"This
is making the missile the preeminent weapon of the 21st century, with
the potential to undermine deterrence and stability."
"[Warfare
followed a simple physical law: The further you fired your projectile,
the less accurate it became. Overcoming distance was a problem
supplanted by the solution of] mass and energy."
"Now, wars are won by information."
"[These
new technologies allow] the many and the small -- ] Iranians, Houthis,
Hezbollah, Hamas -- ] to slip the heavy punches of their opponents,
because they are well hidden and can strike back with accurate blows of
their own."
Professor emeritus of defense analysis U.S. Naval Postgraduate School
David vs. Goliath: Cost Asymmetry in Warfare Photo by parilov/Adobe Stock
Disparity in Power: At its core,
asymmetric warfare hinges on a significant imbalance in military
strength. The weaker side, lacking the resources and conventional
military might of a state actor, must innovate and adapt unconventional
strategies to level the playing field.
Unconventional Tactics: Guerrilla
warfare, ambushes, sabotage, and terrorism are quintessential tactics
of asymmetric warfare. These methods aim to maximize damage to the
stronger force while minimizing losses for the weaker side, showcasing
the ingenuity and resourcefulness of asymmetric actors.
Blurred Lines: Asymmetric warfare
often blurs the distinction between combatants and civilians.
Insurgents may operate within civilian populations, making it
challenging for the stronger force to discern between military targets
and innocent bystanders, complicating the ethical and strategic
dimensions of conflict.
Terrorism: In the arsenal of
weaker actors facing off against more potent adversaries, terrorism
emerges as a potent tool for disrupting stability and exerting
influence. Characterized by its asymmetrical nature, terrorism
encompasses a spectrum of violent acts aimed at civilian populations or
non-combatant targets, leveraging fear and intimidation to achieve
political, ideological, or strategic objectives. Whether through
bombings, shootings, or cyberattacks, terrorist groups exploit
vulnerabilities in security systems to inflict disproportionate harm and
sow chaos. Strategically employed, terrorism aims to erode the morale
of the adversary, undermine confidence in government institutions, and
provoke reactions that may inadvertently galvanize support for the
terrorist cause. As such, terrorism remains a defining feature of
asymmetric warfare, presenting complex challenges for security and
counterterrorism efforts on a global scale.
Hamas and Hezbollah serve as prominent examples of non-state actors
engaged in proxy warfare against Israel, receiving support from Iran.
Employing rocket attacks and other unconventional tactics, these groups
highlight the intricate interplay between asymmetric and proxy warfare
in the region, further complicating conflict dynamics.
It
was a strike of genius, a scheme whose planning was exquisite in
nature, secretive and ultimately successful catching the enemy -- in
this case Hezbollah -- off guard when on September 17 and 18 of 2024
pagers and other handheld electronic devices used by members of the
terror group, their fighters, officers, medics and civilian supporters
became victims when Israel detonated them in a surprise attack that did
not require the presence of IDF soldiers. Dozens were killed by the
surprise explosions and an estimated 3,000 wounded. Altogether some
1,500 Hezbollah fighters put out of business due to their injuries.
A
fairly small quantity of explosives cunningly lay in wait for the
unsuspecting users of those handheld electronic communication devices.
They were remotely ignored on schedule. It took but a few hours for
Israel's scheme to demoralize an implacable enemy when a significant
number of Hezbollah fighters were killed and wounded. The scheme's
success owed to vital information that afforded Israel that rare
one-time opportunity. Knowledge of how, where and when to strike for the
greatest impact. Low-tech allied with clever manipulation of physical
resources and knowledge of the enemy.
People gather as smoke rises from a mobile shop in Sidon, Lebanon September 18, 2024. REUTERS/Hassan Hankir
Israel,
however, is not the only entity that is making great use of the supreme
utility of information/intelligence and low-cost technology in a
combination that frustrates and demoralizes an enemy while allowing the
users to make the gains of time and stalemate. This was not Israel's
only venture into that low-key, big-impact type of warfare, confusing
and confounding its enemies. In February, Israel acting with U.S.
intelligence snuffed out over 40 senior Iranian leaders at a high-level
meeting where they gathered in a single Tehran compound. Iran's national
security elite wiped out with one accurately-aimed airstrike.
