Within 36 hours of Malaysian Flight #370 “going poof” our in-house aviation military expert [still active] said “watch the Maldives“.

Our response resembled the typical Tree House intellectual eloquence we are known for:  “Huh“?
At the time everyone was looking at the China Sea and East, why the heck would this jackrabbit say “watch the Maldives”, and more importantly “where the heck are the Maldives”?   Have another beer, borrow another $250, lets see if we can buy a vowel and get a clue.
International pesky GMT’s always hamper communication when you need it.   It took several days of phone tag before we could interrupt the seemingly perpetual BBQ and ask the question: “why the Maldives“?
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WASHINGTON DC – Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice accused Barack Obama of dramatically weakening the United States’ position in the world, drawing a straight line between Obama’s ever-yielding foreign policy and the increasing troubles around the world.
“Right now, there’s a vacuum,” she told a crowd of more than two thousand attending the National Republican Congressional Committee’s annual dinner last night in Washington, D.C. “There’s a vacuum because we’ve decided to lower our voice. We’ve decided to step back. We’ve decided that if we step back and lower our voice, others will lead, other things will fill that vacuum.” Citing Bashar al Assad’s slaughter in Syria, Vladimir Putin’s aggression in Ukraine, al Qaeda’s triumphant return to Fallujah, Iraq, and China’s nationalist fervor, she concluded: “When America steps back and there is a vacuum, trouble will fill that vacuum.”
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I.Kid.You.Not.

To echo @BarackObama today-proud to stand #UnitedForUkraine World should stand together with one voice pic.twitter.com/VeMt578UdY

— Matthew Miller (@StateDeptSpox) March 26, 2014

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It’s a little humorous, or at least it would be if the consequences were not so serious, to see the EU begin to fathom the lightbringer is quite OK with their destruction.   Fundamental Change Obama-Style begins to bear consequence to the EU as they realize there’s no Hope that Dear Leader will Change.

WASHINGTON DC – A new classified intelligence assessment concludes it is more likely than previously thought that Russian forces will enter eastern Ukraine, CNN has learned.
Two administration officials described the assessment but declined to be identified due to the sensitive nature of the information.
The officials emphasized that nothing is certain, but there have been several worrying signs in the past three to four days.
“This has shifted our thinking that the likelihood of a further Russian incursion is more probable than it was previously thought to be,” one official said.
The buildup is seen to be reminiscent of Moscow’s military moves before it went into Chechnya and Georgia in both numbers of units and their capabilities.
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(Australia) […] (N)ew satellite images released yesterday found about 122 objects floating in the southern Indian Ocean.
HMAS Success remains in the search area about 2500 kilometres southwest of Perth and was joined by four Chinese ships — Xue Long, Kuulunshan, Haikon and Qiandaohu — in the search area.  Two Royal Australian Air Force P3 Orions, a Japanese Gulfstream jet, a US Navy P8 Poseidon and a Japanese P3 Orion will fly sorties throughout the day.
Five civil aircraft will fly to the search area.

The objects detected by a French satellite, measuring from one metre to 23 metres long, were picked up four days ago and sent to the Australian search co-ordinators yesterday.
Some of the objects appeared to be bright in colour and possibly of solid material.
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In this interview with President Obama you have an open admission of his leftist doctrine and how he and his administration do not see an ideological battle for controls of EU nations as a modern concept.
In essence Obama is saying we don’t see Europe as a geography to fight for territorial control or influence.   Meanwhile Russia, and Vladimir Putin, see Europe as EXACTLY THAT, a geography to mold and influence; and the growth of Russia to its former Soviet stature is exactly his intent.

EUROPE – President Obama has told a Dutch newspaper that the United States does not see the ongoing crisis in Crimea and Ukraine as a “zero-sum game” between Washington and Moscow as pro-Russian forces reportedly overran a third Ukrainian military base in the Black Sea peninsula Monday.
In the interview, published in Monday’s edition of de Volkskrant, Obama said:

“The United States does not view Europe as a battleground between East and West, nor do we see the situation in Ukraine as a zero-sum game. That’s the kind of thinking that should have ended with the Cold War.”

