Catching Up On War: Black Sea Drones, Middle East
Since yesterday there has been a bit of a buzz to the effect that Russia is going to start addressing the use of US/NATO drones serving to target attacks on Russian assets—both in Crimea and further inland. This change in Russia’s policy is supposed to be a response to NATO escalations. This morning there were even reports that Russia had shot down a US drone. So far, the most reliable information appears to be this:
MOSCOW, June 5 – RIA Novosti. The American strategic reconnaissance drone RQ-4B Global Hawk with the call sign Forte12 is flying in the Black Sea approximately 250 kilometers from Yalta.
Yalta is at about the southern tip of Crimea.
Military expert Alexander Zimovsky:
250 km from Yalta this is practically the Turkish coast (in any case, territorial waters). Today, the Americans are using new tactics for flying AWACS RQ-4B Global Hawk in the direction of Crimea and the Azov-Black Sea coast of the Russian Federation. Operators bring the UAV to the calculated point of the reconnaissance route and turn off the identification transponder. This makes it difficult for us to identify the aircraft. In the event of a hypothetical threat of our interception, the Global Hawk is immediately withdrawn under the protection of the territorial airspace of Turkey/Romania/Bulgaria. https://t.me/vicktop55/24824
In other words, the US may be adopting a more cautious drone policy. We shall see.
In the Middle East, some clarity may be emerging. But then again, maybe not.
A few days ago I did a post and some followup regarding the reports that the USS Eisenhower had been hit by a Houthi missile. A primary source maintaining that this did, indeed, happen has been MenschOsint. He continues to maintain that something did occur to the Ike. His reasoning is that for 6 days the regular daily resupply flights to the Ike were put on hold, while the plane sat at the airport in Jeddah:
UPDATE: C2 Greyhound "RG05" (162161) leaving Jeddah to the USS Eisenhower Aircraft Carrier's deck, after 6 days without a visit.
So what has the Ike been up to, heading north away from Yemen at flank speed?
Recall that when Iran was scheduled to respond to Israel’s attack on Iran’s embassy in Damascus, the Ike and some of its destroyer guardians moved north to lend their planes and AEGIS radar capabilities to the Israeli air defense.
Recall, also, that Doug Macgregor has repeatedly stated that Israel has no chance of “destroying” Hezbollah—it’s stated goal—without US air support, including B-52s. The US has moved two B-52s into the area as of yesterday. It begins to look like the Ike may be part of that developing strategy—perhaps of deterrence aimed at Iran and Hezbollah.
The US clearly, IMO, doesn’t want an explosive war developing that could engulf the entire Middle East. Israel wants that war, in order to bring the US in. To that end, Israel has escalated its attacks on Iranian personnel in Syria. Iran is now promising retaliation, while Israel rattles its sabers at Hezbollah. It seems clear that Israel is again attempting to escalate in such a way that the Neocon regime in DC will be forced to enter a regional war in the Middle East—at a minimum—so that Israel can have Uncle destroy its enemies. Something Israel cannot do on its own. So:
MenchOsint @MenchOsint
Commander of the IRGC General Hossein Salami on the Israeli aggression on Aleppo:
"The criminal Zionists will pay the price for shedding the blood of innocents in this crime, and they must wait for the response."
3:19 AM · Jun 5, 2024
Quds News Network @QudsNen
BREAKING: Israeli Army Radio reports that the government has decided to call up an additional 50,000 reserve IOF soldiers in preparation for any escalation on the Lebanon front.
Will Schryver comments on the escalated Israeli rhetoric:
Will Schryver @imetatronink
Israel has suffered severe losses in Gaza over the past 8 months, against lightly armed Hamas militia.
The IDF got bloodied BAD in Lebanon in 2006.
Hezbollah in 2024 is an order of magnitude more militarily potent.
Israel is significantly weaker.
This could get ugly fast.
Meanwhile, the border war continues:
BREAKING:
Israel is once again using convention-banned white phosphorus in South Lebanon - Human Rights Watch. Israel is using white phosphorus more frequently and that on densely populated areas where it is full of civilians, according to Human Rights Watch. They say that "Israel's recent use of white phosphorus in Lebanon should motivate other countries to take immediate action." http://t.me/megatron_ron
BREAKING:
Hezbollah has directly struck the IDF barracks in Horfish, leading to casualties, and ambulances are currently on their way.
Israeli sources are reporting that a Hezbollah loitering drone struck the base.
Some reports suggest upwards of 10 casualties, with at least 3 being serious injuries, possibly deaths. @Middle_East_Spectator
MenschOsint is on board with me:
MenchOsint @MenchOsint ·
2h
 The last time the USS Eisenhower went further north was in April, to defend Israel against Iranian retaliation.
Is the US Navy aware of something ? Or is it simply taking distance after Yemen's attacks ? Or both ?
It must give us great pause, listening to Macgregor, Sachs and others - who would stay the madmen in DC and Europe from going to war over “the dead puppet” of Ukraine - on the eve of the 80th anniversary of Operation Overlord, to remember that 80 years ago the Russians were our allies and sacrificed 27 million of their citizens and soldiers fighting the Nazis. Among those dug in along the Atlantic Wall were very young Ukrainian soldiers who had helped Rommel build it. They fought side-by-side with the Germans against the advancing American, British and Canadian forces. And here we are, after the sacrifices of Omaha, Utah, Gold, Juno and Sword, hell-bent on enacting an old plan of Rumsfeld and Brzezinski (per Sachs on the Duran) to carve up Russia even if it leads to a nuclear exchange. How can this be? History stood on its head, seemingly without meaning. When I think of the rows of gravestones at Omaha, and the obcene and fanatical war now being dragged out for cold political calculus by a côterie of maniacs, “the spear-tip of the hegemon,” I weep.