MetaFilter posts tagged with invasion

Hippos in Colombia

dhruva — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 11:11:32 -0800

Colombia Confronts Drug Lord’s Legacy: Hippos "In what ecologists describe as possibly the continent’s most ambitious effort to assemble a collection of species foreign to South America, Escobar imported animals like zebras, giraffes, kangaroos, rhinoceroses and, of course, hippopotamuses. Some of the animals died or were transferred to zoos around the time Mr. Escobar was killed. But the hippos largely stayed put, flourishing in the artificial lakes dug at Mr. Escobar’s behest."

ChinAfrica

allkindsoftime — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 05:28:17 -0800

China, Africa see closer cooperation since Beijing Summit. Others see it a bit differently: 'We never pay,' he said, 'because once you pay you become their bitch; you will pay for ever and ever.' The phenomenon even has a name on the ground in the sub-Sahara: the Great Chinese Takeout. China, Africa and Oil: China's national oil companies are, in some cases, politically stronger than the government agencies charged with regulating them. previously

Georgia: "They Started It!"

LMGM — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 02:34:34 -0800

Georgia offers evidence that Russia made the first move. (login NYT ; Bugmenot) Georgia is circulating recordings of intercepted telephone calls from the period leading up to the Georgia-Russia war in August, showing that Russian troops were moving through the Roki tunnel into South Ossetia a full day before Georgia started shelling Tskhinvali (the capital of S.O.). Russia claims that it was part of routine troop rotation in the region (where they maintained a peacekeeping force), while Georgia accuses them of invading on soverign territory.
In the meanwhile, NATO gives "partial support" to Georgia.

Russian tanks and jets roll into Georgia

Happy Dave — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 07:52:54 -0800

Reports are coming in of up to 150 armoured vehicles entering South Ossetia. Russian peacekeepers have been on the ground in Georgia since 1992, and have reported being attacked in the last 24 hours during heavy fighting between seperatist forces and Georgian troops. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev claims "Georgian peacekeepers opened fire on the Russian peacekeepers with whom they are supposed to work together to carry out their mission of maintaining peace in this region." and goes on to say

It is these circumstances that dictate the steps we will take now. We will not allow the deaths of our fellow citizens to go unpunished. The perpetrators will receive the punishment they deserve.

Georgian politicians say 'this means war'.

The shot not heard around the world.

stinkycheese — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 07:22:41 -0800

Did you know that two weeks ago - last Valentine's Day - a pact was signed in Texas allowing cross-border military activity between Canada and the US? I'd supply more links but there's not much out there.

Google is forcing social down your throat

m2002 — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 22:04:24 -0800

A few weeks ago, Google Reader's team decided to show your private data to all your GMail contacts. This is now the default, no need to opt-in. Some people think it's not a big deal. Other's see it as a gross violation of privacy, a warning sign of more violations to come, as evidenced by the recent code updates to Gmail and other Google applications.

Gnome invasion

baphomet — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 11:50:15 -0800

You wake up in the morning and step outside for a breath of fresh air. Groggy and coffee-less, it takes you a moment to notice that your yard has been invaded by lawn gnomes. Don't be a victim. Conversely, become a part of the problem. Missing a loved one? Don't forget, MeFites around Springfield, Oregon- If you're feeling generous, head down to the police station this coming Tuesday to give a gnome a good home.

Heil Hosers!

unsupervised — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 14:11:53 -0800

Nazi aircraft came in from the north, first sighted at Norway House. Selkirk was the first to fall prey, but by no means the last. The Nazi war machine was converging on Winnipeg.

February 19, 1942: If Day, the day Manitoba fell to the Nazis.