Smoke rises following an explosion, after Israel and the United States launched strikes on Tehran, Iran, on February 28, 2026.Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Reuters
This
was followed by the Iranian regime's own cunning plan to undercut the
American victory that had levelled its airports, destroyed its seaports,
smashed its political/military infrastructure, left it leaderless, the
elite commanders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps decimated, but
not without canny intellectual resources that conspired to unsettle the
globe when it closed off the Strait of Hormuz to shipping and
relentlessly bombed surrounding Arab/Muslim countries that allowed their
territory to house American military outposts.
Long
under economic sanctions Iran still was able to develop a massive
arsenal of missiles and drones, with a little help from its friends in
China and Russia to gain more sophisticated technology. Its fairly
inexpensive missiles and drones saw it fighting back at Israel and the
United States, while inflicting some considerable damage to U.S. assets
in the region. The U.S. aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln with its almost
5,700 personnel found itself under duress of restocking supplies when
Iranian missiles and attack drones destroyed the Bahrain-based American
supply base.
That
coup was followed up with an Iranian missile destroying a $500-million
radar operating a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile
defense system at a U.S. air base in Jordan signalling "a potentially transformative moment" in the "strategic contest" between Iran and the United States and Israel according to the Defence Security Asia
journal. The IRGC sent their missile to strike the THAAD radar system
maneuvering it in flight for a flanking attack on the radar striking it
at a vulnerable angle, after having evaded detection and interception.
Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, Aug. 31, 2026.
"At exactly 7 a.m. the [Ukrainians] subjected the center of
Donetsk [city] to the most massive strike since 2014."
"Forty rockets from BM-21 ‘Grad’ MLRS were fired at civilians in
our city. [A key intersection in Donetsk
city center had come under fire]."
Moscow-appointed mayor, Aleksey Kulemzin
"[The city was hit 86 times with] artillery, MLRS, tanks, mortars and
UAVs, [in the past 24 hours]."
"One of [the victims] was a volunteer, a member of the rapid response
team of the international organization."
"During the shelling, they were
on the street, they were fatally wounded by fragments of enemy shells."
Yaroslav Yanushevych, regional head,
Kherson military administration
A firefighter works inside a destroyed apartment of a residential building hit by shelling in Donetsk on December 15. Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters
"[Russian strikes are
exposing millions of people to] extreme hardship."
"Additional strikes could lead to a further serious deterioration in
the humanitarian situation and spark more displacement. [The war is an] unmitigated tragedy and disaster."
"[Russian forces killed at least 441 civilians in the early days of
the invasion. Moscow has denied targeting civilians]."
"[Accountability for such incidents is] sorely lacking," [Not a single member of Russia's armed forces was known to
have been held accountable by Moscow for carrying out, or failing to
prevent, these killings]."
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk
"[The
United States had] effectively become a party [to the war in Ukraine.
U.S. military assistance to Ukraine, including the transfer of such
sophisticated weapons as the Patriot missile system] would mean even
broader involvement of military personnel in the hostilities and could
entail possible consequences."
Russian Defence Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova
"[The death rate in the Russian-occupied city of Mariupol has skyrocketed amid a lack of heating, food, and medical supplies]."
"The incidence rate is insane. A flu epidemic is spreading in
Mariupol. Hospitals are overcrowded. The ambulance does not even leave
for those with a high temperature because there is no place to
hospitalize people for treatment."
"At the beginning of November, the weekly death rate was about 150
people. Last week it exceeded 250 deaths per week.... That is 7-7.5
times higher than it was before the beginning of this phase of the war,."
Petro Andryushchenko, adviser to the mayor of Mariupol
How
surprising is that? Russia is pouring all the munitions it has, hoping
to secure more in good time, at Ukraine's city centers all over the
country, wreaking damage to the country's energy systems, leaving
millions of people without electricity, heating, water, the very basics
of winter existence. the Ukrainian military is doing its best to return
the compliment, and this enrages Russia, reporting that 'war crimes' are
being committed by Ukraine in its targeting of Russian-held
territories, as part of its campaign for their return to Ukraine's
sovereign possession.
