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Mark Ames

@MarkAmesExiled

I'm sure it's just a coincidence, but not only is IS-K at war with Washington's official enemies Iran & Russia, but also staging ops against Washington's Adversary Number 1, China.

So IS-K is at war with America's 3 main adversaries. Weird how that works.

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According to Lara Logan:

Multiple intel sources: Baltimore bridge collapse was an “absolutely brilliant strategic attack” on US critical infrastructure - most likely cyber - & our intel agencies know it. In information warfare terms, they just divided the US along the Mason Dixon line exactly like the Civil War.

Second busiest strategic roadway in the nation for hazardous material now down for 4-5 years - which is how long they say it will take to recover. Bridge was built specifically to move hazardous material - fuel, diesel, propane gas, nitrogen, highly flammable materials, chemicals and oversized cargo that cannot fit in the tunnels - that supply chain now crippled.

Make no mistake: this was an extraordinary attack in terms of planning, timing & execution.

The two critical components on that bridge are the two load-bearing pylons on each end, closest to the shore. They are bigger, thicker and deeper than anything else. These are the anchor points and they knew that hitting either one one of them would be a fatal wound to the integrity of the bridge.

Half a mile of bridge went in the river - likely you will have to build a new one. Also caused so much damage to the structural integrity of the bottom concrete part that you cannot see & won’t know until they take the wreckage apart. Structural destruction likely absolute.

Attack perfectly targeted.

“They have figured out how to bring us down. As long as you stay away from the teeth of the US military, you can pick the US apart. We are arrogant and ignorant - lethal combination. Obama said they would fundamentally change America and they did. We are in a free-fall ride on a roller coaster right now - no brakes - just picking up speed.”

The footage shows the cargo ship never got in the approach lane in the channel. You have to be in the channel before you get into that turn. Location was precise/deliberate: chose a bend in the river where you have to slow down and commit yourself - once you are committed in that area there is not enough room to maneuver.

Should have had a harbor pilot to pilot the boat. You are not supposed to traverse any obstacles without the harbor pilot.

They chose a full moon so they would have maximum tidal shift - rise and fall. Brisk flow in that river on a normal day & have had a lot of rain recently so water was already moving along at a good pace.

Hit it with enough kinetic energy to knock the load-bearing pylon out from under the highway - which fatally weakens the span and then 50 percent of the bridge fell into the water.

All these factors when you look at it - this is how you teach people how to do this type of attack and there are so few people left in the system who know this. We have a Junior varsity team on the field.

Tremendous navigational obstruction. Huge logistical nightmare to clean this up. Number of dead is tragic but not the whole measure of the attack.

That kind-of bridge constantly under repair - always at night because there is so much traffic and they cannot obstruct that during the day. So concern is for repair guys who were on foot (out of their vehicles) working who may now be in the water - 48 degrees at most at this time of year.

When you choke off Baltimore you have cut the main north-south hazardous corridor (I95) in half. Now has to go around the city - or go somewhere else.

To move some of that cargo through the tunnel you may be able to get a permit but those are slow to get and require an escort system that is expensive and has to be done at night.

For every $100 dollars that goes into the city, $12 comes from shipping. Believe this will cripple the city of Baltimore at a time when they do not have the resources to recover.

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Good thoughts. What's the over/under on when Isis-K will be blamed? I'm guessing 2.5 days.

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author

Can't recommend highly enough:

Scott Ritter: On the Brink of Nuclear War : CIA & MOSCOW ATTACK

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCKOmn_ARYI

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Absolutely a "can't miss." Thanks!

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Seems Scott Ritter believes we are...inexorably...heading towards cataclysm.

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Megatron @Megatron_ron

Borrell says the quiet part out loud:

"We don't care about Ukrainians, we care about our own interests"

"We cannot afford for Russia to win the war, otherwise the US and European interests would be damaged.

It's not a matter of supporting Ukraine because we love Ukrainian people. It's a matter of our own interest."

