Monday, March 10, 2014

Global SITREP B15-14: Some Important Military Deployments

Ukrainian 95th Separate Airmobile Brigade

UPDATED 10 March 2014: In the first known major Ukrainian military deployment since the Russian invasion of Crimea, the 95th Separate Airmobile Brigade of the 8th Ukrainian Army Corps has deployed from its garrison in the northern city of Zhytomyr for an unknown operation. The 95th consists of 3 battalions, of which the 13th Airmobile is composed of professional volunteer soldiers. It is considered to be the elite of Ukraine Special Forces (Spetsnaz) and is the most experienced, most interoperable with Western/NATO/US military forces and most battle hardened having served with Coalition Forces in Iraq during OIF-I from 2003-05. I remember these paratroopers and their professionalism during OIF-I. Whatever their mission is I have no doubt it is of the most critical importance to the new government in Kiev which has assigned their finest to see to its completion.

MV KLOS-C in the Red Sea

This past week the elite Israeli special forces unit Shayetet 13 (Flotilla 13), operating from an Israeli Navy Sa'ar C class missile corvette with IAF F-16I Sufa providing over-watch, completed a covert mission in coordination with U.S. intelligence and military forces in the seizure of the illicit, Panamanian-flagged, Iranian weapons carrying merchant vessel MV KLOS-C. The intercept and takeover occurred about 24 hours prior to the merchant vessel's arrival at Port Sudan where the illicit cargo of dozens of Syrian-manufacture 302mm medium range artillery rockets was captured. 

The Iranian smuggling operation was quite complex in its movements. In the first leg, the missiles were flown from Damascus, Syria to Tehran, Iran and then to Iranian port facilities at Bandar Abbas where they were loaded on board the KLOS-C. The merchant ship then sailed to the Iraqi port at Umm Qasr where bags of cement of Iranian manufacture were placed on top of the missiles. The ship then began its voyage to its point of capture in the Red Sea. The truly amazing thing about the seizure of the clandestine Iranian operation, and this has to weigh heavily on the elite commanders of the IRGC as well as Ayatollah Khamenei, is that their entire smuggling operation was literally an open book to Israeli and American intelligence and special forces. One can imagine, and so can Iran's leaders, what we know that they don't know that we know. It also appears obvious that a sea-change has occurred in just a very short time in the US-Israel-Iran dynamic. It appears to this observer that Iran has been put on notice by this operation that our direct military operations against their military operations is now a standing order and all that that implies. Can you say Jeremiah 49:34-39?

UPDATE:  At this point I can reference back to Global SITREP A7-13 as the requisite background reading material. It is that SITREP which goes a long way to explaining the detail behind the dire warning that came from Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu today, as noted in this DEBKAfile article also posted today. Interestingly enough, the original material I wrote about back in 2005 had its origins in Ukraine, with Russian involvement. The Ukrainian government that came to power after the "Orange Revolution" of that same year confirmed all of the details I wrote about, and which, unfortunately, DEBKAfile has gotten incorrect in some key aspects. This is why SITREP A7-13 is critical material to understand why the US and Israel have paid such very close attention to Iranian shipborne movements such as the KLOS-C.  Delivery of a nuclear warhead to a target does not require an expensive missile program when any nondescript Iranian freighter can pull into a port facility and 200kT worth of fission later that port facility and the city it was a part of will have ceased to exist.

F-15C on full aferburner take-off RAF Lakenheath, England

There has been a direct US-NATO military response to the Russian invasion of Crimea. From the RAF Lakenheath deployment of six American F-15C all-weather air-superiority fighter aircraft and 50 support personnel to Lithuania, to the deployment of the Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Truxton (DDG--103) into the Black Sea opposite Crimea, NATO forces have begun to assume a more aggressive, forward leaning posture towards a increasingly militarily belligerent Russia under Vladimir Putin. At the minimum these two forward deployments symbolize a NATO flanking maneuver and trip-wire in opposition to Russian military aggression across the breadth of Eastern Europe. This is precisely the type of positive, measured response to continuing Russian military aggression capped by their ICBM launch last week that this observer was hoping to see instead of the initial waffling and weakness first exhibited as the crisis began.

16 comments:

  1. Sean,
    I was under the impression that Iran had been smuggling large numbers of missiles to Gaza for years and we had done little to stop them.

    Was there anything unique about this particular cargo that would prompt Western action? Or do you think this indicates a political decision by the West that the time is right because of the progress of Iran's nuclear program?

