Thursday, January 31, 2013

1/31/2013 Updated 8/18/2016

Iran Proposes Establishment of Islamic Military Alliance

Iran proposed on Saturday that Muslim countries establish a joint military organization to defend each other should the need arise. 
“We have repeatedly said that Iran is ready to transfer its military and defense capabilities to Muslim countries. Whatever we have belong to all Muslim countries,” Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said during a meeting with a number of Quran reciters serving at military organizations across the country. 
He said, “The doctrine of the Islamic Republic of Iran is based on extensive cooperation with Muslim countries, and we believe that Muslim countries must defend their (countries) themselves, and this is why we proposed the establishment of an organization made up of Muslim countries.” 

SOURCE: Tehran Times

Linkhttp://www.tehrantimes.com/politics/105175-iran-proposes-establishment-of-islamic-military-alliance


 Namzu says: " You English Speaking Bipeds  need to take a serious look at this latest proposal from one of the most dangerous Rogue states. Not every Muslim country will rally to the call of Iran. Iran is Persian and not Arab, the Koran is written in Arabic and originates in what is now Saudi Arabia. So Iran is an upstart in claiming some primacy in Muslim theology or political leadership.  However, they will attract a number of Rogue States, Failed States, and they already support the most violent criminal non governmental organizations around. 

 The Dragon represents the Middle Kingdom and without conquering Taiwan, apparently has it doing its' bidding against Japan and the U.S..   The Dragon is the ancient "Middle Kingdom" and intends to not only absorb all of the maritime territory and high seas in the China Seas but to draw all of South East Asia into its sphere of not just influence , but command. So far few of China's neighbors with the possible exception of Taiwan are buying the Dragon's ploy, but the Dragon works at it daily. Now Iran proposes to unite all of the Muslim world behind their banner. They won't succeed but they will attract a few loose ends to their insanity. 

 Their promise to put their defense in the hands of a larger "Muslim" league and share all of their defense technology is a thinly veiled invitation to share whatever nuclear weapon capability they may have or develop. This is a totally new development in the world. Back during the Cold War the Western Alliance and the Soviet Union both were deterred from using Nuclear weapons out of fear and respect for the devastating nation, if not planet killing power they represented. That deterrence known as "mutually assured destruction" kept the Cold War somewhat cold.  Iran and all those attracted to Iran want to immediately use nuclear weapons as soon as they can get their hands on them. Through their cooperation with "Criminal Non Government Organizations" (CNGOs) they hope to escape punishment for the use by creditable denial.  ("It wasn't us it was al Qaida"). Al Qaida will use nuclear weapons as soon as they can obtain them wherever and whenever they can. Remember that you don't need an intercontinental missile or bomber to deliver a nuclear weapon, it can come in any vehicle , vessel, or plane large enough to carry a few steamer trunks.

 In the face of growing alliances of Thug States with rogue states, and separate alliances of Rogue States, Failed States, and CNGOs, is suggesting a much stronger English Speaking Alliance and naval union such a bad idea? There are plenty of well run non English speaking governments on the face of the earth and all are eventually going to be threatened by the Thug/Rogue combinations. Regional alliances like NATO and SEATO and ANZUS help. But at the core of it all, The English speaking nations are the only ones with the real cultural adhesion and lack of language barriers, and pre-existing military technical interoperability to provide a core for the rest of the "Free World" to rally around. Freedom of the seas is threatened as are the "rights of man". The world needs the English speaking community of nations to become a unified unshakable core for the resistance, ....again.

Editor's note: 8/18/2016 al Qaida has been eclipsed in the news by ISIS but is still very much alive especially in Iran where it is protected. al Qaida as well as ISIS has threatened to attack commercial shipping in the Mediterranean and to help flood Europe with "refugees" laced with agents of Islamic terrorist organizations. 
1/31/2013  STATION IDENTIFICATION and NOTICE BOARD (2) Updated News Item


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IN THE BLOG SPACE TODAY:

He's back! If you haven't noticed it yet Namazu is holding forth of the naval short comings of, and naval threats to the "English Speaking World." He started Monday with part one and is already on past part three in what looks like a pretty lengthy "My Dear Bipeds" politically incorrect articulation of profound maritime truth. We know you have heard of "Rogue States" and "Failed States" in the news, but what do you know about "Thug States", "Punk States", and their l;inks to CNGOs )Criminal Nongovernmental Organizations)?  Once again the catfish explains all. 





NAMAZU ADDRESSES THE ENGLISH SPEAKING WORLD PART 3 CNGOs Criminal Nongovernmental Organizations

HOW FAR WILL THE DRAGON SWIM? A continuing series

PIVOT TO THE PACIFIC Link to a special report from the Naval Institute
IN THE BLOG SPACE YESTERDAY

NAMAZU ADDRESSES THE ENGLISH SPEAKING PEOPLES Part 2 Punk and Rogue States

Argentine Destroyer that Lead The Attack on The Falklands Sank At The Dock

USS GUARDIAN AGROUND IN THE PHILIPPINES TO BE BROKEN UP ON SCENE

IN MONDAY's BLOG SPACE:

USS GUARDIAN IS STILL HARD AGROUND IN THE PHILIPPINES, FUEL AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS HAVE BEEN REMOVED AND THE FUEL TANKS FILLED WITH SALT WATER TO HELP STABILIZE THE SHIP. ADDITIONAL SALVAGE CRAFT ARE ENROUTE. BUT THE NAVY HAS ANNOUNCED THAT THE SHIP WILL BE CUT UP ON SCENE AND CAN NOT BE SALVAGED WHOLE.


