Normandy, 1944.

In the pre-dawn hours of June 6, 1944, a massive fleet of 5,000 ships prepared to hurl 160,000 men at the walls of Hitler’s fortress Europe. America and its allies begin the long road to Berlin and the end of Hitler and the madman’s dreams of a master race.

USS Augusta with landing craft heading for Omaha Beach.

Before victory was achieved 183,588 Americans had died in the Atlantic / European theater. Events leading up to the outbreak of War in Europe in 1939 bear an uncanny resemblance to recent events around the world and current events in the middle east. The world spent the first ten years after the Second World War trying to expiate its guilt for not having seen the march of events, which is all too clear to historians and those of us who follow events on a daily basis.

War drums are sounding throughout the middle east. Israel’s foes are more shrill and strident every day. I’ve noticed that the Iranians are now vying with Turkey, to see who can send a naval escort to protect the next blockade runner making for Gaza. I was telling Dee that I was hoping that in the final analysis Turkey was too smart to try and force a naval confrontation with Israel. Now I’m not so sure. Their grandstanding Premier, Tayyip Erdogan, wants to try to run the blockade to gain face and favor in the region. He is a dangerously ambitious man.

Tayyip Erdogan

The Iranians are a different story altogether. They are much less stable and not nearly as cerebral as the Turks. The Iranian leadership is far more likely to trigger some confrontation with the Israeli Naval Forces which has the ever present threat of becoming a conflagration.
Israel will not back down.

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2010

Israel’s OK Corral.

Make no mistake, Israel has been maintaining a lawful naval blockade on Gaza. Not only that, but stopping suspect vessels in international waters is common practice. I wrote that Israel would stop that convoy and indeed they did just that.

MV Rachel Corrie (before re-naming)

What happened then will be rattling back and forth on the news cycles for months. Among the 600 plus pro-Palestinian passengers was a group of hard core terrorists, whose only purpose was to confront the Israeli commandos charged with boarding and inspecting the ships. They immediately attacked the IDF with chains, knives, metal pipes and at least one gun. The IDF opened fire with sidearms after taking several casualties, killing nine terrorists and injuring another 34 people in the melee. The ship was diverted to an Israeli port where the ‘humanitarian’ goods were trucked to Gaza. The activists were deported from Israel after interrogation.

In a further ratcheting of tensions, the Turks have threatened to send warships to protect the Rachel Corrie, an Irish vessel carrying another contingent of ‘peaceful activists’, located somewhere between Libya and Cyprus and headed towards Israel. Israel has flatly stated that no ships will pass that blockade. If Turkey is reckless enough to play this soviet-style brinkmanship with the Israelis, they may be putting a flame to a torch that may not be so easily put out. They will also find out what many others have…that Israel will use any means necessary to protect its country and its people.



With the report that Iran has enough weapons grade material to manufacture two nuclear weapons the pressure is on Israel to, in essence, become the savior of the world, because the country that should be taking action against a nuclear Iran, namely us, has an insipid, timid leader who behaves in a subservient manner in a part of the world where only the strong rule.

Barack Obama makes everything so much more dangerous than it needs to be. Israel must act. Obama doesn’t have the courage.
Besides, he’s on the other side….

Semper Vigilans, Semper Fidelis

© Skip MacLure 2010