Episode 60 - A catastrophe in Cairo, Killings in Kashmir and more provocations in Palestine

A catastrophe in Cairo, Killings in Kashmir and more provocations in Palestine.  All that coming up on today's Hot Zone.

 

Hi Folks!  several people have asked me what's happening between India and Pakistan.  The media acts like there's about to be a huge war between the two, and the news is always quick to point out that both India and Pakistan have nuclear missiles.  As if they are about to unleash them on each other.  

 

Listen, that's not going to happen.  No state actor is going to employ nuclear missiles in a regional dispute.  That'd be like using an M1 Abram's tank to make traffic stops. Pakistan and India have been enemies for a long time over the disputed region of Kashmir, which is a very sparsely populated district claimed by both countries AND China since 1947.  The bigger issue right now is that terrorists based in Pakistan have made a habit of crossing over into India and killing people - which tends to annoy one's neighbors.  The 2008 Mumbai terror attack which killed 166 people in a massive multicell coordinated operation, was planned and executed from Pakistan by the terror group Lashkar-e-taiba.  

 

This latest incident involves a suicide attack on Indian paramilitaries which happened on february 14th and killed 20 people, again planned and executed from inside Pakistan.  India responded by sending warplanes to hit targets inside Pakistan for the first time since the 1970's.  Now the two countries are trading mortar fire across the disputed region.  Which is bad.

 

But they are NOT going to start a nuclear war over this.  It just won't happen.  Pakistan shot down one indian Mig fighter the other day and captured it's pilot.  They got some airtime by parading the bloodied guy around, but have now agreed to release him as a show of good will.  So things will likely soon go back to throwing shade at each other but not bombs before long.  At least I hope so.

 

A horrible tragedy in the train station in Cairo, Egypt happened on Wednesday, when a fight between two conductors caused a train to slam into the station and explode, killing at least 25 people and wounding many more.  Graphic footage from the incident shows people running around on fire, obviously in shock after what just happened.  I only included this today as a lesson to any of you who travel internationally.  The most dangerous thing you can do in many parts of the world is use public transportation.  Actually local buses are the worst, but suffice it to say that safety standards are all but non existent in many places.  So if you have a choice between flying or taking the bus, it's better to spend a little more and fly.  Also, if you for whatever reason ever find yourself on fire.  Remember what we all learned as kids - stop, drop and roll.  Unfortunately these poor souls never learned that lesson.

 

Okay, just a quick note on Venezuela:  There have now been over 400 defections by members of the armed forces to the side of interim president Juan Guaido.  That's a good start, but at this point even if thousands defect, Russia and Cuba are in charge of the military's top brass there now, and their Wagner group mercenaries are known for their brutality.  They probably have Venezuela's generals by the jewels, so to speak, and so this crisis will likely go on much longer than it needs to because of that.  The US is continuing to put pressure on the country by ramping up sanctions and even flying reconnaissance aircraft off the coast of venezuela, but Juan Guaido assured his people after meeting with Vice President Pence earlier this week that there are no military options on the table at this time.  And I believe that.  Right now it's all about the media battlespace.  And so far Juan Guaido is winning.

 

Now let's go to Israel.  There have been three wars between Hamas and Israel since 2008, and it's probably only a matter of time until the next one.  Violent protests have been going on for months along the Israel/Gaza border, as Palestinians have tried again and again to breach the fence and enter into Israeli territory.  When that failed, they began launching incendiary balloons to cross the border and set crops on fire, causing millions in damages.  the IDF has steadfastly defended their frontier, firing on protesters who posed a threat.  So far almost 170 palestinians and one Israeli have been killed and thousands wounded.

 

There was a lull for a few weeks as UN negotiators tried to broker a peace deal.  But that fell apart this week and the protesters are back at it, this time with a new tactic - something they call "night confusion units."  They come to the border and bang pots and pans, sing chants and set off sound bombs and flaming balloons.  I guess since they have failed to breach the fence and murder the Jews living on the other side, they've decided to try and annoy them to death.  

 

The IDF is taking it seriously though, as they must.  They've uncovered lots of terror tunnels over the past year, and by some estimates eighty percent of the building materials in Gaza are being used to try and construct more.  

 

The last time I was in Israel I visited the Gaza border with Oliver North.  Here's a little of the footage we shot while there.

 

[OLN Stand ups]

 

Looking at the 30 foot concrete barricade erected by Israel to protect their border, and seeing the double layer barbed wire fence in front of that, I realized they've had a nearly 100% success rate at keeping unwanted people from crossing thier borders illegally.  And these aren't economic migrants looking for jobs, they are hardened terrorists wanting to kill Jews.  So it got me wondering why we don't see more about the Gaza wall in the news, since it is the perfect example of how walls work.  

 

Elliot Chodoff is a political and military analyst specializing in the Middle East conflict and the global war on terrorists.  I talked with him while I was there and asked him about the comparison between the US southern border and their frontier with Gaza.  Here's some never-before-seen footage of what he had to say.

 

Well that's all for today.  If you are enjoying the news we're putting out, please consider supporting the podcast at patreon.com/hotzone.  It's the new way people are getting their news, and with your support I'll be able to keep bringing you the ground truth from the world's hot zones.   

 

I appreciate all of you.  And I'll see you back again monday with a great interview about the crisis in Haiti.  Right here on the Hot Zone.

 

 

End notes:

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/deadly-blaze-in-main-cairo-railway-station-kills-at-least-20-and-injures-40/2019/02/27/bc1acd40-9292-461a-9baa-212e48437f34_story.html?utm_term=.d6d440bdd9e3

 

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/2166614/masked-palestinian-night-confusion-units-step-anti-israel