NAMAZU ADDRESSES THE ENGLISH SPEAKING PEOPLES PART I

SUEZ CANAL TRAFFIC APPEARS NORMAL DESPITE CONFLICT

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IN TODAY's NEWS

ISRAELI NAVY INTERCEPTS SHIP CARRYING ADVANCED WEAPONRY

Anti-aircraft missiles, munitions were destined for Lebanon


Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/01/israeli-navy-intercepts-ship-carrying-advanced-weaponry/#HitTf91QzP7GllfQ.99 

Editors Note: Isreal's Defense Forces neither confirm or deny this report. 




SHIP CARRYING ILLEGAL ARMS SEIZED OFF YEMEN


Yemeni authorities working with the U.S. Navy intercepted a ship carrying a "substantial" cache of "illegal arms" such as surface-to-air missiles, potent explosives and rocket-propelled grenades, a U.S. official and Yemen's government said Monday.
The incident took place in Yemeni territorial waters in the Arabian Sea last Wednesday, according to a statement issued five days later from Yemen's embassy in Washington.
The crew of the USS Farragut, a Naval destroyer, was working with Yemeni authorities when they spotted the vessel, said an official in the Obama administration. The ship had several flags onboard, but no reliable documentation showing where it came from, the official added Monday.
SOURCE: CNN-Link below

1/31/2013 Namazu Speaks to The English Speaking Peoples Part 3

NAMAZU SPEAKS TO THE ENGLISH SPEAKING PEOPLES 

PART 3

 NGOs NON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS

Hello again English speaking bipeds. In the past couple of days we have described Thug States, Punk States, and  Rogue States and how they interact to over tax the naval capabilities of freedom loving peoples, chief among them the English speaking democracies. You English speaking bipeds have been conditioned by your general infotainment media to believe that some sort of new world order emerged after the Cold War. Actually there was just a pause in the relentless attacks on human freedom , freedoms which look an awful lot like "the traditional rights of Englishmen", while the key enemies of freedom realigned. With the Communist government and party bankrupted by the team of Reagan/ Thatcher, Russia was quiet for a time while it made the shift to state/crony capitalism and criminal organization. Then Russia received a real fiscal shot in the arm by the discovery of exportable quantities of oil.

  
File:Thatcher - Reagan c872-9.jpg                         
The Dynamic Commie Fighting Duo                                          Namazu famous admirer of the Dynamic Duo
Photo Courtesy of the Reagan Library



China of course never experienced the fall of the Communist Party, they are still in power, but any ideas of communal society have been abandoned again for a mix of aggressive state and crony capitalism. The Russian Space Agency launches missiles with the sides emblazoned with the Dominos Pizza logos. China's "Peoples's Army" is supported in part by actual businesses owned by the Army. The English speaking peoples, condemned for decades by these two societies as the heartless capitalists, enjoy a much broader security net than the peoples of supposedly "Communists  China". The English speaking peoples are suffering financial difficulties at the moment basically because their governments chose guns and butter. The leading thug states always simply chose guns. This is part of the reason for China's maritime land grab. While some Chinese cities enjoy a growing prosperity, poverty is still grinding and the gap between the rich and the poor widens, with party officials being among the richest of the rich. By blaming the lack of butter on someone other than the one party authoritarian government the one party by any name stays in power longer. With luck great numbers of the people will start to believe that Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam and other neighbors "stole the Chinese patrimony", at the behest of the United States. We described the natural affinity between the Thug states and the Punk states in a previous missive. We also likened the relationship between the Thug/Punk states and the Rogue states as akin to the use of deranged psychopaths occasionally by Mafia Dons in their collection of foot soldiers. The relationship between the Thug states and the Non Governmental Criminal and Terrorist organizations is very much like their relationships with the Rogue States and is often carried out through the Rogue States. 

 NGOs or Non Governmental Organizations include a broad spectrum of organizations. Some like the International Red Cross are benign and useful. Some like Green Peace are well meaning but occasionally endanger the very environment they mean to protect.  Others like many UN humanitarian organizations are well intended but grossly ineffective.  But others like al Qaeda or the IRA , or the Zetas are simply driven by criminal or ideological/criminal intent. Our focus in this discussion is on the criminally inclined NGOs which we will distinguish from the merely benign, ineffective, or well intended but erratic by the acronym CNGO or criminal nongovernmental organization(s). At this stage of the War on Freedom by the Thug States these CNGOs are often the point of the spear. One of the most fearful things about China's naked naval aggression is that it marks a definite escalation  in the Thug State War on Freedom. Thug state actions in the China Seas don't hide behind the plausible denial facade of the CNGOs. In the China Seas the actual Thug State's navy is out front and center and actual Thug State officials are issuing warnings , however thinly veiled to neighbors and to English speaking allies and protectors of the Dragon's neighbors. 

CNGOs were used to trouble the Western Alliance throughout the Cold War.  They have been a plague to Great Britain for more than half a century, and generated countless problems across the Southwest Border of the United States for decades. But on September 11, 2001 the CNGO al Qaeda attacked the United States killing thousands of innocent civilians in New York, and striking a blow at the epicenter of U.S. military organization at the Pentagon. To hit the very heart of the most powerful English speaking nation on earth and to cause thousands of deaths and a years long drop in their stock market, disrupt air travel , and force the nation into a wartime like defensive posture for an expenditure of just a few thousand dollars and a loss of fewer than a dozen terrorist lives was unheard of. In far too many places in the Muslim World there was dancing in the streets, alerting us for the first time of the inroads into the Muslim world the hateful ideology of Iran and al Qaeda have made. The dancing in the streets told us how far and wide al Qaeda's support system and range of free movement were. 

