US Special Forces and Latin American Drug Cartels

https://www.democracynow.org/2025/8/14/fort_bragg_cartel_seth_harp

Undoubtedly this story will prove shocking to many, but for anyone that has ventured down this road of inquiry, it is in reality an old story going back to the end of World War II. This is just the latest chapter in a larger story of US government, CIA, and US military complicity in drug trafficking that ties in with the Kuomintang and the Golden Triangle, the Mafia and Marseilles, the French Connection and Turkish smugglers, the Contras and Colombia.

The Drug War: Corruption and Cover-up at the Highest Levels

*Updated 16 October 2024

https://www.reuters.com/legal/former-mexican-drug-czar-heads-trial-accused-aiding-el-chapo-2023-01-23/

https://theintercept.com/2023/01/18/genaro-garcia-luna-trial/

Ten days after winning the Mexican presidency in 2006, and encouraged by the Bush administration, Felipe Calderon launched the Mexican Drug War. Less than two decades later over 500,000 are dead and even these figures are misleading as they don't include all of the tangential deaths involved in connection to drugs – nor do mere numbers explain what the war has meant for the industry, its markets, and societies ranging from South America to the Canadian border.

The Hidden ISIS Policy

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-62726954

This article reveals (perhaps without meaning to) the nature of NATO relations with ISIS during the movement's first phase. ISIS was rightly presented as a horrific apocalyptic Salafist organisation and its terror was channeled by Western media to reinvigorate support for Western intervention in the Middle East – the so-called War on Terror, even as figures like Obama were attempting to disentangle Western interests from it and 'Pivot to China'.

The Stench of Media Moralizing and the Bout Exchange

Finally after many years it sounds like Russia and the US may cut a deal to release Viktor Bout. Back in 2013, I honestly thought Putin might trade Snowden for him but it turned out that Snowden was a bigger deal than initially thought.

Americas Secret Cache of Warsaw Pact Weapons

https://www.thedefensepost.com/2022/03/22/us-soviet-air-defense-ukraine/

Though largely unknown to most of the American public, the US began to purchase large quantities of Warsaw Pact weaponry in the 1970's and would continue to do so until the end of the Cold War and the collapse of the Soviet alliance. It is therefore not too surprising that some of the weapons are now being funneled into Ukraine where they will be able to integrate easily enough with the extant arms in Kyiv's possession.

The Vatican and the Kosovo Equation

https://www.lastampa.it/vatican-insider/en/2020/10/07/news/relations-between-kosovo-and-the-vatican-1.39391883

The article is co-written by an official affiliated with the Pristina government – which is (functionally) an arm of the US State Department. Kosovo has been called the Fifty-First state by more than a few commentators.

A Uighur Money-Launderer's Murder in Istanbul

https://www.rferl.org/a/man-who-exposed-kyrgyz-smuggling-scheme-was-hunted-by-contract-killers/30940261.html

I cannot be sure what the true nature of this story is but given the way it's being framed by RFE/RL and the involvement of outlets such as Bellingcat I am led to believe that it is something of a false expose', serving as a means of cover-up.

Cold War II: The Battle for Bulgaria and the 2020 Protests

https://www.euractiv.com/section/energy/news/how-bulgaria-gave-gazprom-the-keys-to-the-balkans/

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-bulgaria-north-macedonia-eu/bulgaria-says-north-macedonia-must-address-historical-issues-or-face-delay-on-eu-path-idUKKBN27F2T9

In the summer of 2020, the boiling cauldron that is Bulgaria began to spill over. Caught in a struggle between the West (NATO and the EU) and its historical ally in Moscow, the Balkan nation has been racked by controversy and intrigue.

Blackwater and Wagner

https://theintercept.com/2020/04/13/erik-prince-russia-mercenary-wagner-libya-mozambique/

Prince, a hero to many American Evangelicals is an evil figure to some and certainly a living scandal to Christians who root their faith in the New Testament. Regardless of what one thinks of him, he remains an important if controversial figure.

The Endless Battle for the Balkans

https://www.euractiv.com/section/enlargement/news/west-urges-kosovo-serbia-to-restart-talks-with-urgency/

The Atlanticist project to consolidate Europe in the wake of 1989 has hit a brick wall in the Balkans. While nations like Albania, Romania and Bulgaria were quick to join the NATO/EU axis, the break-up of Yugoslavia proved more difficult.