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  2. Sean,
    Read your excellent SITREP B15-14 and it filled in a bunch of the holes left by the Liberal News Media efforts on the Iran shipment attempt.

    The whole report on the US responses gives me reason for new hope that maybe there is a spine in the WH after all.

    Shalom/GG5

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  3. Nothing unique in this shipment on the KLOS-C which is like so many of the advanced weapons shipments from Iran to HAMAS in the past: 40 M302 rockets with fused warheads, a total of 181 121mm mortar rounds, and over 400,000 rounds of AK-47 assault rifle ammunition.

    Hence, my comment in the article: "It appears to this observer that Iran has been put on notice by this operation that our (American participation in) direct military operations against their military operations is now a standing order and all that that implies."

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  4. Mark3210,

    I guess you didn't pick up on what I wrote above in my response, especially that part in my quote "...and all that implies."

    When it comes to Iran these days and intercepts of shipborne weapons... those weapons can now include nuclear weapons.

    This is precisely the point that PM Netanyahu made today regarding the KLOS-C and nuclear weapons coming out of Iran on board as a ship's cargo.

    And it is a point reiterated in a DEBKAfile article posted this morning... which not-so-coincidentally reiterates what I wrote about back in 2005 regarding the covert (illegal proliferation) transfer of Soviet KH-55SM nuclear cruise missiles designed to deliver a miniaturized 200kT warhead to Iran.

    Who needs an expensive cruise missile to deliver a nuclear warhead when a nondescript freighter brought into a port facility can do the same job?

    Now we are beginning to see why the US was so actively involved in tracking the shipment, but i could say that before now, I needed Netanyahu or someone else to spill those beans in open source media first.

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  5. GG5,

    I read your private, not for publication comments; I also read the RR piece by Terry James (Bing searched for it to locate it) that you referenced.

    What I noticed most in reading the article, excepting only the very specific comments about Pope Francis, was that it was very much like reading a general synopsis of the articles I've posted to Eschatology Today since 2009.

    Is Gog Hooked? Yes, without question he is. Is Vladimir Putin exhibiting the same attributes that were provided to Ezekiel by God regarding "Gog of Magog?" Again, yes, no doubt about it.

    Again, from May 2009, in my "The Prophetic Road to Revelation (Part IV):The War of Gog of Magog" I wrote the following about the hooks (plural) placed in both of Gog's (Putin's) jaws (plural) which make escape from the appointed, prophetic fate an impossibility:

    "I am compelled to make a specific note at this point that there is not just one hook or one jaw, but plural "hooks" and "jaws." There are more than one hook and more than one jaw, or many hooks and many jaws. Secondly, the "hook" is not necessarily a "fish hook" as we might imagine. The Hebrew word is chach can mean a ring, like a nose ring as found Ezekiel Ch 29:4, or a bracelet, and both of which were run through the nose of wild animals in order to tame them. Often in Old Testament times a rope was attached to the ring or the bracelet to lead the animal to where the trainer wanted it to go. The next Hebrew word to note is lechiy which is a reference to the cheek of a man, or the jawbone of an animal.


    Read and compare Ezekiel's use of this word with the text found in Isaiah 37:29. The purposes are literally identical, to "turn thee back". Therefore, the "hook" is a metaphor which represents the vehicle of the judgment that God has declared upon ALL of the nations of the Gog/Magog confederation. God Almighty has determined that His judgment is due to these nations which He considers to be no better than animals. It is God who nathan (gave, put or set) these devices of His choosing and by His sovereign will so that 5/6ths of these nations military forces will be drawn to their deaths in the Valley of the Passengers in what is today the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, but in that near-future time will have been conquered to become the land of Israel. God has from ancient times made the determination to nathan chach (set rings, hooks) into Gog/Magog and ALL of those nations to execute His Divine judgment of near total destruction (5/6ths) upon the entirety of that confederation of nations.

    Additionally, in Ezekiel 38:10 we are introduced by the prophet to ra machashabah which transliterates in English as “an evil thought or evil plan.” That ra machashabah is the shalal, the spoil of war and source of the resultant coveting by the Gog/Magog alliance of Israel's massive new territories, the sum of which contain newly acquired wealth which is the net result of the final fulfillment of Psalm 83 and/or other additional and as yet undiscovered vaults of oil, gas precious stones or mineral wealth within Eretz Israel’s expanded boundaries. The sum of all these things also result in the establishment of a new military reality and regional paradigm, first and foremost of which is that Israel will live in total security and fear no nation on this earth."

