Black Sea Aerial Provocation: Russian Fighter Conducts ‘Unsafe’ Intercept of U.S. Recon Plane UPDATED

 

Via Reeko:
On Monday, 25 January 2016, a US recon aircraft was intercepted over international waters in the Black Sea well over forty miles from the Crimean coastline. A US RC-135U, designated a “COMBAT SENT” aircraft, was aggressively intercepted by a Russian Sukhoi 27, NATO codename “Flanker”, which reportedly came within 15 feet of the much larger reconnaissance aircraft. The Flanker then performed what is being described as an “aggressive banking turn” which in turn “disturbed the controllability” of the RC-135. The US aircraft eventually recovered to stable flight enough to return to base relatively safely.

Several things are very important to note here. For one, this incident happened just a few days before the US and Russia announced a joint flight safety memorandum on specifically, this type of incident in the AO (area of operations) around Turkey, Syria, Iraq and littorals. Another important note is that Russia has done this type of provocative and dangerous intercept of our intelligence platforms many times in the past. Most recently, they did almost the exact type of intercept in the Baltic just this past summer.

Please note that these aggressive intercepts are not just merely a close “look and see” fly-by of the supersonic fighter jets. In the crews’ terms, these are routinely called “bump and runs” and are usually played out by the fighter jet sliding up and under/off one of the wings of the much larger (Boeing 707-type) recon aircraft which usually carries over 20 souls on board. The fighter jet slips and rocks wings up and down then slides either up over or down under the larger jet while pushing his throttles up to come out ahead of the recon aircraft.

Remember, all of this deliberate airplay is not play at all – it is life-threatening and on purpose. Their normal cruising altitude is anywhere from 20 to 35 thousand feet and their speeds can be around 400 to 500 mph. The turbulence from a fighter’s wing-waggle/wing-slip and then pulling ahead is enough to throw the larger aircraft into a very turbulent wake, rocking and shaking everything and everybody inside to pieces. If that isn’t enough, there have been times when the coup-de-grace would then be delivered by the intercepting jet pilot while he is out in front of the larger plane: he would hit his afterburners. Ka-boom.

For those who don’t know, an afterburner is literally an extension of a jet engine that shoots gallons of gas into the almost 1000 degree exhaust coming from the engine itself, igniting into a plasma blast of well over 2000 degrees and exploding out the tail pipe of the jet. Most afterburning jets can get up to 80 percent more power from the afterburner kicking in alone, and a SU-27 Flanker has not one, but two very bad-ass afterburning engines. In the rarified air of the cruising altitude of an RC-135, and within sometimes less than 100 feet directly in front of the nose of the aircraft, any afterburners being lit off is quite literally the equivalent of bombs going off directly in your flight path. The compression/air burst effects are physically the same as bombs. A fighter’s afterburner could completely disintegrate an aircraft flying in close tail. The Russian pilots know that, and so do the terrified recon crews flying – unarmed and unafraid.

A final note is that I personally have flown on almost every RC-135 in the USAF, and not only watched a fighter jet off our wing do this type of threatening maneuver, but I lived to fly and fight another day. Yet, I can still see the faces and name the names of those who didn’t come back from long ago… These airmen this last week will have a story or two to tell that is for sure. Hell, if I get to meet them I will buy them all a drink. They deserve it. God bless our airmen, and may His angels protect them all. Amen.

***NEWER UPDATE: 31 January 2016***

The word of the day: “boltanut” – whatever that means… 😉

Since there is a lot more on the interwebs today about this particular incident, it has become clear that it is as I first suspected: that the intercept was indeed off the Russian Crimean coast. Since Crimea was militarily annexed by Russian in 2014 it has understandably been a rather significant military intelligence subject from a host of NATO-aligned countries. That there has been an uptick in the reconnaissance snooping on Crimea is not an unusual turn of events. Whenever a belligerent country militarily invades and takes over part of another country, that in turn does tend to invite significant military reconnaissance. Duh.