 However, the evidence of collusion by the Taliban then governing Afghanistan was clear and unmistakable. The United States aided by ground and air forces of Great Britain, Canada, New Zealand, France, and Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Norway's "European Participating Air Force" and the contributions of many concerned states including Muslim states (link to complete list of participants in Operation enduring Freedom:) 


quickly routed the Taliban and displaced them with a new Afghanistan government that joined the war effort and will inherit the apparently never ending security operation when the coalition forces withdraw next year. During operation Enduring Freedom even China provided some mine clearance training and police training to Afghan security personnel and Russia provided  medical units and some special forces participation.  It should be noted that while the Thug states are quite willing to make indirect use of CNGOs to further their goals, they usually keep themselves one step removed by dealing with them only when necessary and through punk or rogue states clients that shelter these CNGOs.  The al Qaeda have a special hatred for the Russians and don't like any Communists generally due to their atheism. So occasionally it is to the advantage of the thug states to build credibility with the freedom loving states by throwing in a token contribution to efforts to contain certain CNGO threats. 

 If you do follow the link to all of the participants and contributors to Operation enduring Freedom you can't miss the Muslim states that contributed, the former soviet Union States that contributed or even provided troops as participants. Normally non aligned, India provided naval escorts for supporting allied naval units in the Arabian Sea and despite the fact they are hard pressed to grow their own armed forces lent aircraft to in theater participants. The whole world it seemed came to the effort to expel al Qaeda. But that wasn't the immediate reaction. Pay attention English speaking bipeds to the sequence of events. Immediately after the attacks most of the world made expressions of sympathy for the United States, even some of the Muslim nations where rejoicing in the streets was observed. Moderate governments everywhere began to fear this particular CNGO. The United States was able to make a compelling case for the fact that al Qaeda was aided and abetted in the attack by the Taliban government of Afghanistan. Ready to go it alone if need be the United States announced its avowed intention of rolling over the Taliban regime. The world that had expressed such sympathy did not beat a path to the White House to offer support at first. First Great Britain offered immediate and real assistance including ground troops , then Australia did the same making the effort a three nation endeavor established its international credentials and the world started contributing. 

 Note this English speaking bipeds. In the case of al Qaeda which had made trouble for many inside the Muslim world for years the first attack to draw world attention and condemnation was against the most powerful English speaking democracy. The first nations to take up arms and come to the aid of the United States were middle power English speaking nations with strong naval and expeditionary warfare traditions. Cultural affinity and common language facilitate rapid response. The English speaking world has that, the rest of the freedom loving world belong to no such powerful common language and cultural group. More over, the English speaking nations have a powerful naval tradition that is hundreds of years deep. No other group of people on earth could so readily form a powerful naval union ready to move out on a moment's notice and turn on a dime on directions from a central command. But there is no central command and little deliberate coordination of foreign policy that would create trust in such a central naval coordination command. If the English speaking people don't take advantage of their natural advantages for naval power there is no other force on earth capable of bucking the power of the Thug States and their fellow travelers, the Punk States, Rogue States , the Failed States ( we will address the failed states along with the rise of piracy in the near future). If the English speaking people can unite and face the fact that freedom is again on the block from a thinly disguised alliance of enemies, the rest of the freedom loving world will rally to their aid. The non English speaking democracies and democratic republics are short on real powers out side of France and Germany which often appear dedicated to a vision of freedom aligned with the English Speaking nations. But the French and German speaking worlds have only a few serious middle powers. While France and Germany are presently exhibiting unusual cooperation in the EU, the French and German speaking worlds are culturally very different and their intertwined histories not without major issues. Italy a reliable NATO member, faces a host of seaborne threats and maintains credible coast guard and naval forces but has no common language community of nations to call on to jump start any combined military action in the face of aggression. The Freedom loving world all too often has to wait for a weakening and too loosely bound English speaking community of nations to start the action. 

 Must the Zatas take over Texas and the IRA take over Northern Ireland, and al Qaeda recapture Afghanistan before the English speaking world wakes up to the danger of the CNGOs and sees the relationship between the CNGOs and the Thug States that drive the unrest. Naval strength and closely coordinated foreign policy and naval/military operations among the English speaking states won't convince the Thug States to kill off their mad dog accomplices, frankly their degree of separation is simply too wide to allow for such a fast solution.  But by being strong enough to deter the present naval aggression by the Thug states, we discourage their tacit support of the CNGOs through their client Punk and Rogue States who in turn run short of capital to support CNGOS and find their support of CNGOs to be causing their increasing isolation. Fast reaction expeditionary English speaking coordinated conventional naval power can reduce the CNGO support system down to a point that the CNGOs can be reasonably dealt with by the world's police services. As long as the Thug states believe that a day is coming when they can sweep aside the combined naval power of the English speaking nations their behavior will continue and includes plausible deniability support for the CNGOs that plague free societies.

 English Speaking Bipeds, are you listening? We'll speak again later.

Namazu

Editorial note: Under Namazu's contract we are not allowed to edit his words. We do find him at times to be a bit abrasive. We apologize if anyone is offended. But we have found that even when he states his case with a bit more force and less political correctness than we'd like.....he is usually right. Some people may read him because they hate him, some because they love him, but what our board of directors point to in requiring the editorial staff to honor his contract provisions is simply the fact that people in increasing numbers, every time he appears in our pages, do in fact, read him.  Keep in mind that he is a 3,000 year old catfish roughly the size of Japan and used to being worshiped as a demigod, you generally have to expect some attitude.