    Many Bible prophecy expositors these days are saying the same things because there is only one Holy Spirit, and He carries only one message regarding prophecy, ALL of which leads to the Revelation of Jesus Christ as the King of kings and Lord of lords, and the coming of His Kingdom on the earth.

    If a Bible prophecy expositor is not mirroring this kind of exegesis, then I would strongly advise total avoidance of that teaching.

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  6. Sean,
    I see that Iran is now claiming "87% progress" in construction of Arak.

    That's up from the 85% reported 12 days ago.

    It's like a countdown to doomsday!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Something like that, however, there is no real doomsday... the world continues after the 70th Week for at least another 1,000 years to circa 3020 AD, or perhaps by then years will be referred to as circa 1020 AR (as in 'After Return').

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  8. Sean, I will re-read your excellent Revelation series and especially the last episode first thing tomorrow. I wanted to refer Terry James to your blog so he could read your excellent material but having correspondence with Terry isn't the easiest thing in the world for me to do, right now.

    I am a former So. Baptist that knew there was far more than just my salvation experience with Jesus Christ and when I finally found that fullness of Holy Spirit indwelling in me, I marched on to the Full Gospel fellowship. But the very fact that Terry was even writing about Gog and the Hook was just too much for me to pass up.

    You are very correct in saying that the Holy Spirit is sending the same message to all true believers and especially the leaders of the Body of Christ. The friend that shared Terry's article was very surprised about his remarks but it also gave me great hope for the future. Or even next week.

    Thank you for your excellent coverage and I just trust your leading by the Holy Spirit Sean. When HE leads the believer can trust him or her to say and reflect divinely on God's word. Too many without the WHOLE BEING of the Holy Spirit trying to interpret and it doesn't work.

    Shalom/GG5
    6

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  9. Sean, I appreciate you so much... I dont comment usually, but I look to your updates often! Lord Bless you ♥
    I wanted to ask you if you have a Facebook page that I could follow??
    Thanks, susie williams

    ReplyDelete
  10. Susie,

    Give all the glory to the Lord, it is for Him that I do this.

    Fortunately, I do not have a Facebook page, in fact I do not interact on any of the many "social media" websites.

    I looked into going on Facebook at one point but decided pretty quickly against it _ I have known for a long time now that automated websites - just like Facebook - an a direct avenue of access into a personal computer by those who do not belong there. And once inside a personal computer all of the files and passwords, financial and other personal data stored within it are available to anyone who wants to take that kind of information.

    Joining social media like Facebook is akin to permitting turbo-charged Identity Theft and the introduction of you-name-it malware into your Personal Computer.

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  11. Sean, this isn't a comment for this post but I didn't know how to contact you. I am sure you have followed the story of the missing jet liner out of Malaysia. I was reading a article on the New York Times website, and read the comments. In the comments someone hypothesized the plane could have made it to Somalia, as they now believe it flew 4 to 5 hours that direction. I eyeballed my sons world wall map, and really if it could have made it to Somalia, couldn't it have made it to IRAN???? I know this is out in conspiracy theory land, but what if it is in Iran and they are going to use it as a nuke delivery system. Just wanted to throw that out there, as you are more connected and I thought someone should entertain the possibility. I am just a stay at home mom, so there isn't anything I can really do about it.
    J.G.

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  12. Sean,

    Don't we need to assume now that virtually anything we do on a computer or telephone is spied on by the US or other governments?

    It's rather disconcerting to think about how little privacy remains.

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  13. Mark,

    I think we should have been assuming that for a very long time. It has long been said that keywords and phrases are detected and kick in automatic recording. Echelon was the buzzword/codeword used a few years back for this type of SIGINT collections.

    It used to be that anytime a US person was scooped up and identified as a US citizen in this type of intelligence collection everything collected had to be destroyed. That destruction was mandatory per US Signals Intelligence Directive 18 (USSID-18), meaning that if NSA or other government agency collected it, they had to destroy it pronto. I know this because I was subject to it; I signed documents for the USG promising to abide by USSID 18 under penalty of certain UCMJ articles. Why this is not still in effect today I do not know; I thought it was still in effect.

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  14. Sean,

    How much spying do you think takes place with regular mail?

    I've seen TV shows where they'll open a package suspected of containing drugs, examine the contents, then seal it right back up and send it.

    We'd be naive to think they aren't doing the same thing with regular letters of certain people, right?

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  15. Mark,

    Not without a court order, usually a secret FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) court order at that -- because the individuals are foreign spies or are associated with Islamic terrorism.

    ReplyDelete

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