That said, as I followed this story I found some amusing asides. For example, on various search engines there are some other (Russian) viewpoints with of course their unbiased (!) reporting of this same incident. Not to knock Google Translate, but some of these translation variations are hilarious. Methinks much may be lost in the googlenator…

First check out the latest from a rather reliable news source like CNN here, and then compare and contrast that from just two ridiculous translations of military-journalistic-jingo Russian:

CNN:  http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/29/politics/us-russia-planes-intercept/

RISS St. Petersburg:

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ru&u=http://spb.riss.ru/news/3222/&prev=search

And I was especially amused by this one, as I have absolutely no idea what a “botalnut” is – even in the original Russian where they have it in quotation marks. From Freepress Russia:

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ru&u=http://svpressa.ru/war21/article/141254/&prev=search

“Boltanut” well, ok, if they say so. As far as I know, there is no such word in Russian, and my best guess is that it is a contraction of something meaning “bolt stress” or something similar. That they have it in quotations in the original Russian tells me that the writers haven’t got a clue about the meaning, or for that matter, much of anything dealing with aircraft. But that’s just me.

Your wingman,

Reeko Forsazh

 

SEE ALSO:

Bill Gertz, Washington Free Beacon: Russian Fighter Conducts Dangerous Intercept of U.S. Recon Jet

 

The State Department Touts “Pivotal Foreign Policy Moments”

State Dept. flack John Kirby touted the “most pivotal foreign policy moments” of the year on the State Department’s “Dipnote” blog on Christmas Eve, perhaps hoping that people would be too busy celebrating Christmas to notice it.

Well it took a few days, but people are starting to notice it.

All the “pivotal moments listed” are worthy of special scorn and derision – especially the claim that the U.S. brought “peace and security to Syria.”

Syria: The conflict in Syria has continued to unfold in tragic ways over the course of 2015. From the humanitarian crisis endured by refugees fleeing violence, to the reprehensible human rights violations and violence carried out by the Asad regime, the Syrian people have borne a heavy load. The United States and many members of the international community have stepped up to aid the Syrian people during their time of need – the United States has led the world in humanitarian aid contributions since the crisis began in 2011. Led by Secretary Kerry, the United States also continues to push for a political transition in Syria, and under his stewardship, in December, the UN Security Council passed a U.S.-sponsored resolution that puts forward a roadmap that will facilitate a transition within Syria to a credible, inclusive, nonsectarian government that is responsive to the needs of the Syrian people.

Fox News’s Neil Cavuto had former US Army Special Operations expert Jason Beardsley to discuss Obama’s alleged success in securing Syria.

“That was a political statement at its best,” Beardsley said charitably. “Nobody takes that seriously.” He added, “this does discredit to folks inside the State Department who recognize the reality on the ground.”

Kirby also claimed that the Obama administration is “winning the fight against violent extremists.”

To justify this dubious claim, he cites “The White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism” which took place last February if you remember. (I wrote about the appalling travesty here, here and here.)

If you remember, the WH Summit Countering Extremism was a ludicrous exercise in futility that refused to consider radical Islam as a possible cause for terrorism, and focused on anti-poverty prescriptions to counter the problem.  The summit made a point of giving equal time to “Christian” violent extremist groups while inviting actual supporters of violent Islamic extremism to participate in their summit on Countering Violent Extremism.

I get a headache just thinking about it.

This badly timed event closely followed the Paris Charlie Hebdo terrorist attacks in Paris in a year when Islamic terrorism was on the rise throughout the world – including here in America.

Amazingly, the State Department actually wanted to remind people of the embarrassing spectacle.