1/31/2013 How Far Will The Dragon Swim? China and the Disputed Territories


China to Conduct Naval Drills in Pacific amid Tension


File:Type 051B destroyer.jpg
Chinese Destroyer SHENZHEN DDG 167, Photo by Petty Officer Nathanael T. Miller, USN,  


(Reuters) - Three advanced Chinese warships left port on Wednesday for naval drills and war games in the Western Pacific, and the fleet will likely pass through disputed waters in the East and South China Sea, state media said.


OPINION:

We note that the Dragon intends to carry out the following drills and exercises:


"The fleet will carry out more than 20 types of exercises including naval confrontation, battle drills far out at sea, the protection of maritime rights and command and control," Xinhua cited the Defense Ministry as saying in a statement."

 We note that particularly the "protection of maritime rights" is an exercise of a mission that occurs only where a nation has specific maritime rights. Mostly these missions occur in a nation's territorial sea or exclusive economic zone. Given that Defense ministry has described the exercise zone as areas that are mostly inside the "First Island Chain" as China describes her claim to the entire Pacific out to the beaches of the Philippines this is meant as intimidation, despite China's claim that the exercises are routine. While China is building a fleet of law enforcement vessels for it's several agencies that carry out Coast Guard like functions, its use of it Navy's more powerful combatants for basically sovereignty demonstrations indicates to her troubled neighbors the aggressive intentions of the Peoples Liberation Army's Navy (PLAN). The Dragon's message is clear and these exercises are part of the message; "We assume complete control over the China Seas and whatever Islands you may claim in them, you have no choice in the matter" .  Of course there is still time for Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam and others to make a choice to resist. Japan and the Philippines are starting naval/ coast guard build ups. If China is successful in wresting complete control of the region in violation of International law , the Indian Navy has stated that it will assert Indian national interests in the oil production of the region. So China is facing a rather formidable potential naval coalition before the U.S.Pacific Fleet is figured in. So the disclaimer that the exercise is "routine" is to  delay the formation of a formal naval opposition. It's the Dragon's usual game, divide and conquer. Japan, the Philippines, and the United States don't want war and all too often are ready to believe the Dragon in the hopes that the costs of enforcing International law and honoring defense treaties can be avoided or delayed. China uses the time to build an ever larger force and to wear down its neighbors. It is time to form a formal defensive alliance with all parties including former U.S. enemy Vietnam , and staunch U.S. Alley Australia, and including a firm commitment from usually non aligned India to give the Dragon an alternative. Recognize international transit rights through the area, cease claiming your legitimate national EEZ areas as "territorial waters", stay out of your neighbors recognized EEZs. Where EEZ lines are unsettled submit disputes to international tribunals and abide by their decisions. Or your intruding PLAN and Coast Guard like vessels will be shot into when trespassing. History tells us appeasement doesn't work with thug states.

Wednesday, January 30, 2013


Pivot to the Pacific: What are the Practical and Global Implications?"

Naval Base San Diego NASA Image

On Scene Report Day One  -  January 29, 2013


Adm. James A. Winnefeld, Jr., Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, opened the WEST 2013 convention in San Diego on Tuesday with a sober assessment on the limits of American military power should sequestration become a reality and the Pentagon is forced to cut an additional $500 billion from its budget over the next 10 years.

“We’ll only be able to cover the conflicts we are in and respond to the highest of the high national security interests,” Winnefeld said. “There could be for the first time in my career instances where we may be asked to respond to a crisis and we will have to say that we cannot.”

The military, Winnefeld added, “is in serious risk of rapidly sliding into a hollow force.”

 You may read the rest of the Admiral's speech by clicking on :
Read this and if your are non Naval Institute member of the naval profession, really ask yourself why aren't you a member.

1/30/2013 Namazu Speaks to the English Speaking Bipeds Part 2

American Admiralty Books Safety & Privacy Policies   EU VISITORS WARNING POSSIBLE COOKIES AHEAD


NAMAZU ADDRESSES THE ENGLISH SPEAKING WORLD PART 2: PUNK AND ROGUE STATES




        Namazu , giant catfish former Japanese demigod turned maritime analyst

 Hello My English speaking biped friends. When I last addressed you in Part 1, I described for you how the thug state of China was engaged in a major naval build up and using naval bullying tactics to try and coerce a larger exclusive economic zone, larger territorial sea, and some islands out of some of the Dragon's non English speaking neighbors. However since two of those neighbors are formal allies of the United States, one English speaking naval power is already being sucked into the vortex of maritime unrest in the South and East China Sea Region. Recently China utilized one of its lower ranking senior military officers to deliver a thinly veiled threat in the form of an "academic paper" to English speaking U.S. ally Australia. While the Chinese central government can easily deny that there was anything official about the communique the message to Australia was crystal clear, do not side with America if any naval shooting starts in the China Seas or pay a terrible price, up to and including a nuclear attack. Thug talk from a thug state. The Bear (Russia) is claiming practically the entire Arctic Ocean as its own EEZ almost to Canada's northern beach line. But as I noted these two big thug states are distinguishable from rogue states. 

 The thug states are run by badmen, not madmen, they will respond to certain hard nosed logic. If the English speaking people will stop their naval decline, and then reverse it, the thug states can be backed down. Now China and Russia are not the only Thug states in terms of government and behaviors, there are smaller versions one might call them "punk states" but they can be a drain on naval resources. Consider Argentina and her claims on the Falklands. Anyone who knows the history of the Falklands knows Argentina doesn't have a shred of a claim. But back in the eighties when Argentina felt the once mighty British fleet had floundered they took advantage of their proximity, the only real reason for their claim and invaded. Eventually they were repelled.