Allí, ese 16 de marzo, Bush, Blair y Aznar decidieron sustituir al Consejo de Seguridad de Naciones Unidas y usurparon sus funciones para declarar por su cuenta y riesgo la guerra contra Irak.

amberglow — Tue, 25 Sep 2007 19:50:52 -0800

Bush and Aznar pre-Iraq Invasion-- Transcript of their private conversations in Crawford, Feb 22, 2003: "Quedan dos semanas. En dos semanas estaremos militarmente listos. Estaremos en Bagdad a finales de marzo", le dijo a Aznar. ("2 weeks. In 2 weeks we will be ready militarily. We'll be in Baghdad by the end of March", he told Aznar.) Consider this historical documentation. Full transcript here, and audio clips in first link. PB. Me parece muy bien. Chirac conoce perfectamente la realidad. Sus servicios de inteligencia se lo han explicado. Los árabes le están transmitiendo a Chirac un mensaje muy claro: Sadam Hussein debe irse. El problema es que Chirac se cree Mister Arab y en realidad les está haciendo la vida imposible. Pero yo no quiero tener ninguna rivalidad con Chirac. (Bush: Chirac knows the reality perfectly. Your intelligence services have told it. The Arabs are sending a very clear message to Chirac--Saddam must go. The problem is that Chirac thinks he's Mister Arab and the reality is that he's in a dream world(?). But i don't want to have any rivalry with Chirac. )

Mystery at Shingle Street

rongorongo — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 10:10:05 -0800

Shingle Street is a tiny, picturesque hamlet on the coast of Suffolk harbouring a big WW2 mystery: the best developed rumour is of an attempt by the Germans to invade Britain at this spot which was anticipated and intercepted by pumping fuel onto the sea surface and setting fire to it. UK files on the subject are closed, again mysteriously, until 2021. Ronald Ashford, who claims to have been an eye witness, has a lot more information. You can stay.

Don't Those Knives Come With Compasses?

zarq — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 08:22:34 -0800

The Swiss accidentally invaded Liechtenstein last night but no retaliation is expected. Oops! Guess it's time to make these standard military issue. The last time something like this happened, the Spanish ignored an accidental British invasion. Previously on MeFi: More about Liechtenstein than anyone ever cared to ask.

My analysis of this is somewhat tongue in cheek, please don't flame.

thirteenkiller — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 06:59:14 -0800

The president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has called for a purge of liberal and secular teachers from the country's universities. Now that this former rogue nation has fallen in line, we can turn out attention to the real terrorist threat: Britain.

No, you can't have Canada. Not yours.

moonbird — Fri, 30 Dec 2005 12:58:31 -0800

Plans were drawn up in the 1930s to invade Canada... really. While the idea has been a rampant joke in modern times as the US finds itself in hot water with its neighbor, it has been done before, albeit with laughable results.

The US backed the invasion of East Timor

JokingClown — Sun, 04 Dec 2005 07:25:41 -0800

Newly declassified US documents show that the US government knew well in advance about the invasion plans of Indonesia into East Timor. Once in East Timor, Indonesian forces committed a mass genocide of the local population - anywhere from 100,000 to 250,000 people, which was only 600,000 to begin with according to Wikipedia. As the first link shows, The US government actively suppressed news stories from getting out about the genocide. This isn't exactly news to Those who followed the invasion, But most people are unaware of the US government's support, perhaps the number of Newspapers covering the story according to GoogleNews can go some way to explain why many are unaware of this fact.

God Talks to Bush

hank — Thu, 06 Oct 2005 15:33:42 -0800

BBC confirms the story That box on his back, that earpiece? He's never said exactly how God talks to him, only that He does ....

You thought this was Euro post week? Here’s the Greenland post…

AwkwardPause — Thu, 19 Aug 2004 11:18:46 -0800

The celebration of the 25th anniversary of the transference to Greenland of its Home Rule Authority from Denmark sparks this ironic exhibition in Copenhagen, posing the questions: What position can Greenland take in the future as a people? Culture? Nation? When answer, of course, is to conquer the world:

GREENLAND! WE ARE AT WAR!

