[tomder55]

That the world is dividing into a 21st century version of Allies V Axis nations is no secret . China /Russia /North Korea /Iran and a host of other bad actors on one side . The US /EU/India (maybe) /Japan /Australia and a host of other nations on the other side.

In Beijing, Xi and Putin left no question of their close alignment in a divided world | CNN

China Reaches out to Russia, North Korea as US Cements Trilateral Partnership With Japan, Philippines – The Diplomat

The Axis of Upheaval: How America’s Adversaries Are Uniting to Overturn the Global Order (foreignaffairs.com)

America, Australia, UK expand military tech, information sharing in Indo-Pacific region | Fortune Asia

Suspicious of China, Philippines Expands US Military Presence (voanews.com)

Japan-U.S. Extended Deterrence Dialogue | Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (mofa.go.jp)

What is not as well reported is that both sides have been shaping the battlefield already.

This is being done with cyber as well as direct attacks .

We may deny it all we want to ;but the other side doesn't even try to pretend according to 'The Economist' .

"Germany arrested two German-Russian dual nationals on suspicion of plotting attacks on American military facilities and other targets on behalf of the GRU, Russia's military intelligence agency. Poland arrested a man who was preparing to pass the GRU information on Rzeszow airport, the most important hub for military aid to Ukraine. Britain charged several men over an earlier arson attack in March on a Ukrainian-owned logistics firm in London whose Spanish depot was also targeted."

Russia is ramping up sabotage across Europe (economist.com)

At the Cyber-UK Conference Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ.....the equivalent of the US National Security Agency NSA ) Director Anne Keast-Butler said

"Before, Russia simply created the right environments for these groups to operate, but now they are nurturing and inspiring these non-state cyber actors in some cases seemingly coordinating physical attacks against the West."

She also called out China

“Russia and Iran pose immediate threats. But China is the epoch-defining challenge,” Keast-Butler said.
“We now devote more resource to China than any other single mission,” she told the CyberUK conference in Birmingham. “Through their coercive and destabilizing actions, the PRC (People’s Republic of China) poses a significant risk to international norms and values.
“In cyberspace, we believe that the PRC’s irresponsible actions weaken the security of the internet for all. China has built an advanced set of cyber capabilities and is taking advantage of a growing commercial ecosystem of hacking outfits and data brokers at its disposal.”

China an ‘epoch-defining challenge,’ new UK spy boss warns – POLITICO

FBI Director Chris Wray issued similar warnings

"The PRC [People's Republic of China] has made it clear that it considers every sector that makes our society run as fair game in its bid to dominate on the world stage, and that its plan is to land low blows against civilian infrastructure to try to induce panic and break America's will to resist,"

Wray: Chinese Government Poses 'Broad and Unrelenting' Threat to U.S. Critical Infrastructure — FBI

It takes two to tango ;and the west had done it's share of covert mischief .

As Russian troops press ahead with a grinding campaign to seize eastern Ukraine, the nation’s ability to resist the onslaught depends more than ever on help from the United States and its allies — including a stealthy network of commandos and spies rushing to provide weapons, intelligence and training, according to U.S. and European officials.
Much of this work happens outside Ukraine, at bases in Germany, France and Britain, for example. But even as the Biden administration has declared it will not deploy American troops to Ukraine, some C.I.A. personnel have continued to operate in the country secretly, mostly in the capital, Kyiv, directing much of the vast amounts of intelligence the United States is sharing with Ukrainian forces, according to current and former officials.

Commando Network Coordinates Flow of Weapons in Ukraine, Officials Say - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

The campaign involves long standing sleeper cells that the allied spy service has activated to hinder Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine by waging a secret war behind Russian lines.

Years in the planning, the campaign is responsible for many of the unexplained explosions and other mishaps that have befallen the Russian military industrial complex since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February, according to three former U.S. intelligence officials, two former U.S. military officials and a U.S. person who has been briefed on the campaign. The former officials declined to identify specific targets for the CIA-directed campaign, but railway bridges, fuel depots and power plants in Russia have all been damaged in unexplained incidents since the Kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February.

The CIA is using a European NATO ally’s spy service to conduct a covert sabotage campaign inside Russia under the agency’s direction, according to former U.S. intelligence and military officials. | Jack Murphy (archive.org)

Who destroyed Nord Stream pipelines ? It could be anyone ;but Russia sabotaging it sounds absurd. As noted before Seymore Hersh pointed the finger at the US . The Washington Compost playing cover blames it on a rogue Ukraine officer .