 Today as reported recently in our News Section Argentina not only has had foreign courts occasionally detain her war ships for debt, she recently lost a war ship at the dock in Argentina where it sank, basically from neglect. Yet Argentina continues to loudly claim that it is the rightful ruler of the Falklands, if they ever scrape up the funds to float a navy again they will surely invade again if they perceive Great Britain as weak in the naval department, or friendless. This is what we mean by a punk state, bad intentions little capability. But Thug states often will work in concert with punk states to keep an other wise powerful adversary busy away from where they are doing their crime.

 Rogue states are distinguished from Thug states and Punk states by being led by actual madmen. Examples would be North Korea and Iran, but they don't constitute the entire club. However North Korea and Iran present the rest of the World, and especially the English speaking World with unique naval challenges. The English speaking news media of course carries a lot of news about Iran's nuclear threat. But with or without nuclear weapons capability Iran has the means and the will to disrupt the oil trade and commerce in the Persian Gulf. They have the shore side anti ship missile batteries, air craft , and small boat swarms to present a real threat to a Western naval task force, and bog down even a U.S. Carrier task force supported fleet for weeks. Thug states often have relatively good relations with rogue states. If a thug state has intentions on a territory grab and wants a major portion of a Western naval response bogged down one option is coordination of action with a rogue state.

 The United States barely has the naval capability to deal with two major contingencies at once, a third contingency could either require a default or cause a defeat in one or both of the other contingencies. The rest of the English speaking navies range in size from anemic Coast Guards to serious navies with global reach, but rarely the type of global reach that lets them go it alone. The Canadian Navy for example tries to maintain the watch on Canada's three coasts and contribute to the nation's NATO commitment. Canada has contributed to other coalition naval tasks forces in both the Atlantic and Pacific at times. However the Canadian Navy is not capable of mounting a task force capable of facing off with a dominant regional naval power without leaving the homeland virtually unguarded. Since the end of WW II the major English speaking Navies have downsized into forces with limited expeditionary capability. They have been mostly contributors to allied task forces with the United States providing the center pieces.

 The one exception in the relatively recent post WW II history was Great Britain's response to the Falklands invasion. No one came to Britain's direct aid in terms of warships, aircraft, or marines.  The United States and Canada seemed like deer caught in the headlights. The majority of the Organization of American States (OAS) backed Argentina. The U.S.had long ago articulated the Monroe Doctrine, then being thrown in its face by Argentina. Canada had its own political considerations and its usual thin margins in naval resources. Great Britain had to cobble together a task force superior to the Argentine navy  out a combination of combatants  auxiliaries, and merchant ships. Britain suffered losses and it is highly doubtful that she could field as large or as capable a task force today given the continued decline in her naval budget. Great Britain , once the nation that "ruled the waves" by the 1980s was at best a middle power  that was stressed to defeat a punk state, vice a real thug state. The Falklands never should have happened the way that it did.

 Great Britain is a NATO member and had it sovereign territory invaded, though south of NATO's usual areas of operation. By right of treaty she should have been able to call on the fullest possible assistance from any and all of NATO's member states. Certainly the United States and Canada should have responded with immediate real material floating and shooting assistance. Unfortunately some of NATO's members had sympathies with Argentina. The U.S. and Canada had ties with the OAS and just couldn't seem to decide what to do fast enough. One has to wonder what they would have done if great Britain had started to really lose. The Falklands should be an object lesson.

 On both sides of the Atlantic English speaking nations had formed alliances with Spanish speaking nations which several hundred years ago fought Great Britain long and hard over the every concept of freedom of the seas.  These nations had no problem with letting a supposed "neutral", the Pope, draw a line down what they thought was the center of the world ocean and split the globe in two as the private possession of leading states. Freedom of the seas as a concept of international law was won by English blood. Today the states that evolved out of old Rome and speaking the Romance languages only acquiesce to the concept as accepted international law because for hundreds of years the concept was defended by arms wielded by English speaking sailors and marines whenever and where ever it was challenged. The lack of depth in their belief may be seen in the propensity of Spanish speaking states to claim a 200 mile territorial limit after the discovery of outer continental shelf oil and before the International Convention on the Law of the Sea which America did not sign ,limited the territorial sea to 12 miles from the adjacent coastal state's coast line. Despite America's notable absence as a signatory, the last Convention adopted a regime of "graduated sovereignty"  that provided for the management of fisheries, the orderly leasing of mineral exploration and production sites, and still provided for "freedom of the seas" in their traditional role as international highway. This system resembled closely the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act provisions that predated the Convention. The last International Convention on the Law of the Sea was perhaps the last stand for traditional English speaking national views on the law of the sea, and it was less than a complete success.

 Britain had explored the world's oceans in competition with Romance language /civil law states. All of the competing states knew what it was to find an unoccupied land and to make a claim based on sighting, sometimes without even landing. All such states also knew what it was to have their claim ignored by powers who landed and settled and defended. Generations later the accepted rule of international law for inhabited territory is that effective settlement is the only reliable determinant of sovereignty. The people whose ancestors put the sweat and blood into new lands were entitled to determine the sovereign power over their land. There were both English and Latin settlers in the original British licensed settlement of the Falklands. They have chosen now for centuries to be a part of Great Britain. There is no native Falkland independence or pro Argentina political movement on those islands. The move by Argentina was theft pure and simple. And yet the English speaking world did not mobilize a combined fleet to protect the right of self determination of another English speaking people, the Falklanders. Only Britain, the sovereign chosen again and again by the Falklanders came to their defense. The world's impression of the unity and sea power of the English speaking peoples took a blow from which it shows no sign of recovery. In the Falklands War the punk state didn't defeat the English speaking middle power, but it did badly stress it, and showed the world that an English speaking naval power could be made to stand alone.

