JAG

That's what happens when you get too close to the Trumpian blaze of glory!

Well few of them will take part - the bulk of them along with the "Proud Boys" and their mates are probably all "Federal Agents" now!

He is very likely to be turfed out in the next election anyway.

I too am pleased that the live hostages have been released. I expect that the Israelis will withdraw and Hamas will resume. There will be a period of quiet whilst Hamas take a breather and concentrate on "managing" the reconstruction resources. In due coure they will resume their attacks, although raids on Israel like those which started it all will be less likely - the border will be much better guarded and response forces will be forward based. The IDF will not be caught unawares again.

Lets try to be positive shall we - the Qatar Air Force will not have any DEI hires (or women as they are known outside the US) so Whisky Pete will be happy. If they are at all like the various "non swimmers" who have trained over the years at various UK military establishments the adjacent off base bars and "entertainment facilities" will enjoy good business. Mind you, quite a lot of them are fat, and many will have beards...

But, but, but: we must let our "talent" flourish...

Perhaps Israel will get some hostages back, and a few remains. Hamas will "disarm" and "leave power". Israel will withdraw - their military operations, as much of their army are recalled reservists, must be putting a huge strain on their economy. Their population are increasingly reluctant to support Netthanayu's government. There will be some sort of international body to govern and rebuild Gaza. Hamas of course, who won't really have "gone away" will continue as the real power, and in due course, as they have always claimed and boasted, will kick off again. It may take a decade or two - a generation? I hope I am wrong, but I am pretty damn sure I am not.

Rather than assembling under bridges in London, why don't these committed supporters of "One State in Palestine" actually do something concrete? A "foreign legion" or "international brigade" to fight in the war which they are so keen to keep going. Now that would really be making a statement. Of course the Israeli blockade on Gaza itself would pose a problem, but for sure, wouldn't the surrounding states be more than happy to allow them to launch from their territory? Perhaps a drive through from the Sinai rolling up Israel from the south, concurrent with a march from the river Jordan through the West Bank to Jerusalem. Then phase 2, drive the Israelis into the sea. From the river to the sea has a certain ring to it after all! I believe a chap called Nasser had a similar plan some 60 years ago - how did that end up?

Unless of course it requires 1,000 FBI agents to comb 100,000 documents to ensure a certain name is removed from any reference to a massive long running paedophile ring...

The whole episode probably did almost irrepairable (possible total) damage to any intelligence sharing between allies. Put bluntly, no one is going to share sensative information with the USA if they suspect it is going to end up stacked up in a Mar-A-Lago ballroom khazi!

Along with you!

How remarkably revealing! Tell me, does seeing your thoughts published, even on a small and basically inconsequential expatriate forum like this one, make your hands seem bigger?

I rather rest my case!

content://com.android.chrome.FileProvider/images/screenshot/1760252761749728278420.jpg Make the most of it girls, the fun ends on your 12th birthday!

I was a Major. For quite a lot of my service in Germany I served alongside the Bundeswehr. Most (not all) were a bunch of unwilling disinterested conscripts who couldn't fight sleep. You should however, with that background, be aware of the problems inherent in controlling and disciplining conscript soldiers. What we don't know however, and probably never will, is what sanctions were taken against the soldiers who took those photographs, and shot those children. As for "absolutely not true" and "shaming every man and woman in uniform", you are repeating the reports of Hamas news outlets. There are no independant journalistic sources on the ground in Gaza, largely because Hamas will not permit them.

I was a soldier for many years ( British Army), I deployed in urban areas on many occasions. It is not difficult to find and take pictures of soldiers, in fire positions, who appear to be threatening civilians or children. Children can be ( often are) briefed to get close to soldiers; boys in particular are curious and fascinated by armed soldiers, natural curiosity often leads them to get as close as they can. The IDF is a conscript reservist army. It will have all sorts in its ranks. It is however led by some very professional officers, and has a fairly rigid disciplinary code and ethos, albeit not one marked by "traditional" standards regarding dress and saluting and so on. I do not condone the photos of soldiers behaving thuggishly, but I suspect that when those photos were published significant action was taken against the perpatrators. The IDF has gone to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties, including taking casualties itself iin those attempts. If you consistently fight a war with a policy of putting your civilian population and infrastructure in the front line then you will, inevitably, have civilian casualties and damage.

Lazada sell ladders, torches and sidecutting pliers...

It is all a distraction. All designed to prevent one thing. Foreign threats, domestic threats, imagined "law and order" crisis, military deployments, the ludicrous rhetoric about terrorism, antifa, insurrections,the effective suspension of Congress; all a distraction. A distraction from the one scandal which he knows will bring him down. About the only contact with reality in the whole chaotic manufactured situation are the inflatable frogs on the streets in Portland!

I should imagine that some very firm albeit informal and unwritten "protocols" are in place.

How does one know if one qualifies as a true Intellectual? if one can listen to Rossini's Overture to his Opera "William Tell" without thinking of The Lone Ranger?

No we should not try to be constructive? No Mr Trumps "enthusiasms"will not be exposed? No such exposure will not be embarrassing in the context of a Nobel Laureate? No as in a blanket denial?

Let us try to be constructive shall we? I mean, were The Fragrant Leader to be elevated to the status of a Nobel Laureate, goodness me, won't it be frightfully embarrasssing when the inevitable happens and, umh, certain little enthusiasms are exposed to public scrutiny!

Possibly the Nobel Geography Prize, if there were one!

Line is an Asian owned and operated system (Korean?). It operates Line Wallet and shopping/food delivery - both close to Thai hearts! And the general "cuteness" probably appeals to many of them!

Oh dear - they have gone and given it to a brown hispanic woman!