kidnap Whitmer from her vacation cottage “before the November election.”

His office took the lead in prosecuting the six defendants, who also faced weapons of mass destruction charges.

Justice Has Been and Will Be a Long Time Coming No movement without recognized legitimacy can last. That’s the good news. The bad news is that “not lasting” can describe a lengthy and turbulent time. By Roger Kimball

https://amgreatness.com/2022/04/09/justice-has-been-and-will-be-a-long-time-coming/

On Friday, April 8, the biggest domestic news came from Grand Rapids, Michigan. On that day the world learned that a jury had voted unanimously to acquit Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta of conspiring to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer in the fall of 2020. The verdict, as Julie Kelly noted in her column for American Greatness that day, was a “huge defeat for the U.S. Department of Justice.” One can only hope. It was also a huge, if tardy and incomplete, win for justice, lower case, no “Department of” preceding the noun. 

Kelly recounts the sordid details of this saga of FBI entrapment, deep-state political maneuvering, and media malpractice. The case made national headlines and, coming when it did, just before the 2020 presidential election, was clearly designed to affect public sentiment regarding the Donald Trump campaign. “Heavens help us! Troglodytic Trump supporters are trying to kidnap noble Democratic public servants! Can you believe it?” 

Turns out you would have been foolish to believe it. But in retrospect, it seems clear that it was a sort of dry-run for that later entertainment, the January 6 worse-than-Pearl-Harbor or 9/11, Civil-War-like “insurrection” and/or attempt to “overturn the election” and/or overthrow “our democracy” at the U.S. Capitol. 

There were some two dozen people involved in the “Plot to Kidnap Gretchen Whitmer” saga. Fully 12 were FBI assets. They were not there to infiltrate the loser militia members. They were there to egg them on. The FBI helped to define and finance the plot from the beginning. They even set up a fake “militia” for the others to rally around. They also helped to equip, not to mention bribe, the motley crew whom they assembled for the caper. The FBI did not uncover a plot. They were prime movers in fomenting a plot. They did not so much uncover evidence against the plotters as they entrapped them. And it’s not as if this is a one off. It is part of a pattern of abuse and irresponsibility. As the Wall Street Journal’s Holmon Hunt put it last fall, “The agency should be scrapped and something new built to replace it.”

We do not yet know the full extent of government involvement in the January 6 jamboree, but I would not be at all surprised to learn that it was premeditated, extensive, and criminal.

Has the FBI ever before looked this pitiful? By Pete McArdle

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/04/has_the_fbi_ever_before_looked_this_pitiful.html

It’s one thing for the FBI, once considered the pre-eminent law enforcement agency in the world, to turn to the dark side and become the secret police of the Democrat party.  Again and again, the FBI has shown its partisan colors, overlooking obvious Democrat criminality (see Clinton, Hillary and Biden, Hunter) while chasing after Donald Trump and his supporters like Brian Stelter chasing down a Mister Softee truck for seconds.

But although it’s unsettling to know that the FBI is only supporting one side of the political aisle, what’s truly incredible is how bad the Feebs are at partisan warfare.  Forget stopping actual terrorists, like the ones involved in 9/11, Orlando, and San Bernadino; recent history tells us the Bureau can’t even run a coup right.

Under a previous director as tall as he was self-righteous, the FBI tried to take down presidential candidate Donald Trump (R-MAGA) with the infamous Russia Collusion scam.  But what a lousy effort it was!

The FBI case, such as it was, relied primarily on a dossier —French for “phony opposition research” — centered on a supposed video of prostitutes wetting the bed in a Moscow hotel for Donald Trump’s entertainment.  Talk about purple prose!  I’ve written stuff that lurid and bizarre, but sadly, it never gets published.

Although not-so-special agent Peter Strzok told his horse-faced FBI side piece, “Don’t worry, we’ll stop it (Trump becoming president),” the Feebs’ pathetic plot fell apart, and Trump was elected.

Life in the terror wave By Barry Shaw

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/04/life_in_the_terror_wave.html

Go have a beer and get murdered.

They sat in a restaurant and got murdered.

They went down for a walk with the baby and got murdered.

Went shopping for the holiday and got murdered.

Ride a bicycle and get murdered.

She was filling her car with gas and got murdered.

Walked down the street and got murdered.