In February, the White House hosted the Summit on Countering Violent Extremism (CVE), bringing together foreign leaders, senior officials from the United Nations and other international organizations, and private and civil society representatives to discuss the challenges facing nations working to prevent and counter violent extremism. This monumental summit launched an ongoing global CVE effort now underway that reaches throughout the world and across countless nations. Although challenges remain, we have made positive strides over the last year, including in our fight against ISIL. This forward progress will only continue as more countries pledge resources to the anti-ISIL effort and as citizens around the world increasingly reject ISIL’s misguided ideology. Moving forward we know that together the global coalition – active both on the battlefield and on the airwaves – can and will degrade and ultimately destroy extremist organizations, like ISIL. (More on CVE)

Stephen Coughlin, a former intelligence contractor at the Pentagon, whose specialty was “Islamic doctrine as it applies to ‘Jihad’ and the strategic objectives of our enemy,” recently gave a detailed explanation of the dangerous CVE deception on the internet show The Glazov Gang.

He said that the scrubbing of the word “Islam” from all government discourse was a long process that started at the end of the Bush years and accelerated under Obama.

Via PJ Media:

“I actually believe there is a deep, deep strategic initiative behind it, and where we are doing ‘countering violent extremism,’ we are not doing counter-terrorism,” Coughlin says. “As it relates to the United States, the CVE was established and set up at DHS with the assistance of the Muslim Brotherhood.”

Ambassador to Dominican Republic Threw Big ol’ Gay Pool Party at Embassy To Celebrate SCOTUS Decision

In the wake of the Supreme Court decision on same sex marriage, America’s top diplomat in the Dominican Republic showed his “gay pride” by throwing a fabulous pool party – with bevy of hot studs – at the embassy pool.

US Ambassador James “Wally” Brewster, a major fundraiser for Obama’s 2012 campaign, has been the Dominican Republic’s top diplomat since November of 2013.

Brewster formerly served on the national board of directors for the Human Rights Campaign, the radical gay rights group that *illegally obtained from the IRS, the confidential donor list of the National Organization for Marriage.

“My first pool party celebrating equality !!!” the diplomat’s husband, Bob J. Satawake gushed in a Facebook post.

When Obama announced Brewster’s appointment in June of 2013, scandalized religious groups in the majority Catholic country protested.

Church leaders considered it a sign of a lack of respect from Obama.

CNN reported in November of 2013:

“He has not considered the particularities of our people. The United States is trying to impose on us marriage between gays and lesbians as well as adoption by these couples,” said Father Luis Rosario, director of youth ministries for the church.

Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez has also criticized Brewster’s selection several times since Obama announced his appointment over the summer.

Local media reported that an evangelical church called for “black Monday” protests, asking people to show their opposition to Brewster by tying black ribbons on their cars, according to local media reports.

Fast forward two years and you can see how this exquisite, culturally sensitive appointment is working out in the 68.9% Roman Catholic country.

Via Diario Libra: (with rough Google translation):

As part of the celebration, the US ambassador to RD, Wally Brewster, held a meeting at the pool of the embassy, on 28 June, LGBT Pride Day. ” My first pool party celebrating equality !!!  is the text accompanying the picture of activity, published in the Facebook profile diplomat husband, Bob J. Satawake.

Hat tip: The Diplomad:

*Hans Von Spakovsky and John Fund reported last July on the corrupt collusion between Obama’s IRS and the Human Right’s campaign and the resulting wrist slap they received:

Despite its agreement to settle a lawsuit filed by the National Organization for Marriage against the IRS for the illegal disclosure of confidential tax information, it has not prosecuted any of the individuals or organizations who illegally disclosed and published that information.

The IRS, which was represented by Justice Department lawyers in the civil case, agreed to pay NOM $50,000 at the end of June over the agency’s illegal disclosure of confidential tax return information. 501(c)(4) organizations like NOM are required to file an IRS tax form, Schedule B, listing all of their donors who have contributed more than $5,000. But under federal law, that information is not available to the public since forced disclosure would obviously violate the First Amendment rights of the organization.