 The punk state performance in the Falklands was observed with keen interest by the thug states especially China which would relieve Great Britain of Hong Kong without fanfare in 1997. After the Falklands, China was unafraid to press her demands. Britain no longer ruled the waves not as a single nation and obviously not as as a coherent community of nations. There are of course various formal treaties between and among the English speaking nations for mutual defense and naval assistance. Only the overwhelming power of the United States Navy , once approaching 600 of the most advanced war ships in the world and an assumed affinity between the United States and English speaking democracies kept the kleptomaniac thug states inside their own territorial seas until   recent years. As the United States Navy shrank down to a little over 200 war ships the aggressiveness of thug, punk, and rogue states increased proportionately.

 Rogue states like Iran work around sanctions imposed on them by the UN and the West to prevent these madmen from obtaining nuclear weapons by turning to China which finds ways to buy their oil while paying lip service to the sanctions. North Korea has one friend in the world and that is the Dragon. Even the Dragon holds this madhouse at arms length but does nothing to discourage its misbehavior, because that misbehavior taxes the resources of the United States, South Korea and Japan. At any moment North Korea could require the United States to provide sea lift support for 50,000 or more troops. North Korea's tiny navy at first may not look like much of a threat to a  U.S. warship but tiny armed vessels piloted by suicidal operators can score a mission kill just by damaging a war ship, you don't always have to send them to the bottom.  The thug states play with fire when they engage the rogue states, but many a Mafia Don has tolerated the occasional homicidal maniac among his foot soldiers. The thug states can't always play the rogue and punk states exactly as they want, but they only have to get them reasonably well coordinated with their purpose once to win the day. The English speaking world and those allied states in favor of the rule of international law, human rights, and democratic government must guard against the the Thug, Punk, and Rogue states all the time. Unfortunately as the United States Navy has declined, the English speaking nations have not increasingly shouldered more of the cost of their own effective defense. All have done the opposite. Thirty years ago the English speaking people presented to the world a seemingly invincible face. Now that same family of related nations appears diminishing and weakening. My English speaking biped friends you must rally around your naval ensigns, pledge your mutual support and coordination to each other in new and focused ways, build effective navies and coast guards capable of interoperability, and prearrange joint command and control mechanisms.  The Thug, Punk, and Rogue states are circling and you will either win, go down in a blaze of glory together, or be picked apart individually. As a community of nations you need to reach out to India which that old thug Russia is courting.  India should be an honored and important member of the community and their willingness to sacrifice to build a navy as a national priority should be a shinning example to all members of the community.

 As I have said before hang together or prepare to hang separately. But Thug, Punk, and Rogue states are not the only enemies you face. In the future we will talk about failed states, and non state criminal, and terrorist organizations. You the English speaking bipeds must be the glue of civilization. You must become so connected and mutually defensive that you attract the other non English speaking but freedom loving states to alliance with you. They have no where else to go. There is no clash of civilizations, make no mistake about it, the Thug, Punk, Rogue, and Failed States together with the non state  entities plaguing the earth are anti civilization forces. If the Thug states conquer, they will fall on each other afterwards the world will be plunged into a dark age. Unite around a naval union and a naval commitment. The English speaking democracies represent the values that the world's civilized nations value. But only the English speaking nations occupy such a large and wide spread collection of relatively wealthy states. Having a common language allows you to form a true naval union where interoperability can be built from the admiral to the seaman level. If you can cooperate with each other you will really need no one else but for exactly that reason the other civilized states, including those with different levels of commitment to freedom of the seas will flock to you.

More to follow,

Namazu
1/30/2013 Argentina Updated 12/15/2015



Argentine destroyer that led war against Britain sinks, a symbol of decay for once-proud navy



File:ARASantísimaTrinidadD-2.jpg
Photo by Martin Otero, Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic license.American Admiralty Books Safety & Privacy Policies    


Link to full story and ship's history below:  American Admiralty Books Safety & Privacy Policies    





The ARA SANTISIMA TRINIDAD led Argentina’s 1982 sea war against Britain, but has long been mothballed and used for spare parts to sustain what’s left of Argentina’s Navy. In 2013 it sank and at this writing (12/15/2015) it remains lying on its side in the harbor with no attempt at salvage. 
A Navy statement said that a pipe burst, flooding the ship below decks. Defense Minister Arturo Puricelli denied that cuts to the fleet’s maintenance budget were to blame.  
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Tuesday, January 29, 2013

1/29/2013 USS GUARDIAN AGROUND IN PHILIPPINES Updated 12/15/20156


USS GUARDIAN TO BE BROKEN UP AND TAKEN OFF THE REEF IN PIECES.

Project expected to take a month. 

The destroyer USS MUSTIN stands by at left. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Kelby Sanders) 

    " Our only supportable option is to dismantle the damaged ship and remove it in sections,” Capt. Darryn James, spokesman for the U.S. Pacific Fleet, said Jan. 29.