The Ukraine Conflict: Orthodoxy, Militias and Arms Smuggling

http://www.asianews.it/news-en/-Orthodox-celebrations-for-the-baptism-of-Kievan-Rus-are-at-risk-47570.html

All acknowledged that the recent creation of an autocephalous Ukrainian Orthodox Church would heighten tensions between Kiev and Moscow and amplify the growing rift between the Moscow Patriarchate and that of Constantinople.

These conflicts are playing out on multiple fronts. The AsiaNews link explores some of the difficulties in Ukraine as its symbols, shrines, relics and properties remain divided. Small seemingly innocuous moves can mean a lot.

Additionally, a story broke this week about a weapons cache found among some Neo-Nazis in Italy. The weapons were reported as bound for the Pro-Russian and Moscow supported separatists in Eastern Ukraine's Donbass. Much has been made of this story.

Guatemala: Evangelicals and Smugglers Together

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/27/journey-of-faith-the-guatemalan-pastors-helping-smuggle-people-into-the-us

This was a sad and unfortunate read. And what's even more disheartening is that the report should have been broken by Christian reporters but instead it takes a pro-Sodomite Anti-Christian publication like The Guardian to get the story out.

The Asian Underground Railroad

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-northkorea-china-defectors-feature/chinese-raids-hit-north-korean-defectors-underground-railroad-idUKKCN1TH0VH

Beijing fears a massive influx of North Korean refugees. Despite the perceptions of some, the situation with regard to Pyongyang has not stabilised. Xi Jinping's recent visit to the DPRK was an attempt to shore up Kim Jong Un and indeed from his standpoint Xi's visit was a substantial feather in his cap.

There is no love lost between Beijing and Pyongyang and yet the Chinese government (CCP) fears a collapse and the flood of refugees that would result from it. And so they begrudgingly support the Kim regime. Additionally they do not want the Americans or their proxies (like the ROK) deciding the course of events right on their borders. This was in no small part the reason why Mao intervened in the autumn of 1950.

Accountability at the Vatican Bank

https://apnews.com/b20053842f74405fbe4a79f583c21859

Some will celebrate this news. It's a watershed moment in the history of the IOR (Vatican Bank). Many will herald this conviction as a historical moment in which the Vatican Bank 'turned the page' and left behind its decades long history of corruption.

Encouraging reports from Central Asia

Regardless of what you think of Open Doors and Brother Andrew, these reports are encouraging. Many of these organisations can be disappointing at times and are not above doctrinal criticism... and in some cases the reports from abroad are mixed. Sometimes it's disappointing to find some bad doctrine is creeping in. We can pray for them and pray that as these churches are in their formative stages they will come under solid teaching.

Peering into the Labyrinth: Frontline's Guns, Drugs and the CIA (1988)

I recently found this little gem, an old Frontline documentary from an era on PBS that's hard to imagine in our day. There's no way they would produce or condone a film like this anymore.

Azerbaijan: A Den of Spies, Secrets and Dirty Deals

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/08/saudi-arabia-uae-implicated-arms-transfers-170827115154085.html

Azerbaijan continues in its role as an energy supplier to the West and a staging ground and a clandestine base for Western and Israeli operations... especially against Iran. Baku serves largely as a facilitator for Western intelligence agencies.

The Simmering Balkans

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/tensions-in-the-balkans-rising-as-promise-of-eu-future-fades-a-1154499.html

A fascinating article as are all things Balkan.

But as is often the case it's only hinting at larger truths... the KLA/UÇK was from the beginning a CIA (via the German BND) backed operation. The state of Kosovo is in particular a US project and proxy. But in a wider circle the US is utilising an informal alliance with Albanian Nationalism which affects not only Kosovo, but Albania, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro.

Brave Christians on the Tumen Frontier

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2017/02/10/Report-China-arrests-four-Christian-missionaries-near-North-Korea-border/8641486780703/?utm_source=sec&utm_campaign=sl&utm_medium=14

There's an ongoing, heroic and very moving story that's been taking place in North Korea and in China's nearby region of Manchuria. It's a story of missionaries, refugees and an underground railroad. It's often a sad and very cruel story and yet there are some real shining lights, people who are labouring as Christians to reach out to escapees and in some cases help them embark on the long road to a new life in South Korea.

Croatian Proxies and the Balkan Strategy

http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/croatia-profits-from-syria-s-gruesome-war-02-20-2017

The article proclaims the Croatians ignored well-founded concerns the arms they sold to Saudi Arabia would end up in Syria.

These concerns weren't ignored. This was the whole point.