Opinion
Ken Timmerman’s Threat Watch, www.kentimmerman.com, 7-26-24
| No, I’m not going to write about sports. Instead, I’m going to tell you some of the back story behind the Paris Olympics that opened today. It may be that some American media have been covering the details I’m about to present to you, in which case I apologize. Since Christina and I are still in our summer quarters – where I have been cleaning our pebble walkways and installing nine tons of fresh Provencal stone – I have not been following the US media as I normally do. Instead, I have been listening, reading, and watching the French. Fact number one: with more than 10,000 armed soldiers patrolling the streets of Paris, this is the largest military presence in the French capital since World War II. What are they watching for? Besides the usual suspects (assorted Middle East terrorists and home grown Muslim discontents), the French are worried that Russia will pull off some sort of spectacular mass sabotage event that will make them look like fools. Yes, they are providing maximum security for Israel athletes, and while the French president is not fond of the Israeli government, he did say this week he would guarantee the safety and security of Israel’s athletes. Let’s hope so. But it’s Russia the French are really worried about, and for good reason. Remember that the international Olympic committee barred the Russians from taking part in this year’s Olympics, hoping to give Putin a black eye. Today, saboteurs attacked power and communication lines used by the French rail lines from Bordeaux, London, and Brussels to Paris, shutting down one out of four TGVs (the French abbreviation for high speed train). Athletes from London had to wait for hours for their Eurostar trains to depart. French transport minister Patrice Vergriete told the French media that incendiary devices had been set off near the train tracks, causing people to flee from the fires. The French state-owned rail company, SNCF, said that the sabotage was so widespread that all high-speed trains going to and coming from Paris were being diverted, adding at least ninety minutes to the journey. Caretaker Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said the damage was “massive and serious,” and France’s intelligence services had been deployed to “find and punish those behind these criminal acts”. One Russian man has been arrested, but so far the government is not pointing fingers at Moscow. Sabotage is very different from terrorism. In this case, no injuries or deaths have been attributed to the attacks, just widespread chaos, reminding the French state just how vulnerable they are. It reminds me a bit of the “blue screen of death” I wrote about last week, the worldwide computer outage caused by a software “patch” sent out by cyber security giant, Crowdstrike. Remember, this is the firm that investigated the hack of the DNC server in 2016 and attributed it to Russian intelligence. Trump thinks they deposited the original DNC server, which the FBI never got a chance to examine, in Ukraine, and asked Zelensky about it in 2019. Well, to compensate all of the millions of people inconvenienced by the glitch, Crowdstrike execs sent their clients a $10 voucher with Uber Eats. Generous, yeah? Uber Eats declined thousands of them, because the sheer number of them made them think the vouchers were the work of hackers. Airports and banks one week. The Paris Olympics the next. Russia and Ukraine seem to enjoy playing out their conflict on the world stage. I talk about this, as well the first-ever joint Russian-Chinese bomber patrol off the coast of Alaska, and the lies of the incoming Iranian regime president, on this week’s Prophecy Today Weekend. As always, you can listen live at 1 PM Saturday on 104.5 FM or 550 AM in Jacksonville, Florida, or by using the Jacksonville Way Radio app. If you miss it live, you can listen to the podcast here. Yours in freedom, Ken PS: If you’ve been enjoying my books, think of posting a brief review to Amazon or another online retailer, or on your social media. It really does help. |
| Ken Timmerman’s 12th book of non-fiction, AND THE REST IS HISTORY: Tales of Hostages, Arms Dealers, Dirty Tricks, and Spies, can be ordered by clicking here or by viewing my author’s page, here. Raising Olives in Provence, can be ordered by clicking here. – Senior Fellow, America First Policy Institute (current) – Republican nominee for Congress, Maryland District 8 (2012) – President & CEO, Foundation for Democracy in Iran, www.iran.org – Nobel Peace Prize nominee, 2006 Cell: 301-675-7922 Follow me on Twitter @kentimmerman #TheElectionHeist Facebook: ken timmerman Reply to: [email protected] Website: kentimmerman.com |