In March of 2012, NOM discovered that its Schedule B with all of its confidential information had been posted on the website of the Human Rights Campaign and the Huffington Post, disclosing the names and addresses of major donors. NOM is a conservative organization trying to preserve traditional marriage and the Human Rights Campaign is a very liberal, pro-gay rights organization that is a big ally of the Obama administration and devoted political enemy of NOM. In fact, HRC’s president at the time was Joe Solmonese, the co-chair of President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign. This list generated stories such as in the Huffington Post critical of Mitt Romney because a political action committee linked to Romney had contributed to NOM.

Awkward and Mortifying: Lurch In Paris

 

How badly did the Obama administration fumble this week? So bad that the always awkward Lurch was dispatched to France to set things “right.” God help us.

Awkward doesn’t even begin to describe this, via The Daily Mail: He gave France a hug… and a kiss… and a VERY awkward rendition of ‘You’ve Got a Friend’: Grovelling Kerry cuddles up to Hollande and even flies in James Taylor to make up for terror march snub:

A grovelling John Kerry hugged and kissed French president Francois Hollande in a show of contrition after nobody important from the White House joined a solidarity march in the wake of the terror attack on Paris.

The Secretary of State even brought back-up for his visit in the form of singer James Taylor, who patched up the United States’s oldest diplomatic relationship with a rendition of ‘You’ve got a friend’.

Arriving at the presidential Elysée Palace, Kerry reached out his hands for Hollande, embraced him closely, then appeared to kiss him on the cheek.

Could this administration be any more mortifying?

Reactions from aghast Twitter users were swift.

https://twitter.com/Entreprenante/status/556075255374958594

https://twitter.com/NicholasMHansen/status/556079624606990336

Kerry should have sang with Taylor accompanying on guitar. SO POIGNANT.

— Allahpundit (@allahpundit) January 16, 2015

 

Amnesty Begins: Regime Prepares For Millions of New Immigrant IDs

It is said that a leader who is a malignant narcissist will be at his most tyrannical and dangerous when his popularity is on the decline. A large component of Obama’s fundamental transformation of America requires an huge influx of immigrants from the third world to become clients of the State, adding to the Democrat voting base. It should not come as a surprise that Obama means to reach that goal before he leaves office even as his serial executive overreaches repel the American people. His plan to grant up to 9 million illegal immigrants amnesty without the approval of Congress represents an abuse of power so extreme, and audacious it’s almost beyond comprehension. To call it a coup d’Etat is not hyperbole.

Via Jonathan Strong, Breitbart News:

Despite no official action from the president ahead of the election, the Obama administration has quietly begun preparing to issue millions of work authorization permits, suggesting the implementation of a large-scale executive amnesty may have already begun.
Unnoticed until now, a draft solicitation for bids issued by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Oct. 6 says potential vendors must be capable of handling a “surge” scenario of 9 million id cards in one year “to support possible future immigration reform initiative requirements.”

The request for proposals says the agency will need a minimum of four million cards per year. In the “surge,” scenario in 2016, the agency would need an additional five million cards – more than double the baseline annual amount for a total of 9 million.

“The guaranteed minimum for each ordering period is 4,000,000 cards. The estimated maximum for the entire contract is 34,000,000 cards,” the document says.

The agency is buying the materials need to construct both Permanent Residency Cards (PRC), commonly known as green cards, as well as Employment Authorization Documentation (EAD) cards which have been used to implement President Obama’s “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals” (DACA) program. The RFP does not specify how many of each type of card would be issued.

Jessica Vaughan, an immigration expert at the Center for Immigration Studies and former State Department official, said the document suggests a new program of remarkable breadth.

People who wonder what the Regime was doing while ISIS gathered strength in the Middle East and Ebola went from a few cases in a village in Guinea to the largest outbreak of the disease to date, have their answer. Obama is not as idle as people make him out to be, and has been putting his particular skill set to good use. It’s just that his particular skill-set –  community organizing – doesn’t lend itself well to terror threats and plagues.

