larry johnson with something like a week roundup;

I screwed up in my commentary today. I flipped flopped the dates of the bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut in 1983 with the date of the bombing of the Marine barracks. The Embassy was hit in April 1983 and the Marines caught hell in October. Getting old is a bitch. At least I got the year right. To quote Joe Biden, “Where’s my ice cream?”

Has some enterprising PhD student written a dissertation on the efficacy of U.S. sanctions? If so, let me know. I discussed this point with the Judge as we reviewed Putin’s trip to the Hermit Kingdon of Kim Jong Un. Think about how ineffective U.S. sanctions have been with respect to North Korea, Iran, Syria, Cuba and Russia. In theory, sanctions are supposed to work some kind of magic by imposing such severe economic costs on a society that the beleaguered people rise up in anger and overturn the government or, the targeted government, reeling from the political heat caused by the economic damage, changes its policies to suit the United States. Nice theory, but history proves this is crap.

On the Israeli/Palestinian front, Bibi Netanyahu and his government are following Ukraine’s example in the lead up to the June 2023 “counter offensive.” Looks like the Ukrainians have not cornered the market on stupid. Israeli officials, both political and military, are talking openly of their plan to invade southern Lebanon in the next three weeks. If you are going to launch an important military operation, prudence dictates you do not announce it in advance. To repeat what I wrote last year with respect to Ukraine, General Eisenhower did not spend the month before the invasion of Normandy talking to the press and telling them that the United States and its allies were going to knock the hell out of the Germans within four weeks. Good Christ! Here is but one example:..........more.......