History, Religion, Politics, Culture, and Travels in the Islamic World
Essay on the “Rosewood” (Rosenholz) files—microfilmed database of Stasi agents in the West acquired by CIA after the Berlin Wall fell (Der Mauerfall)—and Markus Wolf’s elaborate coding system that took CIA years to crack before they could identify his spies in US and Europe. Essays includes number of photos taken by me of Stasi HQ
On the anniversary of the German surrender at Karlshorst, east Berlin, in the presence of Marshal Georgy Zhukov, a bit of history—and lots of photos and videos, including by me—about the vicinity, which was used for administration of the Soviet Zone (1945–49); and housed the biggest KGB station in the world (1954–1991).
Following threats from Israeli and American officials, like “Iraq is just one campaign… Next, we’re going to have the Iranian campaign,” IRGC began developing a large and diverse array of ballistic, cruise, and hypersonic missiles. IRGC is ready (as Israel discovered). Iran has created a 2,000 km radius ring of fire around Iran; an anti-access zone in which enemy ships and bases can be destroyed by IRGC's missiles.
NATO Sec.-Gen. has hissy fit over Russian exhibition of captured NATO, UK, UK, EU Wunderwaffen. Video of the exhibits is in the post.
Patriot air defense systems are done. So much for the 99% interception rate myth.
Christian Bleuer has been maintaining the massive “Afghanistan Analyst Bibliography” since 2004. Bleuer just published the final edition (29 April 2024), accompanied by an essay titled, “The State of Research on Afghanistan: Too many poor quality publications and some real gems.” Links included at post.
China, Russia, and Iran, a coalition of countries targeted by the collective west, know they have a common enemy and are cooperating militarily, politically, and economically to neutralize it. Recent meetings of Iranian, Russia, and Chinese defense ministers in Astana (Kazakhstan); and China’s reaction to threats by Antony Blinken, are addressed.
Writing about political and military developments in the Middle East has distracted me from writing about my primary interests: travels, peoples, cultures, religion, and history. A short photo essay about my student days in Damascus in the 2000s when I studied Arabic at Damascus University
44th anniversary of the 24-25 April 1980 failed attempt by US Special Forces to rescue hostages held at the US Embassy in Tehran. Video and photo essay with links to informed analyses.
Maj-Gen. Aharon Haliva, chief of the Israel Defense Force’s Military Intelligence Directorate, announced his resignation on Monday, ostensibly for his failures w.r.t. the 7 October attack, but Iranian sources inform me that his departure is due to his failure to estimate Iran’s response to Israel’s illegal attack on its Damascus diplomatic facility.
Perspectives 
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