The decision, James said, keeps salvage equipment in deeper water and minimizes further damage to the coral reef.
The salvage plan, he said, aims to “safely remove individual sections of the ship without causing the release of harmful materials.”  from article by Christopher P.Cavas in INTERCEPTS, the official blog of DefenseNews.
 Yesterday we offered the opinion in these pages that the USS GUARDIAN was a "constructive total loss" as the term is used in marine insurance. Today the Navy confirms that the ship is not only a constructive total loss but is physically, scrap. Now that details of the additional inbound salvage vessels are available we can see that the needed vessels for lifting and transporting the ship intact were never on order. Cutting the ship has obviously been the plan for days. 
(OPINION:) The loss of a U.S. Navy combatant ship, even a small mine sweeper should have been  a matter of national concern and attention, especially in the Pacific. 
"The loss of the Guardian is a serious blow for the stressed U.S. mine force, which has been called on to expand operations in the Persian Gulf. Including the Guardian, 12 of the fleet’s fourteen mine countermeasures ships are currently operating overseas or forward-deployed to the Far East or the Persian Gulf region.
The ships, which date from the late 1980s and early 1990s, were to have been replaced by new littoral combat ships, but lengthy delays in fielding new LCSs have led to renewed investment in the older ships, which have been upgraded and improved at considerable expense." from the linked INTERCEPTS article.

Editor's Note 12/15/2015 We've found many of the original stories available on the Internet have been pulled, but a nice summary with links exists on Wikipedia. Follow this link American Admiralty Books Safety & Privacy Policies to read more extensively on this now historical ship loss: Wikipedia on the USS GUARDIAN

Yet we have found that what little media attention there was appeared largely confined to maritime news and naval news sources and internal government "house organs". The idea that the present "Salvage plan", actually more of an "environmental clean up plan" will take a month concerns us. Break up and haul away on a delicate reef are not tasks that can be done in heavy weather. A month of fine weather is a lot to ask for in any part of the ocean. We will continue to follow this story for you simply because it is so important and gets such little attention from the American general media.  We will also follow the investigation which continues..
1/29/2012 Station Identification and Notice Board (2) Updated see news item at bottom of Notice Board


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IN THE BLOG SPACE TODAY:

USS GUARDIAN IS STILL HARD GROUND IN THE PHILIPPINES, FUEL AND HAZARDOUS MATERIALS HAVE BEEN REMOVED AND THE FUEL TANKS FILLED WITH SALT WATER TO HELP STABILIZE THE SHIP. ADDITIONAL SALVAGE CRAFT ARE ENROUTE.

NAMAZU ADDRESSES THE ENGLISH SPEAKING PEOPLES PART I

SUEZ CANAL TRAFFIC APPEARS NORMAL DESPITE CONFLICT

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IN THE NEWS:

1. USS GUARDIAN TO BE CUT UP FOR REMOVAL FROM REEF-Special post scroll UP from Station ID/ Notice Board to read


2. SYMBOL OF ARGENTINA'S DECAYING NAVY SINKS IN PORT


"Argentina's defense chief expressed shame Wednesday after a Navy destroyer sank at its moorings, putting on display the declining fortunes of a once-proud fleet.
The ARA Trinidad led Argentina's 1982 sea war against Britain, but has long been mothballed and used for spare parts to sustain what's left of Argentina's Navy."

NAMAZU ON :THUG STATES

1/29/2012 Namazu to The English Speaking Bipeds Part 1
1/12/2020 Updated
Links checked : 1/25/2020

NAMAZU ADDRESSES THE ENGLISH SPEAKING WORLD PART I  "THUG STATES"

THE GREAT NAMAZU, MARITIME POLITICAL ANALYST




 I have asked the editors  for space to address the English speaking bipeds of the World. I know that English is the most widespread second language on Earth and that many non native speakers will read this. That's good, and I hope that the non native speakers understand what I have to say. But this is particularly addressed to those peoples in nations great and small where English is an official language; from Great Britain, to the United States, and Canada, from Belize, and the Bahamas, to Australia, and New Zealand, to India and South Africa,and many other nations. This is addressed to all those peoples who have English as an official language and live in parliamentary democracies, or democratic republics and have in common at least some of the English common law.  It was once said, not long ago, that "the sun never sets on the British Empire". It is true today that the sun never sets on the English speaking world. Somehow English speaking peoples , especially in North America managed to inherit the most agriculturally productive soils in the most salubrious climates on the planet. The English speaking bipeds are in fact the most prosperous and most geographically widespread people on the planet. They  also generally enjoy the most personal freedom. There are forces gathering that want to change that. If they succeed and the societies of the English speaking peoples are destroyed , all the world will be plunged into darkness. You my English speaking biped friends must act soon or your children, if they survive will inherit a very changed and unpleasant world. Your sources of information don't seem to really understand or notice much of what threatens your world, much of it manifests itself at sea, out of sight and without handy sound bytes.

 Out of a vast colonialism there arose a great blending of cultures that accompanied a wave of national formations. Those nations that evolved with the most affinity for British culture and political systems became the Common Wealth, while others , some with more violent breaks with the colonial power such as the United States were quite distant for a while after independence, but when "human rights" which look an awful lot like "the traditional rights of Englishmen" were threatened, even these nations in the past rallied to support the ideas that the Common Wealth nations think of as embodied in an institution called "the crown". The power of the United States is still unsurpassed but threatened and apparently rapidly diminishing . The combined might of the other English speaking nations has the potential to rival the United States. Unfortunately all across the globe just as the forces of darkness are gathering, the military power and especially the all important naval power of the English speaking world is shrinking in each nation individually. In this series of little chats I want to describe to you the threats you face and conclude with practical things , especially of a naval nature that the English speaking world can do to hold off the danger and again change the world for the better.

 One of the most clear and present dangers to the English Speaking World and others are the predatory naval practices of the "thug states". Thug states are different from "rogue states". Thug states have authoritarian governments but not always seeming so to many of their people. Thug states can have at times a fair measure of popular support among their citizens. Thug states may not be governed ethically or with kindness, but they are headed by logical if ruthless people. Their thug like behavior towards targeted nations and groups within their own societies do follow a certain logic. Thug states are grasping states, they want to grow and are willing to fuel growth through taking whatever they can get away with. The good news is that because thug states are logical they can be restrained and deterred if a society or combination of societies can meet their deterrent calculus. The two most threatening thug states on the world scene right now are China who our editors have been calling "the Dragon" for months, and that old bear, Russia. The threats they pose to the world, and especially the English speaking world right now are very much naval and maritime in character.