Ukrainian military officer coordinated Nord Stream pipeline attack that shocked and mystified the West - The Washington Post

Russia invaded Ukraine with limited goals . But now Russia believes that they are at war with the west .

Kremlin, in change of language, says Russia is 'at war' due to West's role in Ukraine | Reuters

We are not yet in the 'find a safe place in your basement to bend over and kiss your a$$ goodby' mode yet. But when the grid gets disrupted ;or that wild fire mysteriously ignites ; or barges suddenly start striking bridges it may not be a coincidence .

Ship that struck Baltimore bridge had 4 blackouts before disaster | AP News

Barge hits bridge in Texas, causing oil spill – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth (nbcdfw.com)

[jlisenbe]

Just when we need a Churchill or a Reagan, we are now facing an election between Trump and Biden. One could certainly suspect that God has withdrawn His blessing from our country.

[tomder55]

[tomder55]

Breaking


helicopter carrying President of Iran Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic Hossein Amir-Abdollahian is reported to have crashed or had a hard landing in a remote area of the country .


Iran President Raisi's helicopter crashes, search and rescue efforts under way - YouTube

The IRGC is deploying throughout the country in the possibility this is a coup .

The people are in mourning ( /sarc)

(1) Visegrád 24 on X: "People in Iran are setting off fireworks after hearing that the helicopter of the President of the Islamic Regime in Iran has crashed https://t.co/1LxgDMAzR0" / X


(1) Masih Alinejad 🏳️ on X: "“Celebratory fireworks light up the sky in Iran following the helicopter crash involving President Raisi and Foreign Minister Abdollahian. In the video, a woman says, ‘I hope the report of his demise becomes true.’ #Iran #BreakingNews” https://t.co/FJUk7Yp0EZ" / X


(1) Iran News Wire on X: "Even the teams looking for the remains of Raisi's helicopter are smiling. 😉 https://t.co/UAuXRhPADw" / X

[jlisenbe]

Here we are several hours later, and still no news concerning the outcome. Strange.

[jlisenbe]

As I understand it, it is now being reported that there are no survivors at the crash site.

[tomder55]

yes Iran state media confirms this

Iran's President Raisi dead in helicopter crash, Iranian state media reports (msn.com)

It could be weather related . But this comes in the backdrop that Raisi was returning from Azerbaijan.

Reports say that things were cooling down from a 2 year border crisis that saw military drills conducted on both sides of the border .

January 27 of last year the Azerbaijan embassy in Iran was terror attacked . A gunman entered the embassy and opened fire with an AK . The embassy was recently reopened

Going deeper ; Azerbaijan is a pro western secular state . They are also allied with Israel and provide oil to them .Israel provides weapons to them and the weapons helped them retake the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region from Armenia.



Part of traditional Azerbaijan is inside the Iran territory .Ethnic Azerbaijanis are treated as second class citizens in Iran.

And of course Azerbaijan sits smack in the middle of proposed pipelines from the Caspian Sea to Europe that would bypass Russia and Iran.

It is a very complex geopolitical situation .
So yeah the weather may have been the only factor .

[tomder55]

US UN Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield stood for a moment of silence with the rest of the UN Security Council in memory of that a&& wipe murdering scumbag Ebrahim Raisi aka the butcher of Tehran. Disgusting ! Any decent person would've given a standing ovation.

[tomder55]

This would be a good time for our nation to recommit our support for the dissidents in Iran . We blew our chances a few times ;the last one being when Iran erupted in protests after Mahsa Amini was arrested and murdered for not wearing her hijab correctly in 2022

What you did not hear about it from the compliant press ?

Clueless Joe paid lip service to it while speaking about Ukraine and climate change at the UN September 2022


"the brave citizens and the brave women who right now are demonstrating to secure their basic rights”

Remarks by President Biden Before the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly | The White House

America did not pay attention and I doubt will pay attention as again the Iranian people attempt to break free. No doubt the US will instead deliver pallets of $$ cash ;tribute in honor of the butcher of Tehran

We can help and maybe just maybe the American people would if they were made aware of the brave sacrifices ;especially Iranian women make and the risks they take .