Crossed the road and got murdered.

Celebrate with friends and get murdered.

They were on their way to school and were murdered.

They drove home in a car and got murdered.

This is what happens if you are an Israeli.

Don’t believe them when our murderers tell you they are the victims of our violence and oppression.

They lie to you even as they kill us.

Bill Clinton’s supreme NATO screw-up comes back to haunt us By Francis P. Sempa

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2022/04/bill_clintons_supreme_nato_screwup_comes_back_to_haunt_us.html

Writing in the foreign policy mouthpiece of the Biden administration and the Democratic Party, The Atlantic, former president Bill Clinton attempts to defend his decision to begin the post–Cold War expansion of NATO by naming the members of his foreign policy team, especially the late Madeleine Albright, who supported this move against the advice of George F. Kennan — who knew more about Russia and its history and culture than all of Clinton’s advisers combined.

Clinton claims that his approach to Russia and Europe was to “work for the best while preparing for the worst.”  The “best” was helping Russia become a “functioning democracy,” and the “worst” was to expand NATO in case Russia returned to “ultranationalism.”  Clinton writes that he was convinced that Boris Yeltsin would continue Russia along the path toward democracy and cooperation with the West, but he didn’t know who would succeed Yeltsin, so he decided that NATO expansion into lands that had for centuries been considered in Russia’s sphere of influence would serve as insurance against the possibility of Russian nationalist revanchism. Apparently, Clinton and his “brilliant” foreign policy team — Albright, Strobe Talbot, Warren Christopher, Sandy Berger, Anthony Lake — failed to consider whether NATO expansion might produce or at least intensify the very Russian revanchism they sought to prevent.

But the very notion that Russia was headed in the political direction of Western-style “democracy” shows how out of touch Clinton and his foreign policy team were.  This American hubris was reminiscent of FDR’s “hunch” that he could persuade Joseph Stalin to promote postwar stability, or of Woodrow Wilson’s belief that Lenin’s Bolsheviks, who had thrown off Russia’s imperial yoke, were bringing more freedom to Russia; or of Barack Obama’s puzzled reaction to Russia’s invasion of Crimea in 2014 as a misplaced legacy of the 19th century.  George Kennan knew better.

CROSSING A LINE IN COVERAGE OF THE TEL-AVIV CARNAGE: RUTHIE BLUM

https://www.jns.org/opinion/crossing-a-line-in-coverage-of-the-tel-aviv-carnage/

Reporters rushed to Tel Aviv on Thursday night to cover the shooting at the Ilka pub on Dizengoff Street. Less than half an hour after the deadly spree, cameras and microphones flooded the vicinity, and the whole country tuned in to watch.
The hunger for information surrounding the event, coupled with a touch of voyeurism, was unavoidable. The gunning down of young people enjoying a night out at a bar would be cause for fear and curiosity under any circumstances. But the fact that this was the fourth such act of “lone wolf” carnage carried out in the Jewish state in little more than two weeks—following fatal assaults in Bnei Brak on March 29, Hadera on March 27 and Beersheva on March 22—made the entire episode even worse.
As if the incident in itself weren’t horrifying enough—particularly as Tel Aviv residents were instructed to hole up in their homes and the city’s public transportation was halted—the terrorist was on the loose. In fact, he would remain at large until early the next morning, when he was finally located in Jaffa and eliminated during a battle with Israeli forces.
This was what set apart the Tel Aviv attack from the other three. In each previous case, the terrorist was neutralized while in the process of murdering his victims. Here, the perpetrator, 28-year-old Ra’ad Hazem from Jenin, managed to slip away among the throngs of diners and passersby, some busy administering first aid to the wounded and others fleeing for dear life.
The pandemonium was palpable as various units of the Israel Police, Israel Defense Forces and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) arrived en masse to scour the area for the terrorist. This was compounded by the presence of the press.
Until the TV channels ended their special broadcasts at 2 a.m., they all had reporters on the scene, who were interfering with the men and women in uniform. One correspondent went as far as to tail soldiers on a door-to-door search for the terrorist, with a camera rolling on their faces and weapons.
Another actually stepped over police tape with her cameraman, so that he could zoom in on the broken glass and blood stains on the pavement outside the pub. As a police officer grabbed her arm and pulled her away, she continued her breathless babbling.