A soldier known as 'Kipish' holds the remains of a rocket that he allegedly shot down with rudimentary equipment
Credit: Felipe Dana/AP Photo
The commanding officer of a soldier known as Kipish with the territorial defence troop praised his "lightni8ng fast reaction" when the soldier using a machine gun hit a cruise missile destroying it. "When he fired, green sparks went off (the missile), it started to spin, tilted on its tail and tumbled down",
said the commander. The gun had been mounted atop ammunition crates in a
suburb of Kyiv. And he was duly praised for pulling off the
"impossible".
"It's almost impossible to hit a missile with a machine gun, but it was done",
further explained another commander. This feat on Friday as Russia
launched one of its most powerful barrages of missile fire against
Ukraine, once again hitting and crippling the power grid. Pieces of the
missile landed in a field of snow. Images from the scene show a grinning
young man holding what appears to be the wing of a missile.
The
Russian barrage was launched from the Black and Caspian seas and
included Kh-191Kalibr and S-300 missiles. All cities in Kharkiv and
Poltava provinces were bereft of electricity within minutes of the
attack. Kyiv was left temporarily without water. In Kremenchuk both
water and power supply were disrupted. In President Zelenskyy's hometown
of Kryvyi Rih, a missle hit a block of flats. Three people were found
dead and 13 injured when rescue teams scoured the debris, among them
four injured children. Close to 600 miners were trapped underground as
missile strikes cut off electricity at the town's coal mine. By late
afternoon, about 250 of the miners had been rescued.
In
Kyiv all metro trains were stopped while local residents rushed to
underground stations to wait out the air attacks. Ukraine's
second-largest city -- Kharkiv, suffered one of its worst attacks yet in
this conflict. According to Mayor Ihor Terehov "colossal infrastructure damage" was
done. A fraction of the homes affected by power cuts saw their power
restored Friday. The impact from previous missile strikes was compounded
by the added damage from Friday's mass attack.
Nine
power stations were hit. Ukrenergo the country's electricity operator
announced that less than 50 percent of all customers would have their
power restored in a bid to prioritize critical infrastructure like
hospitals. According to Yuri Ihnat, Ukrainian Air Force spokesman,
markings on some of the missiles launched on Friday identified their
manufacture as a mere months earlier. "They are using up thei8r reserves quicker than they can shore them up", he stated.
Launch of the Igla MANPADS missile. Frame from the video
"[Russia
is offering Iran] an unprecedented level of military and technical
support that is transforming their relationship into a full-fledged
defence partnership."
"These
fighter planes [Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets] will significantly
strengthen Iran's air force relative to its regional neighbours."
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby
"Iran is now one of Russia's top military backers."
"Their
sordid deals have seen the Iranian regime send hundreds of drones to
Moscow which have been used to attack Ukraine's critical infrastructure
and kill civilians."
"In
return, Russia is offering military and technical support to the
Iranian regime, which will increase the risk it poses in our partners in
the Middle East and to international security."
U.K. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly
"What we are seeing is – frustrated on the battlefield, Russia has
resorted to destroying Ukraine's critical and energy infrastructure from
afar, causing immense suffering to civilians as we heard just three
days ago, and defying the international community's call to end its
aggression."
"It is Russia that has cynically called for this meeting, alleging an
illicit conspiracy of weapons transfers from Ukraine. When in fact, as
others around this table have noted, it is Russia that is complicit in
Iran's illegal transfer of unmanned aerial vehicles to Russia."
Richard Mills, U.S. deputy ambassador to the U.N.
Police officers look at collected fragments of the Russian rockets that hit Kharkiv, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Dec. 3, 2022. AP
Russia
is in the crosshairs of the Biden administration, accused of making
alliances to provide advanced military assistance to Iran. Air defence
systems, helicopters and fighter jets to be made available to the
Islamic Republic of Iran constituting in part deepening cooperation
between the two at a time when Tehran has been providing drones in
support of Russia's violent conflict imposed on Ukraine.
These
declarations by the U.S. constitute part of an effort to continue to
deepen Russia's global isolation in the wake of intelligence reporting
that Russia and Iran were consulting on installing a drone assembly line
in Russia to accommodate the Ukraine conflict's needs of Russian
attacks more efficiently. In addition to which Russia was training
Iranian pilots on the Bukhoi Su-35 fighter.