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…and he still doesn’t make any sense. What do you expect from an elderly Catalan socialist, an oxymoron if there ever was one…

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As with about every disaster, using the 24–72-hour rule before taking a position is a good idea to avoid embarrassment once the evidence has been sifted through. However, as a former ship driver into and out of many WESTPAC ports, one data point I'm not seeing mentioned is whether an anchor was let go to arrest forward movement of the ship. Port entry and exit with restricted maneuvering entails having a ready anchor for just such an emergency - unanticipated loss of propulsion.

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CNN (yeah, I know) reported that the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) (ship's registration authority) said in a statement today that the ship did, in fact, drop anchor upon propulsion loss.

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On the way to town, I heard a report that stated the ship lurched toward the shore before hitting the bridge piling. That would likely have been the effect of the anchor along with any rudder applied. The problem that likely couldn't be overcome by the ship's bridge team was the short remaining distance to the piling and ship's speed with no backing bell available.

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I know that harbor and bridge very well. Had my sailboat in the inner harbor for a few years. If you look at the bridge before it collapsed, the flashing lights just to right of center are construction/maintenance trucks that did not get off the bridge.

The ship is a vehicle carrier: cars that come in from Europe mostly. There may have been a pilot aboard.

The bridge was designed and built 50+ years ago. The ships are bigger/wider now. There are cement pilings that look like feet that are supposed to work as bumpers to keep ships from hitting the bridge itself. The feet on the Key Bridge are antiquated in their size relative to ship sizes.

Also, computers (mandatory) and a pilot are used to navigate in and out of the anchorage’s. The power went out twice, not uncommon, so people trying to take over that late in the process would have been a challenge. It’s a lot like planes these days: small crew and computers run the ship.

Bigger picture: in the DIGITAL paradigm, we are going to have to remember what humans are supposed to do, take responsibility (which the now obsolete Modernity killed) and recognize that the robots need the humans, not the other way around.

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I am normally not a big fan of National Review, but this happens to be a good article on the Baltimore bridge collapse.

https://www.nationalreview.com/the-morning-jolt/what-led-to-the-collapse-of-the-francis-scott-key-bridge/

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Rough day.

1) terrible story for BMore.....the economic damage to a city already struggling is terrible. It will take years to dig out of this hole. Meanwhile other ports will gladly pick up the slack. Side note: Season 2 of The Wire dealt extensively with the hard times for the BMore docks and shipping folks....that was over 20 years ago.

2) Separately, It's so disgusting and disheartening to think that the US is involved in any way with terrorism. Watching Neocon Bitch Supreme Vikki Nuland brag about nasty surprises for Russia a few weeks ago makes we want to puke. If it walks like a duck...

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Mar 26·edited Mar 26

That live video of the barge " losing power" and heading straight for the bridge. Hmm🤔🤔

Has anyone heard from Pete B, Secretary of Transportation today?

X is reporting that Elensky just fired Danilov. Hmm🤔🤔

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Isn't Baltimore port where the Nancy Pelosi family got their criminal start?

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Precedence set by 9/11 and Oct 7

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Let’s go Brandon regime wants WWIII. Hopefully, Putin will continue to show restraint. But by precedence, Russia can now invade and completely destroy any country it declares was responsible

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How does a boat run into by a bridge? Was it a DIE hire?

2024: Expect the Unexpected.

Just goes to show how fragile this so called reality we call an economy really is. Maximize consolidation and centralization and ignore the potential risks. No need for redundancy and alternatives in our centrally planned economy. Good times.

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DEI hire was my 1st thought (but your DIE acronym is more appropriate).

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deletedMar 26·edited Mar 26
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Megatron on X reporting one of the ship pilots was Ukranian

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Shouldn’t he be conscripted?

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deletedMar 26
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Thank you!

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Also surprised that it wasn't some fly-by-night operator, as I'd immediately assumed. Maersk-owned, Synergy-operated, Singapore-flagged. Should have had several mechanical/electronic redundancies and harbor captains/pilots (even if tugs not required at that point) in place to avoid entirely taking out a major port like this. Bizarre.

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