Chinese_flag : Chinese flag Stock Photo
The Dragon's Symbol, the Flag of China

The Flag of the Russian Bear


 The Flags above are being planted forcefully in watery places that belong to other people. At first hearing  the news that the Dragon has machine gunned Vietnamese sailors over a reef where the Vietnamese were trying to plant a flag may not seem like much of a threat to any English speaking nation. But consider that the reef was within the usually accepted guidelines for exclusive economic zones (EEZs) for Vietnam and that the reef is hundreds of miles from anywhere in China. Why should that concern the English speaking world? After the dragon has eaten all of the non English speaking buffer states , do you think it doesn't want to walk on the beaches of Australia or New Zealand? Click on the link below to see for yourself just how ruthless the Chinese navy can be. The year was 1988 but things have only gotten worse over the years as has been reported in these pages.

When the Dragon is not shooting Vietnamese , it is harassing the Philippines in other parts of the Spratly Islands, or bumping up against the Japanese Coast Guard in the disputed Diautu / Senkaku Islands.But here a study of their actions against the Philippines and Japan, two allies of the United States offer cause for both hope and despair. Hope because they have not been shooting at these two navies and Coast Guard's capable of more self defense than Vietnam, and able to call on the U.S. Pacific fleet if need be. Here the dragon shows logic. In the face of real force the dragon is more cautious. But on the other hand the confrontations are full of brinkmanship, frequent, unrelenting, and escalating. China is just one miscalculation away from starting a naval war in the South and East China Seas. And they are getting bolder. The week before the origibal publication of this post, in these pages, we reported on the unofficial veiled threats of nuclear retaliation against Australia should that English speaking nation and long time ally of the United States openly support the United States in any naval conflict in the China seas.

The dragon's game is divide and conquer. The dragon's navy grows while the United States Navy continues to shrink while assuming global responsibilities. Japan and the Philippines are producing a naval/Coast Guard build up despite the fiscal strain. But the dragon is out pacing them easily with apparently little fiscal strain. The Dragon keeps one eye on the Indian Tiger, a formidable navy in the near by Indian ocean. But so far India seems to want to stay out of any China Seas dispute. Yet India seems aware that Dragon methods are dragon methods. If the dragon swallows the "First Island Chain", it has ambitions for the Indian Ocean. The Indian Navy remains a wild card in China's calculation of conquest. So the shooting holds off for the time being. But the Chinese naval growth continues as the Philippines, and Japan reluctantly enter a ruinous naval arms race. India continues on toward naval growth , but in a non emergency mode, while the United States "pivots towards the Pacific", with an ever shrinking fleet. The China seas aren't the only place in the Pacific Basin where the Dragon is positioned to damage the friends and trading partners of the English speaking world. 

 The United States may have treaty rights to defend the Panama Canal, but China's COSCO Shipping agency  won the contract to operate it. Without ever firing a shot China is in a position to delay the re-enforcement of America's Pacific fleet from Atlantic fleet units. Major fleet actions , once the shooting starts are usually over in hours not days. If you know the time of your attack an unexpected lock gate "issue" delaying a fleet of U.S. Atlantic fleet units by as little as 8 hours could be as effective in the outcome of a China Sea battle as sinking them. When invited to a naval shoot out if you can't show up on time, you're probably of no use. The Dragon is biding his time, pressing the weakest links while the English speaking navies continue to shrink.

 Mean while in the High Arctic the Great Bear is pressing a claim to nearly the entire Arctic ocean, claiming that Russia's rightful EEZ extends to at least the North Pole. The United States with thousands of miles of Alaska coast line on the Arctic and known deposits of oil, has virtually no naval or Coast Guard presence. With oil exploration activity already underway the Coast Guard has been directed to produce a "persistent presence" in the High Arctic, but progress so far indicates that this is just another "unfunded mandate". Canada has a more persistent naval and Coast Guard presence in the region but their Coast Guard is unarmed. Russia has a constantly building fleet of large nuclear powered ice breaking ships, is creating vessel traffic services, and placing more "Border Guard" patrol vessels and naval units in the area. Does the Bear want Alaska back? Apparently the United States has caved in and given them, over the intense protest of the State of Alaska, an island the size of New Jersey , Wrangel Island. This island is admittedly closer to Russia than Alaska but has been administered effectively by the United States for over one hundred years, was discovered by a United States Government vessel, and surveyed by a Federal agency. There was for a short time some habitation and industry on the island of American origin which died out. So when the Russians started making noise about wanting the island the U.S. gave up a land area roughly the size of New Jersey with out so much as a wimper or without generating much media notice in the "lower 48." 

 These have been just a few samples of just some of the hostile naval posturing of the two largest thug states.  English speaking nations wake up! A swimming dragon is waiting to devour you. Once you ruled the waves, now you are slipping. Believe it or not these thug state threats are possibly the easiest to deal with since they do respond to a predictable logic of fear and greed. Rebuild your naval strength with maximum interoperability with each other and draw together. It is time for an English speaking naval union able to operate in concert and turn on a dime. If you meet the thug state threat head on you will have many of the arrows in your quiver needed to deal with the largely naval rogue state threats and some of the non state threats that will bury you if you chose to hang separately.  I will be continuing in this vein for some days. Stay alert, pay attention, that is fire breath you feel.

Namazu