This
dismaying but inevitable collaboration between Russia and Iran offers
the U.S. an opportunity to impress on Saudi Arabia the threat contained
to its own well-being after the U.S. accused Saudi Arabia of siding with
Russia by moving toward production cuts by the OPEC+ cartel to benefit
Russia by increasing the price of oil, thus further funding Moscow's war
in Ukraine. A tangled web that also benefits Iran, Saudi Arabia's
nemesis, funding the Houthis in Yemen.
Another
message is getting through to U.S. Intelligence that Iran has supplied
hundreds of attack drones over the summer, and is now considering the
sale of hundreds of ballistic missiles to Russia as well, effectively
re-supplying Moscow's exhausted missile store capacity. North Korea has
also become a potential source for Russia of artillery.
There
have been repeated accusations by the Kremlin that NATO allies have
themselves become a party to the conflict through their provision to
Ukraine of weaponry, troop training and providing military intelligence
to the Ukrainian military enabling them to attack Russian forces. "Speaking
about a disarming strike, [the U.S. concept of a 'preemptive' strike],
maybe it's worth thinking about adopting the ideas developed by our U.S.
counterparts, their ideas of ensuring their security", offered Russian President Vladimir Putin
A Sukhoi Su-35 military fighter jet at the
International Military-Technical Forum at Kubinka military training
ground in Moscow, Russia, on Aug. 18, 2022.
Pavel Pavlov/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
"If things go wrong, they can go horribly
wrong. It is a terrible war in Ukraine. It is also a war that can
become a full-fledged war that spreads into a major war between NATO and
Russia."
"We are working on that every day to avoid that."
"There
is no doubt that a full-fledged war is a possibility. [It is important
to avoid a conflict] that involves more countries in Europe and becomes
a full-fledged war in Europe."
"The first thing that comes to your mind is that this was not a mistake. This could not have been a mistake."
"This is a plane leaving the airport and three minutes later it's shot down."
"I never gave [my brother] a strong hug at the end because I was not
very emotional. I was thinking 'He is going, I will see him shortly'."
"I
couldn't really believe what had happened. I took the phone and tried
to call the airport to see if there was another Ukrainian airliner. The
person I talked to said, 'No, there was only one flight.' I was just
shaking."
Ali Pourzarabi, bereaved brother of Ukraine Airlines PS752 doomed flight, Iran
"I think this is a new low they went to."
"To
be able to ruthlessly sacrifice a planeload of people in the worst
possible way, subject them to the pain and agony for three minutes on a
plunging plane ... that's just unimaginable."
"I told her [his mother] I'm really getting worried."
"She said, 'No, you'll see me tomorrow, you'll pick me up at the airport."
"All the hopes I had were shattered. I could not even cry because I was so shocked."
Amir Alavi, Iranian-Canadian, bereaved son, Toronto
Investigators analyze the fragments and remains of the Ukraine International Airlines
plane that was shot down by Iran on Jan. 8, 2020. Photo by National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine / AFP
There
was a total of 167 passengers, 58 Canadian citizens, 30 permanent
residents of Canada and another 53 returning to Canada for studies.
Others aboard were from the UK,Ukraine, Afghanistan, and Sweden. They
had flown to Iran to visit relatives, to celebrate the season, to get
married, two years ago. "Full takeoff thrust", Captain Volodymyr Gaponenko, the 50-year-old pilot of the Ukraine Airlines plane said. "Eighty knots"
responded First Officer Serhii Khomenko, 48, the Boeing 737-800 lifting
off from Iran's Imam Khomeini Airport on 8 January, 2020.
"Good morning", Khomenko greeted the air traffic control: "On board, on course".
Six minutes after takeoff the plane plummeted to earth, flames from its
fuselage lighting its way in the pre-dawn darkness. The airliner hit a
park gazebo, plowed across a soccer field and finally exploded in a
fiery ball, breaking the jet into pieces. No living soul could survive
that inferno and its disastrous crash. Passengers' possessions were
strewn everywhere, the passengers themselves, torn to pieces, were as
well.