AT THIS MOMENT THE TROOPS OF GREENLAND ARE ADVANCING FROM THE SOUTH OF EUROPE, TO THE WEST OF AMERICA, TO THE EAST OF INDIA, TO THE NORTH OF RUSSIA.

I, for one, welcome our new Greenlandic overlords.

The Martians are Coming!

arto — Fri, 09 Jul 2004 12:29:21 -0800

War of the Worlds cover art from the last hundred years or so. (Plus, related artwork and the Martian-Canadian conspiracy, finally uncovered!) [via kottke]

More Cognitive Dissonance

nofundy — Tue, 18 Nov 2003 10:22:18 -0800

To Invade Or Not To Invade?
Many have expressed the sentiment that unilaterally invading other countries can be justified as serving the best interests of its people. We can all agree that brutal dictatorships are a bad thing. What should be done when they are identified? Engagement or invasion? Should cognitive dissonance by our leaders be ignored and/or accepted? Are double standards justified by financial interests? Here is another case where all litmus tests fail.

Bush stops war plans for Syria

fnord_prefect — Mon, 14 Apr 2003 19:34:34 -0800

No war in Syria? It appears not, as the US president has blocked the Pentagon from making preparations for an invasion. Is this for real, or is it merely a ploy to sway international opinion?

nofundy — Fri, 26 Jul 2002 11:16:29 -0800

Gore questions timing of Iraq concern Is it proper to invade Iraq? This would be an unprecedented move for the US military as Iraq has not attacked the US anyone the US has defense treaties with. "Republican National Committee spokesman Jim Dyke called Gore's comments "irresponsible." "This is no time to attack the president or Republicans for their handling of the war for political gain," he said." Hmmm..so he admits the Iraqi attack IS for partisan political gain, eh? I would have never suspected it.

magullo — Thu, 13 Jun 2002 11:22:30 -0800

Holland part of Axis of Evil? The Dutch parliament was shocked by a US legislative proposal giving an official green light to a US invasion of the Netherlands should it be deemed necessary to free US citizens from the International Criminal Court in The Hague. Pretty please, leave us alone, Jesse Helms.

trismegisto — Sat, 25 May 2002 09:19:26 -0800

mexican military incursion in u.s. soil An INS agent saw a mexican military vehicle 5 miles inside u.s. territory, he says he was fired by the mexicans. He also says this is "an act of war". I'm mexican and i really doubt about this. It has to be a joke! What do you people think about this?

owillis — Sat, 27 Apr 2002 11:35:58 -0800

U.S. Blueprint to Topple Hussein Envisions Big Invasion Next Year "The planning now anticipates the possible extensive use of bases for American forces in Turkey and Kuwait, with Qatar as the replacement for the sophisticated air operations center in Saudi Arabia, and with Oman and Bahrain playing important roles. As to any war plan itself, the military expects to be asked for a more traditional approach than the unconventional campaign in Afghanistan. Such an approach would resemble the Persian Gulf war in style if not in size and would be fought with even more modern weapons and more dynamic tactics." There is no doubt Saddam is a bad guy but as his poll numbers return to earthly levels how exactly can Bush justify sending off 70-250,000 American soldiers to fight (and die) in Iraq - while we will most likely still be engaged in Afghanistan (looking for Osama) and ripping up Al Qaeda?

wackybrit — Tue, 02 Apr 2002 15:44:56 -0800

The Falkland Islands are ours and we'll get them back, says Argentina. Argentina celebrates the twenty-year anniversary of their invasion of the Falkland Islands. Britain won the Falkland War in 1982, but Argentina now boasts that they'll definitely conquer the islands in the future. Since the majority of islanders are of British descent, does Argentina stand a chance? And shouldn't Argentina be focusing on rebuilding its own economy instead of whining about some insignificant islands in the Atlantic ocean?

FidelDonson — Tue, 19 Feb 2002 08:29:07 -0800

This might be taking the war on terrorism a little to far. Royal Marines get lost or should I say vamos. (Parden my french).