Posted by BW Actual on Feb 15th 2024
BLACKWATER USA | DAILY BRIEF
Middle East
- Israeli media reported that PM Netanyahu has given up on peace talks in Cairo.
- Several U.S. allies - Canada, Australia, and New Zealand - called on Israel to abandon its imminent ground offensive into the densely-populated city of Rafah and observe an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. Pres. Biden has been less forceful but urged Israel to protect "exposed and vulnerable" civilian lives in Rafah.
- Meanwhile, a suspected Hezbollah rocket attack killed an Israeli border guard, and Israel struck back inside Lebanon, killing at least four. A senior Israeli official suggested Israel may start targeting the Lebanese military if the cross-border rocket fire continues, which would be a significant escalation and raise the risk of a regional war.
Russia
DRC
- U.S. intelligence warned Congress and EU allies about a new space-based nuclear weapon Russia is developing that could potentially destroy satellites and earth communications.
- We don't need to panic yet: the new technology is still years away from being deployed, and we may be overestimating its capabilities - like when we thought USSR Olympians and Ivan Drago had access to futuristic sports science but it turned out it was just steroids.
- UN officials said they would welcome the Taliban to participate in this week's international conference on Afghanistan in Doha.
- The Taliban expressed interest in participating, but now they're trying to tie their participation to demands for diplomatic recognition: Foreign Minister Muttaqi said the Taliban would only send delegates if they'd be received as official representatives of Afghanistan. That's complicated because the UN doesn't officially recognize the Taliban government.
- M23 rebels are fighting Congolese and regional troops for control of the city of Sake, displacing 135,000 civilians towards Goma.
- South African Development Community (SADC) reinforcements have already arrived, and two SADC soldiers were killed in an M23 mortar attack yesterday.
- Jane's reported that the M23 is using high-tech weapons against the SADC, including "sophisticated guided mortar rounds" and suspected Rwandan surface-to-air missiles. That further corroborates accusations that Rwanda is backing the rebels.
- Prabowo Subianto likely won yesterday's presidential election in Indonesia. Prabowo is an ex-general who was kicked out of the military for kidnapping activists and he acknowledges his distaste for democracy. He'll be an interesting steward for Indonesia's vast reserves of nickel.