Iran's
Republican Guard Corps had in the early morning hours moved a mobile
anti-aircraft battery near the airport six hours previously. Tehran was
on high alert, after missiles had been shot off into Iraq to hit two
American bases in retaliation for a U.S. missile strike that hit a
vehicle carrying the senior head of the al-Quds division of the Iranian
Republican Guard Corps, Brig.-Gen.Qasem Soleimani, whose function was to
act for the state abroad.
In
anticipation of a response strike from the U.S. the IRGC was on high
alert. Nevertheless no one in command, nor the government in Tehran
closed their air space to commercial traffic At least four other
commercial flights took off from the airport in a trajectory similar to
that of PS752, unaware of the tense situation, but suffering no
consequences.
The cockpit voice recorder of the downed airliner recovered after the crash had picked up "a strong and short impulse similar to a detonation" at 6:15 a.m.; an altitude warning tone sounding in the cockpit. "I have a strong feeling about [a] bad event", the instructor pilot said in the recording. "What is this?! the captain responded. And seventeen seconds later the recording stopped: 6:16 a.m.
The
Ukrainian jet had taken off from the airport at 6:12 a.m. and for three
minutes all was calm as it headed toward Kyiv, a three-and-a-half-hour
flight. At 6:16 a.m. the pilot of an incoming flight of Iran's Aseman Airlines reported to air traffic controllers an unusual sighting: "A series of flares ... like that of a missile ... Is there anything like this over there?" Not
that the controller knew of. But he attempted for the following two
minutes to repeatedly raise the Ukraine International flight, but had no
response.
Iranians take photos during an exhibition
displaying missiles of the kind used during Iran’s retaliatory strike on
the U.S Ayn al-Asad military base in 2020 are seen on display at Imam
Khomeini Grand Mosalla in Tehran Jan. 7, 2022.Photo by Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
"It was an explosion sir; we saw a huge light over there. I wonder what it was really!",
the approaching Aseman pilot said, when the flight controller asked
just exactly what was seen. The IRGC crew of the TOR M1 air-defence
system spotted they decided, not an airliner full of passengers at 6:14
a.m. but an infinitely smaller, faster cruise missile, assuming the U.S.
military deployed it. It took 39 seconds and the crew fired their first
SA-15 missile, hitting the plane. A second missile was dispatched 12
seconds later.
The
PS752 flight path shows the pilots making a desperate attempt following
the first blast to turn around to fly back to the airport. Engulfed in
flames the 737 crashed near Khalajabad instead, southwest of Tehran.
Amateur video showed a massive explosion lighting up the still-dark sky.
A video that would be played all across the world, while the government
of Iran denied they had any involvement it what they claimed was a
'technical' crash.
Soon
after the crash of PS752, Tehran, refusing to admit it had any hand in
the catastrophic collision between a passenger jet and two missiles
fired by the IRGC, deliberately destroying the airliner and all those
within, photographs taken of the site of the vast debris field showed
bulldozers shovelling up debris, completely and deliberately destroying
any vestiges of the crash that might be helpful to investigators into
its cause. People were seen in the area, looting pieces of the plane
along with the personal belongings of its passengers.
"Iran contends that its decision to keep its airspace open and its
corresponding airspace management decisions were justified and based on
sound risk assessment. Iran’s risk assessment, as presented in the Final
Report, failed to address contradictory information suggesting that
risk levels were much higher. Iran’s air defences represented a clear
and present danger. Its military was on high alert and tasked with
monitoring airspace where multiple civilian aircraft would be present.
Iran implemented a single mitigation measure that required military
pre-authorization for flights before take-off from Imam Khomeini
International Airport (IKA). Iran’s determination that the risk was
“low,” the decision to keep its airspace open over Tehran, and the
implementation of only one preventative measure were all flawed
decisions. It is the Forensic Team’s assessment that this fell short of
internationally recognized standards in place to ensure airspace safety."
"Furthermore,
Iran did not provide official notification of the increased risk to
airlines and pilots before Flight PS752 departed or adequately explain
why this basic measure was not implemented. Iranian military authorities
were the only ones who were aware of the recent military activities and
high alert resulting from Iran’s launch of missiles into Iraq. Only
they knew that SAM units had been deployed in proximity to an
international airport. Despite having knowledge of International Civil
Aviation Organization guidance from 2018 with respect to “conflict
zones,” Iran chose not to notify airlines of this danger. This lack of
pertinent threat-related information deprived airlines (such as Ukraine
International Airlines) of the full and up-to-date picture of conditions
necessary to determine whether it was safe to fly."