It’s not clear that Republicans have an aggressive plan to respond to Obama’s scheme to grant  amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants, but last August there was talk of a restraining order or injunction to stop him if he tries it.

At a recent event at the Heritage Foundation entitled “An Imperial Presidency,” headlined by Congressman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, remedies like an “emergency injunction” and “power of the purse” were discussed.

Via Immigration Reform:

However, he said, should the President follow up in the near future with additional “major” abuses of power, one of which would be the “dramatic expansion” of unlawful and unilateral amnesties, that would call for an “immediate response.” He suggested that this response might take the form of going to Court and asking for an emergency injunction to stop the unilateral amnesty. He acknowledged, however, that the Courts could drag out the process of hearing until past the end of the President’s term, meaning it would not be an effective way of addressing the issue.  While he mentioned that the “Enforce the Law Act” expedites the legal process to a few months, of course, that bill is not currently law, leaving the prospect of litigation as a way to curb the President’s executive overreach quite murky.

Given the difficulties a lawsuit would present at holding the President accountable, I asked if stopping the President through appropriations and not just a lawsuit is also on the table.  In response, Goodlatte said that the power of the purse is “always” on the table. However, he implied that if one chamber of Congress refuses to use the power of the purse to rein in the Executive branch, it is difficult for the other to do so alone.  If the Republicans should take the Senate, appropriations would therefore be a more likely option for the Republicans to pursue, he hinted.

They’d better get moving if they really want to stop him, because the president is already way ahead of them.

 SEE ALSO:

Matthew Boyle, Breitbart: Exclusive — Jeff Sessions: Obama’s Immigration Policies Hammer Black Workers

Senate Budget Committee ranking member Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) told Breitbart News that black workers across America should be wary of supporting Democrats because of President Obama and other Democrats’ support for immigration policies that displace them economically.

Obama Tells Western African Nations You Can’t Get Ebola on a Bus (Video)

Obama in a video message with soothing talking points to Western African nations: First, Ebola is not spread through the air like the flu. You cannot get it from casual contact like sitting next to someone one a bus.

 

As White House Dossier’s Keith Koffler notes,  the Centers for Disease Control begs to differ.

According to a CDC guidance document, people at risk for exposure to Ebola may be subject to “controlled movement.” It states:

These individuals should not travel by commercial conveyances (e.g. airplane, ship, long-distance bus, or train). Local use of public transportation (e.g. taxi, bus) by asymptomatic individuals should be discussed with the public health authority. If travel is approved, the exposed person must have timely access to appropriate medical care if symptoms develop during travel. Approved long-distance travel should be by chartered flight or private vehicle; if local public transportation is used, the individual must be able to exit quickly.

The reason individuals who have been exposed to Ebola should not take public transportation is because, as Obama himself notes in his statement above, the disease is spread through bodily fluids like sweat, saliva or blood. That means if a person infected with the Ebola virus coughs or sneezes (or sweats) on you – you could become contaminated. What more the virus can live on surfaces for up to six days.

Via The Daily Mail:

Virus expert Charles L. Bailey, who in 1989 helped the American government tackle an outbreak of Ebola among rhesus monkeys being used for research, told the LA Times: ‘We know for a fact that the virus occurs in sputum and no one has ever done a study [disproving that] coughing or sneezing is a viable means of transmitting.

‘Unqualified assurances that Ebola is not spread through the air are “misleading”.’

Dr C J Peters, who has undertaken research into Ebola for America’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told the paper: ‘We just don’t have the data to exclude it [becoming airborne].’

This is bad…the people of West Africa haven’t been conditioned to discount everything this shyster says like we have.

Good grief – I can’t believe the president told people in an Ebola-stricken countries that you can’t get the disease from the guy sitting next to you on the bus.

How can he say that?

What is he doing???