 
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Set to increase his influence exponentially Russia’s Vladimir Putin must be smiling broadly.   
Already in strong geo-political, economic and diplomatic alignment with Iran.   Now helping Egypt in their freedom fight to rid themselves of the Muslim Brotherhood and expanding military bases in Alexandria; and essentially set up to declare victory in Syria.  Putin has become the anti-Obama.
In essence you have Obama’s only Middle East Geo-Political ally as Turkey’s *Erdogan.    Jordan is trying to stay in the middle, Syria, Iran, and now Egypt aligning with Russia albeit for different reasons.
TEL AVIV – Arab countries in the Middle East widely expect Syrian President  Bashar al-Assad to win the rebel-led insurgency that has been targeting his  regime for the last three years, thereby strengthening Russia’s presence in the  region.
The anticipated victory will further solidify the position of the large  Russian Navy fleet docked at Syria’s Tartus port. That position is more  strategic now that Russia has seized the Ukrainian naval headquarters located in  Sevastopol, where Moscow stationed its Black Sea Fleet.
Control of both the Tartus and Sevastopol ports provides Russia, under  President Vladimir Putin, with open access to the Mediterranean, the Indian  Ocean and beyond for both military and energy needs. (more…)

UNREAL:   They have not interviewed his wife because it’s culturally uncomfortable:

…”It is not considered appropriate in Malaysia to  subject people in situations of terrible bereavement to the stress of intensive  questioning”….

This Muslim ideologue most likely had something to do with 238 people missing, possibly killed, and the Malaysian authorities are worried about the delicate sensibilities of his wife ????  

(Via Daily Mail )The captain of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 received a two-minute call shortly before take-off from a mystery woman using a mobile phone number obtained under a false identity.

It was one of the last calls made to or from the mobile of Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah in the hours before his Boeing 777 left Kuala Lumpur 16 days ago.
Investigators are treating it as potentially significant because anyone buying a pay-as-you-go SIM card in Malaysia has to fill out a form giving their identity card or passport number.
Introduced as an anti-terrorism measure following 9/11, this ensures that every number is registered to a traceable person.
But in this case police traced the number to a shop selling SIM cards in Kuala Lumpur. They found that it had been bought ‘very recently’ by someone who gave a woman’s name – but was using a false identity. (more…)

As just another idiot with an opinion here’s my best guess as to what’s happened with that Malaysian Flight 370… and why we’re here today – two weeks later.

I think it was definitely a hijacking – with full cooperation from the pilot(s).
I think it was carried out by Islamic extremists and frustrated activists.
I think the Malaysian’s were caught off guard and their projected mask of “moderate Islam” has made them incapable to act.  There is so much they just don’t want to admit.
I think the Pilot, Co-pilot and at least the two Iranian passengers were involved.
I think Iran and/or Pakistan are the best suspects for plan origination – and quite possibly both of them. (more…)

…..”The Americans are unsure of the purpose behind the building of the nonworking aircraft carrier, but speculate Iran could orchestrate its sinking. Thus, they decided to stay ahead and expose the vessel and prevent black propaganda”… 

Something’s up.   –  We never try to stop black propaganda.  Well, we’ve never done it before in our intelligence history.  We use knowledge of it to ridicule the enemy state from the outside inward.  (more after article)
WASHINGTON – Iran is constructing a simulated American nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, and according to US intelligence sources, Iran’s aim is to blow it up and later claim it has sunk an American aircraft carrier.

According to American sources, the sinking of the ship is designed for propaganda purposes, in case the nuclear program negotiations fail and the military tensions between Washington and Tehran intensify.
The New York Times reported Friday that American satellite images initially revealed the vessel in the Persian Gulf last summer, and its contours resemble the US Nimitz-class carrier. Mock planes were spotted on deck, which is about two-thirds the length of a typical Nimitz, and has no nuclear propulsion system.
US intelligence sources claimed, however, that Iran is not capable of building an aircraft carrier. “Based on our observations, this is not a functioning aircraft carrier; it’s a large barge built to look like an aircraft carrier,” said Jason Salata, a spokesman for the Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, across the Persian Gulf from Iran. (more…)