Forensic Examination and Assessment Team, Government of Canada
Some of the Canadian victims of Ukraine
International Airlines Flight PS752, which was shot down by the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps shortly after takeoff from Tehran on Jan. 8,
2020, killing all 176 aboard.Photo by Handout
"If
you talk to experts, this cannot be right. Totally it is wrong, 100
percent. This is something purely technical. It was a disaster, it was a
great tragedy ... " "What is going around is because of some political issues, the tension between Iran and the U.S." "If the aircraft had been hit with a missile, it would explode in the air. It would not hit the ground, you know." "So
many pilots and engineers were interviewed in Iran. Retired pilots,
experts with 30, 35 years of experience, and engineers, and all of them
say that this cannot technically happen." "It was a disaster for the Iranian people as well, and the Iranian community in Canada." Farhad Parvaresh, Iranian ambassador for international air travel, International Civil Aviation Organization, Montreal
Witness accounts, stressed Mr. Parvaresh -- speaking for his government
-- and amateur video suggest that Ukraine International Airlines Flight
PS752 that hurtled to the ground close to Tehran on Wednesday morning
engulfed in flames, indicated the rapid descent trailing flames,
striking the ground in an immense fireball discounted the possibility
that an anti-aircraft missile was involved. At the same time, he noted,
other passenger jets were leaving and arriving at Tehran's Imam Khomeni
airport every ten minutes.
Aside from which the majority of the crash victims were citizens of
Iran, so why would, how could Iran be accused of deliberately targeting a
civilian passenger plane carrying mostly Iranians, with its missiles?
To consider such a scenario was "totally wrong". Reason would have it,
addressing such a tragedy with almost any other nation, that this is an
unassailable argument.
Vigil, Amirkabir University, Tehran, Saturday. Photograph: AFP via Getty Images
But this is Iran, a country which, like Syria, hardly hesitates to
respond to mass street protests with live fire. By that measure, it
having been revealed that 1,500 Iranians lost their lives a bare month
ago by protesting the regime's virulent agenda, it isn't too far a
stretch to imagine it might also sacrifice the lives of an additional 80
Iranians in a plane disaster.
And then, of course, there's the fact that Iran has invited
investigating officials from Ukraine and Canada to take part in Iran's
own crash investigation. Setting aside reports that the crash site has
been prepared for such an investigation with the presence of bulldozers
cleaning up a bit of the mess, despite that in such instances,
considered a crime scene, everything must be left untouched for
investigators to thoroughly examine all possible evidence toward a
conclusion.
Iranians shout anti-government slogans outside Amirkabir University on
Saturday after a vigil held for the victims of the Ukrainian plane
crash.
Photograph: Anadolu Agency/via Getty Images
"Time
will tell and the world is watching. Over the course of the next days
we will see if they are genuine in their interest to have a full and
transparent investigation", noted Canada's Foreign
Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne, on Friday. The minister
also noted that Tehran appeared to be in no great hurry to issue visas
to enable the Canadian investigators to enter the country, despite the
proffered invitation inviting them to do so. There is reason to begin as
soon as possible, given reports from CBS News from the crash scene stating much of the wreckage had been cleared away.
When it was revealed a day ago, first by U.S.President Donald Trump,
then Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson, followed by Canada's Prime
Minister Trudeau, that all indications are, through confirmation by
intelligence and technology that the plane was shot down, an added
comment was that it most likely was an inadvertent occurrence, an
"accident". And that faintly exculpable dimension verging on the 'innocent of deliberation, in the fog of war' comment must have heartened Tehran.
"We do believe it is likely that that plane was shot down by an Iranian missile." "When we get the results of that investigation, I am confident that we and the world will take appropriate action in response." U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
"We
recommend the U.S. government to attend to the results of the
investigations by the probe committee instead of scattering lies and
engineering psychological warfare." Iranian government statement
"What is obvious for us, and what we can say with certainty, is that no missile hit the plane." "[If the U.S. and Canada are certain, they should] show their findings to the world." Ali Abedzadeh, head, National Aviation Department, Iran
"The Iranians may have had a desire that
nothing be revealed. [They] acted there [at the crash site]
very, very quickly so that everything was hidden."
