Random News and Notes 16 May
Today in 1916, representatives of Great Britain and France secretly reach an accord, known as the Sykes-Picot Agreement, by which most of the Arab lands under the rule of the Ottoman Empire are to be divided into British and French spheres of influence with the conclusion of World War I.
In its designated sphere, it was agreed, each country shall be allowed to establish such direct or indirect administration or control as they desire and as they may think fit to arrange with the Arab State or Confederation of Arab States. Under Sykes-Picot, the Syrian coast and much of modern-day Lebanon went to France; Britain would take direct control over central and southern Mesopotamia, around the Baghdad and Basra provinces.
This agreement, and the pernicious post-war influence of Gertrude Bell sentenced the region to a century of sectarian and tribal violence.
We start off the news with an update of a previous story. A few days ago I noted that the Supreme Court of Virginia invalidated the Democrat attempt to gerrymander the state on the grounds that is was unconstitutional and violated state law. The Dems then appealed to SCOTUS.
Well, SCOTUS denied their appeal without comment:
While I am sure everyone other than VA AG Jay Jones – who has never won a case in court – knew that SCOTUS nearly always turns back these kind of state level challenges, the Dems had to make the attempt.
There is one less islamic terrorist today. Last night, US and Nigerian forces eliminated eliminated Abu-Bilal al-Minuki—also known as Abu-Mainok—along with several lieutenants in Nigeria’s volatile Lake Chad Basin. The 44-year-old from Borno State led ISIS operations in media, weapons, drones, and was 2nd in command of daesh globally. He had direct ties to the 2018 Dapchi schoolgirls kidnapping and attacks in the Sahel.
. . . to prepare for action. So, for months, we hunted this top ISIS leader in Nigeria who was killing Christians, and we killed him—and his entire posse.
In conjunction with Nigeria’s President, and at the direction of President Trump, U.S. Africa Command oversaw a precise operation to remove this terrorist.
Abu-Bilal al-Minuki was the senior ISIS General Directorate of Provinces Emir — the number two for ISIS globally — responsible for overseeing the planning of attacks, directing hostage-taking and managing financial operations. The removal of him and other ISIS personnel makes Americans safer by further degrading ISIS’s ability to plan and carry out attacks that threaten the U.S. homeland, American citizens, and innocent civilians.
Operations like last night’s demonstrate the exceptional lethality, patience and skill of U.S. forces, amplified alongside willing and capable partners, to address shared threats. This should serve as a reminder that we will hunt down those who wish to harm Americans or innocent Christians, wherever they are.
No friendly casualties were reported.
Dem Florida rep Angie Nixon got her dumb ass arrested last night. She was protesting the new Florida Congressional maps outside of Ron DeSantis’ office in Tallahassee yesterday demanding a special session to fix them. Capitol Police arrested her at 5:25 p.m. for trespassing after closing, along with two supporters; she was released that evening with a June court date.
Governor DeSantis called the stunt “performative nonsense”.
The USS Gerald R. Ford and escorts the USS Bainbridge and USS Mahan departed Norfolk on June 24, 2025, for routine operations that stretched into NATO exercises, Caribbean blockades, and Operation Epic Fury in the Mediterranean and Red Sea. She has returned to Norfolk for the first time sine last year today.
SecWar Hegseth was on hand to greet them when the ships arrived pierside.