"What they did and how it all
looked when we [Ukrainian investigators] saw it was just awful."
Oleksiy
Danilov, secretary, Ukraine's National Security and Defense
Council
And so, the Islamic Republic of Iran, counting its curses and its
blessings, acknowledged the former and practised the latter by grasping
the lifeline of a pale excuse of 'accident' that casual supposition had
granted. Grasping that a mea culpa leaning heavily on confusion and
chaos given the aggressive actions of the United States leaving Iran
will so few options of retaliation and nervous about reprisals over
their weak retaliation in the missiles that flew to two U.S. military
bases in Syria and Iraq, the regime bit the bullet.
"Hassan Rouhani expressed his condolences to the Ukrainian people and
the families of those killed as a result of the crash of the PS752
flight of Ukraine International Airlines. He issued an apology from the
Iranian side for the tragedy that claimed 176 lives." "The head of the
Islamic Republic of Iran fully acknowledges that the tragedy was due to
the erroneous actions of the military of this state. Official Tehran
assured that all involved in the crash will be held accountable. Acknowledging
plane shot down is a step in the right direction. I insist on
immediately completing identification of the bodies and their return to
Ukraine." "The perpetrators must be held accountable. We look forward to further legal and technical cooperation." Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky
A scapegoat will be named, a functionary who followed orders, who will
now be in the crosshairs of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, an
expendable sacrifice. World opinion and the demand of accountability
coursing toward Tehran from the outraged leaders of civilized nations is
one thing. The reaction of Iranians to this act of
domestic/international carnage that has victimized Iranians yet again is
too much to bear for many who have once again placed themselves in
deadly danger, protesting in the streets, demanding the end of the
regime.
And the regime is responding as best it knows how. With water cannons. With tear gas canisters. And with live rounds.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on September 19, 2018, in Pyongyang.Pyeongyang Press Corps/Pool/Getty Images
"It is an anti-party, anti-revolutionary act to pretend to be revering
the leader in front of him when you actually dream of something else." "There are traitors and turncoats who only memorize words of
loyalty toward the Leader and even change according to the trend of the
time." Commentary, Rodong Sinmun, official North Korea party paper
"It does appear that the next time we have serious conversations that my
counterpart will be someone else. ... Just as President Trump gets to
decide who his negotiators will be, Chairman Kim will get to make his
own decisions who he asks to have these conversations." Mike Pompeo, U.S. Secretary of State
"Anyone who negotiates with the US is obligated now more than ever to
take an intransigent hard line." "Working-level negotiators are going to be very wary about bringing any
hypothetical US concession to Kim Jong-un for fear of getting their
heads chopped off." Van Jackson, North Korea expert, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim
Jong Un during their second summit meeting on February 28, 2019, in
Hanoi, Vietnam.Vietnam News Agency/Handout/Getty Images
Former ambassador to Spain, Kim Hyok Chol, along with four other North Korean officials who had been responsible for laying the groundwork for the February Trump-Kim summit that took place in Vietnam were charged with spying for the United States. For that crime against the state and Kim Jong-un, they were executed outside Pyongyang at Mirim Airport in March, according to the South Korean Chosun Ilbo newspaper.
Before the failed Hanoi summit, Kim Yong Chol had taken part in several rounds of talks with the American Secretary of State, and he was sentenced to forced labour and ideological 're-education'. Shin Hye Young, Kim Jong-un's interpreter during those talks was sent, along with two others to political prison camps for the crime of "undermining" Kim's authority through a translation error.
The summit's failure and the fallout of international sanctions inspired Kim, it would appear, to deflect blame for the failure by diverting attention to focus on these former regime stalwarts who failed the test of loyalty, much less utility in their assigned function. Kim had expressed confidence that Donald Trump would agree to lift sanctions, and he expressed as much before leaving for Vietnam.
President Donald Trump speaks with Kim Yong Chol
(left), then one of leader Kim Jong Un’s closest aides, as Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo looks on outside the White House on June 1, 2018.Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images
The penalties imposed upon this group of senior regime functionaries reflects the level of his rage over the failure and his resulting humiliation. There are rumours surfacing that even his sister, Kim Yo Jong, who had been present during part of the negotiations and who had presented as the smiling face of the regime to soften tensions, is also in a state of disgrace. She is far less visible than she had been formally when she enjoyed the trust of her brother.
A professor specializing in the leadership of North Korea, who teaches at Waseda University in Tokyo, felt the situation may have resulted from ministry officials being too intimidated to inform Kim directly of Washington's demands prefacing the talks, in fear of Kim's reaction. Consequently, the little dictator appeared at the talks with the belief the sides were closing on an agreement.
He was, it appears, caught off guard when the United States made its demand that he close all five of his nuclear processing plants, whereas Kim had offered that he would have one of them closed. Once it became clear that agreement between the two would not be possible, the U.S. halted the summit and ties have once again become confrontational.
To demonstrate its ire over the situation the North fired a number of short-range missiles.
"Russia hasn't embraced Western values of freedom and international co-operation. It has suppressed opposition voices and invaded sovereign nations." "Moscow deployed a military-grade nerve agent on foreign soil, right here in Europe, in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention." "And Russia has violated the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty for many years." "International bodies must help facilitate co-operation that bolsters the security and values of the free world, or they must be reformed or eliminated. When treaties are broken, the violators must be confronted, and the treaties must be fixed or discarded." "Our nations have a choice. We either bury our head in the sand or we take common sense action in response to Russia's flagrant disregard for the expressed terms of the INF Treaty [Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty]." "[Washington] would welcome a Russian change of heart [but no indication has been seen that Moscow is prepared to comply]." U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo, Brussels, conference of the German Marshall Fund of the United States
"It's up to Russia now to preserve the INF Treaty. They have a last chance to show and demonstrate in a verifiable way that they comply with the treaty." "But we also have to prepare for a world without the treaty. We have to remember that no arms control agreement will work if it is only respected by one party." "[NATO calls upon Russia] to return urgently to full and verifiable compliance." NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg
"[Many other countries have developed weapons banned under the INF treaty.] Now
it seems our American partners believe that the situation has changed
so much that [they] must also have such a weapon." "What's our response? It's simple - in that case we will also do this." Vladimir Putin, President of Russia
Russia denies building missiles that violate the accord EPA
This is not the first time an American president has accused the Russian Federation of neglecting its arms control obligations; former President Barack Obama did so, choosing not to pull the U.S. out of the treaty at that time. Now the Trump administration has given the Kremlin warning that it has sixty days in which to re-initiate compliance with the nuclear missile treaty. Otherwise, Washington is prepared to leave the pact.
According to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Russia is guilty of "cheating at its arms control obligations" imposed under the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and that Washington was prepared to activate a six-month notice period to leave the pact should Russia not bring itself into line of the treaty within sixty days. Intelligence evidence gathered by the U.S. has been shared with its NATO allies.
That intelligence verifies that the new Russian SSC-8 ground-fired cruise missile has the capacity for Moscow to launch a nuclear strike with little or no notice directly into Europe. The bilateral treaty co-signed by Moscow and Washington bans all land-based cruise and ballistic missiles whose range ranks between 500 and 5,500 kilometres. Russia, however, spurns the U.S. claim that it has departed from the treaty parameters, insisting that its new system has a range that doesn't exceed 500 kilometres.
If memory serves right, Vladimir V. Putin boasted earlier this year when unveiling Russia's new technologies and weapons systems that it was in possession of a hypersonic air-to-ground missile, a new intercontinental ballistic
missile, a nuclear-powered missile with unlimited range, and a
hypersonic missile able to carry a nuclear warhead, as well as a few
other systems. Mr. Putin sneered at that time at NATO efforts to delay Russian weapons technology, iterating that "You have failed to contain Russia".
Kubinka, Moscow Region,
Russia - June 22, 2015: Mikoyan Gurevich MiG-31BM RF-92379 jet fighter
takes off at Kubinka air force base.
This represents a general opinion site for its author. It also offers a space for the author to record her experiences and perceptions,both personal and public. This is rendered obvious by the content contained in the blog, but the space is here inviting me to write. And so I do.
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